BuckeyeLine

Fall/Winter Calendar of Events Deadline April 25

To have your Ohio event considered for inclusion in the printed 2008-09 Fall/Winter Discover Ohio Calendar of Events (50,000 quantity printed), please submit/update your information in the DiscoverOhio.com/Buckeye database by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 25.

If your database entry is current, there is no need to re-submit. Please review your entries to ensure dates, times phone numbers, etc. are current and accurate. The calendar will cover events that take place between September 2008 and February 2009. Due to space limitations, not all events submitted and approved will appear in the printed calendar; however, all approved events will be available on DiscoverOhio.com. Please be aware that the publisher, Great Lakes Publishing, will contact you via e-mail in mid-May asking you to verify that your listing is accurate before it can be printed in the calendar.

Advertising
If you're interested in advertising opportunities in the calendar, please contact your advertising representative or Jillian LaManna, Great Lakes Publishing Advertising Coordinator, at jlamanna@ohiomagazine.com or (216) 377-3655. The ad close date is May 23.

Guidelines to Submitting an Event
Our goal is to find how best to service the visitor so that he/she will have a pleasant experience and travel/spend money in Ohio. Please help us by following the guidelines below:

• Only events that aren't already listed on our site or events that are on our site but have information that needs to be revised need to be submitted. Event sponsors can check to see if their events are already on our site simply by going to www.DiscoverOhio.com and typing the name of their event in the Keyword search box in the top left. If the event appears on our site, you DO NOT need to resubmit it.
• Only TOURISM events marketed by you to travelers from a radius of 50 miles or more outside your area will be approved. If yours is a purely local event (i.e. a local fundraiser or church/school concert) your submission will not be approved.
• Follow all instructions on the submission form. Click on the blue question mark next to each field on the form for additional information.
• Remember, statistics show that Web visitors tend to ignore large blocks of text. For best online marketing, keep your description brief (500 characters or less), interesting and professional. Misspellings, using all capital letters, etc. defeats your marketing efforts.
• We receive hundreds of submissions at the deadline. To assure your listing is reviewed in a timely manner and that you have plenty of time to make any revisions, if necessary, please submit your information as early as possible.

A Message from State Tourism Director Amir Eylon

Celebrating Passion in Ohio’s Tourism Industry
As the spring flowers begin to bud and the sun begins to linger just a little bit longer in the sky each evening, I can feel the anticipation building. With our peak travel season just around the corner, we are pleased to announce we have rounded out our agency roster with Singleton & Partners, Ltd., our new multicultural agency based in Cleveland. So Ohio’s tourism marketing efforts are now moving ahead at full speed on all fronts!

That being said, your Ohio Tourism Division team is planning an exciting travel season launch event, in which all of you are invited to participate. In celebration of National Tourism Week and in conjunction with our launch of the Spring/Summer marketing campaigns, we will be holding an Ohio Tourism Month event on the front steps of the Ohio Statehouse on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, from 10:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The event will be highlighted by a press conference with some familiar special guests who will help us tell the world about Ohio and what tourism means to all of us. Details about how you can participate (in addition to attending) are included in this issue of BuckeyeLine. There also are opportunities for all of you to celebrate at local happenings all over Ohio. I encourage everyone to speak out on behalf of touring and traveling Ohio during the month of May, and look forward to seeing many of you on May 13.

Besides plugging for a statewide celebration of tourism in May, I want to share with you a few personal thoughts about passion in our industry.

Division Introduces Live Travel Buzz Chats April 15 and 24

April 15 (10 – 11 a.m.): Join Group Tour Marketing Specialist Celeste Krolak for the Division’s first live chat as we recap the benefits of targeting the African American travel market.

Positively Cleveland is hosting the African American Travel Conference April 8-10 in partnership with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame + Museum, House of Blues, Crowne Plaza, Lorain County Visitors Bureau, Warren County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Karamu House, Playhouse Square, Western Reserve Historical Society, Experience Columbus and the Ohio Tourism Division. Nineteen Ohio partners are participating in the conference to promote Ohio experiences to travel planners serving the African American community.

April 24 (10 a.m.): Join State Tourism Director Amir Eylon for a discussion on National Tourism Week. Find out what this annual nationwide initiative means to Ohio's tourism industry, what special activities the Ohio Tourism Division has planned and how you can participate.

2008-09 Fall/Winter Discover Ohio Calendar of Events Deadline April 25

To have your Ohio event considered for inclusion in the printed 2008-09 Fall/Winter Discover Ohio Calendar of Events (50,000 quantity printed), please submit/update your information in the DiscoverOhio.com/Buckeye database by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 25.

Come Celebrate Ohio Tourism May 13 at the Statehouse

You are invited to join the Tourism Division and your Travel Industry colleagues May 13 as we unveil Ohio’s new advertising creative and engage in a Tourism Celebration on the Statehouse lawn. The day will kick off with a press conference at 10:30 a.m. followed by a showcase of Ohio’s outstanding tourism experiences until 2:00 p.m. The event is designed to showcase Ohio’s tourism industry and diverse tourism opportunities to legislators, downtown workers and consumers who heed the call of a local radio station to come down and find out why they should plan an Ohio getaway this year.

DiscoverOhio.com Launches New Podcast Program

As summer approaches, the Ohio Tourism Division will launch a new permanent Podcast Series called Explore Ohio. The series will feature two destinations per month throughout the summer before switching to a monthly posting in September. Topics will include a variety of Ohio tourism experiences. While event information can be included, we ask that events not be the main focus of the interview because the podcasts used will be archived as a resource for travelers beyond their original post dates.

Chicago Media Mission Participants Confirmed

Thank you to everyone who expressed interest in attending the Chicago Media Mission this year on April 23-24. It was difficult to narrow the number to six, but representatives from the following Ohio tourism entities will be traveling to Chicago to tell Ohio’s tourism story: Dublin CVB, Dayton/Montgomery County CVB, Greater Toledo CVB, Positively Cleveland, Hocking Hills Tourism Association and Experience Columbus. Thank you also to everyone who completed and sent in a questionnaire providing us with up-to-date information on your area and attractions. If you haven’t gotten around to completing a questionnaire, but have information we can share with Chicago media, it isn’t too late to complete a form and return to Tammy Brown at the Division, tbrown@odod.state.oh.us.

Ohio Underground Railroad Kiosks Unveiled March 14

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, with sponsorship from the Ohio Tourism Division and American Express, unveiled a series of kiosks to be placed in Underground Railroad communities throughout the state. The kiosks feature the Passage to Freedom Web site and provide information on other area tourism attractions, such as restaurants and entertainment spots. The first three kiosks will be placed in Ripley, Zanesville and Oberlin.

Because Ohio had such a prolific role in the Underground Railroad movement, sites throughout the state will showcase the area’s history through the kiosks, further embracing multi-cultural tourism within Ohio. The continuous placement of kiosks throughout Underground Railroad communities aims to raise awareness of the state’s diversity in its people and heritage.

(Photo caption - From left to right: Freedom Center Co-Board Chair Reverend Damon Lynch; Freedom Center CEO/President Don Murphy; Assistant State Tourism Director Alicia Reece; Freedom Center Co-Board Chair John Pepper; Lieutenant Governor Lee Fisher; American Express Representative Linda Marshall; and State Tourism Director Amir Eylon all gathered at Cincinnati's Freedom Center March 14, 2008 to unveil the Passage to Freedom Web site and kiosks placed at various Underground Railroad cities/sites throughout the state.)

1-800-BUCKEYE Partner Days Dates Still Available

Opportunities are still available to participate in 1-800-BUCKEYE partner days. We have just a few dates and times available for participation in the 1-800-BUCKEYE partner days. To sign up, or for more information, please contact Eric Herzog at (614) 466-0338.

Appalachian Driving Trails Map Unveiled at Travel Show March 29

First Lady Frances Strickland joined Rick Peltz, Alternate Federal Co-Chair of the Appalachian Regional Commission; Fred Deel, Director of the Governor's Office of Appalachia; Amir Elyon, State Tourism Director; the Appalachian Regional Commission; and the National Geographic Society Saturday to unveil the Appalachian Driving Trails Map, an insert in the National Geographic Traveler magazine that features trails from each of the 13 states within the Appalachian Mountain range.