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Convention & Visitors ReportTo: Jeanne Schneider Fr: Sue Czeshinski Re: Scheduling date for CVB report at City Council Dt: October 8, 2002 The Convention and Visitors Bureau would like to request placement on the October 21, 2002, City Council Agenda to give an oral report of Bureau activities during the first quarter of the fiscal year. The contract for Purchase of Services that the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce has with the City states that we are required to give this report following the and of each quarter. If this date does not work, please contact me at 557-9200. I will be sending the Council members a written report as well. Thank you for your assistance. Mayor Terry Duggan City Council Members City Manager, Mike Van Milligen Dubuque County Supervisors Administrative Assistant, Jan Hess John Tallent, Chair Sue Czesbin~ki, Director Re: Quarterly Report Suly-October 2002 Dt: October 11, 2002 Group Sales/Convention Marketing Full page four color advertising has been placed in Association Trade Publications: Midwest Meetings, Association News and Iowa Society of Association Executives Directory. (see attached copies) Telemarketing Blitzes are being planned targeting midwest meeting planners that hold meetings between 500-1,000 delegates, using qual/fied lists from the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus. A show schedule is being finalized and will include: Affordable Meetings trade show in Chicago, Iowa Society of Association Executives show in Des Moines, National Tour Association show in Los Angeles, and the National Bank Travel show. The CVB and Platinum Hospitality have been investigating the possibility of using an independent meeting planner from, David Greene and Associates from Ch/cago to further develop regional association leads and corporate meeting leads within a 200 mile radius. We hosted the company last Wednesday for a tour of Dubuque and will receive a proposal this week. Anne Joy has joined the CVB staff. Anne has moved from Chicago, where she worked in sales and marketing, to Dubuque and will be the regional sales manager for the CVB. Over 600 new CVB meeting facility guides featuring America's River have been distributed to meeting planners from sales calls made by the CVB and Platinum Hospitality as Platinum doesn't have any materials printed for the hotel and conference center yet. The new CVB CD-Roms are very popular with meeting planners. They are also being distributed to meeting planners during sales calls. A CVB staff person along with the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium will be attending the National Tour Association convention in Los Angeles in November. They will meet with over 70 tour operators. 300 MAIN STEEET SUITE 200 P.O. Box 705 DUBUQUE, IA 52004-0705 (563)557-9200 (563)557-x59I E-MAIL: 1NI:O~TRAVELDUBuQUE.COM WEB SITE: XT~xxrW. TRAVELDUBUQUE.COM Public Relations National Public Radio will send reporter, Geri Repass, to Dubuque on Thursday, October 10 to see the America's River project and take a city tour. She will be arriving on the Delta Queen. The CVB hosted freelance writer Patricia Bates for a site tour of the America's River project. She is writing stories for Disney's Family Fun magazine and Successful Meetings magazine. She is a contact that the CVB staff made at the National Travel Media Showcase last year in Atlantic City, NJ. Marketing The CVB has signed the contract with Sprenger McCullough and Co. as the marketing and communications agency that will represent the America's River project. They have joined the Chamber and partnered with local member Get Smart to represent the project. They specialize in tourism marketing and cooperative programming. They have represented projects such as: the Truman Presidential Library and Museum and the Liberty Memorial, Kansas City Convention & Visitors Bureau, and Attraction Association. The new 2003 Visitors Guide featuring America's River will be firfished Oct 31. The CVB contracted with the Telegraph Herald to create the new guide. The TH received all the revenue from increased ad sales for the guide and will provide the guide at no charge to the CVB. The America's River partners will put a 4-color insert in the guide and print 50,000 extras for fulfillment and marketing in the Chicago area. Grand Excursion The first meeting of the Grand Excursion planning committee was held in September after staff returned from the regional planning meeting in La Crosse, WI. Committees have been formed and include: Celebrate Committee, Commemorate Committee, Educate Committee, Fundraising Committee and Marketing/Public Relations Committee. Those in attendance signed up for the different committees and they will begin meeting in the next several weeks. The Dubuque committees will also be working with the Galena planning committee to coordinate efforts so that there is no duplication of effort during the event. Directional Signage Progress is being made on the Directional Signage project. RFP's were sent to local designers to create a consistent look for all the district and city signs. Committee members will review proposals and make a recommendation to City Council for selection. The IDOT has contacted the City to inform the committee that additional color wilt be allowed on the highway signs due to new regulations that will go into effect in the next fiscal year. This will allow the designs for the highway signs to be more attractive.