CONFERENCE

CO NFERENCE

SPONSORS POWER SMALL MARKET MEETINGS CONFERENCE

THE GREATER ZION CVB WILL USE ITS SPONSORSHIP AT SMALL MARKET MEETINGS CONFERENCE TO EDUCATE MEETING PLANNERS ABOUT THE ACTIVITY OPTIONS AT ZION NATIONAL PARK (TOP AND MIDDLE) AND SNOW CANYON STATE PARK (BOTTOM).

Photos courtesy Greater Zion CVB Photos courtesy Visit PCB Meeting planners look forward to the annual Small Market Meetings Conference each year. It’s an opportunity for planners to network, sit down with dozens of destination providers in a marketplace setting and also book future meetings in particular locations. The next Small Market Meetings Conference is scheduled for October 2-4 in Wichita, Kansas.

Some destinations represented at the conference also buy sponsorships, providing added exposure. Charlie Presley, a conference partner, says meeting planners need to pay particular attention to who is sponsoring the gathering.

“Those sponsors are really the main hosts for the meeting planners,” Presley said. “The sponsor, whether a destination or a venue, is interested in planners and wants to work with them. The planners should recognize that as a good thing for them.”

Sponsorships come in many forms. Some destinations will pay to sponsor the registration desk, name badges, signage, a breakfast, lunch or dinner, an educational component, or take advantage of website, social media and magazine advertising opportunities.

GREATER ZION MAKES A SPLASH

But one of the prize sponsorships is a podium appearance where a destination spokesperson delivers a carefully crafted message and shows a beautiful video that could entice planners to take a closer look. Greater Zion Convention and Tourism Office, based in St. George, Utah, for example, is sponsoring a luncheon at this fall’s conference.

“It gives us the opportunity to share a little more about our lesser-known destination to a captive audience of planners,” said Jacqueline Grena, meeting and convention sales manager for Greater Zion. “With Zion National Park in our backyard, our area is a bucket list destination for groups and leisure travel, but people don’t realize all we have to offer and that we’re greater than just one park.”

Grena says when she shares a video planners get a glimpse of the activities and facilities they offer, hopefully inspiring them to connect with her.

Greater Zion is investing even more dollars to reach these meeting planners. This southern Utah destination will host the 2024 Small Market Meetings Conference. By getting the word out early and often, Grena hopes to see an even bigger audience in 2024.

“We want to stay in the forefront of planners minds by building awareness and excitement during these sponsorship opportunities,” she said. “We hope to see even greater attendance at the ’24 conference so that planners can experience the area for themselves and bring their groups back.”

SPONSORS STEPPING UP

Presley likes to see sponsors use their influence whenever they can.

“Sponsors step up and say they want to host these planners and to get to know them and to try to get them to come to their places,” he said.

Among the other major sponsors for this year’s Small Market Meetings Conference are Explore Branson (Missouri), which will host the 2023 Small Market Meetings Conference; Visit Williamsburg and Valley Forge Tourism and Convention Board, both in Pennsylvania; Visit Henderson (Nevada); Kearney (Nebraska) Visitors Bureau; and Explore Utah Valley.

BY DAN DICKSON

In Laredo, two cultures mean twice the spice

BY VICKIE MITCHELL

The streets of Laredo, Texas, were a little livelier late one afternoon earlier this year. The unmistakable music of a mariachi band – that lively mix of guitars, violins and trumpets –brought shopkeepers to the sidewalk. “What’s going on?” asked one, watching the band in snappy black costumes lead a crowd from the La Posada Hotel to the Laredo Center for the Arts two blocks away.

A HAPPY START

The happy procession – a riff on la callejoneada, a wedding parade that’s a tradition in some parts of Mexico – was a farewell to a conference at La Posada. “We wanted to send them off with a memorable experience,” said Selina Villarreal, marketing manager for Visit Laredo.

It’s just one example of how this Texas border town of a quarter million adds its special spice – a blend of Texan and Mexican cultures – to the meetings of up to 200 attendees that best fit its two conference hotels: La Posada, a AAA Four Diamond property fashioned from several historic buildings, and the Embassy Suites, on the edge of town, near I-35.

LAREDO’S WATERFRONT WOWS

There’s no better reminder of how closely connected the two countries are than the Rio Grande, which courses through downtown, one bank American soil, the other Mexican. It is a visual reminder of where the border lies.

L aredo // Final Logo

VISIT LAREDO

Selina Villarreal 956-794-1717 svillarrea@ci.laredo.tx.us visitlaredo.com

The river and Mexico beyond are the scenery at the Max, Laredo’s municipal golf course. Far from your average city golf course, the Max is a Robert Trent Jones Signature, which typically signals a high price to play. Not in Laredo though, where a round runs $40 to $50.

Popular for golf outings, the course’s clubhouse is also designed for meetings, with a ballroom that has large windows with river views and a large, adjoining deck for cocktails, yoga classes or barbecue and Tex-Mex meals.

The river is also a focus at Laredo Water Museum. The Rio Grande is the area’s water source and the museum educates people about the importance of water conservation in such an arid climate. Engaging exhibits detail the amount of water needed to run a dishwasher or make a pair of jeans. “It will make you never want to use a plastic water bottle again,” Villarreal says. Its meeting spaces are popular with small groups, especially an auditorium that seats 50.

ADD IN SOME LOCAL FLAIR

Like the water museum, exhibits at the Laredo Center for the Arts convey local culture through rotating art works. in four galleries. Located in a historic building that once was a marketplace, its large, open meeting space can be used in varied ways.

In fact, when the mariachi parade arrived there, conference attendees were greeted by Mexican dancers, music and booths set up by local import shops. The mini-marketplace was a hit, especially with attendees who’d had little time to shop during their stay. “It adds to the experience and reminds you that it doesn’t have to be all business,” said Villarreal.