Venue Spotlight

How Venue Managers are employing destination marketing principles to their advantage… V

How Venue Managers are employing destination marketing principles to their
advantage…
Venue Managers
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that DMO’s/CVB’s don’t have a monopoly on
Destination Marketing. In fact, the best performing venues today both understand
and implement the advantages of utilizing destination marketing tactics.
One of the primary advantages of destination marketing is the ability to reach
planners early in the planning process – when one must first select where in the
world their meeting or event will be held before selecting venues, sleeping rooms,
food & beverage, etc. Featuring your venue on ConventionCalendar.com gives you
the opportunity to strategically be positioned in front of planners searching for a
destination.
One great example is the Santa Clara Convention Center, which has produced more
than 80 new RFPs over the span of a couple of months by participating as a featured
venue. Featured venues have access to ConventionCalendar.com and the SwiftRFP™
technology platform -- containing state of the art technology that enables venues to
easily deploy proven online destination marketing strategies. Destination Advantage
LLC, a leader in online destination marketing for nearly two decades, pioneered
many of these marketing tactics.
“The ConventionCalendar.com program with the SwiftRFP™ service was up and
running before we knew it. It’s really made a big impact on our venue sales and
marketing efforts,” says Lisa Moreno, GM and CEO of the Santa Clara Convention
Center and CVB. “What’s more, the sales team loves the new leads and the
integration with the CVB is seamless!”
Santa Clara is a great example of venue management becoming a lead source for the
destination sales team. Here are some links to view the Santa Clara program first-
hand:
  • http://www.conventioncalendar.com/sc – Santa Clara Convention Center is a
    featured venue on ConventionCalendar.com, giving them a spot at the top of
    the home page.

    • http://santaclaraconventioncenter.org/ – The calendar of events, along with
      the RFP form use the same technology as Convention Calendar.

    • http://www.santaclara.org/meeting-planners/ – Convention Center
      Calendar of Events and access to SiliconValleyMeetings.com provides
      regional destination marketing and lead generation.
    Each of these websites seamlessly integrates with the ConventionCalendar.com
    SwiftRFP™ program. Venue administration has access to a dashboard where
    everything is kept track of, all in one spot. Administrative functions include: RFP
    management, email alert system, Hot Dates promotion, Event Management, and
    robust reporting – all bundled into a fully functional destination marketing and lead
    generation system based on proven experience and marketing intelligence. So what
    are you waiting for? Visit ConventionCalendar.com to find out Where will your next
    event be held?