2018 Agenda

Early arrivals

Registration Open 

Early Sponsor/Exhibitor Setup 

Conference Begins - Presentation of Colors
Opening General Session - Magnanimitas: The Wonder of You and the Power of Team
Speaker:  Coach Bill Curry
Magnanimitas is a Latin word that means greatness of spirit and soul.  It recognizes the fact that every human being is different.  No matter who you are, you are unique, precious, and have something wonderful inside: your Magnanimitas.  Every person can discover his or her greatness of spirit and soul; develop and nurture it; and then use it for the benefit of self, team, and others.  When this happens, you are reminded that there is nothing like being part of a real team, a group of people who care about each other so much that their performance exceeds the apparent sum of the team’s component parts.  Teams become great only because each member is too committed to let his or her teammates or colleagues down.

General Session - Trend Watch 2019
Speaker:  Shawna Suckow, The Buyer Insider
There’s one constant in tourism: Change! These are great times to be in the tourism industry, but keeping on top of trends is more of a challenge than ever. Technology constantly evolves, consumer behavior continuously confounds, and there’s more non-traditional competition (think Airbnb) than ever before. Join Shawna as she shares her latest findings on the major and minor shifts that will impact the industry in the year ahead.
• Learn which regional, national and world trends can impact tourism in 2019 and beyond.
• Discover new technologies that can help you do your job with less frustration
• Learn what types of marketing are getting the attention of today’s traveler

Technology Track:  The Motivations and Mindsets of Travelers
Speaker:  Derek Price, Expedia Media Solutions
Travel is not a one size fits all experience, and traveler motivations, preferences and priorities vary around the world. A new study commissioned by Expedia Media Solutions and conducted by Northstar Research Partners illustrates the complex and time-consuming purchase journey of digital travelers in the United States, the United Kingdom and China, comparing their digital behavior trends and uncovering the motives and emotions behind their consideration set as they search, discover, explore and book travel.

Marketing & PR Track:  How to be More Memorable Today in Destination Marketing
Speaker:  Shawna Suckow, The Buyer Insider
There’s never been a time where our culture has been more saturated with marketing messages from every angle, every minute of the day. Translation:  there’s never been a more challenging time for marketing departments trying to get planners, procurement departments, and F.I.T. travelers to focus on their destination.

As consumers, we’ve all grown savvier about blocking and ignoring what we deem to be irrelevant messaging, and grown intolerant with interruption marketing.  How can you break through this cluttered marketing landscape to get the attention of your desired audience? Join Shawna Suckow, CMP, in this eyeopening session that will leave you will fresh ideas to address the new marketing landscape. She was a multi-million-dollar meeting and incentive planner for over 20 years. Today, she studies buyer behavior to uncover the latest trends, which she shares with the industry all over the world.
• Experience several real case studies from brands that created successful marketing campaigns on a budget
• Discover what is working today to gain attention on social media and in print
• Learn what’s not working, so you can re-purpose valuable resources more effectively

Advocacy Track:  Accommodations Tax 101
Speaker:  Eric Lopez, Georgia Dept. of Community Affairs
This session by the Department of Community Affairs provides CVBs, hoteliers, and local governments what they need to know about reporting, audit disclosure, and general compliance requirements, as well as clarification of the allowable uses of the tax.

Leadership Track:  #Winning - Enhancing Your Leadership Effectiveness with Myers-Briggs Part 1 (Tier 2 - Organizational Excellence)
Speaker:  Cathy Alford, Leadership Institute at Columbus State University
Leaders for the 21st Century must understand that leadership requires enhancing relationships and creativity among team members. Caring, showing interest, fairness, demonstrating trustworthiness, and understanding while at the same time managing ambiguity, diversity, and system complexity are directly related to the success of the 21st century leader. Using MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) participants will understand their own leadership psychology. Participants will gain insights into the needs of those around them who are essential to fulfilling organizational goals. Participants will learn that failure and success are primarily tied to developing constructive relationships among members of the team; having effective communication between leader and team members; and demonstrating the value of human differences.  *You must attend both parts 1 & 2 of this session to earn LEC credit.*

Transportation provided from the Atlanta Marriott Marquis to the College Football Hall of Fame

Evening Event - College Football Hall of Fame
sponsored by the Atlanta CVB
Just in time for college football season!  Enjoy a tailgate style dinner on the playing field at Atlanta's most interactive event facility.  Kick a field goal and close a deal in the same space!  Attendees will receive an all-access pass to experience three floors, five themed galleries and over 50 interactive exhibits, including a 45-yard football field and a three-story wall of over 750 college football helmets.  You can sing your school's fight song, show off school pride with digital face painting, even share screen time at the interactive ESPN College Gameday Desk - then review the plays over and over again with your all-access pass after the event.  Attendees will be given two drink tickets to use at the cash bar.  Attire:  your favorite college football team's colors/t-shirt/jersey.

Transportation provided from College Football Hall of Fame to the Atlanta Marriott Marquis

General Session - Georgia's Tourism Division Update
Speakers:  Kevin Langston and Lisa Love, Georgia Department of Economic Development

In this session, Cody will explain in detail how the best way to engage with a target consumer in today's media landscape is for brands/DMOs to think and act like publishers. Using visuals he will define content marketing as the overlap of the "brand objectives" of the destination with content that is relevant to the target consumer. In addition, Cody will give examples of content marketing (blogs, Podcasts, print publications, Vlogs, etc) and why DMOs should be investing in more content marketing efforts. Eye-opening statistics regarding the effectiveness of content marketing and great examples of DMOs using content marketing practices to drive business results. This portion of the presentation will be highly immersive and relevant showing real world examples from both small and large DMOs.

Afternoon Breakout Series 

Technology Track:  Traveler Social Media Preferences and Habits
Speaker:  Jody Farrar, Chute
To keep up and reach consumers where they are, all travel brands are moving more budgets to social media marketing. However, there are still many questions around what content best performs on which platform and influences decisions. During this talk, Chute's VP of Marketing Jody Farrar will share the latest data from the new 2018 Social Media Traveler Preferences Report. This annual report looks at what matters most for today's travelers to better understand their preferences and opinions on travel brands' social presences and to also to get a better understanding of their personal sharing habits.  Attendees will leave the talk with data to back up their digital strategies and tactics to implement post-event to reach digitally savvy travelers.

Partnership & Collaboration Track:  Georgia's All-Star Outdoors Economies - Learn How To Activate Yours
Speaker:  Tracie Sanchez, GDEcD
Talk about a booming industry…in Georgia, outdoor recreation generations more than $27.3 billion in consumer spending annually and supports more than 238,000 direct jobs! Tracie Sanchez, Tourism Product Development Manager at GDEcD, moderates a panel of experts representing water trails, greenways, sport tournaments, e-bikes and more to discuss trends and case studies in outdoor rec, highlight the Georgia-based workforce, and discuss opportunities for product development and promotion.

Advocacy Track:  Accommodations Tax 201
Speaker:  Eric Lopez, Georgia Dept. of Community Affairs
This session will give attendees the opportunity to dig deeper into specific examples of proper and improper uses of the tax and what avenues exist for reporting misuse.  You can even send the speaker a question or case study prior to the conference by emailing [email protected].  

Leadership Track:  Make it a Win/Win:  Conflict Resolution Part 1 (Tier 2 - Organizational Excellence)
Speaker:  Kim Cantrell, Leadership Institute at Columbus State University
People don’t leave work, they leave people. The toughest part of any job is dealing with the people around you. Using Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument participants will understand the process of conflict and its resolution. Conflict is not fun for most of us but avoiding it can cause irreparable damage to you and your team. Clarifying the facts, the players, and the positions in the conflict are key to the start of a REAL discussion on the most workable options to move to the most positive outcome and answer what are the legitimate needs and concerns of the people involved.  *You must attend both parts 1 & 2 of this session to earn LEC credit.*

General Session

Transportation provided from the Atlanta Marriott Marquis to SunTrust Park

Evening Event - Atlanta Braves vs. Tampa Bay Rays at SunTrust Park
sponsored by the Atlanta CVB & Cobb Travel & Tourism
Take me out to the ball game!  Tourism's Winning Team is headed to the beautiful new SunTrust Park in Cobb County to watch the Braves beat the Rays!  Our group will enjoy dinner, the game and some major league networking on the Hank Aaron Terrace.  Named in homage to our home run king, this spot in the park is perched above left field and features indoor (air-conditioned) and outdoor seating plus private restrooms.  We'll have a full ballpark buffet including burgers, dogs, chicken, bbq, pretzels, popcorn, peanuts, even the cracker jacks!  Cash bars will be available.  Game time is 7:35pm.

Transportation provided from SunTrust Park to the Atlanta Marriott Marquis

Time

Session

8:30am - 9:45am

General Session - The Next Big Things In Digital Marketing
Speaker:  Amrita Gurney, CrowdRiff
The future of destination marketing will require a mix of creative storytelling skills and technology mastery. In this session we’ll share what’s on the digital marketing horizon, separating major shifts from passing fads. Learn how modern day travelers make decisions, what Facebook and Google’s forays into the travel sector mean for DMOs, why new formats like Stories are here to stay, and whether technologies like AI and VR are helping or hurting marketers.

9:45am - 10:15am

Refreshment Break

Morning Breakout Series 

Partnership & Collaboration Track:  Better Together:  Getting Done What We Can’t Do Alone
Speaker:  Kate Skidmore, Destinations International
The tourism industry is faced with an ever changing landscape of political controversy, travel bans, challenges in funding and even natural disasters. Leadership, collaboration and resources are key during these times of challenge. 

In any destination, the Convention and Visitors Bureau is armed with resources and the ability to bring key community stakeholders together to accomplish what none can do alone. Advocacy, Education, Connecting with your Peers and having the tools you need in your toolbox – this session will be an interactive hour of learning what is new and what DI is doing to make sure that our industry remains strong.

Marketing Track:  How to Hit your Influencer Marketing Campaign out of the Park
Jade Broadus, Travel Mindset
In an engaging session packed with actionable advice, Jade will explore influencer marketing campaigns from beginning to end.  Jade will discuss campaign strategy and setting measurable objectives, detecting fake followers and the influencer selection process, sponsorship models and pricing, FTC guidelines and best practices for working with influencers, and using data to evaluate a campaign's return on investment.  Session attendees will come away with a greater understanding of influencer marketing's role in the tourism industry and how they can get the most out of an influencer marketing investment.

Leadership Track:  Make it a Win/Win:  Conflict Resolution Part 2 (Tier 2 - Organizational Excellence)
Speaker:  Kim Cantrell, Leadership Institute at Columbus State University
People don’t leave work, they leave people. The toughest part of any job is dealing with the people around you. Using Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument participants will understand the process of conflict and its resolution. Conflict is not fun for most of us but avoiding it can cause irreparable damage to you and your team. Clarifying the facts, the players, and the positions in the conflict are key to the start of a REAL discussion on the most workable options to move to the most positive outcome and answer what are the legitimate needs and concerns of the people involved.  *You must attend both parts 1 & 2 of this session to earn LEC credit.*

noon - 1:30pm

Governor's Lunch and Tourism Awards Ceremony
Speaker:  Governor Nathan Deal, State of Georgia

1:30pm

Adjourn