TWN #17 | November 2006

TRAVEL WISCONSIN NEWS

November 1, 2006

In this issue:

Top Stories
News Briefs
Wisconsin in the Spotlight
Media Leads
Technology Tips
Marketing Tips

TRAVEL NEWS BRIEFS

Sarah Klavas Entering Certified Public Manager Program

Marketing Director Sarah Klavas has been selected to enroll in the Wisconsin Certified Public Manager Program (WCPM) administered by UW-Madison. The nationally accredited management development program is geared specifically for managers in federal, state, and local government and in tribal and non-profit organizations. WCPM consists of three phases totaling 300 instructional hours. Seminars and workshops cover resource, personnel and organizational management, public policy, and strategic planning for senior managers in public administration.

Welcome New Tourism Staff

The Department welcomes two new staff members. Laura Muenich, the new Budget and Policy Analyst, joined the Department in mid-October. She comes from the UW System where she had extensive experience in budgeting and finance. Our newest addition is Sarah Pischer, who has accepted the position of Northern Economic Development Consultant, succeeding the retiring Ruth Goetz. Most recently, Sarah was the Director of Tourism for the Minocqua/Arbor Vitae/Woodruff Chamber of Commerce. The Department will relocate the northern office inside the Wisconsin Welcome Center in Hurley. Please help us welcome Sarah and Laura to their new jobs with Tourism.

Golf Wisconsin License Plate

On Sale Now Starting this week, golfers can display their love of the game and support junior golf programs at the same time when they purchase their very own "Golf Wisconsin" license plate. The classic white license plate carries the distinctive Golf Wisconsin logo and the phrase "Support Junior Golf" and will cost an extra $25 per year. Seventy-five percent of the funds raised by the plate sales supports junior golf programs and the remainder goes towards the Department's efforts to promote golf. A Golf Wisconsin license plate application is available online at travelwisconsin.com/golf or can be obtained at Wisconsin Welcome Centers and Department of Transportation offices.

Seasonal Welcome Centers Shuttered for Winter

Effective November 1, the seasonal Welcome Centers in Genoa City, Grant County, Prairie du Chien and Marinette will close for winter. They will reopen April 1, 2007. Please do not ship brochures or visitor guides to these centers while they're closed, as packages will automatically be returned. Be assured that come spring, the seasonal Welcome Centers will place orders for your guides and brochures. The remaining centers open year round (Kenosha, Beloit, La Crosse, Hudson, Superior and Hurley) will accept your materials anytime.

Lake Michigan Edition of the Birding Guide Available Soon

The third edition of the Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail Guide will be available to the public on Nov. 20. The trail itself covers eleven counties that border Lake Michigan from the shores of Rock Island State Park in the north to the Chiwaukee Prairie in the south. The guide makes it easy for birding enthusiasts to find their feathered friends with driving directions, maps, bird and wildlife descriptions, and contact information for 64 birding hot spots along the lake. Travelers can order the free guide on travelwisconsin.com or by calling 1-800-432-TRIP or stopping in a Wisconsin Welcome Center.

UW-Madison Offering Marketing Classes

The UW-Madison Small Business Development Center is here to help with your professional development by offering several upcoming marketing sessions. All sessions take place at Grainger Hall on the UW-Madison campus.

Insider Secrets of Effective Advertising and Public Relations

Thursday, November 9, 8:30am - Noon

Marketing Communications For Results

Thursday, November 16, 8:30am - Noon

Complete descriptions of what's covered in each session, along with pricing and other details is available at www.uwsbdc.org/estamarketing.htm or call 608-263-7680 for more information.

Upcoming Meetings

Meetings & Conventions Committee: Friday, Nov. 10 at Noon. Tourism Offices.

Governor's Council on Tourism: Thursday, Nov. 16 at 8:30 am. Tourism Offices.

Joint Effort Marketing Committee: Thursday, Nov. 16 at 2:00 pm. Tourism Offices.

Statewide Travel Green Wisconsin Certification Meetings: Thursday, November 9 at 5:00 pm at the Mineral Point Comfort Inn.

Top

WISCONSIN IN THE SPOTLIGHT

New York Times Readers … Meet Wisconsin

"Trees are trees. But Wisconsin has trails to go with those trees." Wisconsin's winning combination of trees and trails made a recent New York Times article about the availability of fall color hot spots outside of New England. Hayward, Cable, Eagle River, the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway and the Chequamegon National Forest were mentioned along with a quote from staffer Lisa Marshall.

Speaking of Wisconsin's trails… Stephen Regenold leaves no stone unturned as he reports from Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail for yet another article in the New York Times. Read it here.

"Door County is where the heartland goes to clear its head." Wisconsin's own Cape Cod was in the New York Times but not in the Travel section. This time, it was the Real Estate section. The article paints a detailed portrait of what makes Door County so appealing to travelers and retirees alike and discusses what second homeowners can expect from the area's real estate market.

Could that be Travel Green Wisconsin in the spotlight again?

Will Christianson, Travel Green Wisconsin coordinator, recently traveled to Alaska to participate in an eco-tourism panel discussion. He met up with Anchorage Daily News reporter Elizabeth Bluemink who mentioned the program at great length in her article about Alaska's efforts to promote sustainable tourism. Read it here.

An Associated Press article by Beth Harpaz gives three ways to support the environment during one's travels including patronizing properties like Inn Serendipity and checking out programs such as the Travel Green Wisconsin. Read her story here.

International Press

An article on Wisconsin's "Indian Summer" was published in two international outlets, Die Welt (circ of 322,000) and Welt kompakt (circ. 380,000). The publicity was a result of Von Karin Schumann's recent press trip that included several Native American destinations and attractions in the Northwoods.

The UK travel program Globe Trekker recently aired their show on the Midwest, which featured Bayfield and the Apostle Islands. In addition to the show's broadcast in a dozen countries worldwide, PBS carries the program in the U.S.

Last year's fall UK fam tour with Nicola Boden resulted in an article syndicated in 19 regional Press Association newspapers. From gangster hideouts in Couderay to touring the Apostle Islands, Boden describers Wisconsin as a destination for "those seeking a truly escapist holiday."

Another international fam trip - this one from winter 2006 - produced an article this month in General-Anzeiger, a German magazine. If you speak German, you're lucky and can read this. If not, enjoy the fabulous pictures of Wisconsin and Minnesota snowmobiling, mushing, and ice fishing.

Famous Musky Even More Famous

Hayward's famed fish made CBS Sunday Morning in a segment that captured both the romanticism and science behind catching - and recording - "the big one." Read the story.

Southwest Wisconsin Attractions Subject of MotorHome Magazine

Devil's Lake, Taliesin, the Fall Art Tour and the International Crane Foundation are all featured in the October issue of MotorHome Magazine. Linda Gartz's article "Autumn Harvest" is the result of her fall 2005 Spring Green fam trip coordinated by the Department of Tourism.

Read About Milwaukee in the Air

Air travelers were reading up on Milwaukee in recent weeks. An article on Brady Street surfaced in the October issue of Northwest Airlines World Traveler magazine. Milwaukee as an urban outdoor Mecca, especially for runners, was the angle of a story in a recent issue of Continental Magazine, the in-flight magazine for Continental Airlines.

In other Milwaukee news …Following on the coat tails of their recent recognition as America's "thirstiest" city, the "city that eats, sleeps, and burps beer" has been named the #2 Party City by Maxim magazine.

Black Meetings & Tourism focused on the Midwest for their August/September issue. While a number of Midwest cities were featured between the pages, only one was on the cover - our very own Milwaukee.

Wisconsin on Television

The Tourism Department's Communications Team has increased the number of regular interviews on TV morning news shows by adding appearances on WISN and WTMJ in Milwaukee and Madison's WMTV. Topics have included a little bit of everything with a recent emphasis on fall travel and events.

Top

MEDIA LEADS

Martin Hintz is researching Wisconsin's top hamburger joints for a book that he is writing about Wisconsin cheese. He is looking for nominees to head a Top 10 list of hamburger places in the state. He needs name, contact info and a description of the best burger, hopefully one that comes with cheese. If you have a favorite, drop him a line at martinhintz@wi.rr.com.

Steve Jermanok is writing two monthly columns for Away.com, the online content provider for Orbitz. The first column will be a Top 10 list of family destinations across North America. The second column is focused on cultural/historical travel, delving into annual festivals, expansions at art museums, and historical and architectural sites but not one-time-only exhibits or events. Recommendations can run the gamut from mainstream to obscure. Pitch your ideas to him at farandaway@comcast.net.

Evelyn Kanter is looking for Valentine's Day packages for both an international news service and also for the February issue of an upscale woman's magazine. She is looking for spas with side-by-side couples spa treatments and teaching programs such as massage and spa cuisine cooking. Deadline to pitch your idea is Nov. 30. Reach her at evelyn@evelynkanter.com.

Does your lodging property or restaurant have a signature cocktail? CocktailAtlas.com wants to know about it. Travel writer Madelyn Miller is helping the site track down the latest in mixology magic. Email your signature cocktail to her at madelyn@cocktailatlas.com. See the website for an idea of what they feature.

Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV recently launched "The Morning Blend," a daily magazine-style talk show that invites advertisers to sponsor entire segments in the show. Advertiser segments will be mixed among entertainers, chefs, health care providers, community leaders and information on important community events. Your sponsored segment from "The Morning Blend" also appears online for one month and on Time Warner Digital Cable's "Wisconsin On Demand." The Department of Tourism may be able to provide related video footage from its video library to enhance your segment. Please contact Keith Donavan for more information at 414-967-5329.

TECHNOLOGY TIPS

Four Tips for Choosing a Website Vendor: Part I

Note: This is part of a special two-part Tech Tips series. “Working With a Website Vendor” will be published in the January issue of Travel Wisconsin News.

Websites are rapidly becoming the largest annual marketing expenditure for many organizations. It’s easy to understand why – unlike a radio ad or print brochure, your website is available 24/7 to carry your marketing message to your consumers. The interactive nature of websites also allows two-way communication, providing an opportunity that other media just can’t match.

Choosing a vendor for your next big interactive project can be a daunting task. You’ve worked with a web company or two in the past, but you wonder if someone better is out there. You know that the lowest price isn’t necessarily a good deal – it’s getting the best value for your dollar that counts. But how do you do that? Here are four tips to get you started.

1. Compile a list of goals, then prioritize them.

Brainstorm all of the goals you’d like your project to accomplish, and then rank them. Don’t worry about how to specifically implement anything – that comes later. Prioritizing your goals helps the vendor understand which ones are most important. It will enable them to let you know what your budget allows.

Speaking of budgets, it’s good to have a ballpark idea of how much you can spend. Set aside 20% for updates to your site and promotion of your site during the 12 months after it launches.

2. Create an “RFP.”

When multiple vendors bid on your web project, you need to be able to compare apples to apples. One way to do this is to develop a Request For Proposal. A good RFP will outline the project as much as possible – it will include your goals and your desired timeframe to complete the project. It will also ask vendors to submit work samples, references, and a staff roster detailing skill sets along with their project quote. Without a qualitative method to compare vendors, you risk awarding the project to the best sales team, not the best interactive project team.

3. Get an independent expert’s opinion.

This is the most crucial step to choosing a good vendor. Computer programming is intimidating. But just as you’d never buy a house without having it professionally inspected, you should never select a vendor without having an expert look under the hood for you. One can’t know everything about the skills of a vendor by looking at their website code, but you’d be surprised at how much a pro can tell you by viewing the source of the website references provided by vendors. So how do you find an expert?

Ask around – chances are, someone you know is already in the field, or has a friend or sibling or child who would make a great resource. Another option is a nearby college, tech school, or high school. You’re looking for someone that has no conflict of interest, who’s up-to-speed on current web technology, and most importantly can explain things to you in terms you understand. You don’t need to know the details, just the top-level reasoning behind their opinions.

This person is worth their weight in gold – you don’t want to burden them with a bunch of work, so keep their time short, sweet, and focused on the areas that you can’t judge. And a little bribe or thank-you gift doesn’t hurt, either. It may take a bit of legwork, but the right technical person on your team will pay off enormously in the end.

4. Evaluate the staff rosters.

You’ve got your expert and an RFP. Now take a look at the staff rosters submitted by vendors. Specifically, you want to review their balance, turnover, skill set, and experience.

Balance. For most projects, an even mix among designers, developers, and client account people works best. If 80% of the company consists of programmers, that’s a warning sign that you might not get the design or service you need.
Turnover and Redundancy. How long have staff members been part of the team? High turnover is common in this industry. If your vendor only has one designer, your project is in jeopardy if he leaves halfway through. Likewise, if a programmer just started two months ago, she may not be fitting in just yet.
Skill set. Are they knowledgeable about a broad range of web technologies? If a vendor only works with a narrow set of programming languages, it can be a warning sign. When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
Tourism Experience. Ideally you want someone with at least a little tourism or hospitality experience. However, someone who only works in tourism may not be ideal, either. Vendors unfamiliar with other industries may have developed blinders to new or different approaches. Your project may not be suited to their cookie-cutter style.

David Dickinson is the author of this two-part Tech Tips series on finding and working with a website vendor. Before joining Tourism, David project-managed dozens of websites for clients including Mattel, Rayovac, Target, and Trek. If you have questions about the article or need advice on finding and working with a website vendor, reach him at ddickinson@travelwisconsin.com.

Top

MARKETING TIPS

Making Buzz Marketing Work For You

High-Touch in a High-Tech

World We live in a TiVo world. Television watchers fast-forward through commercials. Radio listeners skip up and down the dial. Online news readers click on what's interesting to them - and not a lot more. According to recent marketing research, 42% of home products ads are ignored and the same thing with 45% of fast-food ads.

So, how do you reach people these days? How to do you get people talking about your business?

Enter Buzz Marketing

Think of buzz marketing as "micro-marketing" as opposed to classic "mass marketing." Traditional advertising - while certainly valuable and appropriate in many cases - is based on the idea of broadcasting a message to reach the largest possible number of interested consumers. Buzz marketing, on the other hand, relies on person-to-person communication.

Generating a buzz means giving people a reason to talk about particular products or services and making it easier for that conversation to take place between consumers. You're creating a way for people to enjoy sharing information or experiences with others in order to entertain or to sound smart or in the know. You're creating brand evangelists.

Basically, you're augmenting your traditional marketing efforts - such as advertising, promotions, public relations - with interpersonal communication among your customers or potential customers.

Need More Proof?

The way your customers and your potential customers are communicating is changing. You want to change with them.

Consumers have embraced the Internet and e-mail because they empower consumers in these ways:

Mass participation: Information is gained from everyday users and fellow consumers, not just "experts" such as journalists, critics, and others.
Mass dissemination: Internet users read and use blogs. They visit chat rooms and websites. They read, write and forward emails. They use RSS*.
Permanence: The Internet allows for a permanent record of virtually everything published. No one keeps files of old articles, because now everything's just a Google search away.

Buzz marketing allows your consumers and potential consumers to engage with your business in a personal way. Using e-communication is a great, personal, interactive way to get people to connect with your business. Do something that allows your customers and potential customers to engage in your brand. Here are a few ideas:

Viral Marketing: Create entertaining or informative messages designed to be passed along by email. The Department's Fish Wisconsin game is an example of viral marketing. It's purpose is to entertain with the idea that consumers would "share the fun" with other potential consumers.
Product Seeding: Place the right product into the right hands at the right time; provide information or samples to influential individuals.
Conversation Creation: Create tools - maybe small giveaways or gift cards - that enable satisfied customers to refer their friends.

For Example …

Let's say a restaurant wanted to announce that it would be offering a curbside pick-up service. How could it use buzz marketing? Here's what they did.

A group of runners clad in track jackets bearing the restaurant's logo were sent running through a busy downtown at peak travel times distributing information about the new service - as well as a certificate to experience it. It caught people's attention. In addition, two cameras from local news stations shot footage, and the restaurant landed on the evening news. The media coverage was just icing on the cake!

Let's break down that example so you can re-create something like it for your own purposes.

First, analyze

Think about what you want your communication effort to say. What do you want your audience to think? In the example of the restaurant, the notion of "speedy" curbside pick-up was conveyed with the use of runners.

Brainstorm

Get several people involved. Rarely do great ideas come from one person sitting alone in an office. If possible, involve your target audience in the brainstorming. Perhaps there are "regulars" of your restaurant, lounge, or attraction who would be flattered to get behind-the-scenes. They'll likely have some great insights about what would resonate with them and people like them!

Don't limit yourself when engaging in buzz marketing brainstorming. Your ideas should be larger than life - especially initially. That's how you'll come up with the best stuff. You can always scale back based on budget, time and staffing to arrive at something that's truly doable.

Think it through

With buzz marketing, you really need to pay attention to detail. If your buzz marketing idea involves some sort of splashy event or product seeding, think about any supplies and props you'll need. Secure them well in advance and test them for the idea you have in mind to make sure they'll work.

If you're enlisting volunteers or other people who aren't typically involved in your business, get everyone on the same page with a face-to-face meeting or through e-mails. Thank your volunteers with certificates so they can experience your product or service for themselves. Ahh…more brand evangelists.

Keep it legal

As you might guess, the most common errors in buzz marketing can involve trespassing, defacing private or public property and not getting permission where and when you need to. In the case of the runners, each signed a waiver approved by the marketer's legal department.

Start Today

Start training yourself to think in terms of "buzz" by constantly asking yourself an important question when working on any and all of your marketing communications: Would anyone talk about this? Will your plan, your materials, or your tactics get people talking? If the answer is "no," tweak your plan until the answer becomes "yes."

* RSS is an acronym for a family of web feed formats standards (Really Simple Syndication, Rich Site Summary, RDF Site Summary). It is a system that allows Internet users to subscribe to their favorite websites and receive updates.

Top