SLAA NEWSLETTER August/September 2015
President’s Corner
Summer is coming to an end and fall is right around the corner. I hope that everyone had a busy season! SLAA’s newsletter has a new look, and we would love to know what you think. We also had an #awesome July luncheon hosted by Hollywood Casino St. Louis. There were a ton of great social and digital roundtable discussions. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mark Hermes with the St. Louis CVC, Jared Reed with Pan Galactic, Stephanie Lynch with FleishmanHillard, Brent Shulman with the St. Louis Sports Commission, Melissa Vogt with Six Flags St. Louis, Thompson Knox with Steady Rain, Pat Hawn with MarketVolt, and Rick Soldinie with Drive Social Media for sharing your knowledge of the ever changing world of social media and digial marketing…#greatcontent! I would also like to thank both of our luncheon sponsors, Madden Media and Missouri Life Magazine.
September 16th Lunch Meeting – “A Look Inside the World of Visitor Services”
Concierge professionals and front-line tourism staff provide an important link between area attractions and the visitors who come to St. Louis. Join us on Wednesday, September 16th, at Six Flags St. Louis for a conversation with members of the concierge and front-line communities to learn more about the types of questions they receive from guests, how they stay abreast of new and exciting offerings in the St. Louis region and how you can better connect with members of both groups. Additionally, our hosts from Six Flags St. Louis will be opening a few rides for guests to enjoy before heading back to the office.
Thank You to Our Host
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Thank You!
SLAA went digital for the July membership meeting – aptly titled #SLAAGOESDIGITAL. The July meeting offered attendees the opportunity to participate in roundtable discussions about a variety of digital marketing and social media topics. Attendees had the opportunity to participate in discussions on the four topics which interested them most from the following list:
- Social Media Metrics
- Search Engine Optimization and Keyword Searching
- Trending Social Media Topics
- Managing Social Media Across Multiple Platforms
- Reputation Management/Managing Negative Posts and Comments
- Mobile-Friendly Websites
- Targeting Your Emails for Better Results
- Paid Advertising on Facebook
Special thanks to our panel of moderators for sharing their time and expertise with us:
- Pat Hawn, Vice President of Sales – MarketVolt
- Mark Hermes, Digital Marketing & Social Media Manager – St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission
- Thompson Knox, President – Steady Rain
- Stephanie Lynch, Vice President, Social Media Content Director – FleishmanHillard
- Jared Reed, CEO – Pan Galactic Digital
- Brent Shulman, Director of Marketing & Communications – St. Louis Sports Commission
- Rick Soldinie, Social Media Consultant – Drive Social Media
- Melissa Vogt, Marketing Supervisor – Six Flags St. Louis
An additional thank you goes out to Hollywood Casino for hosting the meeting, along with Madden Media and Missouri Life Media for their generous sponsorships.
Thank You to Our Host
Thank You to Our Sponsors
Congratulations!
A big shout out to Madden Media and Amtrak for the raffle items donated for the July luncheon. Lara Reed and Marynell Christenson won Cardinals tickets and gift certificates, and Lara won Amtrak tickets, as well! It was a very successfull raffle. Our 50/50 Raffle winner, Kelly Tuttle, took home $44, and Quincy Risinger won a subscription to Missouri Life, donated by Missouri Life Media.
We are always looking for donations to make the luncheons even more exciting, and accept donations at any time! Just contact Kelly Hutchison or Brooke Emshoff, and they’ll make arrangements to pick it up.
Scholarship Awards Presented at July Meeting
The Saint Louis Attractions Assocation was delighted to present two scholarship awards this year – one honorable mention, plus one scholarship recipient. Click here to read more.
Mark You Calendar for the 2015 Silent Auction!
It’s August, and that means it’s time to start planning the 2015 Silent Auction! First things first – we’re looking for Committee Members. If you are interested in helping plan the auction, then please contact Kelly Hutchison or Brooke Emshoff, and they’ll add you to the team.
For this year’s auction, we’re looking for EXPERIENCES! Things like “Be the DJ at the Hard Rock Cafe,” or “Meet and Greet with Cardinals Players,” or “Feed the Stingrays,” or “Backstage Tours!” Don’t get us wrong, we love gift certificates, too – this year we’re trying to diversify the auction and give our members the best options ever. If you have a gift certificate or experience you would like to donate, please send it to the SLAA office.
And, while not yet ready to be announced, it looks like we have a pretty exciting location just about lined up. It just keeps getting better and better, so make sure you save the date for this year’s auction – November 18th!
Membership Update
Happy August SLAA Members! We’re coming up on budgeting season for 2016, and some SLAA Members have found it’s easier to pay dues, and purchase a Season Pass all in one check. Instead of brining a check each time (who needs the headache of getting a check cut each time, or writing expense reports?), budget to pay your dues and Season Pass all together and you’ll never have to worry about getting checks cut again. While you’re at it, why not think about sponsoring a meeting as well? With dues, a Season Pass, and a meeting sponsorship, you’re rolling everything into one and saving yourself (and your finance department!) a lot of headaches.
The Silent Auction in November is a great time to bring potential members! They can meet everyone, and do some fundraising for our scholarship fund. Be thinking about the items and experiences you can donate to the auction as well.
Thanks for all of your help in 2015 already, and a big thanks for your continued help recruiting new members in 2015!
2015 Spirit of St. Louis Awards
The purpose of the Spirit of St. Louis Awards is to honor those members of the attractions and hospitality industry that go the extra mile and put forth exemplary effort in helping to further the goals and objectives of the industry and the Saint Louis Attractions Association. The Association recognizes these noteworthy achievements at the January meeting. There are three award categories. Click here for more information.
Organizations along the length of the Mississippi River are joining with National Geographic Maps to highlight the world-class natural, cultural and historic sites, attractions and tourism businesses along the river for a new National Geographic interactive MapGuide website of the region.
Like other National Geographic Geotourism programs, the Mississippi River project aims to capture the unique places, artisans, attractions and businesses connected to the Mighty Mississippi. These stories and places will be compiled into an interactive, National Geographic Society co-branded website of the region that will be a dynamic resource for promoting national and international travel.
Organizations along the Mississippi River are encouraged to nominate sites, attractions and businesses to be included in the interactive MapGuide. This is a wonderful opportunity to showcase places in your area that are treasured by locals. Nominations are due by November 20, 2015. For more information and/or to nominate sites, attractions and businesses for free, please explore the project website at http://mississippiriver.natgeotourism.com.
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