Even for Southern folks, deciding
exactly how to sponsor isn’t always
as easy as Whitehead makes it sound.
Mindy Shea of Visit Savannah pulled
together several NTA members to pro-
mote her city at Contact ’16, but picking
a team was only the start.
“We thought sponsorship would be a no-
brainer, but it took many of our sales team
members helping with ideas to make it
happen,” Shea says. “We wanted to put our
name into everyone’s hands—literally—so
we chose to supply the event pens.”
Team Savannah pored over design and
messaging options for their pens, and
then fate intervened.
“As we were searching, Savannah was
named by Travel and Leisure magazine
as one of the top 10 cities of the world,”
Shea recalls. “We found a pen with a
globe on top and had ‘Top 10 City of the
World’ imprinted on it. Taa-daa!”
Ready to look into launching
your own sponsor partnership
at an NTA event?
Contact NTA’s Laura Scott
at [email protected].
NTA members in Oregon, too, reap the
benefits of a collaborative effort. Lisa Itel of
Travel Oregon works with Team Oregon—
composed of representatives of Travel
Portland and other DMOs and suppliers
from around the state—to cook up ideas.
“It takes a village,” Itel says. “Travel
Oregon might develop initial event con-
cepts for our NTA sponsorships, but it’s
Team Oregon that brings our events to life.”
Itel says what she likes most is that her
partners think outside the box to bring
quirky, creative ideas to their NTA family.
“We inspire people to stop reading about
the donut phenomenon in Portland, the
craft beer culture moving across Oregon
and the fourth deepest lake on the planet
and go ahead and book a trip,” she says.
“We love changing people’s lives.”
For the Tennessee partners, one central
theme—Tennessee’s Music Highway—
created a chorus of ideas, according to
Shelda Rees of the Chattanooga CVB.
“Once we were all on the same page
with music as our overall theme, we dis-
cussed entertainment at the luncheon,
door prize centerpieces and a sponsor card
for registration bags,” Rees says. “Then the
state tourism office offered to put together
a music video to showcase all of us.”
As a Contact meal sponsor, Flores
takes a turn at the mic to get his mes-
sage to members.
“People’s attention spans are growing
shorter, so a brief presentation reaches
them,” he says. “Before I can sell anyone
on a helicopter flight, they have to get
to Las Vegas. John talks first about Las
Vegas, and then I tell them something
specific they can do. It reminds people
that Las Vegas is more than just casinos.”
Dan Flores (Maverick Aviation Group), left,
and John Meyer (Las Vegas CVA) grew
up in Las Vegas and played on different
baseball teams. Ever since 2012, though,
they have teamed up as Contact sponsors,
including in Québec City last August.
Weighing the results
And it works—for Flores and others.
“The visibility is great. For the rest of
the event, people come up and thank me,
and we trade business cards,” he says.
“After people have seen you on stage,
they’re more comfortable walking up and
talking to you.”
Meyer, Flores’ breakfast partner, gets
access to tour operators by sponsoring at
Contact. “What makes it valuable is the
networking and relationship develop-
ment,” he says. “And we’re branding Las
Vegas as a viable option for groups.”
Sponsors also take advantage of having
an event-long presence on the show floor.
“I love having a Sweet Home Alabama
booth!” Culp says. “That gives us great
exposure to the entire convention.”
Chattanooga also had some sweet-
ness to impart at Travel Exchange in St.
Louis, where Rees shared her city’s iconic
confection. “Chattanooga Bakery and the
famous MoonPie turned 100 years old
this year, and we used that as one of our
hooks,” she says. “We loved giving them
out at our booth.”
Having a tangible giveaway worked
well for Shea and her Savannah cohorts,
too. She is confident that her team and
their pens reminded Contact attendees
in Québec City last August of the posi-
tive experience they had in Savannah the
year before.
Even the intangible results are positive,
as Culp has learned through sponsoring
the board dinner.
“It gives Sweet Home Alabama great
coverage, and my partners are able to be
seen by and to see the NTA leadership in
a casual setting,” Culp says. “As a direct
Finding a formula
Clayton Whitehead (Sports Leisure
Vacations) partnered with Patti Culp
(Alabama Travel Council) and Judy Ryals
(Huntsville CVB) to sponsor the Past
President’s Reception and the Board of
Directors Dinner in St. Louis, as they also
did in 2015 and 2016. Other Alabama
sponsors were the Alabama Tourism
Department and the Alabama Mountain
Lakes Tourist Association.
Lisa Itel (Travel Oregon), left, has partnered
with Heather Anderson (Travel Portland)
and other Team Oregon DMOs and suppliers
to sponsor at every NTA convention since
2008, as well as at Contact. The two,
pictured last August in Québec City, were
presented the NTA Shining Star Award in
St. Louis at Travel Exchange.
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