Quinn & Hary Marketing, Regan’s Connecticut agency, recently managed and produced the fifth annual Connecticut Conference on Tourism. The statewide tourism conference is held every spring at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut. The Conference, in partnership with the State Office of Tourism, is sponsored by national media companies plus attractions and hotel groups in Connecticut.
The event provides educational and networking opportunities to tourism operators, travel and leisure organizations and industry partners throughout the State. The Conference features renowned guest speakers and substantive workshops on topics of relevance to the industry. Quinn & Hary promotes the event via CelebrateTourism.com, the event Web site that the agency built and maintains.
Speakers and panelists for the Conference breakout sessions were determined based on a detailed online survey of preferences and interests from Connecticut tourism stakeholders in early 2014. Over 300 respondents helped formulate a top ten list of topics that included travel trends, advanced social media, reputation management, digital marketing, selling to meeting planners and keeping up with Google.
The all-day Conference also showcased Connecticut’s new marketing campaign for its Still Revolutionary brand plus a keynote address by Daniel Levine, Global Editor of the popular social trends Web site, WikiTrend.org. The event concluded with the Connecticut Pineapple Awards, an industry awards presentation recognizing excellence in tourism.
Quinn & Hary managed all communications for the Connecticut Conference on Tourism. The company oversaw the development of a new mobile application. The app, which was available for free download at both Apple App and Google Play Stores, allowed for attendees to navigate the Conference, engage partners and create a customized agenda.
The Connecticut Conference on Tourism garnered extensive statewide media attention including pre and post coverage in the Hartford Courant, New Haven Register, Connecticut Post, Journal Inquirer, Hartford Business Journal, The Day, Waterbury Republican-American, Mystic River Press, WNPR radio, WTIC-AM, NBC Connecticut, WFSB-TV, and FOX Connecticut.
A strong social media presence leading up to the event resulted in over 34,000 followers reached and nearly 43,000 impressions on Twitter. Through a combination of daily posting and advertising, Facebook fans of the event page grew by nearly 300%. Live tweeting and Facebook posts also kept attendees engaged with colleagues throughout the day.
The Connecticut Conference on Tourism received high marks for the quality of its programming and strong attendance from the business community. The event’s success was the result of an integrated and comprehensive marketing strategy for event development and targeted promotion.
-Quinn & Hary
