Sunshine Matters

The 44^th Annual Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism, held September 25 – 27 at the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, was quite a success with more than 750 members of the travel industry, nearly 100 exhibitors and sponsors, and over 20 industry speakers in attendance.

Each year, VISIT FLORIDA hosts this premier educational conference for the Florida tourism industry.  The event is designed to educate and engage members of the industry by highlighting the latest marketing strategies, critical research data and best practices.

As a way to enrich the conference experience and showcase the exponential growth in the use of technology from the previous year, the VISIT FLORIDA Corporate Meetings team was tasked with engaging attendees via social and mobile media during the 2011 conference.  Through the team’s efforts, more than 350 attendees subscribed to SMS updates, participated in Twitter conversations using the official conference hashtag, and sent messages and pictures that appeared on-screen for other attendees to view.

More than a dozen SMS updates were sent out over the three days and those who opted in to receive the messages were entered to win one of five iPads awarded throughout the conference.  Attendees also learned of the giveaways through pocket cards placed in conference badge holders, fliers displayed at the registration desk and announcements made during general sessions.

Over 850 tweets were shared beyond the conference, representing tens of thousands of social media impressions.  Additionally, dozens of tweets were sent from the official VISIT FLORIDA industry-targeted Twitter channel, @FloridaTourism.  All of these tweets could be seen on large screens during the general sessions, providing real-time conference updates, links to relevant resources and messages from attendees.

In addition to Twitter and SMS updates, Facebook was used to upload hundreds of photographs from the conference.   These images spotlight award winners, speakers, presentations and event activities via the Florida Travel & Tourism Facebook page.

As a service to those attendees who could not make it to all the sessions or for industry members who were unable to attend the conference, VISIT FLORIDA has gathered presentations and transcripts for many of the educational sessions which are now available to download and view on the Florida Tourism Conference website.  More presentations will be available in the coming weeks, so be sure to check the site again soon.

For more highlights, photos and presentations of this year’s Florida Governor’s Conference on Tourism, visit www.FloridaTourismConference.com.  To read other wrap up blog posts about the conference, please see 10 Steps to Better Engagement in VISIT FLORIDA Programs, VISIT FLORIDA Coordinates CSR Activity at Governor’s Conference and VISIT FLORIDA Honors Award Winners During Governor’s Conference.