| Athens Now:
The monthly newsletter of the Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau |
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Marketing & Media Updates
 Athens is a featured overnight stop on this year's Georgia Cities Foundation tour, April 13-14. The Downtown Development Authority, Athens-Clarke County Unified Government, and the CVB have worked with this group and local partners to highlight success stories of local business development.
- Amy Clark will represent Athens and the Historic Heartland Travel Association for a "road Trip Through Genuine Georgia" luncheon at the Southern Progress headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, on April 20. Southern Progress is home to Southern Living, Cooking Light, and Coastal Living. The goal of the luncheon is to share story ideas for editorial coverage and to build relationships with representatives from these publications.
- Hannah Smith will represent Athens and the Historic Heartland at Georgia's Travel Media Marketplace in Blue Ridge on May 14. Journalists will participate in press FAMs after the Marketplace; Athens has been selected as a stop on the Culinary/Agritourism FAM and will host the group May 15-16.
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M&C Updates
 The Athens CVB hosted eight meeting planners on April 6 for a lunch in Atlanta at Maggiano's Italian Restaurant. The luncheon provided the perfect opportunity for the CVB and Classic Center sales teams to spread the word about the future expansion to The Classic Center and the possibility of a new hotel property. Some of the planners included Georgia Psychological Assn., Southeast Pre-Stressed Concrete Assn., Georgia Assn. of Water Professionals, and Georgia Hospital Assn. Georgia Family Physicians has already scheduled a site inspection as a result of the luncheon. |
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Tricks of the Trade
 Recent News You Can Use for the Hospitality Industry:
- Google Places is an excellent no-cost means of increasing your visibility online (Search Engine Optimization). Even if you have a listing, check for accuracy and to see if there are additional fields you can complete, including images, videos, and mobile coupons. The more complete a listing is, the higher it will rank with Google.
- Managing your online reputation is increasingly important. How do you track what customers are saying about you? Do you know when and how to respond to any negative feedback? Best Practices for Responding to Reviews.
- Are you getting the most engagement and ROI out of social media such as Facebook? Turns out, timing is everything. Check out this study of engagement levels and know when to post your next status update.
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Arts & Economic Prosperity Study
 Athens-Clarke County is participating in the Americans for the Arts survey of Arts and Economic Prosperity IV. Over the next year, our community will gather raw data from patrons and visitors at a wide range of for-profit and not-for-profit arts and cultural entities and events. This effort is led by the Athens Area Arts Council with many contributing partners, including the Athens CVB. In June 2012, we will receive not only results for Athens, but also comparable cities around the country. For more information on this project, visit ArtsUSA.org. |
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Hospitality Newsmakers
 The Classic Center has been recognized with the 2010 Best of Business Award in the Convention & Performing Arts Center category by the Small Business Commerce Association (SBCA) .
- Hotel Indigo Athens is again vying for the title of North America's Leading Green Hotel in the 2011 World Travel Awards. Vote here.
- CVB director Chuck Jones was a featured speaker at the Athens Area Board of Realtors Commercial and Land Committee's April 13 meeting.
- April Moore Skelton, CVB Information Coordinator, is a 2011 graduate of L.E.A.D. Athens. Congratulations April!
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 SAVE THE DATE |
April 20 Georgia Luncheon @ Southern Progress HQBirmingham, AL Contact Amy Clark for more info.
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April 20 CVB Advisory Board joint mtg. with DABA
Hotel Indigo 5:30 p.m. RSVP: Venessa Banks706.357.4432 ***
April 27
Hotel GM Meeting
Classic Center
Olympia Room
10:00 a.m.
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May 12 - 16 Travel Media MarketplaceBlue Ridge/Ellijay post-FAM in Athens More info |
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