SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, Calif.
In an effort to market the destination to conference and meeting planners, the Santa Cruz County Conference & Visitors Council (CVC) has announced a number of initiatives being launched this month designed to reach this business-oriented audience looking for a unique California setting for their groups.
One of the online tactics to increase the presence of Santa Cruz County venues is the utilization of Cvent, a web-based software platform for meeting site selection, online event registration, event management, email marketing and web surveys. Event planners and hoteliers worldwide can search over 200,000 hotels and venues listed on the Cvent Supplier Network – including local CVC meeting partners.
Additionally this month, the CVC will debut a new Digital Meeting Destination Guide, designed to engage meeting planners in a fun, creative way. The digital guide features vibrant photography combined with an interactive layout, illustrating this California beach town’s appeal to meeting planners and attendees.
A countywide map highlighting a variety of meeting venues and a group “style” quiz to find the perfect team building activity are featured in a dynamic format. Embedded video contributes to the inspirational message, while hyperlinks to planner resources provide function and call to action. Planners can visit santacruzmeetings.travel to experience the guide when it is launched.
On the digital front, the CVC worked with The Impact Media Group to produce a meetings destination promotional video. Accessible to meeting planners, the video is designed to personify the destination and extend the CVC’s meetings and conference brand messaging.
An extra push this season in meetings-related advertising will see the CVC’s meetings messaging appearing online utilizing Google text and display and Facebook ads. Banner ads will appear on MeetingsFocus.com and other websites. Print advertising plans include display ads and corresponding digital versions in Meetings Focus and MPI NCC Perspective.
CVC staff is representing Santa Cruz County at two significant meetings industry trade shows. This week, the CVC is attending the Seasonal Spectacular Tradeshow, sponsored by the California Society of Association Executives in Sacramento. As the West Coast’s largest gathering of association professionals, this show facilitates in-person connections between over 1,000 association meeting planners and industry suppliers. Attendees experience a full-day of networking opportunities, including education programs and pre-scheduled, one-on-one appointments with key planners.
Over the summer, CVC staff attended the All Things Meetings Silicon Valley Meeting Planner Reception. This unique meeting planning event brought over 100 qualified meeting planners to meet with approximately 50 supplier venues and destinations. The Hotel Paradox attended this event in cooperation with the CVC, and Seascape Beach Resort had representatives in attendance as well.
The CVC’s online meetings presence now features enhanced categorized venue listings, services listings for team building, catering, and other meeting and event related services. The new Digital Meeting Destination Guide, a Meeting Planner FAQ, Team Building Quiz and the new Meetings Video round out the site.
About the CVC: A private, non-profit corporation, the Santa Cruz County Conference and Visitors Council (CVC) exists to enhance tourism and the economy by positioning Santa Cruz County as a visitor, conference and film destination.
