South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority Hosts 2017 Partnership Summit

South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority Hosts 2017 Partnership Summit

On Tuesday, the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority (South Shore CVA) welcomed partners to the annual 2017 Partnership Summit hosted at the Indiana Welcome Center in Hammond.

Partners of the South Shore CVA were invited to the Summit, which kicked off with a networking breakfast that was followed up by presentations from the team at the South Shore CVA throughout the morning.

Click here for more photos!

“The day entails networking and education for our partners,” said South Shore CVA Partnership, Sales and Development Manager, Megan Menacher. “Our partners are different hospitality industry members including hotels, restaurants, shops, and attractions.”

“We get everyone together to talk about some new marketing initiatives that will be taking place in 2017 that they can take part in,” added Menacher. “We’ll also be talking about some of the different campaigns from last year that some of our partners can be taking advantage of in the community. It’s really just a great chance to help businesses grow.”

The first presentation featured South Shore CVA President and CEO, Speros Batistatos, who touched on the proposed South Shore Convention Center and provided updates on the state of the South Shore’s hospitality industry.

“Every day I get up and love to do this so it’s very humbling to be able to serve all of our partners,” Batistatos said. “As our partners, and the businesses who make hospitality happen, I tell people all of the time that we don’t sit in some ivory tower. We’ve got to get out there and work to understand what the visitor wants.”

“We have been advocates for seamless experiences for visitors,” Batistatos said. “They go to places, cities or destinations that have something to do. We believe that the best way to do that is to package all of the assets of the South Shore.”

Next, partners learned more about the R.O.S.E. Awards from Katie Holderby, South Shore CVA Executive Vice President, followed by a presentation on marketing and technology from the SSCVA’s own Chief Marketing Officer, Heather Beccera, and Chief Technology Officer, Luke Weinman IV.

“[The R.O.S.E. Awards] is one of our most favorite evenings where we recognize front-line employees,” said Holderby of the R.O.S.E. Awards. Holderby enlightened partners about the process of nominating hospitality workers for the recognition they deserve and how the awards help to empower those employees.

Becerra and Weinman highlighted marketing and technology trends, campaigns and tools that worked in 2016, as well as how important it is for companies to know their audience. The duo also took the opportunity to let partners know about some of the campaigns that they’ll be looking forward to in 2017.

After a quick networking opportunity, partners enjoyed “Break Outs” where the crowd split into two groups. Tyler Malec, Digital Content Specialist, hosted one group that learned about social media messaging and creating a following. The second group, hosted by the South Shore CVA’s Digital Content Specialist, Candace Nowak, was comprised of hotel representatives and focused on stimulating the reservation process and customer experience.

Working with the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority comes with some incredible partner benefits. Here’s what some partners had to say about their experiences:

Nikki Lopez, Events Director with the City of Hobart, said, “I absolutely love working with the South Shore CVA. It, sort of, lightens my load as far as marketing and advertising goes. They make it so, so easy with their partnership packages. I try to make the best decision that I can for the city based on what they offer and they really do take care of everything. You get a lot of extras too. They really go above and beyond.”

“The South Shore CVA does a lot of promoting for us,” said Julie Gill from Patrick’s Grille in Michigan City. “The South Shore CVA has always pushed Michigan City. They’ve come in and done some photo shoots, and they really push our area.”

Angela Toth from Byway Brewery Company said, “I work really closely with the South Shore CVA and anytime we have a new beer or an event coming up I just send it over here and they just take care of everything. It’s so seamless and it just works really well for us.”

For more information on the South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority's programs and services, click here.