WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8

The workshop will include:

1. Positioning and Branding a Cultural or Heritage Tourism Product
Everybody is talking about branding. Can, and will, it work for you? What is the best way to determine your “hook” and deliver your message?

2. Basic Research
Who is your customer? Is your current marketing working? How do you ensure success and report it accurately? You’ll come away from this session with a fresh new approach to research that removes the tedium and opens up a world of possibility on how you can improve your tracking and reporting.

3. Generational Marketing
Guests who have been the mainstay of cultural and heritage tourism for decades is complex because baby boomers have very different preferences. This session will explain the unique behavior characteristics of the different generation groups and provide you with critical communications advice to reach your target audience with the right message and product.

Statewide Meeting Agenda:

• Welcome and Self Introductions
• Update of State CHT Programs – Please be prepared to discuss the following:
• How is cultural/heritage tourism perceived in your state?(contributions to product, destination trips, etc).
• What creative co-ops have you developed with the cultural/heritage community?
• What one thing could the cultural/heritage community do to better position themselves (their product?) with the state tourism office, your state's visitors?
• What creative funding strategies has your office, or your state's legislature enacted to support cultural heritage tourism product development and/or marketing?
• What trends are you seeing in cultural/heritage visitors to your state?
• What challenges can cultural heritage tourism bring?
• How can cultural/heritage events and attractions participate in your marketing programs?
• Discussion of Recent Studies Related to CHT
• Department of Commerce & Taubman Shopping Center Research (Links between Culture & Shopping)
• Los Angeles Cultural and Heritage Tourism Study
• Update Federal Legislation and Programs
• Undersecretary of Homelands Security for Private Sector and Tourism (HR 10)
• Gateways Bill
• Highway Reauthorization
• Public Lands Budgets
• Funding for International Marketing (S. 2809)
• Update on Educational Programs
• TIA “Education Seminar for Travel Organizations”
• CHT Alliance Schedule
• Funding Opportunities
• Resources
• Grant Training
• Other Business
• Adjourn

Welcome to Atlanta, Cultural Heritage Tourism Alliance Chair, Barbara Steinfeld and Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing of the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau, Mark Vaughan and Executive Director of the Georgia Council for the Arts, Susan Weiner

(A) Prove Your Worth

Moderator: Curt Cottle, Curt Cottle Consulting

Randy Cohen, Vice President of Research and Information
With half of the typical arts organization's revenue coming from contributed income, your ability to articulate the value and “worth” of a vibrant cultural community is critical to its sustainability—and ensuring that you have a cultural product to market to visitors.  Join this lively session and walk away with the information tools and advocacy strategies you need to take action immediately—locally, statewide, and nationally.  Topics to be covered include the latest cultural tourism and economic impact research, creative industry mapping, two-minute advocacy, and a host of insider advocacy tips.

IL/MI Canal Corridor: Ana Koval, President/CEO of the Canal Corridor Association
Learn about heritage tourism product development to keep the IL&MI Canal National Heritage Corridor, the nation’s first Congressional designated heritage area, fresh and viable. This session will also outline the possibilities of earned income to pay for non-profit heritage and cultural tourism operations.

(B) I Can't Afford It: “How to Write a 7 Sentence Marketing Plan”

Sheldon Snodgrass, Certified Entrepreneurial Business Planning Instructor & Guerrilla Marketing Coach
Inspired by the guerrilla marketing philosophy, this lively workshop will distil an MBA curriculum's worth of marketing planning fundamentals to seven essential sentences. Learn the four key principals upon which all success rests. Understand how guerrilla marketing can improve sales without spending money on advertising. You will leave the workshop with an actionable document focusing on 30-, 60- and 90-day marketing tactics.

Concurrent Sessions (A & B): “How We Did It”

(A) Case Studies on Challenges & Solutions of Various Communities

Moderator: Barbara Steinfeld, Director of Tourism - POVA

Harlem Stage II. Neal Shoemaker, President of Harlem Heritage Tours
Learn the role that heritage tourism plays in urban African-American communities and the importance of understanding and enlisting community support at a local level. This discussion will also look at the need for multi-faceted collaborations between community organizations and government agencies at the state and local level.

Orlando Arts Get Away. Terry Olson, Co- founder of SAK Theatre Company
How do you take a city with a specific consumer image and shift that perception to raise the cultural profile of the area? Come join an insightful discussion about packaging your area and its offerings to create a self-sustaining program that offers the consumer cultural variety and appeal while supporting the financial bottom-line.  Discover how a highly successful salesperson in the tourist attractions field is using her 30 years of experience to improve earned income at dozens of arts and cultural organizations in the Orlando area.

(B) Case Studies on Events, Festivals and Gatherings

Moderator: Shelton g. Stanfill, Former President and CEO, Woodruff Arts Center

Pennsylvania Homecoming Initiative: Lenwood Sloan, Director of Cultural and Heritage Tourism, Pennsylvania Tourism Office
Lenwood Sloan will outline ways cultural and heritage tourism can reinvigorate the “visiting, friends & family” (VFR) market.  Mr. Sloan will discuss how to shape mutually beneficial partnerships with tourism agencies, Main Street organizations, heritage areas, cultural and heritage attractions, and lodging & hospitality partners to position your destination as welcoming to family reunions and gatherings of all types.

National Black Arts Festival: Stephanie S. Hughley, Executive Producer of the National Black Arts Festival
As the festival firmly established itself as one of the most important festivals in the World presenting the art and culture of the African Diaspora, it seized the opportunity to expand to year round educational and humanities programming and hosting the Festival every year.  With a regular presence the festival looks forward to continuing and strengthening its important ties with its many local, national and international partners.  The Festival’s success has been anchored by the willing and creative collaborations of local cultural institutions.  This year alone there are over 40 independently produced programs; without them side by side, the festival’s energy and ability to reach so many–the young and old in every corner of the country–would be dramatically diminished.

Enjoy an evening of southern hospitality. Atlanta is home to many world- class restaurants, which features cuisine from around the globe prepared by world-renowned chefs and served in an endless array of ambience and decor. With an abundance of diverse cultural attractions, events and a festive nightlife, our city is the epicenter for arts and entertainment in the South.

The 2006 Sensitivity Case Study, “Civil Rights Era”

Guest Speaker: Ambassador Andrew Young

Moderator: Bill Nix, Vice President of Marketing and Government Affairs for Palm Beach County Cultural Council

Panelists include: Andy Ambrose, Executive Director of the Tubman African American Museum; Dr. Lawrence Pijeaux Jr., Ed. D., President and Chief Executive Officer of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and, Dean Rowley, Historian for the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site.

Atlanta has always been known as the cradle of the U.S. Civil Rights movement and home to many prominent civil rights leaders. They were the visionaries who helped build Atlanta into the city it is today. In that Atlanta and the southeast will be hosting the CHTA conference for the first time, addressing this topic here provides the ideal setting.  You will have the opportunity to experience an engaging and intriguing panel discussion, with Q&A about cultural sensitivity issues in tourism development based on “The Civil Rights Era”. This segment of the conference is intended to explore some of the issues that must be considered in developing tourism and educational venues and products that are authentic, factual, and sensitive to the cultural contributions of African Americans and other ethnic minorities.  Our goal is that you’ll leave with an understanding of the development, presentation, and marketing of theses products that promote the unique experiences and histories of African Americans.

Presenters:  Sheila Armstrong, Shop America Alliance and co-founders of the US Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council and Susan Wilcox, Chief Deputy Director, California Travel & Tourism Commission

The newly formed US Cultural & Heritage Tourism Marketing Council has partnered with Shop America Tours to create and market a clever series of Cultural, Heritage and Shopping Tours.  HATS is History, Arts, Tours , Shopping.  BAGS is Botanical Arts, Gardens, Shopping.  EATS is Epicurean Arts, Tours , Shopping.  The first 36 of these packages are being launched this fall in California in partnership with California Travel & Tourism Commission. Some packages feature Historic Hotels of America , but most feature attractions only.  The guests make their own travel plans and simply add on these dynamic packages.  HATS, BAGS and EATS will be sold directly to consumers at shopamericatours.com, visitcalifornia.com and via tour operators and travel partners including Mark Travel, Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, Viator, ARES and more.  At this session, learn how to develop HATS, BAGS and EATS packages and get involved in this and other CHT Marketing Council Programs.

Wikis, Podcasts & Blogs: Shel Holtz, Accredited Business Communicator & Principal of Holtz Communication + Technology
Presented by Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation

Introduced by: Patricia Washington, Vice President Grants & Development
Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation

Online communication used to be a matter of building a classy Web site and orchestrating an effective e-mail campaign. No more. The Internet has transformed from a digital publishing platform to an interactive, living entity in that all participants play both audience and communicator.

To communicate effectively in this new era of social computing, communicators need to navigate a tangle of new concepts including blogs, pod casts and wikis. In this engaging session, online communications expert, Shel Holtz of ABC, will detangle the “web” for you. You'll delve into the strategic and tactical aspects of this world known as Web 2.0, the communicator's role in it and its application to the tourism business. You'll leave the workshop with a solid understanding of

1. How to monitor blogs and the various ways your organization can use them;
2. The value of audio content and the role of getting your message out by pod casting,
3. Social networks and why your organization needs to employ them, and
4. Consumer-generated media (CGM) and how it can help or hurt your company   

How You Can Tap into the Digital Media Revolution
Sigrid “Sisi” Carroll, Senior Business Development Manager, Antenna Audio
Janis Dofner, Director of Communications, Steel Industry Heritage Corporation

Moderator: Tracey Wickersham, Director of Cultural Tourism Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau

New technologies offer more ways to create meaningful experiences for your visitors, as well as to market your destination or attraction. Learn how you can tap into the potential of digital media and how it is expanding the possibilities of audio tours, multimedia interpretation and marketing. You’ll hear from Sisi Carroll of Antenna Audio, the leading provider of audio and audio-visual interpretation to museums, exhibitions, historic sites and visitor attractions around the world. Today, they distribute more than 20 million tours every year and have a network of 16 offices around Europe , North America and Asia , currently employing around 350 full time staff. Jan Dofner of the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area in Pittsburgh will offer a real life look at how her organization is implementing these new technologies in a cost effective way. Come prepared to learn about the possibilities of these new tools and how you can find ways to implement (and pay for them!) for your destination.

Passing the Gavel

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 11

Tour to Savannah
For more details about the Savannah Trip, please contact Jo Ann Haden-Miller, Director, Cultural & Heritage Marketing, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau at jhadenmlr@atlanta.net

8:00 am Pick up from Atlanta hotel in Coastline Travel luxury mini motor coach

12:00 pm Arrive Savannah

12:30 pm Lunch at Gingerbread House
Enjoy lunch at The Gingerbread House is considered one of the most outstanding examples of Steamboat Gothic gingerbread carpentry in the United States . When the home was built by the Asendorf family in 1899, people in Savannah soon began calling it The Gingerbread House because of the elaborate gingerbread arches and spindles adorning the front porches and side balcony of the house.

Through the years, the home has been visited by many celebrities. President Woodrow Wilson’s wife, a native of Savannah , wanted to purchase the home, and it was said to be President Eisenhower’s favorite house in the area. President Roosevelt even stopped the 1933 bicentennial parade so he and his mother could view the home more closely.

The home has been featured in over 50 magazines and books, and was used extensively in a 1975 Richard Pryor movie. Portions of the 1987 movie “Pals,” starring George C. Scott and Don Ameche, were also filmed at the house.

For two decades, Savannah ’s most photographed house has been the setting for many special occasions, from large wedding receptions to elegant dinner parties. The home has also been a favorite stop for tour groups, providing services ranging from a tour of the home with refreshments to private seated dinners and cocktail parties.

2:00 pm Savannah Experience Tour
The Savannah Experience is the most comprehensive city tour offered in Georgia ’s First City! This non-stop excursion takes place in the comfort of our luxurious climate controlled mini bus and not only visits all those familiar sites and haunts of the Historic District, but gives you more by exploring the other “forgotten” neighborhoods too. See the full picture, the whimsy and grace of the Victorian District, restoration in the Thomas Square neighborhood, the history of the Beech Institute area and the oak lined grandeur of Victory Drive . An “Experience” you won’t soon forget!

5:00 pm Check into hotel – Mulberry
The award winning Mulberry Inn is Savannah 's finest and most elegant hotel. Located on beautiful Washington Square and within steps of Savannah 's rich history, The Mulberry Inn Hotel takes you back to the elegance and graciousness of another era.

6:30 pm Dinner at Lady & Sons
The Lady and Sons restaurant had its humble beginnings back in June 1989 when Paula Deen started The Bag Lady out of her home. The Bag Lady began as a lunch delivery service with Paula's sons, Jamie and Bobby, delivering bag lunches to area business people in their offices around town. As the delivery and catering business grew, The Bag Lady expanded in 1991 into a full service restaurant named The Lady in the Best Western hotel on Savannah 's Southside.

* Breakfast at hotel
* Check out of hotel & load luggage on Motor Coach
* Tour of Telfair Museum
* Tour of Jepson Center

The Telfair Museum of Art traces its history from 1886 when the Telfair family home opened to the public as an art museum and school. It now boasts three diverse sites -- the original building, the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences, a National Historic Landmark building; the Owens-Thomas House, also a National Historic Landmark; and the recently completed Jepson Center for the Arts, a contemporary building which houses 20th- and 21st-century art.

Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Moshe Safdie, the 64,000-sq. ft. Jepson Center for the Arts is a state-of-the-art museum facility. It features expanded gallery spaces, expanded educational resources, much-needed art storage facilities, sculpture gardens, an auditorium, café and museum store.

Over the years the Telfair has become an invaluable confluence of arts, culture and history that reaches out to its audience through a diverse schedule of exhibitions and programs. Among the city's most-visited attractions, the museum has become even more popular with the opening of its third venue, the Jepson Center for the Arts.

* Lunch on own

2:00 pm Board M/C for return to Atlanta

6:00 pm Arrive Atlanta

Sunday morning can be an on your own time. We can give passes to enter the museums at your leisure. Lunch will also be at your leisure.

Package rate includes: round trip mini motor coach transportation; hotel accommodations for 1 night, all activities above, taxes and fees unless otherwise noted except appropriate gratuity for tour guides & hotel housekeeping services. Packaged meals include gratuity.

Prices based upon 20 person minimum

For more details about the Savannah Trip, please contact Jo Ann Haden-Miller, Director, Cultural & Heritage Marketing, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau at jhadenmlr@atlanta.net

Arrive in Conyers

• Visit Historic Olde Town Conyers for antiques shopping and a visit to the “Dinky” steam locomotive and historic train depot which is now the Welcome Center
• The Monastery of the Holy Spirit, is Georgia ’s only remaining working Abbey. Bonsai plants and homemade fudge and fruitcake are some of the specialties made by the Monks that are for sale in the gift shop.

Or: Continue on I-20 East to Covington

Arrive in Covington, home for eight years to the hit TV series “In The Heat of The Night”. Visit the historic downtown area with unique gift and antique shops.

• Stroll or drive through one of Georgia ’s largest historic districts
• For outdoor activity, visit Charlie Elliott Wildlife Preserve with over 6,000 acres including 29 ponds and a 5-acre rock outcropping, interpretative center, hiking, fishing, bird watching and hunting during season.
• Continue on I-20 East to Social Circle

Arrive in Social Circle , home of the Blue Willow Inn, winner of Southern Living Magazine’s “Reader Choice Award” for five years running for best small town restaurant. Located in a restored Queen Anne mansion, enjoy this famous southern buffet. Visit the gift shop and the Blue Willow Village including eclectic shops and the Museum of Creation . (Village and Museum opening late winter 2007).

Continue on I-20 East to Madison

Arrive in Madison , the “Town Sherman Refused to Burn”. Most of the town is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Begin your historic tour of Madison at the Welcome Center on the square for a walking tour and map. Then set off to see this community with its many antique stores, boutiques and gift shops and one of the largest collections of privately owned antebellum mansions in Georgia .

• Heritage Hall is an antebellum mansion (1833) open to the public.
• The Rogers House (1804) is a fully furnished Piedmont Plain style townhouse.
• The Rose Cottage is a modest cottage built by a laundress and former slave connected by a lovely garden to Rogers House.
• Madison Morgan Cultural Center is a Romanesque-revival brick grade school built in 1895. It now houses an art gallery, history museum and authentic 1895 classroom. African-American Museum offers a look at the African-American heritage and contributions to the South. (Heritage)

Start your day by visiting the Welcome Center , located in the historic Church-Waddell-Brumby House Museum and picking up information on your next stops. Your choice of attractions could include:

• State Botanical Gardens of Georgia , 330 acres of gardens, greenhouses, a café and more.
• The Lyndon House Arts Center is a historic home (1856) and arts center dedicated to supporting local artists.
• The Double Barreled Cannon, a unique artifact of the Civil War and designed locally in 1863 to protect Athens from Sherman ’s army. The cannon failed to fire two cannon balls simultaneously.
• Taylor-Grady House, a Greek Revival mansion open to the public.
• The Tree That Owns Itself, the tree and eight feet of land on all sides was deeded to itself because the owner enjoyed the shade.
• The Georgia Museum of Art, offering an average of 20 exhibitions annually and a permanent collection of more than 7,000 items.

Now head up US 441 to Watkinsville "The Artland of Georgia".

• Visit the Georgia Originals store located in Town Center that carries only contemporary art/crafts handmade in Georgia.
• From there see Chappelle Gallery located in the historic 1827 Haygood House. This beautifully restored home showcases work of over 65 contemporary artists both local and nationally.
• For a special treat head 8 miles out Colham Ferry Rd and visit Happy Valley Pottery. Most any day of the week you can see someone working in clay, painting furniture or blowing glass. You can explore the compound and purchase only handcrafted work made at Happy Valley Pottery.

Though there really is no “ Tara ” the romance of it is far from “Gone With the Wind” in Jonesboro . Visit the Road to Tara Museum , located in the picturesque Jonesboro Depot Welcome Center . Here, see rare “behind the scenes” photographs of the movie during the production. A self-guided tour includes the story behind that pivotal battle and what the war was like for those left at home. www.visitscarlett.com 770.478.4800

Now, you’ll head north to the heart of Midtown Atlanta.

Take a stroll through our garden, The Atlanta Botanical Garden. Here you will find collections of plants-orchids, roses, herbs, palms and much more. See the Sasanqua, and Swan Orchids as they put on a late fall and early winter show!. www.atlantabotanicalgarden.org 404.876.5859

Dine at an Atlanta Tradition, The Swan Coach House. Across from the Atlanta History Center, this restored house is home to an upscale restaurant as well as a fine arts gallery and gift shop. The restaurant serves creative regional dishes and light fare, presented in an elegant tearoom ambience. www.swancoachhouse.com 404.261.0636

See where Margaret Mitchell got her start at the Margaret Mitchell House and Museum. The docent-led tour is a one to one and a half-hour experience with exclusive photographs and archival exhibits that tell the story of Margaret Mitchell beyond Gone With the Wind. The tour starts in the Visitors Center with "Before Scarlett: The Writings of Margaret Mitchell." The tour continues into the house, through her apartment where she wrote Gone With the Wind, and finally to the Gone With the Wind Movie Museum. www.gwtw.org 404.249.7015

Finally, you’ll make your way north of the city to Marietta .

First, stop at the Marietta/Cobb Museum of Art. The museum currently occupies a renovated historic Greek Revival building that opened as the Cobb County United States Post Office. Don’t miss their exhibit, “Enamel On Copper” by Margaret Ratcliff. Ratcliff used enamel paint to beautifully decorate copper plates in a variety of shapes and sizes with varied subject matter. She is considered by many collectors and professionals in the field to be one of the nation’s best. www.mariettacobbartmuseum.org 770.528.1444

Scarlett’s on the Marietta Square ! Visit Marietta ’s Gone With the Wind Museum, Scarlett on the Square. The museum features a collection of Gone with the Wind movie and book memorabilia, including original costumes, scripts, books, movies posters, photographs and much more. Of special note is the Bengaline gown worn by Scarlett on her honeymoon with Rhett and a section dedicated to the African-American cast members. www.gwtwmarietta.com 770.794.5145

Finally, end your day at Shillings on the Square. Experience the true ambiance of the Marietta Square...this is the perfect restaurant to end your fun-filled trip. Be sure to try the lump crab cakes! www.eatonthesquare.com 770.428.9520