South Shore CVA Connects with Local Businessmen & Women at 1st Annual Tourism Tech Summit

The South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority (South Shore CVA) held its first annual Tourism Tech Summit on Tuesday, October 4, 2011, with the goal of connecting community members with local businessmen and women.  Luke Weinman, Director of Information & Technology, with the South Shore CVA, along with Jennifer Rush, the organization's Interactive Marketing Specialist, helped to organize the 1st Annual Tourism Tech Summit.

Rush said of the summit's goals, "We hope to accomplish more, there is a lot out there and things are always changing." Weinman explained, "We wanted to give our partners a chance to see different technology and how they can use it promote their business. This also shows some of the things the Convention & Visitors Authority has to offer other businesses."

Weinman opened up the summit by speaking about QR codes, the square-shaped codes on many new advertisements. When scanned by smartphones, QR codes can take you directly to a website or page where you can learn directly about a product or discount or make a purchase. Weinman went on to talk about near field communication technology that will allow you, just by touching your phone, to make a monthly payment say on a credit card, or be able to use a loyalty card at locations such as Pet Smart.

Jeremy Williams, the Interactive Production Manager at the Indiana Office of Tourism Development, gave an excellent presentation on how to connect to customers using social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter.  He explained several keys to successfully utilizing the networks, such as "engagement" and always to "listen first", along with balancing how you spend your time online to mazimize how well you use these networks vs. having someone help you set up some of the more advanced tools.   Williams brought out the fact that blogging can increase search engine results to get your message out to potential customers. He also touched on the use of Google Analytics to track who is coming to your site to see what pages are being looked at and searched the most. To find out more about social networking tools from Jeremy Williams at the Indiana Office of Tourism, click here!

An "Ask the Panel" forum gave insight from local business owners and managers on how best to run a successful small business using technology. Three speakers were asked to give a brief demonstration on what has worked successfully for their respective businesses.

George Cappas, Information Technology Director from Morgan Bridge and Associates, focused on the importance of keeping your business' data safe.  His firm specializes in providing IT (information technology) services that allow a small-to-medium size businesses to manage their service, and actually be proactive in their approach to their business security. Cappas said, "Business owners are able to get their problems taken care of in real time, store data off site in a secure location, and keep their information backed up."

Chris Mahlmann, CEO/Publisher of Ideas in Motion Media presented questions that business owners should ponder to get their message out there, by asking, "What's your critical message? Who are you? What is it you want people to know about your business?" Mahlmann gave a brief description of his business Ideas In Motion Media. Ideas in Motion Media has grown over the last two and a half years, first with ValpoLife.com then with PortageLife.com, "We began with a very simple premise: to bring together localized information using technology and communication tools in a fast, easy to access, organized way. We had one essential premise in mind: it has to be good news."

Mahlmann mentioned using communication technology creatively to market  your business, "It really is a communication tool that allows you to reach more customers, whether it's a device like an iPhone or a service like YouTube." He added, "What I think keeps people from using modern communication tools is fear."

The final panelist was Ben Ashley, Vice President of Business Management at mobiManageAshley mentioned some interesting statistics that might take you by surprise, stating, "5.3 billion people are mobile subscribers in the world today, and more than 63.2 million Americans own a smartphone. It is expected that more than 50% of adults will be using a smartphone by the end of 2011." They expect mobile to overtake the commonly-used PC by 2013. 

Speros Batistatos President & CEO of South Shore CVA addressed the Summit by saying, "We want you to work with us and we want to work for you. We have to row together, the corporations will always have more money, but we have the tenacity.  We want your membership to perform for you."

This is the age of information technology. The Tourism Tech Summit, held by South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority, is truly a great resource for businesses and community organizations to learn more about how to use these technologies and all of their member services to help bring you more business. To learn more about South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority  click here!

To view the presentation visit tourismtechsummit.com.