Spring
2008
Welcome to News & Notes online, a quarterly publication of
Visit Winston-Salem. Click below to jump to a story.
In this issue of News & Notes you will read about the Davis Cup and it's return to
Winston-Salem and how our president was honored during the NC Governor's Conference on Tourism. Also, we will let you know what upcoming arts events are happening in the community. All this and more in the Spring edition of News & Notes.
Game, Set, Match. The USA wins the Davis Cup Quarterfinals.
Winston-Salem served as host city for the Davis Cup Quarterfinals Tie and we aced it again. Held from April 11-13, 2008 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, team USA defeated team France 4-1 in the quarterfinals. This marks the third time in the last seven years
Winston-Salem has been the host city and the second time in the last two years.
 Performances by top ten players Andy Roddick, James Blake and the number one ranked doubles players Bob and Mike Bryan made this one of the most enjoyable and entertaining tournaments in Winston-Salem’s tennis history. The tournament also marked the 10th straight time Andy Roddick has won when facing the opportunity to clinch a “tie.”
In addition to placing Winston-Salem on the world stage for tennis, this year’s event brought in $3.8 million in revenue to the local economy. The success of this event would not have been possible without the support of the local community. Andy Roddick even agreed, “We just feel so welcomed. Downtown, there are banners there. It’s almost like they treat us not only like an American home team, but as a home team of the city, which is great. Instead of nice to see you ... it’s, nice to see you again,” he added. “I know where I’m going around the coliseum and everywhere else. Little things like that make it nice to come back to.”
To read more about the Davis Cup and team USA’s upcoming semifinal match in Spain, you can check out www.daviscup.com.
Governor's Conference wrap up.
The 2008 Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Winston-Salem was a resounding success and we would like to congratulate everyone for a job well done. The conference’s focus this year was on “Going Green,” or using environmentally sound practices, and was held from March 16-18th. Highlights of the conference included a marketing division update by Lynn Minges, the executive director of the North Carolina Division of Tourism, Film & Sports Development. In addition to the division’s marketing update, there were national speakers who gave detailed analyses on the outlook for travel in the upcoming year, a Winner's Circle Luncheon and a silent auction that raised over $8,000 for scholarships to North Carolina college students majoring in tourism.
 During the conference’s Winner’s Circle Luncheon on March 17th, Winston-Salem’s very own Bob McCoy was honored not once, but twice! The division honored Bob with a Winner's Circle Award for his contributions to NC tourism. He was also given the NC Travel Industry Association's (TIA) Bill Sharpe Award for his lifelong dedication to public service. Grady and Reba Moretz, owners of Appalachian Ski Mountain, Todd Morse, former manager of Chimney Rock Park, and Bruton Smith, owner of Lowe’s Motor Speedway, all received Winner's Circle Awards for their significant contributions to the North Carolina travel industry as well.
Check out some of the articles below to see what was said about the Governor’s Conference this year:
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173355002032
http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2008/03/17/daily16.html
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880317036
http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2589796/
http://www.charlotte.com/business/story/541539.html
http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/business/story/387211.html
http://www.bizjournals.com/triad/stories/2008/03/17/daily5.html.
This is the time of year when living in this area is great fun, especially if you love festivals, performing arts and live music. With the flowers in bloom, late spring and summer in
Winston-Salem is the time to be outdoors and live it up. With events such as the Summer Music series in the streets of downtown, the RiverRun International Film Festival, Salute! The North Carolina Wine Celebration and the Magnolia Baroque Music Festival, visitors and locals alike can look forward to filling their evenings and weekends with memorable and enriching experiences. Have dinner al fresco at your favorite restaurant and enjoy everything wonderful about the area. As you enjoy these events, there are many visitors who are enjoying our community too.
Things don’t slow down in the fall either, with Fiesta, Rock the Block, and Concours D’ Graylyn, the fun continues right up to the holiday season. In October, the Piedmont Opera Company will create a weekend centered on the six-time Tony award winning musical theater production of “Light in the Piazza.” This will be the first time the production is performed in Winston-Salem and even more exciting is the fact that the opera is partially set in Winston-Salem.
 With all this going on, there is still room for more. Events are being planned that will come together to showcase this area as a destination for soul-enriching experiences. To find out more on events in the area, check out www.weekendsinwinston.com or www.VisitWinstonSalem.com . If you are looking to market your events, on either site you will find convenient links to post events on our calendar. Posting an event to the calendar produces great exposure for your event, not only with Visit Winston-Salem but also with our calendar partners; The Arts Council of Winston-Salem Forsyth County, Smitty’s Notes and the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership just to name a few. Visit Winston-Salem is also your source for posting events on the North Carolina Division of Tourism’s Web site, www.VisitNC.com.
So, now that the warm weather is with us, take time to enjoy and learn why we say
Winston-Salem. Your Life. Enriched. Holidays will be here before you know it!
 Have you ever been shopping in the heat of summer and the stores are filled with sweaters? Just like in retail, when you are in the business of producing and marketing special events, you are always working seasons ahead. It is the same in destination marketing. For example, just as the holidays conclude, the Division of Tourism requests that we supply information to them about the next holiday season.
To get this information out to potential visitors takes time. Many publications like Our State Magazine, request holiday listings be submitted to their office by August 1st for November and September 1st for December. So it is not too early to get started.
Beginning in May, Visit Winston-Salem staff members will be calling on attractions, event planners and hotels to learn about holiday plans and packaging. We will compile the information we gather into a comprehensive holiday events calendar, and link to holiday accommodations packaging. Get on board early. Post events on www.visitwinstonsalem.com/visitor_center/vis_calendar.asp. Be creative, work collaboratively at weekendsinwinston.com and make holiday weekends to remember. For more information on holiday marketing stephan@VisitWinstonSalem.com.
Visit Winston-Salem welcomes Jackie Pittman.
The staff at Visit Winston-Salem is pleased to welcome Jackie Pittman as our new visitor center manager.
 Jackie’s duties are many and varied. She is responsible for hiring and training the team of Visit Winston-Salem visitor information specialists. She supports the marketing efforts of Visit Winston-Salem, creates new procedures to track tourism and implements programs to improve visitor center attendance, while developing and maintaining a budget for the center.
Jackie also manages an outreach program with our industry partners, conducts monthly visitor center staff meetings, oversees the visitor inquiry and same-day fulfillment operation and manages the visitor center retail store.
And when she is not doing those things, Jackie also supports the efforts of the North Carolina Division of Travel and Tourism and participates in their Welcome Center programs as well as assisting with information download into the www.VisitNC.com site.
Now that is multi-tasking! Whew! Welcome Jackie.
Convention South honors Visit Winston-Salem team.
Congratulations to the Visit Winston-Salem team for receiving the Annual Readers’ Choice Award by Convention South magazine. This award was presented to our sales, services and communications departments by readers of the magazine for exhibiting excellence, creativity and professionalism in the meetings and conventions industry. For the last 25 years Convention South magazine has been one of the leading publications in the country for the meetings industry. Be sure to congratulate our staff for their hard work when you see them.
•RiverRun International Film Festival, April 23-28, Times Vary,
Multiple Locations, Winston-Salem. The RiverRun International Film Festival annually presents a diverse collection of cinematic voices from around the world by showcasing strong new films from both established and emerging filmmakers. Each spring, RiverRun screens a wide variety of feature-length and short films from all genres, and presents a broad range of special events, including high-profile regional premieres of significant films, celebrity tributes, family matinees and classic retrospectives as well as a broad mixture of panel discussions and parties. 336.724.1502, $, www.riverrunfilm.com.
•Salute! The North Carolina Wine Celebration, May 10, 12-6 PM, Downtown
Winston-Salem, 4th street, Winston-Salem. Enjoy music and mouthwatering cuisine as you swirl, sip, and savor wines from dozens of North Carolina’s finest wineries. 336.354.1500, $, www.salutencwine.com.
•Vintage at the Vineyards - a vintage BMW gathering, May 24, 11am-3pm,
Westbend Vineyards, 5394 Williams Road, Winston-Salem.
5th annual gathering of vintage BMW motorcars and motorbikes. More than 100 vehicles on display. German oompah band, wine tastings and tours throughout the day. 336.945.5032, Free, www.vintageatthevineyards.zoomshare.com.
•Texas Pete Twin City RibFest, June 12-14, Starts at 11am, 3-day festival featuring barbeque and music. 336.707.9188, $ for adults, Children free, www.twincityribfest.com.
See More Events
 
The visitor center and our popular retail shop, are located at 200 Brookstown Avenue just south of downtown in the historic Brookstown Mill area. We're open 8:30am-5:00pm daily. Parking is available on the street, as well as behind the center, at no charge. For more information, contact the Visitor
Center at 336.728.4200.
Forsyth County Tourism Development Authority (FCTDA)
May 1, 10:00am, the Finance Committee Meeting at Truliant FCU - Pavilion. RSVP
to Phoebe Thomas at 336.728.4206.
May 7, 2:00pm, the Joint Marketing and Finance Committee Meeting at Truliant FCU - Pavilion. RSVP
to Phoebe Thomas at 336.728.4206.
May 19, 2:00pm, the Public Hearing and Budget Adoption Meeting at the Hawthorne Inn & Conference Center - Sycamore Room. RSVP
to Phoebe Thomas at 336.728.4206.
June 17, 2:00pm, at the WSESC (LJVM) – Winston Room. RSVP
to Phoebe Thomas at 336.728.4206.
You can find the FCTDA meeting minutes and agendas, and the Visit Winston-Salem operations report at http://www.visitwinstonsalem.com/fctda.
Forsyth County Tourism Alliance (FCTA)
May 14, 12 noon, at the Hawthorne Inn & Conference Center. For details, contact Phoebe Thomas at 336.728.4206.
June 11, 12 noon, at SciWorks. For details, contact Phoebe Thomas at 336.728.4206.
The Visit Winston-Salem staff will attend these upcoming meetings:
•National Association of Sports Commissions, April 22-24, Omaha, NE.
•Meeting Planners International - Carolinas Chapter (MPI-CC) Annual Meeting, May 18-20, Asheville, NC.
•Christian Meetings and Conventions Association
(CMCA) Spring Showcase,
May 20-22, Gatlinburg, TN.
•Association of Executives North Carolina (AENC) Charlotte Chapter Annual Meeting, May 20-21, Concord, NC.
•Association of Executives North Carolina (AENC) State Chapter Annual Meeting, June 8-10, Myrtle Beach, SC.
|
