Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/674818
22 UCW MAY 4-10, 2016 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM www.upandcomingweekly.com Just Got Brighter! Rainy Days Visit us online today to get the latest news, views and entertainment UP & COMING WEEKLY a ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Melody Foote Director of Communications Fayetteville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau Liberty Point Bulletin Securing Mee ng and Tournament Business for Cumberland County Throughout each fiscal year, the Faye eville Area Conven on and Visitors Bureau (FACVB) sales staff a ends 12-15 trade shows throughout the region and the country. The purpose of a ending the trade shows is to secure leads for new mee ng business for Cumberland County. Sales staff a ends the shows that pertain to the market they handle, whether it be Associa on Mee ngs, Religious Mee ngs, Sports Events, Group Tour events or Reunions. At the show, staff either has individual appointments with planners or staffs a booth and talks with planners to sell them on bringing their mee ng to Cumberland County. If the planner is interested in our area , and we have the facili es available to host the mee ng, staff gathers informa on. Once back in the office, staff works with hotels and mee ng or sports facili es to prepare a FEATURED PRODUCT proposal for the event. They work closely with the planner un l they receive the yes to bring the mee ng to Cumberland County. The DH4 Mega Mime Conference, which was held in Faye eville the weekend of April 30th, was a success story from a lead gathered at a trade show. CVB Director of Sales Myron Jones met event manager Kimberly McGee at a recent Rejuvenate Marketplace and they spoke about moving the conference from Greensboro to Faye eville. "We met with Myron Jones at Faye eville Area CVB at Rejuvenate Marketplace and I talked to him about the conference. Then, I spoke with co-pastors Timothy and Chandra Midge e, who are the founders, about having it in Faye eville. They had started connec ng with a couple of ministries there, so it made sense with the rela onships they're building in the area. They thought it was a good me to move the conference for a new look, new style and new terrain." Because of Myron's work, nearly 1700 kids, teens and adults from 30 states and two countries a ended the event. The es mated impact of this business on Cumberland County's economy is $136,800. In the first three quarters of the 2015/2016 fiscal year, the FACVB sales and tourism staff a ended 16 trade shows. From the shows, they gathered 28 leads for future business for Cumberland County. These leads represent 14,600 room nights at area hotels. The FACVB is proud to be the only en ty that promotes all things recrea on to event planners outside of Cumberland County . Sports Planning Guide In late 2015, the FACVB introduced a Sports Events Planning Guide. The guide features engaging, full-color photographs of the facilities that Cum- berland County offers to sports events planners. The back of the guide details the array of venues available - from soccer to basketball, skeet shooting to fishing, racquetball to wrestling, football to hockey to many more.