PUBLIC RELATIONS. February 2007 Report. Prepared by: Mary Haban Public Relations Manager

Transcription

1 PUBLIC RELATIONS February 2007 Report Prepared by: Mary Haban Public Relations Manager MEDIA VISITS/ TRADE SHOWS & RECEPTIONS TMAC Conference (Travel Media Assn. Canada) London, Ontario Feb Mary attended this amazing conference with a coalition from Visit Florida and had the chance to participate in the media marketplace event, which gave one-on-one face time with many top Canadian Travel Writers. Mary also attended many workshops and professional development seminars geared at maximizing our pr efforts. Allegiant Air Media Visit Ft. Wayne, Indiana Market Feb The PR Team worked with Allegiant Airlines to set up a breakfast for these radio show personalities in conjunction with Inaugural service to the Ft. Wayne market. Rose Payne of the Leisure Travel Dept. hosted this for breakfast. Visit Florida Atlanta Media Reception & Media Visits Feb Mary attended this media event organized by Visit Florida, called Meet Your Perfect Match. Travel writers and editors from several key publications attended including Southern Living Magazine, The Atlanta Constitution Journal, Ya ll Magazine, Jezebel Magazine, Game & Fish Magazine, and The Atlanta Voice. Mary also had the chance to schedule individual appointments with many of the travel writers. African American Heritage Press Trip February James worked with DCI to host the African American Heritage Press Trip. African American Golfer s Digest, Debert Cook, Editor; Essence Magazine, Mitzi Miller; NPR and PBS Television, Jon Haggins; Odyssey Coulour Magazine, Kuwana Haulsey; AOL Black Voices, Brandon Cobb, News Editor- all participated. The group stayed at the Belleview Biltmore Resort & Spa and the Innisbrook Golf Resort. Sites that the group enjoyed were Clearwater Beach, Caladesi Island, Midtown St. Petersburg, the Pinellas County African American Heritage Celebration, Tarpon Springs and Dolphin Landings Sailboat Cruise. 1

2 MEDIA ASSISTANCE Media Inquiries Assisted Jennifer Conrad of Women s Day Magazine with some photos and facts for an online article on the best beaches. The St. Petersburg Times requested a photo of Sara Mason from our Sports Commission. Maryellen McGrath, Photo Editor Marketing Services of The New York Times, needed photos and copy for a special section on Florida Travel for the March 25 edition of the New York Times. Lisa Simundson the Florida/Caribbean Editor of Meetings South Magazine coordinated an interview with Carole Ketterhagen. Assisted Ben Richardson of The Sun Sentinel with photos/facts on an article about the area. Ted Jackovics, the tourism reporter with The Tampa Tribune, met with the PR department. Steve Nichols of FOX-13 News in Tampa had questions on the TDC meeting. Provided Yolanda Fernandez of News Channel 8, Steve Nichols of FOX-13 News, Ted Jackovics of The Tampa Tribune and Steve Huettel of The St. Petersburg Times with information from the TDC meeting. Assisted Kathleen Mc Laughin of The Sarasota Herald Tribune with tourism numbers. Neil Johnson of The Tampa Tribune inquired about Northern weather and the effect on tourism. Assisted The Toronto Sun Star with fact checking for an upcoming article on Spring Training. Leah Schnelbach of Roam Magazine requested photos of Clearwater beach, for an upcoming story for the in-flight magazine of USA3000. Liz Meagher, segment producer for FOX 25 News in Boston requested information on fishing in the area. Mary met Liz last year on a media mission to Boston. Liz asked if Mary would be in Boston soon and agreed to meet with her on her next visit. 2

3 Mamoonah Yaqub, publisher of Roam Magazine called Mary to discuss setting up an editorial meeting on her next visit to the area. Grant Frazer, Canadian Golf Writer, and President of The Golf Management Institute of Canada, called Mary to request information on any upcoming Golf Press Trips. Mary met Grant at the recent PGA Merchandise Show and he expressed interest in the joint International Golf Press Trip with Disney/St. Pete-Clearwater. The photo department of The New York Times requested a variety of photos for a story David Butwin is writing a Florida travel +advertorial for the March issue. Kevin Spark of Sparks Design requested use of CVB photos for a brochure on a new condo complex being built in Tampa. Use was refused as it is for commercial use. Alison Goran, Editorial Assistant with Travel + Leisure Family Magazine called Mary to request information on The Salvador Dali Museum and when it is moving. Toronto-based journalist, Alison Wood inquired about visiting the area with her family to scope out ideas for future stories. Mary is assisting her for a visit in March. Kelly Prieto of Hayworth Creative asked for regional photos on behalf of The Greater Detroit Newspaper Network, who was in our area to do a story. Ted Jackovics of The Tampa Tribune called to see if the CVB was doing anything special to promote capitalize on the ACC Tournament in Tampa during March. Sharon Parker, a reporter with 970 WLFA-AM called to request information about our International visitor numbers from a Dr. Klagess report. Curt Wilson, a sports producer for FOX-Sports Net in Seattle called to request B-Roll of our area and a list of things to see and do while in the area. They are visiting the area May and are staying at The Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club. Doug Rentz, Managing Editor of Courier Magazine asked about the estimated number of visitors per year that the St. Petersburg/Clearwater area brings in? He s writing a story for Courier Magazine and wanted to see if we had anything showing how popular west Florida beaches are. Provided Cort Egan, who writes for the University of VISIT FLORIDA Newsletter, with information on our area. 3

4 Published & Broadcast Stories: Fox 13 News and News Channel 8 aired stories on the latest tourism numbers for 2006 and interviewed Dr. Klages and Carol Ketterhagen on their February 14 broadcasts. Bay News 9 aired a story on Carrie Underwood shooting her music video at Fort De Soto on February 20. WQYK 99.5 FM aired the story on Country Music Superstar Carrie Underwood s music video shoot on a February 20 th broadcast on Feb. 20. WTSP-TV, Channel 10, aired a story on Carrie Underwood shooting her music video at Fort De Soto on February 21 st. AM Tampa Bay and U.S FM broadcast the story on Carrie Underwood s music video shoot that took place at Fort De Soto Park. The radio broadcast aired on February 21, Women s Day Magazine published an online article and photos about America s best beaches and mentioned several of our award-winning beaches. The World of Greece Odyssey Magazine published an article on Tarpon Springs in the January/February Issue. City Magazine of Roanoke, Virginia published a story on the area as a result of a partnership press trip with Allegiant Airlines in December. City Parent Magazine of Toronto & Hamilton published an article on family attractions in the area as a result of a family press trip from July Tampa Bay Woman Newspaper published an article about world class spas in their January/February Issue which mentioned the Don CeSar Beach Resort and Safety Harbor Resort & Spa. Best in St. Pete Magazine featured the Grand Prix on the cover and used photos throughout that were provided by the CVB. Florida Trend Magazine published a piece on Favorite Luxury Resorts and included Safety Harbor Resort & Spa in the roundup. Southern Boating Magazine published a story called A Place on the Bay and mentioned several St. Petersburg Marinas. 4

5 Pending Stories The New York Times with be publishing a story on family vacations in our area in their March travel issue. Reporter David Butwin wrote the story. VISIT FLORIDA PARTNER OPPORTUNITIES VISIT FLORIDA Media Leads & Assistance The PR Department continues to enjoy a successful working relationship with Visit Florida and is currently working with them on a variety of leads and on hosting many writers in In February we supplied image posters to Visit Florida for United States Armed Forces serving in the Iraq and Afghanistan Theaters of War. Also, worked with Paul Kayemba of VF to facilitate an inquiry from Prince Frederick Von Saxe- Lauenberg of the UK regarding the U.S. Comedy Hall of Fame in Treasure Island. Prince Frederick is interested in doing a UK Press Trip around the opening of this Hall of Fame around April 1 st. Since we are already committed to another UK Press Trip in May, we worked with VF to provide them with airline and hotel partners to help. Press Releases (4) The PR Department developed and distributed press releases about the hiring of Adam Birdsall for the CVB s Hospitality Education Department, Sara Mason for the Sports Commission and Brian Prest for the CVB s Meetings & Conventions /Special Events Dept. Shooting of Carrie Underwood music video and Grace is Gone for the Film Commission. Industry Partners Update Site Visit/Planning Meeting Sirata Beach Resort - February 1 Mary met with the John Atkisson, the new Director of Sales & Marketing to discuss the upcoming Girlfriend s Getaway Press Trip. The Sirata Beach Resort is hosting the group for part of the trip. Meeting with City of St. Pete Marketing Dept. February 6 Mary met with Robert Danielson and Lindsey Nickel in the City of St. Petersburg s Marketing Division to discuss a variety of ways to successfully work together to help promote the City. Arts Express Tour February 8 5

6 Mary participated in the Great St. Pete Arts Express Tour which involved exploring all the museums and culture in St. Pete. The tour provided Mary with all the up to date information on the venues so she could better assist media who visit the area. Meeting with Tampa Tribune Tourism Reporter February 12 Mary, James, and Lee met with Ted Jackovics, the new Tampa Tribune Tourism reporter to formally introduce themselves and assist him with stories and inquiries. Beach Walk Hard Hat Meeting February 13 James attended this monthly meeting to keep apprised of this progress of Beach Walk. LOCAL INDUSTRY ASSISTANCE Assisting other CVB and County Departments: James assisted the Film Commission with a media announcement about a water based television project, releases on Carrie Underwood video and Grace is Gone. We continued to work with the St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport to assist the marketing division of Allegiant Airlines with the on-going rollout of inaugural flights from key cities to PIE. A group of media from Ft. Wayne, IN visited our area Feb and we hosted a breakfast and provided area info. Mary assisted the Tampa Bay CVB with a joint press release on Jeff Gassaway who will be working the Midwest region as the regional account executive for both the Tampa Bay CVB and the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Area CVB. With his mission to drive more convention business to the bay area, Jeff will be responsible for creating market strategies for the region, as well as planning, developing and executing direct sales tactics including sales missions, special events and sales presentations to organizations. Public Relations Department Each month, the PR department is charged with updating the CVB s website calendar of events, and compiling, editing and distributing two editions of the E-News CVB update. We also regularly research and answer contact form questions submitted by consumers to CVB website James and I are also members of several area tourism committees for area attractions and events, and the department attends the county s weekly News Communications meetings. The PR department is continually evaluating and granting access to our image library to ensure media outlets have the necessary photos and information to properly promote our area. ADDITIONAL PR ACTIVITIES 6

7 UK and German Media Activities: See attached agency reports. Outdoor/Nature PR Activities: AuCoin & Associates, our Nature/Outdoors PR firm, is working with a number of outdoor writers who want to come to Pinellas to research articles. Here s a summary of this month s activities: In January we hosted Brent Frazee of The Kansas City Star on a kayaking and fishing excursions in Pinellas County. The result was full page coverage column inches -- in the Sunday, February 11 edition. The Kansas City Star has a Sunday circulation of 382,540. Set up a meeting and tour of Weedon Island Preserve for Mitch Stacy of The Associated Press for a feature article about how Pinellas County is creating natural and wild attractions for local citizens, out of town visitors and for future generations. Wrote and coordinated the design and delivery of a new website page on Floridasbeach.com. It's entitled "Vacation Volunteering" and tells visitors to Florida's Beach how they can join other volunteers helping Tampa Bay Watch. Wrote and submitted a new media article about the new The Great Florida Birding Trail and how the best place to start is in Pinellas County. Arranged for guides to help two photographers get fishing and birding pictures in March for a series of books to be produced by the Orvis company. Arranged for the outdoor editor of the Detroit Free Press -- Eric Sharp -- to visit Florida's Beach in March to research two stories, one on The Great Florida Birding Trail and one on winter sport fishing. UPCOMING TRADE SHOWS/PRESS GROUPS 1. Girlfriends Getaway Press Trip Feb. 28-March 4 2. ITB, Germany- March Boston Media Mission March Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - March-30-April 1 7