2023 Virtual Workshop Schedule – Attend Online!

Sarah Benoit of JB Media Institute

Michelle Owens, Director of Visit Hendersonville, and, CEO of Paradise Advertising & Marketing Inc.
Visit Hendersonville and Michael Kosowicz of Paradise present a case study with examples and first-hand perspectives, plus six easy steps to refresh, reimagine, and retool your destination’s brand. From brand image, creative, and messaging, to website integration, and partner and stakeholder collaboration, the Visit Hendersonville insights and six key takeaways will be beneficial for destinations of any size and with varying levels of internal and external resources.

Join Justin Belleme as he interviews tourism marketing experts from a variety of backgrounds and locations. This panel happens during lunch. 

Chris Cavanaugh of Magellan Strategy Group 

September 11. The Great Recession. A global pandemic. So-called “black swan” events have had a devastating impact on us in the last two decades. No amount of preparation could have prepared the tourism sector (or the world) for any of those events, but there are certain steps you can take to prepare for more modest changes in the environment. We’ll discuss strategies and tactics that you can implement and some of the weak signals in the marketplace that will impact your business.

AJ Brau, Wander Maps

In this session, learn to craft interactive, engaging content that inspires curiosity, fosters engagement, and ensures every traveler finds their way to unforgettable experiences.

Sarah Benoit, JB Media Institute

Canva, a highly popular tool for doing DIY and in-house design for digital and print, is evolving quickly to make animations, video, and AI a standard when you are creating social media graphics, email newsletters, flyers, menus, mailers, presentations, invitations, and more. Marketing departments, small business owners, and solopreneurs can all benefit from deploying this tool with branded graphic elements, clear target audiences, and a defined and relatable brand voice.

Join Sarah as she shares tips and tricks for using this system to make your content creation more efficient and consistent. Come prepared to log in to your Canva account and play with the software on your laptop for phone.   

Sarah Benoit, JB Media Institute, and Jake Kennon, JB Media Group

Automation is a powerful strategy when it comes to making your marketing more efficient and effective, but making the right choices about automation can be difficult and confusing. Zapier is a tool that allows many brands to connect various software programs together without sacrificing the personalization they need to stand out and succeed online.

Join Sarah and Jake as they explore Zapier, a tool used to make marketing and communication simpler for marketers and their audiences. Learn how you can make automation work for you so you save time, but still build authentic relationships.

Sarah Benoit, JB Media Institute

In 2023 Google Analytics 4 was the biggest change to happen to the platform since its beginning. If you are familiar with Universal Analytics, you’ve had to shift your mindset, approach, and literal plans for website tracking in order to adjust to the changes that have happened, especially when it comes to conversion reports.

Join Sarah as she takes you on a live tour of the new GA4 system and discusses how you can make the most out of this tool going forward. Bring your computer and log in to your own account to get the most out of your experience.

Olivia Ward, OnWard Digital Media 

Social media advertising spending is projected to reach $227 billion in 2024, how can your destination stand out from other advertisers? Attend this session to learn how to effectively reach and convert visitors by leveraging the top social media advertising trends for travel and tourism.

Kristin Thompson, Zartico

Many of us feel obligated to become instant data experts, but are secretly uncomfortable with the basics– What does “data” really mean, and how do we actually master the key skill of data literacy? Get the quick start guide to how to understand and communicate data. Leave with confidence in how to deal with the data in your life.

Justin Belleme, JB Media Group

Digital advertising campaigns on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google, and Microsoft Ads are increasingly susceptible to a variety of forms of low-value traffic. Some of the most common forms of low-value traffic include bots (non-human visitors), spam (accidental or otherwise non-qualified clicks), and fraud (nefarious traffic from competitors and platforms trying to inflate their own click data). Regardless of the source of non-qualified traffic, these visitors are not on your site to enjoy your content, engage with your calls to action, or convert into actual customers for your products, services, or partners. But, there are solutions to this challenge.

In this session, we will explore:
—-The sources and causes of bot, spam, and fraud traffic
—-Free ways to identify this traffic using Google Analytics
—-Paid tools to segment and block these traffic sources
—-Alternative strategies that avoid paying these advertising for low-quality traffic

Your advertising dollars are a critical, finite resource. Join this session to learn how to preserve and maximize your advertising and marketing budgets.