Andy Lamedman and Carla Guzzetti will be in Los Angeles, September 25, for the Travel & Tourism Marketing Association Award Luncheon; Ann Shepphird will be in Honolulu, September 25-27; Alexia Gura, Andy Lamedman, Ann Shepphird, Carla Guzzetti, Ilana Edell, Jason Gewirtz, Lisa Furfine, Martha Villasenor, Rachel Carr, Rita Burris, Sarah Caminker, Tim Schneider and Yvonne Garcia will be in Pittsburgh, October 20-25, for the TEAMS 2008 Conference & Expo; Ilana Edell and Yvonne Garcia will be in Cancun, October 26-29, for the AAU Annual Convention; Rachel Carr will be in Indian Wells, October 26-28; and Lisa Furfine will be in Baltimore, November 7-9, for Tradeshow Week’s Fastest 50.

WE’RE HERE TO SERVE YOU AND WE LOVE TO SEE YOU WHEN WE’RE TRAVELING! Please call us toll-free at (877) 577-3700 or e-mail us if we can be of service in any way or if you’d like to schedule a meeting with us when we’re in your area. Until next month, thank you for supporting the communities we serve!

In the dark days following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., when traveler anxiety hit previously unknown levels, there developed among tourism marketers a new emphasis on targeting what was then called the “drive” market. During a time when formerly fearless flyers were concerned that—at best—airport delays could add hours to their trip or—at worst—there might be another attack on the nation’s air passenger system, a new sort of traveler’s calculus evolved: Would it be quicker to make a trip of 500 miles or less by simply driving to the destination rather than allowing the extra two to three hours for airport security that the airlines and the FAA recommended?

Today, with the unpleasantness of air travel at what’s perceived to be an all-time high, many of the post-9/11 circumstances seem to be upon us once again. Now, though, with gasoline prices also setting historical highs, it is no longer advisable to refer to something called the “drive” market. Instead, the term of the moment in the travel and tourism industry is the “in-state” market, the idea that people are less likely to travel by air and would prefer vacationing closer to home, giving us this past summer’s buzziest buzz word in travel, the “staycation.” For harried destination marketing professionals, anxious to keep the hotel rooms in their cities occupied, giving some thought as to whether this trend is one that will pass quickly or not is certainly worthwhile. Here are some things to consider:

• A recent poll commissioned by the Travel Industry Association indicated that 41 million airline trips were avoided during the past year by passengers not because the fares were too high, but because air travel has become too inconvenient. Most observers agree that the airlines’ current proclivity toward nickel and diming passengers with nuisance fees to compensate for higher jet fuel prices is unlikely to make passengers more inclined to fly to their destinations.

• At the annual meeting of Destination Marketing Association International in late July, several sessions touched on the necessity of destinations to work with local attractions not typically considered tourist attractions—such as farmers’ markets, central business districts and seasonal and cultural festivals—in a way that will prompt locals to spend what would normally be their travel budgets in their own hometowns. Interestingly, the most recent TIA/Ypartnership Travel Horizons survey indicated that among travelers expecting to take vacations in or near their hometowns, 22 percent planned to stay in a hotel, motel or resort.

While no one is predicting the immediate demise of long-haul domestic or international air travel, it does make sense for destination marketing professionals to consider recalibrating their marketing efforts with these new realities in mind. As always, the best advice is to maintain an approach that balances a destination’s marketing efforts between the most sought-after visitors and the visitors that the destination is most likely to attract.

For the majority of cities that can only dream of hosting a once-in-a-lifetime Super Bowl or the Olympic Games, there are countless youth and amateur sporting events that generate millions of hotel room nights year in and year out. Setting a course that is mindful of the healthy volume of business available in a destination’s own backyard is the natural hedge against the larger phenomena that seem to be developing and over which the typical destination marketing executive has very little control.

Changes in the travel-marketing landscape will be high on the list of topics discussed at this year’s TEAMS Conference & Expo. TEAMS is the leading marketplace for destinations wishing to connect with the organizers who generate 47 million annual hotel room nights around the sports events and sports-related meetings and conventions they plan. For more information on TEAMS 2008, October 21–25, in Pittsburgh, see the ad on pages 34–35, visit TEAMSconference.com or call toll-free (877) 577-3700.

Lisa Furfine and Tim Schneider will be in Pittsburgh, August 26-28; Ann Shepphird will be in New York City, August 26-29, for the U.S. Open; Carla Guzzetti will be in Washington, D.C., September 9-10, for HSMAI Affordable Meetings National; Lisa Furfine will be in Louisville, September 17-22, for the Ryder Cup; Ilana Edell will be in St. Cloud, September 21-23, for the Upper Midwest CVB Conference; Carla Guzzetti will be in Galveston, September 21-24, for the Texas Travel Summit; Ilana Edell and Carla Guzzetti will be in Los Angeles, September 25, for the Travel & Tourism Marketing Association Award Luncheon; and Ann Shepphird will be in Honolulu, September 24-27.

WE’RE HERE TO SERVE YOU AND WE LOVE TO SEE YOU WHEN WE’RE TRAVELING! Please call us toll-free at (877) 577-3700 or e-mail us if we can be of service in any way or if you’d like to schedule a meeting with us when we’re in your area. Until next month, thank you for supporting the communities we serve!

Carla Guzzetti is the new advertising sales manager for Association News in charge of our client relationships in all of the states west of the Mississippi River.

Carla graduated with honors from the University of San Francisco and holds a degree in Communication Studies. She served on the staff of the magazine published by the San Francisco-based California Academy of Family Physicians and has extensive experience in newspaper advertising sales, having worked for Village Voice Media and Gatehouse Media. Most recently, she served as the West Coast account manager for Global Traveler Magazine. Carla enjoys cooking, baseball and travel and sang opera as a child.

She is looking forward to serving as a consultant on the state and regional association market for her clients and prospective clients throughout the Western United States. She can be reached by e-mail at Carla.Guzzetti@SchneiderPublishing.com or toll-free at (877) 577-3700.

Andy Lamedman, Carla Guzzetti, Ilana Edell, Lisa Furfine, Tim Schneider and Yvonne Garcia will be in Las Vegas, July 28-30, for the DMAI Annual Convention; Ilana Edell will be in Beaumont, August 4-7, for the Texas Association of CVBs Annual Conference; Andy Lamedman, Carla Guzzetti and Yvonne Garcia will be in Las Vegas, August 10-11, for the MPI World Education Congress; and Andy Lamedman, Ann Shepphird, Carla Guzzetti, Ilana Edell, Lisa Furfine, Tim Schneider, Tom Pitofsky and Yvonne Garcia will be in San Diego, August 16-19, for the ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition.

WE’RE HERE TO SERVE YOU AND WE LOVE TO SEE YOU WHEN WE’RE TRAVELING! Please call us toll-free at (877) 577-3700 or e-mail us if we can be of service in any way or if you’d like to schedule a meeting with us when we’re in your area. Until next month, thank you for supporting the communities we serve!

When the Destination Marketing Association International convenes for its annual meeting in Las Vegas this coming week, much of the event’s programming will center on DMAI’s recently released “Futures Study.” The eight “super trends” identified by the study will affect more than just the destination marketing industry in the coming years. They are:

1) The ongoing quest for relevance.
2) The importance of smart and friendly Web sites.
3) The need to dodge figurative asteroids.
4) Using our electronic culture for promotion.
5) The increasingly competitive nature of the battle for attention.
6) Understanding the ever-proliferating preferences of consumers.
7) The movement toward going green and adopting sustainable models.
8) Dealing with the mixed signals being sent by the government.

More information on these trends are contained in the current issues of Association News and SportsTravel magazines as well as a special publication we’ve produced in conjunction with DMAI titled “Why DMOs Matter.” Click here to request your complimentary copy.

Tim Schneider
Schneider Publishing Company

Rita Burris, the client services manager for SportsTravel and the TEAMS Conference, will celebrate her fifth anniversary with our company this year.

Rita is a 24-year veteran of the trade-show industry and, prior to joining Schneider Publishing, was a partner in a company that produced conferences and exhibitions in major U.S. cities as well as Mexico, Japan and Germany.

Rita’s work with our company involves handling both the planning for our annual TEAMS Conference and the successful execution of major sponsor programs. On-site at TEAMS, she serves as the assistant show manager. Rita lives in Marina del Rey and is an avid sailor as well as a devoted grandmother. She can be reached by e-mail at Rita.Burris@SchneiderPublishing.com or toll-free at (877) 577-3700.

As the flood waters recede in the Central U.S., our thoughts turn to all of our friends in the areas most affected by the late-spring flooding and tornadoes. The American Red Cross has been sheltering and feeding many of the victims of the flood and is coordinating volunteers to aid in the cleanup and recovery. We encourage you to give what you can to support their efforts.

Tim Schneider
Schneider Publishing Company

A detailed and ultimately optimistic reading on the Millennial Generation is contained in the new book “Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube and the Future of American Politics” by Morley Winograd and Michael D. Hais.

According to Winograd and Hais, Generation X (born 1964–1981) and the Millennial Generation (born 1982–2003) are different in almost every important respect: the way in which they were reared by their parents, their lifestyle and behavior, their attitudes on matters ranging from politics to their relationships to their peers and society, and their entertainment and media preferences. In response to several questions posed by Association News, authors Winograd and Hais drew a portrait of the Millennial Generation for association executives.

Will Millennials be more likely to join associations than Gen-Xers?

Most definitely. Millennials are what we call a “civic” generation. Millennials were reared by their parents to be a part of groups, to value group memberships, to respect and tolerate others in their groups, and to cooperate with other group members in seeking win-win solutions to the problems and concerns that confront the group.

This mindset leads Millennials to consult with parents, friends and co-workers about what is appropriate and effective in almost all aspects of their lives. More specifically, we would expect that American associations would have the prominence during the upcoming Millennial era that they did during the 1950s and 1960s, a period dominated by another group-oriented civic generation—the GI or “Greatest” Generation.

Won’t their own social networks pose a threat to existing associations?

With the development and spread of broadband Internet connections, people now have the means with which to develop a wide range of ad-hoc groups to deal with virtually any concern that may confront them as individuals and as members of a larger group. To the extent that those groups are useful, there is a strong likelihood that they will grow in size, gain permanence, and come to supplant pre-existing groups and associations.

Given that Millennials have a different style and approach to life and may well have different concerns than older generations it is quite possible that Millennials may want to create new associations to deal with these concerns. The existence of the new Internet-based social networking technology makes this possibility more likely than it might have been at previous times of generational change.

How can association executives make sure their associations remain relevant?

First, associations must utilize and develop a facility in technology that will permit them to relate to and interact with Millennials. Second, it is important for associations to have a clear knowledge of the concerns of Millennials and the way in which they relate to the matters dealt with by the association.

Copies of “Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube and the Future of American Politics” are available by clicking on “Bookstore” at AssociationNews.com. For more information on Winograd and Hais, visit millennialmakeover.com.

Ann Shepphird will be in San Francisco, June 23-24; Yvonne Garcia will be in Gainesville, June 25-27, for the Florida Association of CVBs Destination Marketing Summit and in Miami, June 28-July 2, for the Association of Luxury Suite Directors Conference & Tradeshow; Lisa Furfine will be in Orlando, June 29-30, in Washington, D.C., July 1-6 and in New Orleans, July 9-11; Ann Shepphird will be in Cheyenne, Wyoming, July 17-20; Andy Lamedman, Ilana Edell, Lisa Furfine, Tim Schneider, Tom Pitofsky and Yvonne Garcia will be in Las Vegas, July 28-30, for the DMAI Annual Convention.