remembering 9/11

The tenth anniversary of the tragedy of 9/11 is upon us, and one Virginia B&B is honoring first responders with a free night's stay. If you're an active police officer, firefighter, military, or emergency services personnel, reserve a room for 9/10/11 and the Richard Johnston Inn will give you the night of 9/11/11 for free. More info: Remembering 9-11

it was inevitable

I finally missed a day of blogging. My apologies. Yesterday was gruesome and I was too exhausted to muster up a simple thought worthy of a blog entry.

Things are always fast and furious at work, but it's especially so now. We're in the midst of a major website overhaul - brand new content management system, migration of content and data, and of course a fancy new face. Be on the look-out for a brand new Virginia.org in April. :) It will be SO worth the sweat and near-tears that our team of four is experiencing right now.

In the mean time, I'll continue to blog and Facebook for Virginia is for Lovers (the regular duties don't stop just because there's a big project, ya know). Have a question about traveling in Virginia? Want to see our take on a particular destination? Simply leave me a comment here and I'll be happy to write something just for you over on our VIFL blog!

Retiring for the night,

Gettin' Her Groove Back: 13/60

a cool afternoon out of the office

Though it's not a Speilberg flick and it doesn't star Tom Cruise, I was called from my cube Wednesday afternoon to be an extra in a short video clip. I won't say for what, as it's obviously work-related and I know Google alerts will certainly pick up this post ... no need to have my thoughts circulating through the office in a "news clips" email.

Suffice it to say that it was a beautiful day, I got a little sun, and walked back and forth on a sidewalk until my feet were on fire (I was in knee-high high-heel boots). You never know how the shots will be spliced together, so if this video is ever eligible for linking from this page, you may see me from the back as I leave the scene, from the front approaching the scene, or right up in the thick of it around the gentleman speaking. I was all over the place and it was a blast! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

The image is of a colleague as he practices his lines. It was taken with my BlackBerry Pearl, so it's not the best quality.

dan's vtc vase

We at VTC recently enjoyed a fantastic exploratory trip to Fredericksburg where we met potter and LibertyTown Arts owner Dan Finnegan. He threw a vase for us (in progress in the photo) and is keeping us apprised of its progress via his blog. Take a look!

wizard of ads

A few weeks ago (honestly, it feels like an eternity ago already), we at VTC held our annual VA-1 Tourism Conference and had the extreme pleasure of hearing Roy H. Williams (aka The Wizard of Ads) talk about the evolution (or lack thereof) of our culture. Everyone I've spoken to was quite impressed, as was I, so I thought I'd share a link to his site: http://www.wizardofads.com/?ShowMe=Wizard_of_Ads.

I haven't checked it out yet, but every Monday morning you can check out a snippet from his new book. Oddly enough, it's called the Monday Morning Memo, which is exactly the name of a document I used to send out every Monday morning to our tourism partners in Lexington. His has a fancy copyright symbol at the end ...

hard times indeed

An op-ed for The Richmond Times-Dispatch called out several state agencies as potential cuts to meet the predicted Virginia budget shortfall. Mine was one of them. Virginia Tourism Corporation laid off several employees last fiscal year and cut spending dramatically. Doing so again would be disasterous. We have leveraged our resources and have continued to make a delicious lemonade from sour lemons.

* The state's tourism website, www.Virginia.org, sees increased unique visitation each month; it's growing by leaps and bounds. And by the way, the site was recently voted The Best Travel Site by popular vote through The Great Travel Site Showdown.

* Bobbie Walker with our Tourism Education and Development division has trained hundreds, if not thousands, of front-line customer service employees across the state this year. From hotel and restaurant staffs to those working B2B. Customer service is high on our radar and that's one key reason we're a great state for tourism. Our hospitality is second to none.

* Tourism equals big money for Virginia. Return on investment is 5:1. Please, think long and hard before cutting one of the biggest money-making agencies. Tourism is good for Virginia.

virginia green and lovin' it

Green is the new buzz word in tourism. See VirginiaGreenTravel.com for a list of Virginia Green* certified accommodations, restaurants, conference and convention centers in Virginia. A feed of eco-friendly events, green getaways and packages are also listed.

*For tourism-related businesses to be considered "green" they must adhere to the criteria set forth by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.