Dear Illinois Tourism Alliance Friends,
Welcome to the kickoff of the Illinois Tourism Alliance (ITA) News! Our new e-newsletter will be sent to you quarterly.
Included in every issue will be coverage of recent ITA events, advocacy updates, new information that may be helpful to you and information from our Allied Partners about industry best practices. And you will be able to access past issues on our web site, www.illinoistourismalliance.org.
Please let us know if you have an idea for something we may wish to cover by emailing us at info@illinoistourismalliance.org. We look forward to hearing from you as we continue to serve as the voice for the visitor industry in Illinois.
Best Regards,
Nina Winston
Executive Director
Illinois Tourism Alliance
On Wednesday, March 7, the Illinois Tourism Alliance joined with the Illinois Council of Convention and Visitors Bureaus in Springfield to communicate our industry's position on funding to key elected officials.
 Following a viewing of Governor Rod Blagojevich's FY2008 Budget Address, lunch and an issues briefing provided by Consulting4Biz, Inc., our industry leaders met with elected officials across the Capitol throughout the afternoon. This activity allowed us to share our story with key members of the Illinois General Assembly, reinforcing the need for tourism funding to be restored to the mandated levels.
That evening, lawmakers and industry leaders networked at a reception held at the Sangamo Club.
For more information regarding our position on tourism funding along with specific issues affecting our industry, click here.
PHOTO: Pictured left to right at the Illinois Tourism Advocacy Day Legislative Reception were Grant DePorter, Chair, ITA and President, Harry Caray's Restaurant Group; Senator Dan Rutherford (R) 53rd District, and Marc Gordon, ITA Executive Committee Member and President and CEO, Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association.
Nearly 600 tourism professionals attended this year's Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism. Held in Chicago at the Palmer House Hilton and themed, "The Future is Ours", keynote speakers included renowned futurist Andrew Zolli, Keith Reinhardt, Chairman, DDB Worldwide and Founder, Business for Diplomatic Action, and customer service expert Lisa Ford.
 This year, for the first time, the ITA sent out the post-conference survey electronically. A special thanks to J Rudny, LLC - Dynamic Web Solutions for their work on the conference web site and related email marketing.
Hundreds of respondents provided feedback to our e-survey and shared their favorite moments from this year's conference. Here are just a few of their comments:
State of the State Address/Jack Lavin and Jan Kostner
"This was probably the best presentation in my 18 years...good going Director Lavin and Deputy Director Kostner!"
Marketing to Our Future Travelers/Eileen Ogintz
"I obtained good ideas that could be used on a small scale, so many times these sessions are geared for large cities, but I felt that this one could be used for both large and small. I like when I can come away with ideas for our small town..."
Thursday Evening "Night on the Town" Activities:
"This was a great opportunity for those of us not often in Chicago to get a taste of the Chicago theater scene. One of the best nights at the convention in years!!!"
PHOTO: The 2007 Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism held its opening night reception at the Museum of Science and Industry. Pictured left to right: Holly Agra, Conference Co-Chair and President, Chicago's First Lady Cruises; Jack Lavin, Director, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity; Grant DePorter, Illinois Tourism Alliance Chair and President, Harry Caray's Restaurant Group; Gina Speckman, Conference Co-Chair and Executive Director, Chicago's North Shore CVB; Jan Kostner, Deputy Director, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Bureau of Tourism; David Mosena, President and CEO, Museum of Science and Industry.
Our new ITA logo won the Judge’s Choice Award and our new stationery package won an "Addy" at the recent Northern Illinois Advertising Federation 2007 Addys.  Congratulations to GrahamSpencer who developed the creative concept and to David Preece, President and CEO of the Rockford Area CVB who led our Marketing Communications Task Force!
Also serving on the Marketing CommunicationsTask Force were Maria Berg-Stark; Doug Davis, President, Davis Harrison Dion; Grant DePorter, ITA Chair and President, Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group; Jay Graham, Creative Director and Partner, GrahamSpencer; Jan Kostner, Deputy Director, Illinois Bureau of Tourism; John Maxson, President and CEO, Greater North Michigan Avenue Association; Jim Rudny, President, J Rudny, LLC - Dynamic Web Solutions; Bill Utter, Senior Vice President, Fleishman-Hillard; Kelly Wisecarver, Partner, wkpr, LLC.
A special thanks to everyone who worked on this initiative! To find out more about our rebranding initiative, click here.
 On Wednesday, August 1, we invite you to join us for a fantastic evening courtesy of Chicago's First Lady Cruises and Harry Caray's Catering & Events, as we set sail under the stars on our second annual summer boat cruise!
This fundraising event for ITA will depart the dock in the early evening and return following the Navy Pier fireworks.
Invitations will be out soon - you won't want to miss this terrific dinner cruise! For more information on sponsorship please contact Nina Winston, ITA Executive Director, at 312-658-1047 or nwinston@illinoistourismalliance.org.
There are currently 30 million people over the age of eighteen with disabilities living in the United States. In 2003, they spent nearly $35 billion dining away from home, according to statistics released by Chicago based Open Doors Organization in conjunction with Harris Interactive.
The study also shows that people with disabilities account for over $13.6 billion per year in travel, with about $3.5 billion to the airlines and $5 billion to hotels.
The Chicago-based Open Doors Organization (ODO) is pleased to be working with the Illinois Tourism Alliance to help educate the tourism industry about succeeding as businesses within the disability market. Check back soon to www.illinoistourismalliance.org to learn about our October, 2007 seminar featuring Eric Lipp, Open Doors Organization Executive Director. For more information on ODO, visit www.opendoorsnfp.org.
In April, the Illinois Tourism Alliance kicked off its Allied Partner Program, inviting leading private sector companies to share in our collective voice, network with our members, and get involved in our industry's future. Our Allied Partner Drive is led by John Curran, Vice President, Charter Sales & Marketing, Chicago Trolley and Double Decker Company. A warm welcome to our newest Allied Partners!
- Advanced Reservation Systems, Inc.
- Blue Man Group
- Broadway in Chicago
- Chicago Architecture Foundation
- Chicago Magazine
- Chicago Trolley and Double Decker Company
- City Colleges of Chicago
- CTM Brochure Display
- GIS Solutions
- Gold Coast Tickets
- GrahamSpencer Strategic Communications
- J Rudny, LLC - Dynamic Web Solutions
- Knight's Action Park
- Travelers Choice
- Where Publications
- wkpr LLC Public Relations
For more information about how to become an Allied Partner, click here, or contact Nina Winston, ITA Executive Director, at nwinston@illinoistourismalliance.org or 312-658-1047.
In the first of a series of columns to be written by ITA's Allied Partners, we asked Rockford-based strategic communications firm GrahamSpencer to share with our members and partners some thoughts on re-branding.
In the past several months, GrahamSpencer has been involved in no less than six re-branding efforts: one for the Rockford Region (under the auspices of Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, City of Rockford, Rockford Area Economic Development Council and Winnebago County); one for Chicago's North Shore Convention & Visitors Bureau (still in process); one for Rockford Business College; one for Eclipse, Inc, a 100-year-old manufacturing company in industrial combustion business; and, last but certainly not least, they helped Visit Illinois become the Illinois Tourism Alliance.
Here is what partner and co-creative director Jay Graham had to say:
I'm honored to be asked to share my thoughts with business and institutional leaders and hope you find my thoughts on re-branding helpful. Here are some important considerations for any organization considering re-branding:
1. Examine your reasons for wanting to re-brand.
A properly conceived brand touches everything from a business's logo to its business cards to the look and feel of its website to the character of its advertising to its signage to the way it is spoken and written about by its caretakers. It's not as easy as, say, repainting a house. And it can be expensive.
If your brand is outdated, re-brand. If it's no longer relevant to the geographic, demographic or psychographic audiences you target, re-brand. If you've expanded your business and your new products and customers no longer fit under your current brand's umbrella - re-brand (or consider starting a new brand).
However, some problems are not quite so strategic in nature. They might be better and more efficiently solved with an advertising/promotion campaign.
2. Strategy comes first.
If business strategy is important to you (and it should be very important for most businesses and institutions) hire design consultants who understand the importance of communications strategy and the fact that it should grow directly out of your business strategy and goals.
Research can be incredibly helpful to your communications partners. Every one of the projects I mentioned above began with research and discovery phases. Most of them began with extensive research. In some cases, the research phases occupied as much time in the project life cycle as the creative process itself.
The best way to build a strong brand - or re-branding effort - is to start with good information.
Guesswork and a feeling of intuitive knowledge is rarely good enough.
3. You shouldn't (necessarily) ignore your past.
Re-branding does not necessarily mean starting completely from scratch.
 In the case of our project for Eclipse, Inc, we actually adopted a historic approach and created an identity that features the company's eighteenth-century namesake, a famous British racehorse and an historic logotype that once graced its world-famous stoves in the early-to-mid twentieth century.
4. Strive to make your new identity about forward-looking values that are both true and matter to your customers.
For the Rockford Region, we needed to create an identity to serve the economic development needs of the City of Rockford and Economic Development Council as well as the tourism needs of RACVB.
There was also a strong desire on the part of our clients to address community pride-building. So, the work needed to ring true to local residents (something to rally 'round) as well as be attractive to disparate target audiences.
 Our solution revolves around the notion of "real, original Rockford." The Rockford Region is a welcoming, what-you-see-is-what-you-get community with wonderfully pleasant living and visiting assets you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. The logo's graphic elements are meant to suggest green, forest-dotted hill, a river's flowing water and our mid-American location and character.
5. What's in a name? Much.
Chances are your re-branding effort does not have to include a name change, but sometimes it is absolutely necessary based on market and strategy realities. Our work for ITA , of course, began with round table discussions driven by a smart board that was open to re-naming, and in that case it was absolutely the right thing to do for the obvious reasons.
6. Invest in brand standards and insist that those who use your brand stick to them.
Brand standards - properly written and adhered to - help ensure consistent implementation of a brand regardless of who is using it, and how far-removed from corporate or agency headquarters.
7. Gain company-wide buy-in of the new brand.
Actually, it's best to come to wide consensus about the need to undergo the process before it even begins. Internal brand alignment is critical before and after a re-branding effort. Employees who "feel" the new brand will be better and more natural ambassadors for your organization. A heartfelt, organization-wide sense of ownership in a brand helps drive business results for all the obvious reasons.
Jay Graham is a partner and co-creative director of GrahamSpencer, a Rockford-based strategic communications firm that provides design, web development and advertising services. He has worked on tourism branding and communications projects for more than twenty years. He can be reached at jgraham@grahamspencer.com
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