SUBMITTED NEWS RELEASE
CARSON CITY, Nev. — Google strategist Ryan Denny will reveal 10 quick ways to succeed in online advertising when he addresses the Nevada Commission on Tourism’s (NCOT) 20th annual Rural Roundup conference in Winnemucca March 24-26, Lt. Gov. Brian K. Krolicki announced today.
Denny, a travel industry advertising expert for the online search engine giant Google, is keynote speaker March 25 at the three-day conference in the Winnemucca Convention Center. He will provide quick and easy ideas for creating and measuring successful, big-impact online advertising.
“Online advertising strategies are a hot topic for the tourism industry, and rural Nevada communities that don’t have the luxury of an online marketing department will benefit from sessions on how best to utilize 21st century technology to achieve their goals,” Krolicki, NCOT chair, said.
Delegates will learn how to: evaluate their Web sites, fill out a winning application for an NCOT rural grant, build itineraries that promote local attractions, appeal to international visitors, make the most of social media, search engines and Web surfing, maximize a return on marketing dollars, develop a visitor profile and follow up leads for new business.
“Rural Roundup provides Nevadans who operate convention and visitor bureaus, chambers of commerce, hotels, events and other attractions a unique opportunity to learn new skills for drawing more visitors to their community and dollars to their economy,” NCOT Director Dann Lewis said.
Concluding a day-long series of workshops, Roger Brooks, an internationally recognized expert on how communities can attract more visitors, will describe what works best for “The New Age of Rural Tourism.” Brooks, of Destination Development International, has analyzed and guided more than 800 communities, including many in rural Nevada. He is one of the most popular speakers in Rural Roundup’s two-decade history.
NCOT will present the annual VolunTourism Awards for outstanding achievement in each of the six tourism “territories” at the annual Rural Roundup awards dinner March 25. In addition, the Cowboy Country Territory Advisory Committee will announce the winner of the 2010 June Stannard Rural Tourism Memorial Scholarship, which will provide $1,000 to a deserving Nevada high school senior who plans to pursue a hospitality, travel or tourism-related degree at an accredited college or university. Stannard, who died in 2008, is memorialized for her dedication and zeal promoting tourism while serving as operations manager for the Winnemucca Convention Center. The June Stannard Tourism Memorial Scholarship is administered by the Cowboy Country Territory Advisory Committee, affiliated with NCOT.
Rural Roundup will begin March 24 with activities that familiarize delegates with Winnemucca’s attractions and conclude March 26 with a breakfast roundtable discussion of what’s new at NCOT. Registration and a complete conference agenda are available at www.ruralroundup.com .
The annual gathering is the only conference designed especially for the tourism industry of rural Nevada, which is most of the state, though it also draws some participants from the urban centers, Reno and Las Vegas.
