Angels Camp, CA…For those who weren’t able to join us at the standing-room-only 2015 CVB Annual Dinner & 9th annual Innovations in Tourism Awards last month, here’s a recap on the events of the evening, with links to resources that were presented or handed out on the night.  Laurie Giannini, CVB board member, began by welcoming dignitaries and guests and thanking Eric and Christine Taylor for hosting us so graciously at Outer Aisle Foods. She introduced our board members for the 2015/16 fiscal year. Then, Larry Cornish, the CVB Vice President, led a moment of silence in memory of Sheriff Gary Kuntz.

I introduced our outstanding staff, Sandy Price, Office Manager, Judy Posman, Visitor Services & calendar guru, our new Visitor Services person, Nola Rasberry and our wonderful volunteer, Peggy Bishop. Then it was time to introduce our keynote speaker from Visit California. But since I wasn’t going to have time to present our marketing outcomes for the year in a powerpoint presentation as usual, I included a printed copy in the attendees’ folders. Also included in the folders were our 2015 guide to Calaveras Wineries Awards & Accolades and our 2015 Calaveras Holiday Shopping Guide, which were both promoted in our November Capitol Public Radio campaign, and which I encouraged our guests to use as inspiration for their own holiday shopping this year to support our retail & winery businesses.

Bryce McAnally then took the spotlight to present information on Visit California’s mission, funding and marketing outcomes. The information presented was very comprehensive, so we’ve uploaded a PDF of the Visit California powerpoint here so you can take your time to go through it all. The movies included in the presentation on the night are uploaded here separately:

• Visit California inspiration
• Average Joes spot – note the shot of Calaveras Big Trees State Park at 24 seconds.
• Kids Unplugged spot
• Dream 367 TV
• California Dream Eater

The Calaveras Visitors Bureau is an industry partner with Visit California. We are part of two regional marketing organizations, the Gold Country Visitors Association, and the High Sierra Visitors Council, both of which enter into annual contracts with Visit California to receive matching funds up to $60,000 each for regional marketing projects, following the Visit California marketing plan. This enables us to dovetail into state marketing programs at a fraction of the cost it would take to achieve the same marketing reach on our own. It also helps us to expand and reinforce our regional brands in concert with counties that include similar tourism assets.

Stay tuned for more information on the California Dream Eater program – we’ll be sending a subject-specific email in January with details on how YOU can help Calaveras to win coverage!

Our heartfelt thanks go to Supervisor Cliff Edson for bringing and setting up A/V equipment for this event, and for the Calaveras County Chamber’s Executive Director, Staci Johnston and Vice President, Nicki Stevens’ help on setting up the room, and also to Supervisor Michael Oliveira for announcing the Innovations in Tourism Awards winners.