MONTHLY MEASURE
Click here for the latest Monthly Measure, an executive summary of the recent performance activity from the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau. Detailed information includes several local and national industry barometers.

"THE SAN ANTONIO STORY" VIDEO PREMIERE

Released on September 16, 2008, "The San Antonio Story," is the CVB's latest sales and marketing tool. Shot in one week at more than 30 locations, it is colorful, fluid and dynamic - much like the city itself - and highlights the culture, history, cuisine, heritage, attractions and people of San Antonio. The DVD features a 3 minute San Antonio Feature Story, and :90 second, :60 second and two :30 second short features. The shorter features are scheduled to air in conjunction with major sporting events, such as the U.S. Army All American Bowl and the Valero Alamo Bowl. Additionally it will be shared with over 300,000 consumers via email who have opted into the CVB's web site plus it will be disseminated on video portals such as YouTube, Yahoo! Video, videoglobetrotter.com, Travelistic; in-flight on Continental Airlines flights and other outlets.

Watch & Download "The San Antonio Story"

LARGEST MEETING OF THE YEAR


With 35,000 attendees, the American Dental Association is the largest convention of 2008! The 149th ADA Annual Session, which will be held at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center from October 16-19, 2008, brings together leaders in dental practice, research, academics and industry to present more than 225 continuing education courses over four days. Some of these meetings will take place concurrently at the Convention Center, the Alamodome and numerous hotels. If you live or work downtown expect an increased demand for parking, more traffic, and restaurants close to capacity. ADA will utilize 60 hotels and 10 shuttle routes. Please make ADA attendees feel at home in our city!

FIESTA OF TREES

In a span of three days the San Antonio Hotel Lodging Association plans to raise $100,000 for local charities with the first annual Fiesta of Trees. Coinciding with the lighting of the River Walk on Friday, November 28 and continuing thru Sunday, November 30th, over 150 trees will be on display at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. For $2 you can buy a chance to a win a sponsor decorated tree. The majority of these trees will be given away to winners of the tree drawings, while 15 trees will be sold to the highest bidder at a Gala Reception on Sunday, November 30th. All proceeds will be shared equally among participating charities while SAHLA's share will go to the city's new Haven for Hope. To find out how you can sponsor a tree, volunteer for the event, or to make a donation visit www.fiestaoftress.org.

SA RANKED AMONG AMERICA'S FAVORITE CITIES

Travel + Leisure magazine has named San Antonio as one of America’s favorite cities for the second year in a row. Among the 25 cities featured, San Antonio was voted the most affordable by readers. The city also ranked highly in ethnic food and cheap eats (2nd), family vacations (5th), historical (5th), Winter/Christmas travel (5th), traffic (5th), and romantic escape (7th). See more of Travel + Leisure’s evaluation of San Antonio.

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FORD HOLIDAY RIVER PARADE & LIGHTING

Tickets for the 2008 FORD Holiday River Parade & Lighting are on sale now! The Paseo Del Rio Association will flip the switch on 122,000 lights along the River Walk at 7 p.m. on the Friday after Thanksgiving, November 28th. The lighting is followed by an hour-long parade which features decorated, illuminated floats with celebrities including Grand Marshall Jesse James Leija, lavishly-costumed participants, and bands. Tickets for reserved seating range from $10-25 and are available at (210) 227-4262. Over 150,000 people gather each year along the River Walk to watch the festivities, while millions more watch the television broadcast.

FALL ART FESTIVALS

The slightly cooler temperatures signal the start of San Antonio's Fall Art Festivals. These festivals last thru early December and allow the innovative, artistic and distinct identity of San Antonio to shine with art, culture, tradition, music, photography, film, food and wine.

FotoSeptiembre kicked off the Fall Art Festival season in September with a month's worth of exhibitions at galleries and museums with work from regional and worldwide professional photographers.

Following is The International Accordion Festival which celebrates the regional sounds and rhythms of accordion music. Some of the world's finest musicians will play zydeco, polka, tango and two step at La Villita on October 11th & 12th. Admission is free.

The colorful and traditional Dia de los Muertos or "Day of the Dead" is also popular during these festivals. Observed on November 2nd, the festival and events continue throughout the month at altars, skulls, flowers, chocolate, "pan de muerto", music and poetic works.

Another event to mark on your calendar is the New World Wine & Food Festival for five full days of fun, food and wine on November 5 - 9, 2008. For a complete list of events visit www.nwwff.org.

Click here for a complete list of events from the SACVB website.

Have an event to submit to the CVB web calendar? Click here for the submission form.

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WITTE MUSEUM

Showing their commitment to the city of San Antonio, the Valero Energy Foundation gave a historic gift of $4 million to the Witte Museum to support the museum's capital campaign for the future expansion. The new entrance will be named the Valero Great Hall (illustration below) and will include space for an ongoing dinosaur exhibit.

WIGGLES WORLD COMING TO SIX FLAGS FIESTA TEXAS

Six Flags Fiesta Texas announced plans for an all new interactive children's area to open in Spring 2009. Wiggles World will offer colorful rides, live entertainment, branded merchandise and food - all geared to children ages 2-6. The Wiggles are the most popular children's entertainers in the world having sold more than 22 million DVDs and videos and more than 5 million albums worldwide. Six Flags Fiesta Texas 2009 Season Passes are now on sale at www.sixflags.com, HEB Business Centers, or by calling (210) 697-5050.

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WALK TO CURE DIABETES

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is hosting the 2008 Walk to Cure Diabetes at the Alamodome on October 11, 2008. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is dedicated to finding a cure for diabetes, which affects more than 24 million Americans. The walk is a little over 3 miles and will proceed through the beautiful HemisFair Park and alongside the River Walk. Children, pets and strollers are all welcome. Registration is free, but walkers are strongly encouraged to fundraise. 85 percent of all the money raised will go directly towards helping find a cure for type 1 diabetes. The walk will begin at the Alamodome North Plaza. On-site registration is at noon and the walk starts at 1:00 p.m. For more information or to register online, go to www.sctx-jdrf.org.

UIL AREA MARCHING CONTEST

The Universal Interscholastic League will be hosting the marching contest for Area G on October 25. The UIL’s music program aims to enrich the teaching of music to students in the public school system. This event will feature bands from several high schools that will compete to reserve a spot in the State Marching Band Finals.
Advance tickets are available through the schools, or you may purchase tickets on-site at the Alamodome’s northeast box office on October 25th.

BANDS OF AMERICA

Music For All will be hosting its Bands of America regional championships at the Alamodome October 31, 2008 and November 1, 2008. Music For All hosts several Band of America events across the nation, which are known for being the pinnacle of programs for high school instrumental programs. Top marching bands from across Texas will compete for the coveted top spot. The Bands of America will feature two days of preliminaries before the Saturday evening finals.

Date: Friday, October 31, 2008 – Saturday, November 1, 2008
Friday, October 31
Doors Open: 11:45 a.m.
Show Time: 12:15 p.m. – 8:15 p.m.
Saturday, November 1
Doors Open: 7:00 a.m.
Show Time: 7:30 a.m. – 11:30 p.m.

For more information visit www.bands.org.

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PLEASE WELCOME...

The Sales & Services Team welcomes three new staff members.

Brenda Morales joined the sales team on September 15th as National Sales Manager. She will be managing meetings (250 and below) in the Northeast, Southeast, and Canada regions.
Brenda's professional experience includes marketing, promotions, and event planning with aMAEzing Marketing, Clear Channel Radio, and the San Antonio Public Library. Brenda attended John H Kennedy High School and received a bachelor's degree in Communications from the University of Iowa.

Cleo Soto also joins the Sales Team as National Sales Manager serving the Midwest meetings from 250 peak rooms and below. Prior to joining the CVB , Cleo was a Business Development Manager at Quality Janitorial Services. He also worked for AT&T, JP Morgan Chase, and Mattress Firm. Cleo is pursuing an MBA in Management from Our Lady of the Lake University.

Joy Ware joins the Services Department as the new Assistant Housing Manager. She has an extensive background in reservations and hotel management. Prior to joining the CVB Joy was with Resort Management Group in Granby, Colorado.
She lived and worked in Corpus Christi for many years, also in the hotel industry, and is happy to be back in Texas.

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TAKING SAN ANTONIO ON THE ROAD

Director of Communications, Dee Dee Poteete recently shared San Antonio at the Society of American Travel Writers Northeast Chapter meeting in Maine, as well as during a whirlwind media mission in Toronto. Promotions introduced San Antonio’s cuisine, art, heritage, history, culture, golf/resorts, new developments and attractions to editorial members of various newspapers, magazines as well as freelance writers who contribute to a number of outlets. Some 20 media contacts were made during outreach efforts to include Toronto Globe & Mail, Toronto Sun, Canadian Travel Press, ScoreGolf, Outpost Magazine and others. SATW outlets included AAA Going Places, Arts & Leisure News Service, The Berkshire Eagle, Mobil Travel Guide, Connecticut Magazine, New York Post, where-in-the-world.info, House Magazine, Asbury Park Press, Albany Times Union, AAA Southern Traveler, AAA Midwest Traveler, Motorhome, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, Odyssey, Womenswallstreet.com, Continental, Atmosphere, Modern Agent, AARP The Magazine, American Style, Art & Antiques, Boston Globe, Budget Travel, Car &Travel, Dallas News, Down East, Executive Traveler, Experience, Four Seasons, Golf Connoisseur and others.

FAMILY TRAVEL FORUM MAGAZINE FINDS SA FAMILY FRIENDLY

In partnership with the Hyatt Hill Country Resort and Spa and SeaWorld San Antonio, the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau introduced Family Travel Forum to destination San Antonio, family style! SACVB Communications Manager Evelynn Bailey escorted the magazine to some of San Antonio’s favorite family getaways including the Alamo, Witte Museum and HEB Treehouse, Institute of Texan Cultures, Buckhorn Saloon & Museum, Market Square, Museo Alameda and the Tower of the America’s and Chart House Restaurant. Thank you to our partners for helping us spread the “Deep. In the Heart.” message to all our friends.

SA AMONG TOP 50 NEXT GREAT ADVENTURE TOWNS

It’s not surprising that San Antonio, a city famed for pivotal battles, has been noted by National Geographic Adventure magazine (circulation 2.4 million readers) as one of the nation’s “next great adventure towns.” For almost three centuries, San Antonio has been a haven of cultural evolution and deep-rooted beliefs. The Communications team hosted National Geographic Traveler this past April.
See this article on the SACVB website.




BIENVENUE A SAN ANTONIO!

The Communications team hosted French media in May which led to San Antonio being featured in Marie-Claire Maison, a monthly home decor and travel magazine based in Paris, with a circulation of more than 1.5 million. The publication’s piece on vast spaces and closely knit art communities in Central and West Texas highlights San Antonio’s Museo Alameda and McNay Art Museum. Read this article on the SACVB website.

WANT TO INCREASE YOUR PR POWER?

If you would like to receive media leads for hosting and opportunities for editorial exposure, the SACVB Communications team wants to hear from you. More than 120 members of the media will be hosted in San Antonio this year, and your SACVB will generate $10 million in positive editorial exposure (national and international). Send your contact information to communications@visitsanantonio.com. Thank you all for your ongoing support and partnership!

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MARKETING UPDATE

Besides the new marketing video, which premiered on September 16, 2008, the Marketing department has been working on ....

TRAVEL & LEISURE GUIDE
The new Travel & Leisure Guide, released in July, is making waves in market and was sent to over 13,800 consumers in the month of August in response to requests from advertising or the website. Over 230,000 Travel & Leisure Guides have been distributed since October and there have been over 35,500 unique visits to the e-version.

ADVERTISING
August ads appeared in these consumer magazines: AARP, American Legacy, Score Golf, Southern Living, Texas Monthly, Texas Town & City and Travel & Leisure magazines. You can see some of our online promotions at: www.spiritair.com, www.spiritmag.com, www.gourmettraveltalk.com, bridalguide.com, gourmetscoop.com, www.scoregolf.com, www.beyondad.com, www.midwestlivingtravel.com and www.linksmagazine.com.

For the conventions and meetings market, August ads appeared in Meetings & Conventions, Successful Meetings, Corporate Meetings & Incentives, Meeting News, PCMA Convene, Associations Now and USAE.

WEBSITE
The average time on the website for August was 5:59 which is a 58.8% increase from August of 2007. In addition, the bounce back rate was 27.8% for August which was 27.8% less than August of 2007, all indications of more qualified and engaged visitors to our website.

S.A.V.E.
A four-page promotional direct mail piece was dropped in Dallas/Ft. Worth and Houston on 8/26 reaching over 800,000 households. The piece featured a Fall Into San Antonio Sweepstakes which had over 2,300 entries. The next direct mail piece as well as newspaper insert to go into market with a holiday theme.

Several online programs are currently underway driving traffic to the S.A.V.E. web site. By the end of August, the ongoing Yahoo! Banner Ad Campaign has generated over 11 million impressions with a CTR of 0.15%. A Google key word campaign is well under way and captured 11.8 million impressions through September 1, a .39% click thru rate (over 46,000 clicks) and over 14,000 conversions (registrations and coupon downloads). The program tested about 3,000 keywords and found that SAVE branding and attraction keywords have the most efficacy for the program.

The 2009 S.A.V.E. Program is gearing up so hoteliers, attractions and shopping operators - please make sure to set aside marketing funds in your budgets to participate. Be on the lookout for an invitation to the 2009 S.A.V.E. Plan Presentation within the next month.

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LA CUMBRE 2008

From September 3 - 5, 2008, San Antonio was one of hundreds of delegates from around the continent that gathered for the 2008 La Cumbre summit. La Cumbre is the Americas' annual travel industry summit and this year was hosted at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida. The 2008 La Cumbre gathered 1,000 delegates including buyers, suppliers from 20 countries and members of the local and international media. La Cumbre generated 4,887 business appointments between 369 buyers and 245 exhibitors that participated in the event according to the official La Cumbre website. The summit also included a range of destination seminars and conferences.

The SACVB dedicated time to visiting with Argentinian media and laying ground work for more targeted promotions in this market. Furthermore, the SACVB also visited with the Visit USA committee Director of Argentina, a contact the SACVB feels will be resourceful in its strategic alliance with Latin America, namely Argentina. Other contacts at this event included a former media representative for the State of Texas' office in Argentina and Brazil.

The SACVB was successful in negotiating a Mexican television program site visit to San Antonio later this year. The hope is that San Antonio will gain more visibility in the Mexican market as part of the Mexico-Latin America strategic initiative. The SACVB is working to schedule that visit in time for the park openings.

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SYTA SUCCESS

San Antonio hosted the largest Student Youth Travel Association (SYTA) conference on record with over 1,000 attendees! SYTA members are travel operators that organize student groups for educational travel throughout the United States and Canada. From the September 5-9, the travel operators acquainted themselves with San Antonio's authentic culture, old world charm and distinctive attractions including SeaWorld San Antonio and Six Flags Fiesta Texas.

Pictured left to right: Michael Palmer, SYTA - Executive Director; Brad Smyth, Deputy Director of Tourism; Jill Gleason, Chairperson, SYTA Youth Foundation; Carla Norwood, SACVB; John Krish, SYTA Board Vice President; Sani Kerth, 2008 Conference Organizing Committee, Chair Tourific of Texas; Nancy Reiter, SYTA Board President; Dorah Putney, SACVB; Sal Garza, SACVB.

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SAN ANTONIAN LANDS DISNEY DIRECTING FELLOWSHIP

San Antonio's own Stephen Acevedo (pictured second from right) was selected by Disney-ABC Television Group, in partnership with the Directors Guild of America, as one of three new fellows for the seventh annual Directing Fellowship program. Chosen from more than 600 applicants, 2008 directing fellows Stephen Acevedo, Matia Karrell and Ravi Malhotra begin their year-long paid fellowships this month working with executives from Disney-ABC Television Group and the Directors Guild.

Steve joins Tom Alvarado, also from San Antonio, who is currently in the writing fellowship at Disney. Congratulations Steve!

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Besides 35,000 attendees for the ADA Annual Session, San Antonio also prepares to welcome 4,000 city leaders from across the state from October 29-31 for the Texas Municipal League 96th Annual Conference & Exhbition. The Texas Municipal League provides services to cities across Texas and advocates the interests of its members. San Antonio will host the National League of Cities in 2009.

Other groups in town for the month of October include...

Access Intelligence, LLC (3000)
Accrediting Council for Continuing Education & Training (200)
American College of Healthcare Executives (40)
American College of Veterinary Radiology (200)
American Phytopathological Society (50)
American Society for Testing & Material (80)
Blue Skyways Collaborative (150)
Correctional Management Institute of Texas (185)
Diversified Business Communications (2500)
DSI-Corp (270)
Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania (400)
General Dynamics Information Technology (100)
Goodwill Industries International (98)
International Counter Terrorism Officers Association (100)
Independent Laboratory Distributors Association (120)
Irishfree School of Irish Dance (102)
Kindergarten Teachers of Texas (1400)
Kinetic Concepts, Inc. (80)
Ladies Oriental Shrine of North America (75)
National Alliance on Mental Illness Texas (225)
National Association of Health Data Organizations (150)
National Association of Housing & Redevelopment Officials (2000)
National Association of School Psychologists (50)
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (250)
National Collegiate Honors Council (1800)
National Defense Industrial Association (350)
National Dropout Prevention Network (600)
National Multiple Sclerosis Society - 2008 Valero Annual Bike to the Beach (1500)
National Pan Hellenic Council, Inc. (300)
National Public Health Information Coalition (200)
National Rural Education Association (250)
Operators Edge (500)
Partner Software (25)
Pictometry International Corporation (325)
Public Broadcasting Service (800)
Rasa Floors (26)
SAE International (500)
Sacramento Metro Chamber (80)
Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (600)
Southwestern Chapter of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (150)
Talent Ideas & Enterprise (250)
Texas Association for Healthcare Quality (90)
Texas Association of School Psychologists (500)
Texas Council for the Social Studies (700)
The CBORD Group, Inc. (600)
US Adult Soccer Association (300)
US Department of Defense (85)
US Environmental Protection Agency (40)
USS Caliente Association (60)
USS Cleveland Reunion Association (100)
USS Crowley DE303 (60)
United Methodist Congress of the Deaf (24)
United States Military Academy at West Point (17)
Upledger Institute (45)
Women Writing the West (140)

Click here for a complete schedule of meetings from the SACVB website.

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Newsletter Information
From The Heart is a collaborative effort of the San Antonio Convention & Visitors Bureau and the Convention, Sports and Entertainment Facilities.

Our Mission is "To promote and market San Antonio as a premier visitor and convention/meeting destination for the purpose of positively affecting the city economy."

For more information, or to be removed from this newsletter list, email us at CommunityRelations@VisitSanAntonio.com, or call Marketing & Communications division at (210) 207-6737.