Having a good summer? I am! I am happy to report that I recently attended the Destinations International (formerly DMAI: Destination Marketing Association International) convention in Montreal, Quebec, where I officially graduated as a CDME (Certified Destination Management Executive). I am very pleased to be done with “school” again for a while!
Speaking of the convention, it was another solid round of speakers and education sessions and a good exchange of information with colleagues from across the state and around the world. However, the one thing that stuck out to me in a big way was that, although there were several destinations from Minnesota present, many of our local CVB’s were unable to attend. I know this is out of reach for many of our smaller bureaus, either because of staff size and availability or due to having a smaller budget, or both. One of the things pointed out by some of the new staff of our newly named international association was that over 60% of the DI membership has a budget of less than $2 million and a significant portion of those have a MUCH smaller budget and a very small staff. It is for those reasons that they are working on ways to make the association and its resources available and affordable for even our smaller destinations. Stay tuned. I will try to let you know of any successes on that front in future columns.
One of the graduates in my class told me his entire budget is $50,000. I am astonished at what can be accomplished by the dedication of individuals and bureaus of all sizes. On that note, I will continue to encourage the staff at Destinations International to keep up their efforts to bring the power of our organization to even the smallest of bureaus, so that we may all learn and benefit from it. And we, as the board of the Minnesota Association of CVB’s, will continue to encourage the sharing of best practices and ethical leadership through our affordable programs and conferences. I hope you’ll be able to join us at our next one, which will include our Annual Meeting, this October.
Until then,
Best wishes!
Dave
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