Google Places Photos

This is really a tip for your members and industry partners, so pass it on!

When you're driving in a new city, it's easy to miss street numbers and signs. One of the most frustrating experiences of visiting any destination is circling the block two or three times because you can't spot the restaurant you're looking for (or gift shop, gallery, etc.).

Make it easier by showing visitors what your business looks like from the street. Anyone can upload photos of their business to Google Places, but in addition to interior shots, make sure you show how it looks from the street, both day and night.

Google is taking applications now to have their photographers shoot businesses in select cities. You can learn more about it here - but anyone can upload business photos: don't wait for Google!

To find your Google Places page and upload your own photos, search your business on Google Maps. Click the map marker for your business to bring up the information balloon, then click "more info" next to the ratings info to go to your Places page. 

IMEX 2011 closes on a high and looks ahead to 10 year anniversary celebrations

The ninth IMEX in Frankfurt closed on a high when Chairman, Ray Bloom, announced some important new achievements and record outcomes for the exhibition that represents the worldwide meetings, events and incentive travel industry.

At the show's closing press conference at Messe Frankfurt Bloom explained that the authority and quality of the IMEX hosted buyer model had once again been reinforced.

PRESS RELEASE  - IMEX

In simultaneous bi-coastal events, Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs along with City of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer in Orlando, Fla. and Visit Orlando President and CEO Gary Sain in San Francisco announced Orlando drew a record-breaking 51.46 million visitors in 2010, up 10.5 percent from 46.6 million in 2009. Domestic visitation accounted for 47.78 million visitors, a 10.3 percent increase over 2009; and international travel totaled 3.68 million, an increase of 12.6 percent from 2009.

With this record, Orlando is the first destination in the country to welcome more than 50 million visitors and remains the most visited destination in the U.S.

NEWS ARTICLE - TRAVELPULSE.COM

Tucson, May 20, 2011 - simpleview is proud to announce the fully redesigned visitbloomington.com, the official website of Bloomington/Monroe County Convention & Visitors Bureau in Bloomington, Indiana.

The site is built on simpleview CMS 2.5, and features integrations with some of the company's leading strategic partners, including Google Maps and TripAdvisor.

Among the many added aspects of the Visit Bloomington site, the new site offers a vertical slideshow, image boxes, highlights, and navigation dropdowns with relevant, corresponding images. Visit Bloomington also features an FAQ section, blog, video photo tours, updated surveys, banners, events, Google Maps and articles.

You can view the new Visit Bloomington online at www.visitbloomington.com.

Before	After

Tucson, May 18, 2011 - simpleview is pleased to announce Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau as number 109 to go live in simpleview CRM 3.0 and the launch of their newly redesigned website! 

The site's biggest feature is the homepage slideshow, with scenic shots around Boulder and downtown. The opening shot of the Flatirons is breathtaking and sets the tone for the rest of the site. The images in the slideshow can easily be changed by the client and navigation for users is easy with use of the control bar in the center of the page. All of the interior pages of the site feature three header images along the top.

The new bouldercoloradousa.com provides information to appeal to a variety of visitors, including adventure activists, nature enthusiasts, sports organizers, wedding planners and even information for film production services. Some of the new additions to the Boulder CVB site include their online virtual visitor guide, coupons, advanced itinerary, video photo tours, online RFP submission, events and an extensive use of articles.

Before	After

Explore the scenic side of Boulder online at: www.bouldercoloradousa.com

Tucson, May 16, 2011 - simpleview is proud to unveil visitbuffaloniagara.com, the official website of the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The new visitbuffaloniagara.com site design features stylized drop-down navigation, a timed slideshow on the homepage, language options and a video photo tour.

The Buffalo Niagara CVB offers the most accurate and up-to-date content for leisure visitors, meeting planners and more. Their amplified site hosts a variety of new features, including listings, events, RFP online submission, articles, contacts, live chat, Google Translate, coupons and more. That's not all; simpleview and Buffalo Niagara CVB are teaming up to showcase their more advanced features towards the end of the month, including their advanced social media integration, blog, and smartphone mobile site.

You can view the new Buffalo Niagara CVB site at: www.visitbuffaloniagara.com

Before	After

simpleview & Ruf Strategic Solutions unite to give DMOs powerful consumer intelligence 

TUCSON, May 12, 2011 - This summer, every destination marketing organization (DMO) using simpleview CRM will now be armed with new customer intelligence - how many have moved, how many have an email address, what is the age of my customer- literally overnight. In other circumstances, this kind of data analysis could cost upwards of $10,000 per DMO, but it will be provided free to all simpleview CRM customers thanks to a joint initiative by simpleview and Ruf Strategic Solutions.

How It Works: Data Analysis to Feed New Tools in simpleview CRM
In Q3 2011, Ruf Strategic Solutions will execute a massive analysis of nearly 8 million consumer records that span the 120+ implementations of simpleview CRM, running the data against their extensive consumer data resources.

Shortly thereafter, a new tool - the Consumer Data Health Check - will appear within every implementation of simpleview CRM, automatically added via remote upgrade.

At that point, just by clicking to the Health Check dashboard, all simpleview CRM customers will gain powerful new understandings of their consumer records via graphs, pie charts and statistics on critical data points.

simpleview and Ruf will refresh the data once or more a year, with frequency to be determined following rollout.

14 New Data Points + Visit Propensity Matrix & Consumer List Options
Information automatically provided by Health Check can be divided into six categories:

1. Data statistics: Health Check will report on:

• Customers by age and income
• Top five geographic feeder markets represented
• People who have moved

2. Data Fixes: Health Check will flag records that DMOs can act on for 1-click resolution:

• Duplicate records (at the individual and household levels)
• Records with invalid email addresses

3. Data Enhancements: Health Check will also flag records that can be appended with additional consumer data:

• Appending records with age and household income info
• Segmenting data by age of head of household and household income

4. Visit Propensity Analysis: Using state-level data, Health Check will bubble-chart consumers by propensity to visit ("cash cows," "stars," "dogs" and "problem children" in the language of the Boston Consulting Group's popular growth-share matrix) - data that can help you save thousands on collateral fulfillment, engage your best prospects, reward your most valuable visitors and more.

5. Address Correction & Enhancement Options: Health Check will flag and quantify records for which further improvements can be purchased:

• Records with change of address info on file with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS)
• Records that fail delivery validation checks used by the USPS
• Records with new email address information available
• Records with multiple email addresses at the household

Note: report provided at no cost, services available for purchase.

6. New Consumer Data Options: Last but not least, Health Check will make available for purchase data lists of additional consumers statistically likely to visit.

Note: report provided at no cost, lists available for purchase.

Only with simpleview CRM
Health Check builds on the SmartView product - also a simpleview/Ruf collaboration - that offers similar data services in nightly syncs. That product remains an option for DMOs wanting daily updates while Health Check offers data enhancement - less often but at no cost to users.

"Our customers have heard me say that as more people transition to simpleview CRM, it lets us to do more to advance the industry overall, and this is a perfect example," said simpleview CEO Ryan George, noting that simpleview and Ruf negotiated discounted services based on bulk data processing and simpleview's extensive client base.

"What we're paying to do this is a fraction of what it would cost DMOs to get this information on their own, and it's only possible because we have an unmatched critical mass of users and data."

Ryan also noted that Health Check introduces a consumer data point not available anywhere else: how information indexes against the combined records across the simpleview CRM user community - nearly 8 million records now and growing daily.

Preview and Other Announcements at simpleview Summit
simpleview and Ruf Strategic Solutions have completed planning and validation for the initiative and announced Health Check at the annual simpleview Summit last week.

The news marks the third of four major CRM-related announcements for 2011, George said, the first and second being the introduction of per-user licensing at less than $1,200 per year and a new, Smartphone-optimized interface announced in March.

"We've always strived to push the boundaries of what CRM can and should do for our customers," George said. "I see Health Check as a huge leap ahead, and we're still just getting warmed up. By the end of this year, and at no cost to them, our customers will have more knowledge and competitive resources at their fingertips than they've ever had before."

About simpleview
simpleview helps destination marketing organizations (DMOs) succeed on every front, from convention sales to tourism marketing and day-to-day operations. The company offers integrated products and services including the industry's most advanced CRM and CMS platforms, powerful forecasting and reporting tools, dynamic websites, sites for mobile web, search engine optimization and interactive marketing. Founded in 1991, simpleview employs 70+ people with offices in Tucson, Dallas and San Diego serving 170+ domestic and international destination marketing organizations.

About Ruf Strategic Solutions
Ruf Strategic Solutions delivers a full suite of intelligence solutions to help organizations acquire new customers, retain existing customers, and develop one-to-one relationships to maximize profitability. Ruf's unique ability to integrate vast arrays of data, technology tools, and over 30 years of expertise empowers organizations with truly actionable and measurable intelligence. Ruf currently services many market leaders in a variety of industries.

Media Contact:
Cara Frank
Director of Marketing & Communications, simpleview Inc.
(520) 575-1151
cfrank@simpleviewinc.com

Buffalo, NY (WKBW)- The Buffalo Niagara Convention and Visitors Bureau unveiled a new brand identity for the region Tuesday. 'Buffalo For Real' was introduced as the region's new brand platform.

The CVB has also transformed its name to: Visit Buffalo Niagara. Dottie Gallagher-Cohn, CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara says the brand sends a clear message to tourists about a true 'American City' and believes Buffalo is unique city rich in history,architecture, and culture.

The organization also has a new website: www.visitbuffaloniagara.com.

NEWS ARTICLE - MSNBC.COM

Killing the print edition of its visitors guide may have been the best database-augmenting action Indiana's South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority ever took. In doing so, the group put itself in a position to deliver better-qualified leads to its member organizations by focusing on online communication.
NEWS ARTICLE - CHIEFMARKETER.COM