Annual Luncheon Provides Insights, Highlights and Awards; Record-Breaking Attendance
|
|
Visit Lake County hosted its annual luncheon at Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in Mundelein, with a record crowd of 200 hospitality and government leaders from across the area attending. VLC looked back at fiscal year '23 and shared our upcoming plans.
The workshop (L-R) Jones, Barnett and Tantillo
Before lunch was served, the City of Waukegan and VLC Board Chair David Motley moderated a workshop titled "Drive Your Destination with Images, Influencers and Social Strategy." The panel consisted of London House Chicago's Director of Sales and Marketing Don Barnett, Síege Food Photo owner Marc Tantillo and VLC Marketing Manager Jonathan Jones.
Village of Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz
Visit Lake County Board Member and Director of the Lake County Farm Bureau Greg Koeppen served as emcee. Other speakers welcoming guests included Village of Mundelein Mayor Steve Lentz, Motley and Lake County Board President Sandy Hart.
VLC President Maureen Riedy and Illinois Office of Tourism Deputy Director Daniel Thomas
VLC President Maureen Riedy discussed the CVB's FY '23 campaign results and the economic impact of tourism in Lake County, Enjoy Illinois Chicago Bears Training Camp, marketing and sales initiatives and more. Riedy also unveiled the plans for Lake County February Flavor Fest, combining Lake County Restaurant Week and Lake County Libation Trail Month.
VLC Community Outreach and Programs Director John Maguire announced the Visit Lake County Hospitality Scholarship winner in partnership with the College of Lake County, naming student Fernanda "Mattie" Romero of Waukegan as the 2023 recipient.
The Visit Lake County Board
The 2023 "Friend of Tourism" award was presented to Mike Caplan, a lifelong Gurnee-area native who is also known as the meteorologist on FOX 32 Chicago. Mike has helped VLC promote Lake County Restaurant Week since 2018, hosting over 30 live social media features at diverse restaurants, being seen by thousands of Chicago-area viewers.
Friend of Tourism recipient Mike Caplan and Maguire
Our keynote speaker, Illinois Office of Tourism (IOT) Deputy Director Daniel Thomas, spoke about the state's marketing initiatives, the economic impact of Illinois tourism and visitor spending and the state' upcoming fall campaign. He also highlighted the Illinois Made Program, which included the first showing of an IOT-produced video featuring Dangelas Dumplings in Libertyville, one of the program's newly-named members.
For a surprise photo op, VLC's summer campaign co-op partner Volo Museum traveled across the county with the 1960s Batmobile.
We thank all our partners for "Sharing the Journey" at our premier event (our largest turnout to date) and look forward to a lucrative FY '24 working with all of you. You can continue here to view the VLC FY '23 Annual Report.
|
|
Visit Lake County Launches its Fall Campaign on Friday
|
|
Visit Lake County is gearing up for all things fall, libations and Halloween, positioning the season and beloved holiday as essential tourism drivers that create a perennial brand and entice visits throughout September and October.
 Our "Spooks & Spirits Autumn Celebration" campaign is highlighted by the variety of autumn and Halloween activities as well as craft breweries, distilleries and wineries. The initiative is complemented by a month-long Check-in Challenge from the Lake County Libation Trail throughout October.
The campaign promotion is run through various digital and traditional placements, including connected TV (steaming engines), YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, an e-blast, strategically placed banner ads and local radio ads to targeted audiences.
The initiative also includes six content activation blogs for the six-week run. The dedicated webpage launches today.
|
|
Video Spotlight: Spooks & Spirits Lake County, Illinois Autumn Celebration
|
|
Visit Lake County Welcomes Stephanie Wylie
|
|
 VLC is ecstatic to welcome the new addition to our family, Stephanie Wylie.
Stephanie joined VLC after working for eight years at Allstate Insurance Company as the social lead consultant and manager and legal operations specialist. The Wauconda resident graduated from Dominican University with a Bachelor's in English Rhetoric and Communications.
Wylie is a lifelong resident of the land of lakes, having resided in Lake Zurich, Highwood and Wauconda.
As our marketing content writer Stephanie will serve as the lead for social media and blogs, support campaigns, website curation, analytics and other initiatives.
In her free time, the Wauconda resident enjoys reading, CrossFit, painting and walking her corgi named Scout.
Drop Stephanie a line to help us welcome her to the world of Lake County travel and tourism.
|
|
Schedule Your Threshold 360 Digital Tour
|
|
The Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau has partnered with Threshold 360 to capture a high-quality virtual tour of your location to be used on VisitLakeCounty.org and to be uploaded to your Google My Business Profile.
According to Google, 360º content DOUBLES the likelihood that an online searcher visits that business in person, and Threshold Virtual Tours have proven to drive business.
In addition, after your tour have been captured you will receive access to the Threshold 360 platform with publishing and embedding capabilities for your website.
| Take a Threshold Virtual Tour of O'Toole's of Libertyville |
Ready to get started? The process is simple:
- Click the Schedule Now button below and select the best day & time for a Threshold 360 Creator to capture your location.
- With a tripod and a 360° camera, the Creator will capture 360° photos of your property for virtual tour creation.
- If you're a hotel, this capture session will include any meeting rooms and guest room types that you would like to show off. We'd encourage the inclusion of ADA rooms as well. No major staging is required. Your customers and staff can be present and you can conduct business as usual.
- Once captured, the virtual tour will be added to your listing page on our website, used in group presentations that we send out, and uploaded to your Google listing page - you don't have to lift a finger. Here is an example
- You will also obtain a unique Threshold Link which can be used on your social media, sales decks, email campaigns, and for site visits
|
The Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau is thrilled to provide this service for you. Thank you in advance for your participation and support. Do you have any questions about this partner benefit or scheduling with Threshold 360? Continue here.
|
|
Connect Social Media with VLC's CrowdRiff for Elevated Exposure
|
|
VLC knows your content tells a great story about our destination, and we would love to share it with our audience! Sharing social content allows you to reach a larger audience, increase engagement, and bring more visitors to your business.
There’s a simple (and quick!) way to share your social content with us. Simply connect your Instagram Business Account via CrowdRiff, the visual marketing platform we use to manage our photo library, through this link: https://auth.crowdriff.com/app/lake-county/auth.
Once you click, just follow the steps to authorize your Facebook account (which is Instagram’s parent company).
After you link your account, we’ll be able to view your posts, stories, @mentioned and tagged content. If we plan to share your content or use it in our promotional materials, we’ll always request permission first and credit the creator when we share it.
If you have any questions, please let us know. We look forward to promoting your business!
|
|
Keep VLC Updated on Your Upcoming Plans
|
|
VLC remains committed to serving our partners, communities and residents. Please reach out to us for marketing support. We would love to post your beautiful photos of Lake County, see your videos, learn about your upcoming events and tours and feature your happenings across our website, social media, newsletters and more.
Contact VLC Marketing Manager Jonathan Jones and inform us of your 2023 plans.
|
|
|
|
