PORT ANGELES — Registration is being accepted now for a one-day 2011 Tourism Summit at Fort Worden State Park in October.
Registration for the Oct. 19 event, which is set from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Fort Worden Commons, began Aug. 31 and is open to any regional businesses in and around the Salish Sea interested in tourism, said Mary Brelsford, spokeswoman for the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau based in Port Angeles.
Deadline for early-bird registration is Oct. 3.
First registration, including lunch, is $75. The second registration from the same organization, including lunch, is $65.
Registration cost for attendees increases to $90 after Oct. 3.
The conference sponsored by the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission will be preceded on Tuesday, Oct. 18, by a reception for all the attendees, vendors and speakers.
The reception, co-sponsored by the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce, will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Alchemy Bistro & Wine Bar, 842 Washington St., Port Townsend.
The sessions will be aimed at helping businesses anticipate the needs of visitors and meet their expectations, Brelsford said.
Suzanne Fletcher, the newly hired interim director of the Washington Tourism Alliance, will introduce the tourism association formed to replace the Washington State Tourism office that was cut from the state budget this year.
The opening session speaker will be Nan Devlin of Avid Traveler Consultants, presenting “The Full Marketing Monty: Engaging Visitors Before, During and After Their Trip.”
Devlin is a lecturer in sustainable tourism in the graduate school of business at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where she earned a master’s in tourism administration.
The luncheon speaker will be Monica Rafter, owner of Write On Communications in Tucson, Ariz.
She will speak on “Customer Service — Hospitality; What’s the difference?”
The closing speaker will be Jennifer Peper, vice president of the Aristotle Internet firm, who will speak on “Tying It All Together — Making Sense of a Growing List of Complex Marketing Channels.”
Other speakers include Kevin O’Keefe, CEO and publisher of LexBlog, which provides social media solutions and strategies to law firms.
O’Keefe will discuss “Legal Issues with Social Media.
Leif Hansen will tackle the topic of “Going Local: Three Top Social Media Strategies for Local Businesses. Let’s find out what’s working in our neighborhood!”
A travel writing panel is planned.
As requested by last year’s attendees in their end-of-day surveys, there will be more time with Vendors in the MarketPlace this year, Brelsford said.
To register online and pay with credit card via PayPal, visit tinyurl.com/3jnlh5r.
To register by phone and pay by check, phone 360-452-8552.
No Discover Pass is needed to attend.
The Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission is made up of chambers of commerce and tourism marketing entities from the Hood Canal to Kalaloch.
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THIS ARTICLE HAS been revised to reflect the following correction:
The Oct. 19 conference sponsored by the Olympic Peninsula Tourism Commission will be preceded on Tuesday, Oct. 18, by a reception for all the attendees, vendors and speakers. This article previously had the wrong date for the reception.
