By Ken | January 23, 2009
Direct from the South Dakota Tourism Conference in Pierre, South Dakota…It’s me!
The tourism industry is the #1 industry in South Dakota…or #2 depending on who you talk too – I admit I’m a little biased because I grew up in this industry. Finding new ways to keep tourism healthy, especially under the current economic conditions, is a primary concern. My take on this? We need to utilize the power of consumer internet searches and get involved with current and potential travelers to South Dakota by participating in online community-driven conversations through social media platforms.
This year the theme of the Governor’s Conference on Tourism is “Making the Connection”. The State of SD takes this opportunity to bring in great speakers for educational seminars. This year one of the highlights is Garrison Wynn from Wynn Solutions who gave a fantastic key note presentation – “Being the Best vs. Being Consistently Chosen”. He shared some excellent insight on the value of relationships for business, which interestingly enough, is the whole objective of a social media campaign.
The first night of the conference always proves to be an interesting opportunity to meet new people and loosen up. This years social was sponsored by the South Dakota Game Fish & Parks Department. It was an exciting night of giant slideshows, buffalo chip throwing, photos with wildlife (stuffed! ; )), and video games for the hunters. It was great time and I’m looking forward to another run of presentations today including tips & tricks for working with the internet (it will be interesting to hear what they say…), and how businesses are going green.
If you are looking to “make the connection” with Tourism in the state of South Dakota, the two main websites are: www.travelsd.com and www.sdvisit.com.
Stay tuned!
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About the authorEntrepreneur at heart if you can see past the gadgets, websphere, and obsession with technology. I've always believed knowledge is power and luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity. Follow me on 'twitter' if you like, '@sdsmartalec'
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