WELCOME ADDRESS
Dr. Dale Brill, Director of the Office of Tourism, Trade and Economic Development, State of Florida
Thursday 11/6, 9:00am - 9:30am

KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Greg Dunn, VP/Director of Insights of Ypartnership
Thursday 11/6, 9:30am - 10:15am
Tourism - What's really happening out there?
This enlightening and entertaining presentation of the highlights of the widely-acclaimed National Travel MONITOR™ will provide attendees with information on the latest lifestyle, leisure time and media consumption trends influencing the travel habits and intentions of Americans.

BRANDING IN TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES
Virginia L. Vann, Vice President of Institutional Marketing, Woodruff Arts Center
Thursday 11/6, 10:30am - 11:30am
Do the rules of branding hold during times of economic uncertainty or should organizations change their branding strategies? Can you damage your brand by reacting too dramatically? Can you actually enhance your brand by using these times to build consumer trust and loyalty? A presentation and discussion about the fundamentals of branding - in good times, hard times, and with and without resources.

CULINARY TOURISM
Best Practices in Culinary Tourism Development: Models and Applications Domestic and Abroad
Chef Craig Schmantowsky, Instructor and Chef in Residence, Lynn University, College of Hospitality Management, Boca Raton
Thursday 11/6, 12noon - 1:30pm
Chef Craig Schmantowsky, Instructor and Chef in Residence with Lynn University's College Hospitality Management, discusses a variety of best practice models utilized in building effective tourism generating programs revolving around wine and culinary infrastructure, activities and/or events. Through his participation in a wide range of culinary tourism programs in South Florida, and facilitating culinary tourism excursions to Costa Rica and Tuscany, Chef Schmantowsky's anecdotes provide insightful and practical examples that can be adapted and applied in a spectrum of locales.

MOBILE WORKSHOP/TOUR AND PANEL
Mobile Lab: Delray Beach: Village by the Sea - Creative, Authentic, Intimate
Thursday 11/6, 1:45pm - 4:30pm
In the grand tradition of CHTA conferences, we'll leave the classroom behind and take a first-hand look at how a destination can assert its identity through preservation of its history, heritage and culture. Delray Beach has developed into one of the premier downtown tourism destinations in Florida.

Take a guided tour of Downtown Delray Beach, where you will experience the history of our Village by the Sea. Learn how this destination has developed over the last 20 years, yet still maintains its charm and authenticity. Visit our many cultural offerings including Old School Square Cultural Arts Center, Sandoway House Nature Center and Spady Cultural Heritage Museum.

Continue to learn about the Delray Beach renaissance through a panel discussion moderated by Kerri Post, Vice President of New Product Development for Visit Florida. Representatives including Joe Gillie, Executive Director for Old School Square Cultural Arts Center; Marjorie Ferrer, Executive Director for the Delray Beach Downtown Marketing Cooperative and the Downtown Development Authority; and Diane Colonna, Executive Director of the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) will discuss this transformation from several viewpoints, including historic preservation, redevelopment, cultural programming, city collaboration and marketing and promotion.

THE CULTURE OF GREEN
Terry L. Maple, Ph.D., President/CEO, Palm Beach Zoo
Friday 11/7, 8:45am - 9:30am
Green is good. Cities and states have gone green in a big way, but businesses and non-profits have made even more progress. If an organization greens early and well, it claims a leadership position among its peers. Smaller organizations, such as the Palm Beach Zoo, can step out front and earn the praise of a grateful community. Green organizations can educate and inspire and bring their primary constituents into the mainstream environmental movement. The Palm Beach Zoo is a case study that cultural and heritage groups may wish to emulate. This talk will present a template for shaping a green organization.

VISITOR CENTER 2.0: It Ain't Your Mama's Visitor Center Anymore!
Kelly Miller, CDME, Executive Director, Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau
Friday 11/7, 9:35am to 10:15am
Learn invaluable insights and priceless tips for success about how today's visitor centers can be designed and operated to address the real needs of their customers, while generating thousands of dollars in revenue and still delivering on your community's brand promise. Guaranteed to be a fast paced session with tons of humor and not boring PowerPoint, this session by tourism expert Kelly Miller, CDME, is the perfect cocktail to get your Friday morning going!

TELL ME! WHERE'S THE MONEY?
Sharon Calcote, Director of Development and Sales, Louisiana Office of Tourism
Friday 11/7, 10:30am - 11:15am
There are many funding sources available to tourism, cultural heritage and historic preservations organizations. First is to have a good project idea; second time to plan and third is a vivid imagination. This educational session will discuss how to approach funding a project; what funding organizations seek in grant application projects; how to find funding organizations and finally, nuances to completing a funding applications. Specific projects and funding ideas will be presented. This is an interactive workshop where audience participation is necessary and beneficial.

CULTURE AND HERITAGE SITE RETAIL GIFT SHOPS: Reinventing the Visitor Experience
Rich Weideman, Chief, Office of Public Affairs and Special Events, Golden Gate National Recreation Area
Friday 11/7, 11:15am - 12noon
This session will present an overview of the vastly expanded and improved Alcatraz Visitor Experience, including a complete reinvention of the retail space. The new Museum Store was redesigned to blend in with the Park itself. It is the first store of its kind in the National Park Service to combine artifacts, exhibits and sales items with a thematic visitor flow that you see in a traditional park visitor center. The new Museum store totally ties into the historic site and everything sold there must fit the sites image. Many one of a kind retail items have been developed for this store, including replicas of artifacts that are on display directly next to the original object.

The latest trends in store designs are a complete visitor experience and each one is as unique as the cultural site they support. Examples of other cultural and heritage store innovations will be presented to illustrate how trends in retail sales are changing and how theses sites are using store design, exhibits and sales items to better connect the visitor to the resource.

HOT TrOPICS
After a fabulous lunch, relax and hear from experts on a number of hot topics and trends in cultural and heritage tourism including increasing visitation to historic places, reunions and other initiatives targeted to Visitors of Friends and Relatives, and tourism driven commemorations and celebrations.
Friday 11/7, 1:30pm - 2:45pm

Rodney J. Reynolds
Friends and Family Reunions
Rodney J. Reynolds, founder and publisher, American Legacy magazine will give a presentation on American Legacy's Genealogy Workshop program as well as its Family Reunion Network. The discussion will include information on today's trends in genealogy and family reunions and their effect on society.

Glenn Hastings
Commemorations and Celebrations - Centuries in the Making
Got a hot date coming up? A reason to celebrate? Start with some destination soul searching add a healthy dose of authenticity and be ready for "pick me, pick me" volunteerism. Now I understand why you have to start sooo... many years in advance. This presentation will highlight preparations on the St. Augustine, Florida 450th birthday and the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon, and includes some references to the Jamestown celebration notebook.

John Blades
Managing Historic Sites is Not Rocket Science - It's Harder Than Rocket Science
For nearly two decades historic sits nationwide have generally seen a steady decline in attendance. Why? The reasons are complicated and not clearly understood. What kinds of challenges has the decline in attendance created for historic sites? What can be done to reverse that trend? This session will help focus on some ideas for solutions.

WHITE ELEPHANTS - TOWN HALL
Randy Cohen, Vice President of Policy & Research at Americans for the Arts and Barbara Steinfeld, Vice President of Tourism Sales for Travel Portland, the CVB of Portland, Oregon
Friday 11/7, 3:00pm - 3:45pm

White Elephants in Your Closet
And now for something completely different...Come and brag about your biggest blooper, marvel about a mess, flaunt your fatal flop! There is much to be learned from our mistakes and we want to hear about yours in this lively Town Hall style session. Instead of the usual success stories, we want to hear your best failure! And of course, what you learned from it. Share the wonder!