EXHIBIT F - MARKETING PLAN - Granicus

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EXHIBIT F - MARKETING PLAN

EXPERIENCEARLINGTON.ORG EXPERIENCEARLINGTON.ORG

TABLE OF CONTENTS

4.........................................................................OUTLOOK

6..........................................................................SALES

16......................................................................TOURISM

20. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .CONVENTION SERVICES & PARTNERSHIPS

26.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .MARKETING

30. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PUBLIC RELATIONS

34..........................................................................ACTC

EXPERIENCEARLINGTON.ORG EXPERIENCEARLINGTON.ORG Page 4

all six indicators comprising the overall TSI realized sizable gains between the two surveys. Two key factors, “affordability of travel” and “personal finances available for travel” exhibited the largest gains among the six factors, rising by 26 points and 15 points, respectively.

While all six factors increased between April 2011 and April 2012, the absence of change in the overall TSI between February and April masks some fluctuation among the six indicators comprising the overall TSI. “Interest in travel” increased three points over February and “personal finances available for travel”, inched up only slightly. “Service quality” and “safety of travel in the U.S.” also increased from February 2012. These February to April gains, however, were largely offset by a nine-point drop in the “affordability of travel” index between February and April. The decline most likely reflects gas prices that were on the rise during the survey, and increases in airfares, which are expected to continue to climb through the summer. With gas prices now on the decline*, falling from an average of $3.92 for a gallon of unleaded regular at the mid-point of the April travelhorizonsTM survey, to an average of $3.80 as of May 2nd, the outlook for travel during the upcoming summer and early fall travel period is perhaps the most optimistic in years.The Traveler Sentiment Index™ (TSI) is a quarterly measurement of consumer attitudes toward leisure travel based on the following factors: available time and finances, interest, affordability, safety of travel and quality of service. The TSI is indexed to a March 2007 base of 100. Data used to develop the Index are captured on 2,200 responses from U.S. adults through the travelhorizons™ survey, a joint project of the U.S. Travel Association and Ypartnership. Each of the six indicators is indexed to the baseline of 100 and then combined to create the overall Traveler Sentiment Index™. Survey results are representative of the U.S. adult population.

DESTINATION OBJECTIVES, STATE & NATIONAL TRAVEL OUTLOOK DESTINATION OBJECTIVES, STATE & NATIONAL TRAVEL OUTLOOK

DESTINATION OBJECTIVES

The role of Experience Arlington is to build and market Arlington, Texas as a premier destination. With the coordinated efforts of all departments, Experience Arlington looks to improve on the previous year, and the new brand creates excitement in the destination-marketing world.

Tourism plays a major role in the local economy. In 2010 alone, traveler spending generated $593 million, an increase of 8.4% from 2008. This includes over $57 million in state and local tax revenue. To put that into perspective, state and local taxing authorities would need to generate $413 dollars per Arlington household to compensate if there were no travelers visiting the city.

Tourism spending also supports 10,480 jobs within Arlington, making up 8.8% of all private employment. Tourism supported employment has grown by 9.5% since 2008. The economic impact of these expenditures totaled $444 million in 2010.

THE STATE OF TExAS TRAVEL OUTLOOK

Over 208 million visitors traveled to destinations within Texas in 2011, an increase from the previous year. A little more than 70% of visitors traveled for leisure and the remaining traveled for a business related activity. The total direct travel spending in the state in 2011 was $63.4 billion, also an increase from 2010. Hotels collected a little over $7.4 billion in revenues in 2011 with more than 85 million room nights sold across the state.

The consensus for the state is that Texas continues to rebound from the economic crisis and travel is on the increase as is visitors’ spending. This trend shows that more people have discretionary income and are back to traveling, spending more money while out of town.

NATIONAL OUTLOOK

Since the economy has slowly begun to rebound from 2009, the outlook for travel across the nation is optimistic. With spending expected to increase by $81 billion over the next two years among U.S. travelers alone, the sentiment is that as far as travel goes in the states, things are returning to somewhat normal levels.

TRAVELER SENTIMENT

Following a sharp increase in February, April’s overall Traveler Sentiment IndexTM (TSI) is virtually unchanged from February, but up nearly ten points from April 2011. In fact, the April TSI of 93.5 marks its highest level since April 2007 (96.2). There was speculation April’s TSI would decline (in a manner similar to the sharp drop recorded in April 2011) following a sharp rise in February; however, in this instance, the April 2012 TSI more than held its own. Comparing April 2012 with April 2011,


MEETINGS & CONVENTION SALES MEETINGS & CONVENTION SALES

CONVENTION DEVELOPMENT

The Experience Arlington sales team continues to aggressively pursue bookings for the Arlington Convention Center, as well as the city’s other facilities. Short-term bookings are also being targeted for individual hotel business. Providing essential meeting planning resources, Experience Arlington will continue to prioritize attracting niche markets that take advantage of Arlington’s positioning strengths, such as large trade shows, sports, corporate, education and religious meetings.

ExPERIENCE ARLINGTON HEADqUARTER OFFICE

The Convention sales team consists of three members, (two Directors of NationalAccounts and a Director of Sales) is based in Arlington, Texas. The officegenerates leads from all market segments throughout the U.S. . The combinedgoals of the entire convention sales team is:

ExPERIENCE ARLINGTON - AUSTIN SATELLITE OFFICE

The state association market segment ranks first in the overall market share for Experience Arlington. Austin is the primary location of almost all state associations in Texas. The Director of State Accounts generates leads predominately from the Austin area.

Experience Arlington Convention Sales Team Marketing Efforts

• Overall - to increase the total room night bookings over 2012-2013 by focusing on key market segments and markets that impact the convention center

• Focus on meetings and conventions that take place during weekday time periods

• Continue to enhance relationships with third party organizations such as: HelmsBriscoe, ConferenceDirect and Experient

• Create e-blasts, e-newsletters, e-postcards and some solicitation efforts to maximize the overall outreach to meeting professionals

• Create “site visit” promotions with outsourcing partners - generating more visits from meeting professionals to Arlington

• Employ social media tools to engage convention planners before, during and after their conventions/events

• Continue to inform (non-local) meeting professionals on Arlington’s location, meeting packages and overall affordability through trade shows and social media channels

• Work with Arlington Convention Center and hotel partners to provide booking incentive to organizations where needed

• Utilize Cowboys Stadium, International Bowling Campus, Six Flags Over Texas, Hurricane Harbor and the Texas Rangers as a platform which creates an elite destination package

• Organize a GM trip to the Austin area with State Association representative to welcome new potential clients and organization to Arlington


Despite economic risks associated with an updated lodging forecast released on June 4, 2012, PwC US anticipates revenue per available room (“RevPAR”) recovery in 2012 to remain intact, with stronger price gains anticipated in 2013. As the US economy has inched forward in 2012, travel activity in the US has continued its robust recovery. Business and leisure travel posted solid gains in the first four months of 2012, and even the group segment - one of the hardest hit areas of the lodging sector - experienced an uptick in demand and bookings. As a result of continued recovery in demand, US RevPAR is expected to increase by 6.5 percent in 2012 and 5.6 percent in 2013, building on the strong 8.2 percent increase in 2011. However, the bulk of the increased demand likely will be leisure travelers. “We expect very little contribution to the overall demand numbers from government transient and group travel,” noted STR COO Brad Garner. STR predicts similar year-over-year increases for occupancy (up 1.5 percent), average daily rate (up 4.0 percent) and RevPAR (up 5.5 percent).

With that in mind, Meetings & Conventions research indicates an uphill climb meeting professionals are beginning to face. For one-third of meeting professionals, getting attendees to book within a designated room block is one of their greatest challenges. And, it’s getting worse. More than half of the 110 respondents of a recent M&C Research poll have seen the problem escalate over the past two years. Price is a primary reason cited by 76 percent of respondents, as attendees can find better/competitive deals. Nearly half of planners now book smaller room blocks in anticipation of attendees going elsewhere or booking by other means.

76% of meeting planners say their attendees stray from the room block because they are able to find better deals online or through other booking channels.

53% report that the number of attendees booking outside the block has risen over the past two years.

18% have stopped securing a room block for certain events and are advising attendees to make their own arrangements. Another 17 percent are considering such a move.

Not only are meeting professionals facing this new challenge, regional competition to gain this business is as intense as ever as direct competitors continue to improve on their respective packages and products and aggressively pursue business in this buyer’s market. Competing Convention Centers and “Big Box” hotels continue to negotiate pricing structures in order to establish the best package. Some new developments that have taken place or are in planning phases are: Gaylord Hotels, purchased by Marriott; 1000 room Fairmont Austin, opening 2015; 1000 room JW Marriott in Austin, opening 2015; potential construction in Texas - 1000 room Convention hotel in Houston, opening 2016; potential 250 room convention hotel; Amarillo, opening 2015 and a 250 room Hampton Inn in Fort Worth.


CONVENTION SPACE

Arlington Convention Center

Arlington Convention Center contains nearly 100,000 total square feet of space. 50,000 square feet of column free exhibit space, a 30,000 square foot Grand Hall Ballroom and 12 flexible meeting rooms. An additional 10,000 feet of space is available in the Gallery and Terrace areas. The addition of the new covered walkway, which connects the Sheraton hotel to the ACC, has been a welcomed sight for meeting professionals.

Cowboys Stadium

Cowboys Stadium is a state of the art facility that contains nearly three million square feet of space. The overall space includes 100,000 square feet of space on the floor, two main concourses containing 33,000 square feet each, six end zone levels with 14,000 – 24,000 square feet of space, as well as smaller areas throughout the facility.

Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has transitioned the Hall of Fame area into viable meeting space. It offers over 13,000 square feet of space over three levels within the stadium. There is also a 275-seat amphitheater that can host general sessions, speaking engagements and additional meetings. Additionally, the new Batter’s Eye club provides space for about 100 that can be utilized while the team is away or for functions during games.

College Park Center

The new College Park Center opened on February 1, 2012 and represents a dream come true for a generation of alumni, faculty, staff, and community members. And, for the next generation of students, it offers a vision of great things to come.

The $78 million, 218,000-square-foot facility is a transformational jewel for the campus of nearly 33,000 students and a catalyst for revitalization in the city’s central business district. It provides a new home court for the University’s basketball and volleyball teams, who previously played in Texas Hall, and also gives the city of Arlington a signature facility for high-profile events and entertainment, conferences, and community activities.

Located between Second and Third streets and east of South Pecan Street, College Park Center can accommodate up to 6,750 guests for a center-stage concert and 7,000 for traditional court-based athletics events. The state-of-the-art venue has hosted several graduations, concerts as well as the TNA Wrestling - Slammiversary.

Hotels

Currently there are no plans for additional hotels.


TOP MARKET SEGMENTS FOR ARLINGTON

State & Southwest Associations

Arlington continues to be a viable location for State and Southwest Associations. This market segment continues to be one of the leading market segments for conventions and meetings in Arlington. Our central location, entertainment facilities and overall affordability and attendee experience allows us to capitalize on attracting this market segment to our city. The primary struggle for Arlington in obtaining more State Associations business is their trend to utilize Austin every other year. That results in us competing with San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Ft Worth and even smaller cities for the odd year they will not be in Austin. The competition from multiple local convention centers, the short-term, open availability from “big box” hotels, the “under one roof” convenience have hindered our results the past twelve months.

The Director of State Accounts continues his efforts in Austin on a daily basis showing that Arlington’s location, flexibility and experience for attendees is a value you cannot find elsewhere. On a monthly basis, Arlington hotel and Experience Arlington representatives, escort Arlington Convention Center and industry partners to State and Southwest Association meeting professionals during Austin sales calls. The Experience Arlington representative in Austin also coordinates and drives industry tradeshows, events and the annual General Managers (of Arlington hotels) sales blitz efforts to maximize exposure in Austin for Arlington.

Sports

The sports market has served Arlington very well over the past number of years. To continue our success, Experience Arlington will continue participating in the NASC and TEAMS tradeshows. There is also a possibility of attending one or more sports trade shows in FY 2013. Our sports representative will also continue to be more active in the DFW Sports Alliance efforts. By working with our counterparts in other cities, we hope to land large, regional events that benefit Arlington, as well as our neighboring cities. Throughout FY 2012, Arlington has hosted Offense-Defense Bowl Week, USA Wrestling – US Open, US Fencing – Wang Memorial Tournament, Special Olympics Texas, TNA Wrestling, PrimeTime Sports National Basketball Tournament, USA Track & Field Youth Outdoor Championships, Kids Triathlon, US Lacrosse and Lone Star Conference Football Festival.

Again we cannot forget about hosting another World Series – thanks to our Texas Rangers!

Corporate

Experience Arlington will primarily focus on the corporate market segment during FY 2013, which tends to produce short-term events and conventions. Our main goal is to increase occupancy at the Arlington Convention Center over the next several months. Experience Arlington has just started a “Free Site Visit” campaign to attract potential organizations to come to Arlington and see our attractions and hospitality industry partners. Experience Arlington will organize and cover expenses for qualified meeting professionals to see all we have to offer. The primary goal in this market is to fill short-term bookings within the convention hotels and the Arlington Convention Center. Experience Arlington now has a representative on boards and committees in MPI (DFW and Texas Hill Country Chapters) and local industry organizations to enhance Arlington’s overall visibility and booking potential.

Religious

Experience Arlington aggressively solicits this market segment and has made great strides with organizations. We will continue to participate in tradeshows and events, such as Religious Christian Management Association (RCMA), Christian Meeting and Conventions Association, Rejuvenate and Connect, in our future endeavors as we continue to market Arlington as an ideal religious meeting destination. However, their primary concern in booking Arlington is the lack of budget and the inability to pay for space. Thus Experience Arlington has developed a marketing program to assist these organizations with rental costs, transportation or other necessary means to book the business in Arlington.

National Associations

Over the past year, the Experience Arlington Sales Team has focused on bringing National Associations to the Arlington area. We have concentrated on email blasts and phone solicitations to try and capture business. These groups tend to book 3 – 5 years in advance of the event. For FY 2013, the Experience Arlington team will try and target short-term organizations to bolster occupancy at the Arlington Convention Center. We are going to continue electronic marketing to this market segment for events having 400-600 room nights on peak and a gross square footage of 50,000 for exhibit.



TOP MARKET SEGMENTS IN ARLINGTON

Government Meetings

The Federal Government budget and crack down on government meetings is going to create uncertainly for this market segment. The hospitality industry as a whole could and probably will receive less government transient and group business. This will create less Federal contracting for meetings/conferences.

Small Meetings

In spite of some increased demand in the industry, there has been little change in the trend of the past few years for shortened lead-times when booking meetings. Short term and smaller meetings still tend to be a great opportunity for short-term business. Over the past fiscal year Experience Arlington has been more successful in smaller, short-term, hotel only pieces of business. As the team searches for larger business that can fully accommodate the Arlington Convention Center, we are uncovering good business that assists our hotel partners.

Group Marketing

In addition to traditional sales activities, advertising and media relations, several meeting incentive programs have been developed and will continue through the next budget year. However, more aggressive meetings advertising campaign will continue in order to target new organizations in the corporate, association, SMERF, and government markets. Several campaigns are being pushed through different media channels: email blasts, third party organization lists, e-postcards and social networks.

Incentive programs that Experience Arlington will continue to build on are:

• Free Site Visit – By submitting a request for proposal to Experience Arlington, organizations are eligible to be hosted on an all expense site visit to Arlington – must book and utilize prior to December 2013

• Free Convention Center – through the partnership of the Texas Event Trust Fund, qualified organizations can be reimbursed for the use of the Arlington Convention Center • Earn up to $10,000 – Meeting Planners who submit an RFP to Experience Arlington are eligible to receive up to $10,000 toward their master account if the meeting books in Arlington

• Third Party Assistance – to reach even more convention professionals, the Experience Arlington team is acquiring the assistance of third parties (such as IMM and M&C Magazine) in order to speak directly to more organizations to uncover additional RFPs for the ACC and hotel partners.

Some of these programs were utilized in FY 2012 and have a dedicated landing page as well as printed marketing materials for tradeshow distribution.

MARKET SEGMENTS PERCENTAGE OF DEFINITE ROOM NIGHTS IN EACH MARKET


33.0

16.313.0

10.0

8.8

8.8

4.43.8

State/SW Association 33.0%

National Association 16.3%

Corporate 13.0%

Religious 10.0%

Sports Professional 8.8%

Sports Amateur 8.8%

Multi-Management Firm 4.4%

Military 3.8%

Federal Government 1.8%

Fraternal/Club 1.1%

State Government 0.6%

Education 0.4%


T.E.A.M.S

Austin Client Event

RCMA

Helms Briscoe

PCMA

TSAE Southwest Showcase

Opening Day FAM

Collaborate Tradeshow

NASC

Conference Direct

Local Corporate FAM

MPI - WEC

Connect Tradeshow

COMPETITIVE AND COMPARABLE DESTINATIONS

Arlington Convention Center

Austin Convention Center

Corpus Christi The American Bank Center

Galveston Moody Gardens

Galveston Island Convention Center

Fort Worth Ft. Worth Convention Center

Irving Convention Center

Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center

Shreveport Convention Center

Waco Convention Center

Arlington

Austin

Corpus Christi

Galveston

Galveston

Fort Worth

Irving

San Antonio

Shreveport

Waco

97,912

881,400

500,000

100,000

140,000

463,652

275,000

1,300,000

350,000

144,000

October 2012

December 2012

January 2013

January 2013

January 2013

January 2013

April 2013

April 2013

April 2013

April 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

542

6,000

999

428

1,400

2,300

913

13,500

2,367

1,000

Detroit, MI

Austin, TX

Minneapolis, MN

Orlando, FL

Orlando, FL

Austin, TX

Arlington, TX

Denver, CO

Oklahoma City, OK

Las Vegas, NV

Arlington, TX

Vancouver, Canada

Milwaukee, WI

Name of Convention Center

City

* within walkable distance to the Convention Center

Event

Total Square Feet of Space

Date

Number of Rooms near CC*

Location

MEETINGS & CONVENTION SALES

Convention Development Will Attend the Following Key Industry Tradeshows:


TOURISM TOURISM

Leisure travel is on the rise but industry expert’s caution that this does not indicate the industry is completely returning to pre-economic crisis status. The economy still struggles to recover and travel consumers remain reluctant to spend. Arlington has bucked the trend over the past few years, maintaining a steady increase in visitors to the city.

Arlington is very fortunate to have world-class attractions and sporting facilities including, Cowboys Stadium, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Six Flags Over Texas and the International Bowling Museum & Hall of Fame. The proximity of DFW International Airport and the central location of Arlington in North Texas truly provides unique opportunities. Additionally, Experience Arlington is actively creating unique events throughout the city year-round to ensure there is always a reason to experience Arlington. The tourism staff will continue to dedicate time and effort in growing our leisure database to increase web traffic to the website which will ultimately lead to more bookings online.

LEISURE MARKET OVERVIEW

Travelers are increasingly more positive about their ability to afford travel, both on the domestic front and international. In the end, all leisure travelers are looking to score a good deal from a destination and be offered great incentives and added perks to their trip. This trend points to the collaboration of local hotels, restaurants, attractions and DMO’s to create a type of all-inclusive package and make the destination more attractive.

The drive-market for Arlington is substantial. 76% of all leisure travel is done by car and our drive market includes Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas and Louisiana. This demographic is a key market group that is actively pursued not only by the tourism department, but also by the marketing and public relations departments. Special offers and values promoting how “family friendly” Arlington is, will continue over the next year and be a main focus for e-commerce efforts.

Currently, the international draw from markets has increased from all over the world. New markets, including Australia and Brazil are bringing their business to Texas for a new experience. With the convenient new flights to DFW International Airport from major cities in both Brazil and Australia, Arlington has been the premier destination for these groups.

The tourism sales team’s business with airline carriers and creation of consumer-appealing promotions have kept Arlington attractive to consumers and our core international travelers coming from Canada, Mexico and an emerging market in Japan. Increased sales to our core markets are greater due to the creation of inclusive packages to agencies for sporting events, shopping and family activities. We are currently seeking new and innovative ways to create a “nature” itinerary to increase European and Canadian travel. Other steadfast strategies include attending travel driven tradeshows and participating in familiarization tours – these tactics lead future clients to experience travel to Arlington and gain the knowledge and power to sell this to their consumers firsthand. Bringing new events, hotels, venues and retail in Arlington will exponentially increase return trips and will be the continued success of our international growth in the future.

GROUP SALES

The main focus of group sales in the leisure market is to make certain that visitors know we are student and sports fan friendly. Booking groups wanting to attend sporting events or merely wanting to spend a day at Six Flags Over Texas can rely on the tourism department to assist them in their trip.

Key Strategies:

• Be active in all events held at Cowboys Stadium

• Continue to work with student groups from our Six Flags Over Texas Partnership

• Develop the Texas Rangers Partnership further and follow up with past groups

• Work with contacts obtained through group oriented professional organizations

FIT/LEISURE TRAVEL

The FIT/Leisure travel consist of room nights booked primarily with the hotel by means of direct advertising implemented by such programs as the Six Flags/Hurricane Harbor Partnership. Also included is AAA and the rebooking of rooms by groups generated by Experience Arlington.


TOURISM

Key Strategies:

• Encourage hotel partners to maintain integrity and add “value” to a visitors stay

• Continuing the Six Flags Over Texas and Texas Rangers Partnerships

• Track more room nights for a detailed Return On Investment (ROI)

• Stay connected with Texas and Oklahoma AAA offices

• Nurture relationships between all TXDOT Visitor Centers

• Increase the number of Familiarization tours (FAM) for both domestic and international groups

• Conducting short road trips to call on groups

E-COMMERCE

The hidden gem for Experience Arlington, e-commerce, provides the organization the means to obtain extra revenue outside of the hotel/motel tax and use the funds to further market the destination. New partnerships with Sports Travelers and aRes, matched with digital marketing efforts should yield record numbers for e-commerce this next fiscal year.

Key Strategies:

• Maintain strong relationships with Online Travel Agencies

• Increase package offerings for all events in Arlington

• Work with Sports Travelers to ensure all sporting events have exclusive packages created for each event

• Promote the all-inclusive online booking capabilities

• Monitor all advertisements placed to maximize ROI


CONVENTION SERVICES, PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & PROGRAMS CONVENTION SERVICES, PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & PROGRAMS

In October 2011, the newly formed Partnerships and Programs department merged with Convention and Visitor Services to form the Services & Programs Department. The formation of this new department provides a full integration of Experience Arlington services to all Experience Arlington departments while supporting each department’s programs and projects with ancillary services to convention groups and tourism sales support, partner in-kind contributions for all department program use and contributing to the Experience Arlington’s overall operating budget.

CONVENTION SERVICES

The Convention Services team continues to work with hospitality partners providing an exceptional level of service encouraging repeat business and surpassing our competition. With a focus on three targeted audiences: meeting planners, exhibitors and attendees, an emphasis is placed on creating experiences for all audiences thereby contributing to the meeting’s success and creating repeat visits to Arlington for multiple reasons.

Key Strategies:

• Assist the Convention Sales team by identifying convention groups that potentially could meet in Arlington

• Continue to offer services to hotel bookings that qualify as Lead Assists, and assist sales team in selling Arlington to meeting planners at site visits, trade shows and meetings

• Present Services 101 classes to hotel sales teams (course covers services offered) – course is an excerpt of the Advantage Arlington (AA) Experience Arlington 101 class

• Develop value-added, innovative, technology driven and experiential programs for convention groups

• Consider Convention Services programs that could generate revenue

• Continue to evaluate Arlington’s competitive CVB set to determine if Arlington services are competitive; and lead the industry with new service models, use of technology to advance Experience Arlington’s services and programs including the Star Advantage Program and Housing Program

• Maintain a strong relationship with industry stakeholders including the University of Texas Arlington, Tarrant County College Southeast Campus, General Motors, attractions, hotels, restaurants and retail partners and support services suppliers

• Continue to work with the Arlington Entertainment Management District (Trolley Operations) to provide services to convention groups and improve Supplemental Service model to offer better service to convention groups

• Integrate Advantage Arlington Program in Convention Services projects and programs and create value added opportunities for convention clients and AA partners

• Work with other Experience Arlington departments to discuss collaboration of programs and projects (where appropriate)

NEW PROGRAMS

• Star Advantage – “Show Us Your Badge” program for convention groups offering discounts at Star Restaurants. Technology is used to present the information through Twitter and SMS Programs

• Voluntourism Program - program pairing convention groups with charitable interest to volunteer at community organizations

• Volunteer Services Team – development for a volunteer base to support convention and special event volunteer needs including sporting events, Christkindl Market, and Experience Arlington events

• Speakers’ Bureau – Development of Experience Arlington Speakers Bureau – inclusive of Advantage Arlington Partner companies having speakers including celebrity, sports management and local speakers


PARTNERSHIP

The Advantage Arlington Program (AA) was launched in 2012 to consolidate longstanding partnership programs with new programs under one parent program, aiding in generating additional revenue and in-kind opportunities to offset the Experience Arlington operating budget.

The AA program provides an opportunity for Experience Arlington to partner with Arlington restaurants, accommodations, attractions and preferred vendors offering value added benefits for partners and revenue generation and in-kind contributions to Experience Arlington.

Acting as an umbrella program, the program includes cash and in-kind investment levels ranging from $300 to $1,500 for partnerships and $3000 and above for corporate sponsorships.

ADVANTAGE ARLINGTON PROGRAMS:

1. Six Flags Over Texas Hotel Partnership2. Texas Rangers Ballpark Tours Hotel Partnership3. Destination Arlington Military Voucher Program4. Star Restaurant Program5. Radio TV Network; facilitated by the Director of PR6. Certified Tourism Ambassador Program 7. Monthly Arlington Marketing Partners meetings 8. Partner Net Training to all partners

Key Strategies

• Work with Experience Arlington department managers to ensure full integration of AA partners with Experience Arlington programs and projects; and cross-integration of AA partners

• Continue to expand the AA Program offerings and expand the program to create greater benefits for AA partners, increase revenue generation and brand awareness

• Develop a corporate sponsorship program with local and national based companies that provide company exposure and revenue for Experience Arlington. Programs under consideration include tailgate events, special sports venue packages and product sampling


• Banner Program - Explore options for increasing banner presence and providing additional revenue

• Explore options for use of the Visitor Center space to increase revenue while offering a visitor experience and options for corporate sponsors

The AA Program, through its many partnership arrangements, provides in-kind services and budget relief with full integration to all departments:

Sales teams (convention & leisure): Client referrals to partners, use of in-kind for Experience Arlington programs including Familiarization Tours, site visits, Austin Satellite Office staff lunch with planners and Annual Austin Client Holiday Luncheon.

Services & Programs – Convention Services Department: In-kind use for: VIP gift items, site inspections, client basket raffles, housing program sponsors, special programs including the Venue Tour, Visitor Services Annual Volunteer Week banquet, Volunteer Holiday Luncheon, VIC quarterly site tours, entertaining clients, potential clients and sponsors / partners. Inclusion of partners in the A-Z Guide used as referrals to clients as well as other partners. Solicitation of a bank of volunteers for events produced by Experience Arlington.

Management: In-kind use for Experience Arlington sponsored events including the Annual Meeting, CEO meetings and board sub-committee meetings and all-staff training sessions.

Public Relations: In-kind is used to assist in fulfillment of the barter requirements of the RTVN, – in-kind use for Experience Arlington sponsored events including Annual Magic Kids Arlington Experience, and special programs (in-kind used for 2011 World Series Journalists Green Room set up in the Visitor Center) and other promotions produced throughout the year.



NEW PROGRAMS

• Offering of supporting benefactor levels with a deductible status for supporters of Experience Arlington

• Experience Arlington 101 (sessions on how to work with Experience Arlington to best benefit a partner)

• Experience Arlington “Road Trip” (tour of Arlington for members)

• Market specific educational sessions

• Partner-to-Partner Tradeshow - annual event providing partners the opportunity to exhibit and network with Advantage Arlington partners in a controlled environment

• Modifications to the Rangers Partnership Program as available

• Partnership program for the International Bowling Museum

• Experience Arlington is committed to continuously offer valuable partner opportunities as they become available

With the implementation of the improved website and strong Partner Net capabilities, the program will continue to grow and become a stronger benefit to our partners.

VISITOR SERVICES

More than 45 long-time Arlington residents serve as volunteers and staff for the Arlington Visitor Information Center, providing exceptional service to more than 11,000 walk-in visitors and telephone inquires annually. Volunteers promote Arlington attraction and Experience Arlington Programs with tools including volunteer training, collateral materials and technology. The Visitor Information Center showcases interactive Arlington displays from Texas Rangers, Dallas Cowboys, Six Flags Over Texas and International Bowling Museum & Hall of Fame, UTA Planetarium, Downtown Arlington and Arlington Parks & Recreation.

In partnership with Tarrant County College Southeast Campus Hospitality Management program, the Visitor Information Center offers experiential training for five hospitality management students including assigned volunteer shifts, and shadowing and internship programs and mentoring opportunities.

Key Strategies:

• Develop relationships with CVB colleagues statewide and nationally to discuss best practices and future of Visitor Centers - trends, new products, services and new direction

• Integrate the Advantage Arlington Program in Visitor Center Dura-trans, counter space and signage and Visitor Center programming

• Participate in industry and local awareness events to increase brand awareness and deliver Arlington’s message

• Offer the Certified Tourism Ambassador quarterly to Arlington Partners and industry professionals and volunteers; and offer training as appropriate for staff and volunteers

• Continue to work with local universities to expand the volunteer base for the Visitor Center and special event projects

• Continue to offer site tours for volunteers to familiarize staff and volunteers with Arlington attractions, hotels and Arlington brand

NEW PROGRAMS

• Develop different experiential visitor information center offerings and technology

• Establish Visitor Information Center community outreach programs

• Integration of AA Programs in the Visitor Information Center

• Integration of Convention and Tourism Sales Programs in The Visitor Information Center


MARKETING MARKETING

STRATEGy

For leisure, convention and sports travel to Arlington, the main strategy will be to directly target the travel consumer, sports and meeting planner. Experience Arlington will conduct aggressive ongoing media outreach to secure national and regional print and online coverage of the Experience Arlington travel product to influence consumer and business travelers to choose Arlington. Experience Arlington will also utilize consumer promotions that highlight the many travel experiences found in our city. To capitalize on networking, the domestic travel trade industry will be targeted to create new or expanded relationships with the Experience Arlington brand.

CREATIVE BRAND STRATEGIES

Experience Arlington is a new brand and needs to be shown off in as many places as possible over the next few years. Arlington is a very active destination and the new brand reflects that spirit with the logo as well as the campaign images. The new look provides the traveler and planner a realistic experience in all the advertising and marketing materials. Each advertising piece will keep the overall brand and will target each market segment including sports, convention, leisure and group tours.

OVERALL IMAGE CAMPAIGN

In FY 12-13, Experience Arlington (formerly ACVB) evolved its brand image to a cleaner and updated look. The new look will carry over into FY 12-13 through new additions to the Visitor Guide, new website, new mobile website, new promotional videos, advertisements in publications and a customized tradeshow booth with interchangeable parts for conventions, sports and leisure.

VISITOR GUIDE

The Visitor Guide will continue its current layout for one more year, but will be redesigned on the inside by the Experience Arlington marketing team. The same amount of advertisers will be solicited this year and we look to print 25,000 less guides this year and provide a more web-friendly version through the website.

SIx FLAGS OVER TExAS PARTNERSHIP DELIVERABLES

Included in our partnership with Six Flags Over Texas, is our logo and list of hotels participating in the Six Flags Over Texas Hotel Partnership Program, printed on over 31 million different types of collateral including, park brochures for both Six Flags Over Texas and Hurricane Harbor, McDonalds in-bag coupons that are distributed regionally throughout Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana. Other collateral includes group mailings for churches and schools, plus small group coupons that are distributed through the entire year. All of these items create a minimum of 25 million impressions in the outer markets during the course of the year.

SALES AND SPORTS SUPPORT

In support for Sales/Sports tradeshows and events, the Experience Arlington marketing team will continue its advertising efforts through one sheet informational hand outs, sponsorships and print advertising for all trade shows attended. The marketing team is also working on revamping the tradeshow booth presence as well as beginning to plan out an all-new meeting planners guide.

PRINT ADVERTISING

In years past the organization has not been published in nearly enough magazines or newspapers to advertise the product from all three angles, sales, leisure and sports. This year with the new brand and new campaign, more ads will be purchased in all three markets ensuring we provide ample saturation in the print advertising market. These efforts will be published in publications such as, Texas Monthly, Texas Highway, Oklahoma Home & Away, Southern Living, Association News, Sports Destination Management, M&C, Rejuvenate, Collaborate and Connect.

DIGITAL ADVERTISING

Experience Arlington will be visible across several travel sites and publication websites this next fiscal year to help promote the packages available on the website. By flooding the sites with advertisements that can be purchased significantly cheaper than print, we can show measurable ROI on ad’s by tracking them through Google Analytics, finding which sites are more effective than others. While digital can never replace print advertising efforts, it is a great way to constantly push our packages through the course of the year.


MARKETING

WEBSITE MARKETING & SIMPLEVIEW

The launch of experiencearlington.org and the mobile website have allowed the organization to provide a “non-Band-Aid” fix to our web efforts. The design for the new site allows for flexibility of the site to grow over the next few years by having a clean design with user-friendly functionality.

One of the main goals is to drive up the traffic of unique visitors to our site, and to provide all the content the end user is seeking. For this we have partnered with a internet marketing company called Get Smart Content, which provides “Smart Content” that is relevant to the user. For example, when a visitor comes to the site for the first time looking for things related to Six Flags Over Texas, we can automatically serve the content to them immediately, thus increasing the time on the site and lowering our bounce rate. This technology has replaced our paid search engine optimization efforts and allows us to take that in-house resulting in cost savings.

The main driver for the website is not only to be the go-to-source for everything Arlington, and provide great packages throughout the year for all the events going on in the city. The Digital Marketing Manager will be diligently working to ensure that packages are always up to date and monitoring live progress of all ads that are placed digitally. By driving more people to use our booking engine, we can create more revenue that can be used to advertise more across many different sites.

Creation of the first mobile website for the organization is fully functional and allows smartphone users the ability to utilize all the information they need, on one device. Research shows that a majority of destination mobile website users are using the product in market and the research can be backed up via Google Analytics which breaks down all the segments of what the visitor is looking at while on the site. The Experience Arlington site has all the information from the full-site and also is also equipped with Geo-Tagging, which helps them navigate the city easily and map directions between venues. The mobile website will be monitored closely over the next year to see how we can enhance the site for visitors as well as where we can include advertisements to help partners to showcase their product.

The relationship between Simpleview and Experience Arlington is stronger than ever and the team there is dedicated to providing top of the line service and support in using our Content Management System and Customer Relationship Management software. Regular phone calls between the Web Marketing Manager and Simpleview take place bi-weekly, making certain that everything is always running smoothly. Additionally, with our SimpleSupport plan, we are allotted several hours for technical issues as well as days that Simpleview staff can train all the Experience Arlington employees.


PUBLIC RELATIONS PUBLIC RELATIONS

DESTINATION AWARENESS

The mission of Experience Arlington is marketing and building Arlington as a premier destination. We work to shine a spotlight on all that makes Arlington an incredible destination by selling the city’s key attributes.

The mission of the Public Relations Department is local and outer market awareness to shine a spotlight on all that makes Arlington an incredible destination by creating a sense of familiarity with the bureau. The Public Relations department will continue to work to create a coordinated understanding of the impact of tourism by building upon and stressing the success and economic results generated by tourism. With the brand successfully launched, we will continue to focus on delivering a consistent message about all of the exciting experiences that Arlington has to offer. When we are able to align the strategies of other city marketing organizations and speak in a unified voice, the results can be more powerful.

MEDIA AWARENESS

The value of earned media through publicity efforts has sustained our brand awareness during the recessionary economy where paid advertising budgets were reduced to almost zero. The upcoming fiscal year will see additions to the advertising schedule, but Public Relations efforts will remain a driving force for growing Arlington’s visibility to potential customers, across leisure and convention segments. Travel writer visits, FAM tours, media events and local outreach will continue to play a large role in garnering visibility for Arlington’s story. A local awareness push will also be an important role in establishing Experience Arlington as the voice of tourism and tourism impact.

Social media will continue to have a dominant role in the brand - building of Arlington, especially with a concentration on targeting the Millennial and Gen-X audiences. Social networking sites are providing another avenue to interact with clients and build relationships, whether meeting planners or leisure visitors. We will build upon the current tools of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and others among emerging platforms, to expand our reach to younger and mobile markets. We will work to be consistent and creative with the promotional efforts and messages across all markets.

TRENDS IN PR

Trend: 60% of Facebook users surveyed by digital agency said they’d be willing to post about a product/brand if they were given a discount or free trial. (Beyond Digital Survey - 2011) Trend: The 2010 Portrait of the American Traveler cites 91% of leisure travelers have posted information on Facebook.

Trend: Earned media has the merit of third-party credibility and is the most single effective tool to raise brand awareness. — Multimedia 2.0

Key Strategies

• Maintain brand presence across all defined target groups via social and earned-media efforts

• Continue working with partners to identify top line media angles and co- opportunities

• Generate conversation and participation with the brand (through all avenues)

• Provide brand loyalists with “ownership” of the Arlington brand, encouraging them to share their passion of the city

• Enhance the combined use of multiple types of media to yield maximum brand exposure through sustained cross-media interactions. (Example: Traditional, electronic and interactive press release posted online, tweeted, embedded)

• Work to develop pitches to targeted national media outlets

• Work with the programs and partnership team to successfully host additional FAM tours and media receptions

• Continue to expand efforts of customized pitches

• Media FAM trip for top level bloggers in our target markets

• Sustain local education of tourism efforts through partnerships with My Arlington, Police Department, etc.


THE ARLINGTON RADIO & TELEVISION NETWORK

The RTVN is a unique venture with top radio and television stations in targeted cities that use Arlington’s promotional packages to encourage listeners to engage with RTVN stations and Experience Arlington products. RTVN, which annually generates the equivalent of $3.8 million in on-air promotional time for Arlington, enables Experience Arlington to acquire radio and TV time in targeted outer markets without expending cash resources. Arlington is promoted year-round and is sustained through “barter” support from hotels, retail, attractions, restaurants, etc.

• Promotional trips (“Road Shows”) to top feeder cities Oklahoma City and Tulsa, Odessa and Amarillo, Houston, San Antonio, Texarkana and Little Rock and other cities as opportunities present

• Maintain relationships with present barter partners; recruit new partners

• Maintain relationships with present radio and TV partners; recruit new partners

• Live remotes in Arlington with partner radio stations

• Sports remotes with radio partners

• Continue to grow Magic Kids with Magic 104 (Renda, OKC)

SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is designed to disseminate information through social interaction, by using highly accessible publishing techniques. It uses internet and web-based technologies to transform the traditional media monologues into social media dialogues. It allows people to go from being content consumers to content producers. Social media has modernized how to reach the consumers in a new way through the internet and has become the new “tool” for effective business marketing and sales, primarily because of its popularity and low-cost to implement.

With the growing popularity and ever-growing populations of social networking sites, it is imperative that Experience Arlington maintains and increases its presence through these web-based technologies. The PR team will continue to manage Social Media accounts: 2 staff members take turns posting to it every day of the week. Some posts are news focused such as event details or retweets/posts from hospitality partners, but others will have a brand personality and reflect where the team member is dining or doing for fun for the weekend. This is a constant source of information needs, so we have worked to develop timed posts and tweets, and constantly monitor the pages on weekends.

PUBLIC RELATIONS PUBLIC RELATIONS

Key Strategies

• Continue to engage potential visitors by managing Facebook and Twitter accounts for the Arlington brand

• Create and manage relevant Facebook Ads to promote rapid community-wise and outer market fan base growth to effectively concentrate Experience Arlington messaging

• Push social media growth via additional contests and promotions; and by including the page names in all broadcasts and mentions on RTVN

• Maintain a personality in all social media posts - avoiding corporate-speak and overdone sales messages. Build a character, tell a story and converse

• Ask questions and open the conversations on Facebook and Twitter

• Create monthly ‘webisodes’ (Called “Experience Arlington”) in an effort to provide fresh content to generate return visits to city and sites, give Advantage Arlington partners more visibility by featuring their business, and work with Magic 104.1/RTVN stations to cross promote on YouTube and social channels

• Continue to collaborate with other Arlington entities including the City, ‘Proud to Call it Home,’ etc. to utilize local ambassadors to communicate tourism messages

• Host a bloggers media FAM

• Integrate social media tool icons into all existing traditional communications - including working with marketing department to incorporate into advertising and marketing materials


ARLINGTON CULTURAL TOURISM COUNCIL

ARLINGTON CULTURAL TOURISM COUNCILS U P P O R T I N G & E N H A N C I N G C U LT U R A L T O U R I S M

In 2012 the Arlington Cultural Tourism Council was formed to support and enhance cultural tourism in Arlington. A council of seven was formed with members of the CVB Board and additional city stakeholders to establish the policies and procedures in order to execute an arts grant program for the city. Applications were received from 15 arts groups for over $300,000 in grant requests for the $100,000 available. Following a review process and presentations by the finalists, grants were issued to the Levitt Pavilion, Theatre Arlington and the Arlington Museum of Art. The ACTC will continue to meet in preparation for the 2013 grants as well as programs throughout the year that will support and enhance cultural tourism in Arlington.

EXHIBIT F - MARKETING PLAN - Granicus

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