Those in our business well know the phrase "there's an association for everything."  So true...that really is a fun part of working for a CVB - learning about all sorts of different industries and how they work.  Case in point...

When I first started working with the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) a few years ago to see if their conference would be a good fit here in downtown Indianapolis - it was fascinating.  In layman's terms, GSCA is the association for the IMAX theatres all across the world - although IMAX is not the only company that runs giant screen theatres.

This opportunity was a unique one in that they conduct much of their program at a local giant screen theatre instead of a convention center or hotel meeting space.  The program revolves around showing short segments of films that are under development or in production to gather feedback and determine whether or not what they are working on will be of interest to the theatres who decide which films to show.  So having a local giant screen theatre willing to host the conference is the first criteria for selection.

Beyond that, there was a need for some Indianapolis meeting space at a hotel and/or unique venues around the city for an expo, professional development sessions, an awards dinner and other functions.  As you can imagine, having headquarter hotel options near the theatre is a huge plus so shuttle costs can be kept to a minimum- but can be a pretty difficult criteria to meet in most cities.

The GSCA executive director (Gretchen Jaspering) and meeting planner (Tammy Seldon) were just in town for a pre-planning session as they work out the final details of their Indianapolis package before the conference comes here in 2009 - and I was delighted to hear that Gretchen has started blogging on their association's website as a way of keeping their membership up to speed with the various initiatives she is working on.  Think of it as a more frequent "membership newsletter" that has the potential to drive more membership traffic to the association website...

After this recent trip to Indy, she wrote up an entry that highlights some of her impressions of the city.  But more than that - notice how she used this as a way of starting to educate her members on what they will encounter when they arrive for their Indianapolis convention next September.

GSCA blogs about Indy

As a planner or association executive, do you see this as a new strategy for communicating with your members?