Visit Fairfield’s director attends Upper Midwest CVB conference

Terry Baker, executive director of Visit Fairfield, recently attended the Upper Midwest CVB Fall Conference in Champaign, Illinois. The conference provided professional education and networking opportunities for tourism professionals tirelessly working to promote destinations located in the great states of Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Missouri.

Topics discussed at the conference included marketing strategies, talent attraction, the language of diversity, and providing transformational opportunities for our communities. Baker worked with Destination leaders on ways for improving the tourism experience in Fairfield as well as discovering opportunities to provide additional value to the City.

The Upper Midwest CVB Fall Conference is an annual event that was founded in 1997 by tourism titans Bill Geist, Cole Carley, and Bruce McDaniel. The goal of this year's conference was to provide professional education and networking opportunities for those promoting destinations within these states; a mission that Baker was more than happy to support.

"I am grateful for this opportunity to learn from some of the most successful tourism minds in our industry," said Baker. "The knowledge I gained will help me better market Fairfield not only regionally but also nationally."

Keynote speakers included Leonard Hoops, President and CEO of Visit Indy, Greg DeShields, Executive Director of Tourism Diversity Matters, Berkeley Young, Owner & President of Young Strategies, Inc., and Bill Geist, Chief Instigator at DMOproz. Geist has been a frequent consultant to Visit Fairfield and is planning a repeat visit in the near future to help facilitate a destination vision.

With a focus on innovative marketing techniques and transformative community engagement practices, Baker came away from this conference committed to providing an exceptional visitor experience for all who come to visit Fairfield and looks forward to continuing to grow the destination.