Visitors bureau grant program recognized by Midwest Meetings

The Fairfield Iowa Convention and Visitors Bureau?s grant program was recently featured as a best practice in Midwest Meetings magazine.

The article, ?Did You Know: Grant Programs for Events, Are you taking advantage?? was featured in the Winter 2011 issue.

The article, which featured an interview with Terry Baker, assistant director of the bureau, focused on Midwest convention and visitors bureaus grant programs to support new or existing groups in attracting or increasing attendance at events held within their borders.

Midwest Meetings magazine puts the Midwest market on the meeting planner?s map, bringing regional destinations into national focus, according to midwestmeetings.com. This quarterly print publication mails out to more than 28,500 meeting and event planners throughout the nation, with the major circulation base concentrated in the Midwest.

?It is great to be recognized by our peers and industry for our grant program,? said Rustin Lippincott, executive director of the bureau. ?Our grant program leverages resources and targets our marketing dollars to assist our recipient organizations. We recognize these grant funds are seed money to many of the great things happening in Fairfield.?

The Fairfield Iowa Convention and Visitors Bureau Grant Program assists qualified organizations in providing excellence in cultural, civic and educational programs that attract visitors to the Fairfield area. The general purpose of each grant is to assist the organization in enhancing the quality of the event experience, thereby increasing the number of visitors attracted to the area and further enhancing Fairfield?s reputation for providing engaging cultural experiences.

The grant program is supported from Fairfield?s lodging tax, created in 2001 by popular ballot. It has provided more than $70,000 in support.