Florida Tourism Day - Part 2

It’s been an amazing, and successful Florida Tourism Day. In addition to our Board Members, other attraction members from around the state were in Tallahassee for Tourism Day activities.

We began the day at 8:00 a.m. at Tallahassee City Hall. Our lobbyist, Jim Tillman, presented the FAA’s priority issues for the 2008 session.

At 9:00 a.m., Karen Moore from Moore Consulting Group, VISIT FLORIDA's PR firm, presented an excellent advocacy primer. She offered techniques and strategies on how to effectively present an issue to an elected official.

Next, we moved down the hill to the Leon County Civic Center. At 10:30 a.m. a panel presentation was made on the various issues affecting participating Florida Tourism Day sponsors.

At 11;30, lunch was served. Our guest speaker was Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Scarborough, a former Congressman, shared his views on the current state of politics in America and the campaigns for the White House.

The afternoon was spent making visits to our elected representatives in the Capitol. I was paired with Tom Waits, former CEO of the Florida Hotel Motel Association. We had appointments with several elected officials, making the case for increased funding for VISIT FLORIDA.

The evening reception was at the headquarters of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association. The party was catered by culinary students from Tallahassee's Kaiser University. The event was professionally orchestrated by the staff of FRLA and hundreds circulated through the various offices sharing stories of their afternoon visits and enjoying the fine food and drink.