CORE TRACKS – Leadership, Marketing, Sales, Advocacy/Communications, and Finance/Operations

Core Tracks will be offered annually at the Winter Conference. They must provide at least 16 hours of in-depth education. DMS Participants must stay in the same track for its entirety and cannot flip between tracks at the Winter Conference.DMS Candidates must complete three of the 5 Core Tracks in order to complete the DMS Program. Attendance in the Core Tracks will be verified by sign-in/sign-out sheet that a Room Monitor will oversee.

Leadership: The objective is to arm destination organization leaders with the practical and relevant professional development training they need to succeed. Takeaways and sample topics include:
* Board management and communications
* Emotional Intelligence and team growth
* Team motivation and coaching

Marketing: The objective is to provide practical and relevant training for Marketing professionals in the tourism industry. Takeaways and sample topics include:
* Current tourism marketing trends
* Planning an effective marketing strategy
* Leveraging user-generated content
* Content development* Influencers

Sales: The objective is to provide practical and relevant training for professionals in the Conventions, Meetings, and Sports Sales space. Takeaways and sample topics include:
* Current Sales trends
* Metrics and KPIs that matter to stakeholders
* Developing a Sales Plan
* FAM Tours

Advocacy/Communications: The objective is to provide destination professionals with advocacy training on a local, state, and national level. Takeaways and sample topics include:
* Transformative Community Engagement
* Building partner relationships locally
* Working with City Management, Council, Boards, etc.
* State and national advocacy and political topics that affect DMOs

Finance/Operations: The objective is to educate destination professionals on the nuts and bolts of daily operations. Takeaways and sample topics include:
* Building a DMO budget
* Running a Visitor Center

TESTING

After each Core Track, a short-answer test will be sent to all participants and must be completed within 6-weeks of attending the conference. The test will be reviewed by the DMS Committee.The short-answer test will be administered using the survey function on iDSS immediately after the Winter Conference. It will stay mostly the same year after year to ensure that the same key elements are being taught.

ELECTIVES

Electives will be offered at the Annual Conference and in other appropriate formats approved by the DMS Committee (i.e. special webinars). Topics for the electives will shift with industry trends but must provide actionable, quality education that is practical and hands-on.DMS Candidates must complete 2 elective courses in order to complete the DMS Program. Attendance in the electives will be verified by sign-in/sign-out sheet that a Room Monitor will oversee.
Sample Elective Topics:
* Social Media Strategy
* Sales Analytics
* Services/Customer Service
* Tourism Law (email marketing/privacy, copyright)
* HR/Employment
* Finance/HOT Tax/Funding
* How-tos: photography, video
* Technology tips and tricks for tourism
* Crisis Management
* Grant writing/funding (i.e. Events Trust Fund)
* Sales Prospecting/proactive sales tips
* Networking 101 - how to best use your networking time at tradeshows

DESTINATION EXPERIENCE TOUR

Destination Experience Tours will be offered at all TACVB conferences. The host destination will put together tours showcasing their destination as a case study or heritage tour. The destination develops the tour and may offer one or two tours per conference. Tours must be at least 3 hours in length.DMS Candidates must complete one Destination Experience Tour in order to complete the DMS Program. Attendance in the tours will be verified by sign-in/sign-out sheet that a Room Monitor will oversee.

DESTINATION MARKETING PRINCIPLES

The Destination Marketing Principles (formerly CVB 101) session will be offered at all TACVB conferences. This session is 3 hours long and serves as an introduction to the CVB/DMO industry.DMS Candidates must complete one Destination Marketing Principles session in order to complete the DMS Program. Attendance in the session will be verified by sign-in/sign-out sheet that a Room Monitor will oversee.