Ocean Road Planners Guide Launch

NEW MCVB CEO LAUNCHES
GREAT OCEAN ROAD PLANNERS GUIDE

New Melbourne Convention + Visitors Bureau (MCVB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Karen Bolinger, launched Business Events Geelong's new and innovative Planners Guide for the Geelong & Great Ocean Road region at the 2012 Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meetings Expo, at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre (MCEC) on 22 February.

The new Guide incorporates QR code technology that allows the reader to taste the region's venues, professional services and experiences without even leaving the office. By scanning an advertiser's QR code with a smart phone, the reader will be connected to YouTube footage or an image gallery and taken on a journey of quality, professionalism and regional hospitality.

"With the ever increasing use of smart phones in doing business, the addition of QR codes to our printed Planners Guide has breathed new life into a marketing tool that some competing destinations and business events organisations no longer produce," said Andrew Hiebl, Convention Bureau Manager of Business Events Geelong.

"Being a regional destination means that we have to be cutting edge and unique in our approach. Linking the Guide to a virtual experience also makes the Geelong & Great Ocean Road region that little bit easier for conference organisers to access, particularly in the destination selection phase," he said.

Karen Bolinger, CEO of MCVB, said she was extremely impressed by Business Events Geelong's innovative approach to the Planners Guide.

"Regional Victoria, and the Great Ocean Road in particular, are major draw cards for visiting convention delegates, so it's fantastic to see that the region is producing a Guide of this calibre, which will no doubt encourage even more organisations to choose our state for their next business event," Ms Bolinger said.

Other features of the 2012-13 Planners Guide include:

• Corporate partnership with National Breast Cancer Foundation
• INnovative Geelong - an overview of Geelong's four major industry clusters and Deakin University
• Geelong Open For Business - an eco nomic indicators snapshot highlighting key leading and emerging industry sectors
• Refresh your footprint - green initiatives of the region
• Corporate and social responsibility - leave a lasting legacy with some of our local suppliers
• Increased industry participation across all sections of the Guide including a geographical spread between Werribee and Port Fairy within the Great Ocean Road region.

The success of the new Great Ocean Road Planners Guide was clearly demonstrated by how many copies jumped off the shelf at the international show. More of the 2012-13 edition were distributed by Business Events Geelong at AIME 2012 than any other trade event over the last  four years, with approximately 250 printed Guides collected from the stand, an additional 30 taken in PDF format on USB, and a further 50 requests to have the printed Guide sent by mail.