The Valley Forge Convention and Visitors Bureau can help planners with a wide range of services, including group outings to local attractions like Valley Forge National Historical Park in Montgomery County, PA.
same time showing off the beautiful Lehigh Valley destination. “Our role, while the convention delegate is in town, is to make sure they have as much of a Lehigh Valley experience as possible. We want to make sure they get out of the four walls of the hotel and experience the restaurants and attractions of the area so they come back and bring their families for vaca- tions.”
And it is the cultivation of these relation- ships and pride for the area that Kaminetsky feels gives Discover Lehigh Valley a very personal connection with their clients.
“Often, what develops from working together is a personal relationship or bond even after the event is over,” he
38 January February 2013
notes. “Friendships are formed because we are talking as often as we are. Creating that bond and relationship is the one thing that makes the hospitality business so different from others. And even more rewarding is the knowledge that you’re working with someone who appreciates both what you’re doing and all of the time and effort that you’ve put forth.”
In an era saturated with emails, web chats and online sales, Paul Decker, president of the Valley Forge Convention and Visitors Bureau, discusses how his team uses good old fashioned face-to-face interaction to promote the area and assist planners.
“The convention sales department mar- kets Valley Forge and Montgomery County to potential clients best by exhibiting at
some 25 trade shows and attending numerous industry educational and net- working events,” says Decker.
“This frequent travel bespeaks the Valley Forge Convention and Visitors Bureau’s philosophy that nothing sells better than eye-to-eye contact, handshakes and rela- tionship-building,” he adds, “none of which are successfully executed over the phone or through the boxes and screens on our desks in front of us.”
Decker feels that the bureau’s message at these meetings and across all its market- ing efforts is a simple one. “Our destina- tion’s suburban Philadelphia location offers everything the planners of small to mid-sized meetings and conventions need. It’s easy to reach by all modes of
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