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Membership & Sponsorship
Recruiting and Retaining Quality Member Businesses
In 2007, Meet Minneapolis continued to focus on attracting quality members, delivering a high level of service, showcasing them and generating travel and convention business that delivers a return on their investment.
With the help of a staff leads program, Membership & Sponsorship generated a 5% increase in total members. It also retained 80% of its current membership base, thanks in part to better programming and a higher level of marketing exposure.
Creating More Valuable Events
In 2007, the Membership & Sponsorship team sought to improve on an already popular membership benefit: networking and educational events. Building on their social nature, the team worked to make events more network-centric, helping members to connect with each other and build business.
A well-planned year-long schedule of events was developed. The team focused on delivering diverse events with regularity so members knew what to expect. Two of the year's most popular networking functions included an evening beer tasting at Rock Bottom Brewery and a lunchtime event at Gameworks. Scheduling a lunchtime event allowed members to attend who otherwise were unable to come due to work schedules. In addition, the team planned some networking events that were free or low-cost, making them accessible to a broader range of members.
All these factors, combined with better promotion of the events through email invites, e-newsletters, reminders and announcements at orientation meetings drove a 32% increase in attendance over 2006.
Executing Signature Programs for Signature Sponsors
Launched in 2006, our signature sponsorship program continued with two participants: American Express® Card Member Services and Metro Transit. During 2007, we delivered a higher level of sponsor value by extending their marketing platforms to reach target audiences through joint promotional opportunities. In exchange, they received direct contact with all members, and increased exposure through all of our marketing activities, including visibility on all collateral and advertising.
Each signature sponsor carved out their own promotional approach. Metro Transit promoted mass transit to meeting planners by including registration bag stuffers for major meetings in 2007 and sponsoring the high-traffic visitor information booth at the Minneapolis Convention Center.
American Express established a hotel campaign called "Winter Escapes" for the first quarter, to increase card usage and sign up new card members. With American Express securing downtown hotel rates starting at $79, Meet Minneapolis created and executed an extensive marketing and communications campaign. Print ads placed regionally, website banners and landing page on Minneapolis.org, email marketing, post-it note promo in visitor packages and radio trade-out promotions contributed to a 15% increase in downtown hotel occupancy during January, February and March.
Enhance Web Presence & Resources for Members
In 2007, Membership & Sponsorship structured new sponsorship packages that deliver a high level of value to members, and increase revenue to Meet Minneapolis. By combining a variety of online and offline assets, the team could customize a package to best suit an individual member.
With the launch of the new Minneapolis.org website in 2007, Membership & Sponsorship worked with Marketing to develop a "Detail Page" for each individual hotel and restaurant member. Search functionality allows a website user to search for a member business based on a variety of criteria. With the ability to upgrade these pages to deliver more depth of information, this program allows members to leverage Minneapolis.org for more exposure. In 2008, additional member categories will receive Detail Pages, including attractions and retail outlets, among others.
In addition, a new website for members was launched in the Spring. The new site provides in-depth information on membership events, benefits and other information only available to members of Meet Minneapolis.
