FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEET MINNEAPOLIS ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO DESTINATION SALES

BRENT FOERSTER HIRED AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, SPORTS MINNEAPOLIS AFFILIATE FORMED

MINNEAPOLIS MAY 6, 2014 Meet Minneapolis, Convention and Visitors Association, is pleased to announce enhancements to the Destination Sales team, beginning with the hiring of BRENT FOERSTER AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT (SVP), DESTINATION SALES. Foerster will have a singular focus on sales and is joining a high-performing executive team in collaborating to drive more convention business to Minneapolis. Additionally, Meet Minneapolis announces the formation of a new affiliate organization, SPORTS MINNEAPOLIS, which will be lead by Executive Director Scott Romane, who currently serves as vice president of Destination Sales at Meet Minneapolis. These and other changes are designed to continue to drive the organization in an effort to make Minneapolis the Destination of Choice for conventions and leisure travel.

Earlier this year, new Meet Minneapolis Board Chair Rob Moor, also chief executive officer of the Minnesota Timberwolves, indicated his first priority in his tenure as chairman is helping Meet Minneapolis become an even more effective sales and marketing organization, which has resulted in a few changes to the organizational structure of the Destination Sales team.

Meet Minneapolis extensive competency in sports events, most notably seen in the current Super Bowl bid, is being deployed as Sports Minneapolis to leverage our communities incredible investment in world class facilities, said Moor. This sports effort will focus on complimentary times in the calendar cycle of convention business in order to bring visitors to town when our Convention Center is not available due to local shows like the Minneapolis Home he will be fully transitioned to his new role of executive director by July 1. He will be joined by Matt Meunier, who will also move from Meet Minneapolis to serve as senior national account executive, sports, for Sports Minneapolis.

FURTHER ENHANCEMENTS IN MEET MINNEAPOLIS DESTINATION SALES TEAM

A new director of sales position will also be created to support the new SVP, Destination Sales. Duties will include day-to-day departmental management. The intention is to fill this position with an internal candidate. Meet Minneapolis is also recruiting a business development manager to lead new account development in an effort to increase the convention group business pipeline and conversion rates.

Additionally, Angie Kufus and Sue Murray have transitioned to national account executives from their former roles at Meet Minneapolis sales executives for the Minneapolis Convention Center.

Recognizing the shifts necessary to maintain the competitive edge, the organization will perform a complete sales operations review. Meet Minneapolis has engaged the services of a team of experts from Minding Your Business and Strategic Corporate Solutions to conduct a deep dive into the Destination Sales department deployment, production, compensation and procedures. This review will be overseen by Foerster. The objective will be to accelerate the new sales leaders' departmental assessment process that will improve departmental effectiveness.

The transformation of the Destination Sales team and the formation of Sports Minneapolis will be catalysts for the changes that will help Meet Minneapolis succeed in the organizational mission to market, sell and maximize the visitor experience of Minneapolis for the economic benefit of the community.

_PHOTO ATTACHED - CUTLINE_

Brent Foerster, new senior vice president, Destination Sales, Meet Minneapolis.

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_ABOUT MEET MINNEAPOLIS_

Meet Minneapolis is a private, not-for-profit, member-based association. It actively promotes and sells the Minneapolis area as a destination for conventions and meetings, works to maximize the visitor experience and markets the city as a desirable tourist destination to maximize the economic benefit of the greater Minneapolis area.

Meet Minneapolis is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of the Destination Marketing Association International.

FIND OUT MORE:

Online: www.minneapolis.org [http://www.minneapolis.org] and http://go.minneapolis.org [http://go.minneapolis.org]
On Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/meetminneapolis?ref=ts [http://www.facebook.com/meetminneapolis?ref=ts]
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/meetminneapolis [http://twitter.com/meetminneapolis]
On Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/meetminneapolis/ [http://pinterest.com/meetminneapolis/]
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_MEDIA CONTACT_

Kristen Montag, media communication manager, 612.767.8038, kristenm@minneapolis.org [kristenm@minneapolis.org], Minneapolis_PR [http://goo.gl/M48J8] on Twitter.
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