McLean, Va. (March 24, 2021) – The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) officially presented Meet Minneapolis with two Silver Adrian Awards for Marketing Recovery Strategies and Crisis Communications/Management, last evening. This year’s virtual celebration marked the 64th annual Adrian Awards, the largest and most prestigious global travel marketing competition. HSMAI redesigned the Adrian Awards to reflect the current travel landscape, with Focus Categories of Corporate Social Responsibility, Crisis Communications/Management, Recovery Strategies, and Talent & Leadership Development, in addition to traditional Adrian Award categories.

Silver Adrian Award – Marketing Recovery Strategies
Against the backdrop of multiple crises, Meet Minneapolis set out to remind the community of the importance of its small businesses; generate a rallying cry that people could gather around; secure media exposure for the work of Meet Minneapolis and the businesses that make up its hospitality industry; and maximize its limited budget, particularly through partnerships.

“Our Meet Minneapolis creative direction and call-to-action centered around the ‘We Need Us!’ campaign. We needed to rally support for the small businesses that support us back,” said Courtney S. Ries, Meet Minneapolis Senior Vice President of Destination Branding and Strategy. “During a period of such uncertainty and unforeseen challenges, our high-profile campaign created by Carmichael Lynch Relate provided our community with glimmers of hope and calls to action, plus it underscored the importance of our hospitality community.”

Silver Adrian Award – Crisis Communications/Management
Having already deployed multiple crisis communications tactics to address the COVID-19 pandemic, Meet Minneapolis faced a crisis-within-a-crisis after the death of George Floyd. As protestors took to the streets and images of burning buildings were broadcast around the world, there was an urgent need to develop and execute a whole new crisis communication strategy.

“We utilized all of our platforms to provide a constant cadence of timely, accurate and evolving information to a wide array of stakeholders,” explained Kathy McCarthy, Meet Minneapolis Public Relations and Communications Director. “Our digital communications strategy and flexible content management technology allowed us to rapidly provide critical information to staff, partners, clients, residents, and media.”

“Hospitality and tourism professionals continue to face evolving challenges due to the ongoing pandemic that requires a new level of innovation and ingenuity to survive,” said Robert A. Gilbert, CHME, CHBA, president and CEO of HSMAI. “HSMAI is proud to recognize the extraordinary efforts of hospitality sales, marketing, and revenue optimization leaders during these unprecedented times with Adrian Awards. By recognizing incredible work, we will reinvigorate the spirit and strength of our industry to push forward and drive recovery. ”

Meet Minneapolis was honored during the HSMAI Adrian Awards virtual celebration, which took place on March 23, 2021, and recognized best practices, innovation and community. Visit www.AdrianAwards.com for more information on the competition and to view the Adrian Awards Winners’ Gallery. For more about Meet Minneapolis, visit www.minneapolis.org.

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ABOUT HSMAI
The Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) is committed to growing business for hotels and their partners and is the industry’s leading advocate for intelligent, sustainable hotel revenue growth. The association provides hotel professionals and their partners with tools, insights, and expertise to fuel sales, inspire marketing, and optimize revenue through programs such as the Marketing Strategy Conference, Adrian Awards, and HSMAI ROC. Founded in 1927, HSMAI is a membership organization comprising more than 5,000 members worldwide, with 40 chapters in the Americas Region. Connect with HSMAI at hsmai.org, HSMAI Facebook, HSMAI Instagram, HSMAI Twitter, and HSMAI YouTube.

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 to the greater Minneapolis area. Meet Minneapolis is accredited by the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP) of Destinations International.

CONNECT WITH US
Online: www.minneapolis.org
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/meetminneapolis
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/meetminneapolis
On Instagram: www.instagram.com/meetminneapolis

MEDIA CONTACT
Kathy McCarthy, Meet Minneapolis PR Director, 612-767-8048, KathyM@Minneapolis.org
Or email MeetMinneapolisPR@Minneapolis.org