The first Information Sharing Task Force meeting was held Aug. 15 at the Northwest Wine Studies Center in Salem. The goal of this group is to create a thriving and informed wine community in Oregon through increased two-way communications within the industry. This group and its goal are a direct result of the OWB strategic imperative to engage more efficiently with our wine community. By staying informed on the projects of each regional association and letting these organization know about OWB programming, we can collectively cultivate a stronger wine community.
For the first meeting, 15 regional association representatives and five members of the OWB staff gathered to discuss:
- What associations are currently doing to engage their members
- How OWB can be more helpful to these organizations
- How this task force can be the most effective
While no definitive decisions were made, collectively the group was excited by the opportunity to work smarter together, not harder in siloes.
An immediate need that arose during the first meetings was helping regional associations understand the complicated web of working more effectively with Travel Oregon, Regional Destination Marketing Organizations (RDMOs) and Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) to leverage tourism impact, especially as it relates to promotion of wineries and their events through these organizations. Additionally, regional associations noted a desire to understand the various places to post events in Oregon and which of these places yields the most active users. For both of these requests, Michelle Kaufmann communications manager at the OWB and Alexa Carey destination development specialist at Travel Oregon will be working together to create a comprehensive solution, which will ultimately live on the industry website. This solution should be in place by early October.
The next Information Sharing Task Force meeting will take place in February 2017. For questions about the Information Sharing Task Force, contact [email protected].
