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We Wish You Happy Holidays 
The holiday season gives us a chance to reflect on what we’ve accomplished in
the old year and what we wish for in the new. We are well aware that 2009 has been a challenging year. We chose to look at these challenges
as opportunities and succeeded in telling potential visitors that Sonoma Country is open for business.
With others in the hospitality and tourism industry, we are excited to see
the calendar turn over to start 2010 afresh. We’ll still have some of the same challenges, but we take forward the valuable lessons that
have enabled us to achieve more with tightened resources.
Our success in 2009 is due to the successful relationship we have with you,
our partners. In light of the season, we thank you for a great team effort. We wish you and your loved ones the happiest of holidays and a
prosperous New Year.
Deadlines and Opportunities
Dial In for SCTB's iPhone App
SCTB will be launching an iPhone application in early 2010 and we need your
information! Please visit this link www.sonomacounty.com/content/partner-data and tell us your Facebook, Twitter or FourSquare
(foursquare.com/businesses) names.
Also, please upload a picture so visitors using the application can see your
business.
Even if you don’t have a Facebook, Twitter or FourSquare account, please fill out the form with your business name and photo. You will still
be included in the application launch.
The drop-dead deadline to submit your information is 5 p.m. on Sunday, Jan.
10, 2010. If you miss this deadline, you’re information will be in the queue to be posted in March, the next eligible date. For more
information, please contact Keri Hanson, khanson@sonomacounty.com.
SCTB Deadline: What’s New, Dec. 28
We are looking for what’s new with you. Please submit your what’s new item to
www.sonomacounty.com/partners/whats-new, by 5 p.m. Dec. 28. Your submissions will be used in SCTB’s quarterly press release covering January
through March 2010.
Travel E-zine Seeks Info: Deadline Dec. 31
PR reps and media lead catchers: casa naranja TRAVEL would love to hear from
you about your property and/or clients. casa naranja TRAVEL (www.casanaranja.com) is a travel e-zine.
The magazine targets the sophisticated and style-conscious Hispanic/Latin
American reader seeking a source for travel and trends and a guide to finer living with sabor Latino!"
Please e-mail your info, including a link to your website, to elizabeth@casanaranja.com. Make sure the subject line is HARO-CN TRAVEL. Deadline for information is Dec. 31.
Family Spring Break Info: Deadline Feb. 1,
2010
The managing editor for MomsLikeMe.com, a network of local sites for moms,
owned by Gannett Co., Inc./USA Today, would like to feature some spring break suggestions in early 2010. Any region within the U.S. is fine;
this will go on 16 of their sites that are all over the country, plus the national site. Please send your information, by Feb. 1, 2010, to
Mary Ann Barton, mbarton1@gannett.com.
Chefs Needed for Inside Sonoma
Inside-sonoma.com has gotten a facelift of sorts. As part of our latest
refresh, we've added a "cook" category, inside-sonoma.com/cook, that features professional chefs who have restaurants, a catering business
or are instructors. We are also sending out a recipe each month in our consumer e-newsletter that goes out to more than 20,000
people.
What we need from you: your bio, information about your restaurant, and one
of your recipes that you think epitomizes your food philosophy. Also, please include a specific Sonoma County wine recommendation, for
example a 2006 Matanzas Creek Merlot. A photo of either you or your dish is optional. Please send your information to Beth Snow,
bsnow@sonomacounty.com. If you’ve already sent your information, there’s no need to do anything else.
Media Lead Catchers Needed
Who at your organization is the contact for media leads? While leads with long
lead times appear in our Tourism Update, sometimes we get requests from media that is due before the next Update. If you are a public
relations professional for several properties, please list all the properties you are the media contact for. Please send the media contact
information to Tina Luster, tluster@sonomacounty.com. If you’ve already sent your information, there’s no need to do anything else.
Chicagoland's Holiday Showcase
a Success
SCTB lead the marketing charge at the Association Forum of Chicagoland's Holiday Showcase in Chicago in December. Ken Fischang was a
participant on an educational panel, successful client dinners and the SCTB sponsored Sonoma Wine Bar at the tradeshow. There were over
2,300 Association Professionals attending the trade show and this is the largest annual gathering of Association Professionals in the
Midwest. Pictured are SCTB's Marta Hayden and Daniel Borschke, executive director of NARMS.
San Francisco Tourism Recovery
Off to a
Slow Start
The Wall Street Journal’s San Francisco Bay Area edition talked about the
tourism and hospitality industry and, though there are signs of improvement, it’s still soft overall.
While we feel the story accurately captured what is going on in our
industry, we did want to point out that, as with San Francisco, Sonoma County’s occupancy was up in September. Our occupancy didn’t fall,
like mentioned in the story.
To read the entire story, visit
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126100153642494509.html. If that doesn’t take you to the story, this link will take you to a search page:
http://online.wsj.com/search/search_center.html?KEYWORDS=CARI+TUNA&ARTICLESEARCHQUERY_PARSER=bylineAND. Select “San Francisco Tourism
Recovery Off to a Slow Start.”
Have Spa, Will Travel
Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary’s cedar enzyme bath will be featured in an episode
of “The Doctors” (www.thedoctorstv.com). Osmosis trucked its special show tub down to the Hollywood Paramount studio and taped on Friday,
Dec. 19. Watch for it to air on an upcoming episode. Until then, keep track of all the news from Osmosis at www.osmosis.com.
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