All Articles
Marketing & Communications Highlights
Highlights Marketing Outlook Meeting The 2021 Marketing Outlook Meeting is scheduled for Sept. 29 from 8:30-11 a.m. at Capital Turnaround. The meeting will be held in-person and is free to attend, with registration, coffee and networking beginning at 8:30 a.m. and programming kicking off at 9:30 a.m. The event will focus on sales and marketing recovery strategy and be themed Experience DC, a nod to the organization's latest marketing and advertising campaign with Events DC. STR will join to share hotel data and forecasts for the nation's capital. Make sure to register online today if you have not already. A streaming option will be available. Washington.org Update The latest content rounds out ways to experience DC this fall, including a piece on ghost tours, outdoor trails to explore, upcoming autumn museum exhibits and other seasonal content. Experience DC landing pages attracted 110,000 unique visitors to the site in August, which represents the third most popular page on the site over that time. DDC's advertising efforts and personalization strategy helped drive traffic to recovery campaign pages, where users can interact with a variety of content. Social Media Update As summer winds down in the District, DDC is using its social channels to inspire a wide range of end-of-summer and beginning-of-fall activities including things to do this September, reopened museums, outdoor events, the return of music festivals and more. In addition to promoting things to do over Labor Day Weekend, DDC also partnered with DC JazzFest to give away two passes to the festival's signature event on Sept. 5 through DDC's Instagram stories. Recent Advertising Performance for Experience DC Overall, DDC's integrated media advertising campaign for Experience DC is pacing at 62% of its engagement goal with 32% of the campaign budget spent. The overall cost per engagement is currently $0.05, far exceeding the goal of $0.10. The paid social media campaign garnered nearly 10 million impressions across Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest in July, with New York, Philadelphia and Raleigh as the top-performing drive markets. DDC's campaign with Instinct, an LGBTQ+ lifestyle publication and website, began in mid-July. The video component of the campaign has driven significant interactions, leading to a 1.34% video click-through rate to washington.org, which is high when compared to Instinct's site average of 1.11%. Domestic Media Larry Bleiberg for USA Today write a round-up of cities where you can see ‘hipsters’ in their natural habitat. For DC, this includes local music venues, breweries and bars. USA Today, Aug. 2: 10 cities where you can see hipsters in their natural habitat Shayla Martin of The New York Times covered what to do in DC this summer, highlighting the Logan Circle, West End/Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle neighborhoods as well as new restaurants, shops and galleries. The New York Times, Aug. 31: What to Do This Summer: Washington, D.C. Trade Media Group Tour Magazine spoke with Destination DC’s (DDC) Elliott Ferguson about the National Mall and the can’t-miss monuments, museums and memorials that line “America’s Front Yard.” Group Tour Magazine, August 2021 Issue: Experience DC’s classics on the National Mall Meetings Today explored the ways planners can take advantage of DC’s presence in four major professional sports leagues (MLB, the NHL, the NFL and MLS) when planning memorable meetings and events. Meetings Today, Aug. 9: 4 Sports Venues for Memorable Events in Washington, D.C. International Media France’s Le Point covered the Capital Region by highlighting the iconic backdrop of the National Mall and the Natural History Museum. Le Point (France), Aug. 3: Washington DC et sa région crèvent l’écran! (Washington DC and its region are cracking the scene!) India’s Retropop Lifestyle magazine featured Washington, DC across a four-page spread that covered the iconic monuments and memorials as well as museums, music, nightlife, dining and water activities. Retropop Lifestyle (India), Aug.-Sept. 2021 Issue: Washington, DC – A fun Capital
Marketing Highlights and Media Coverage
Media Coverage Domestic Elliott is quoted in The Washington Post about DC’s post-pandemic recovery and spoke with FOX 5 about the U.S. Open sponsorship. Travel + Leisure named DC one of the 15 best places in the world to visit this December and reported on José Andrés’s plans for a Georgetown hotel. Glamour ranked DC among the top 25 best solo trips for women. Garden & Gun spotlights the Frederick Douglass National Historic Site, while GayCities makes DC its destination of the month and highlights WorldPride 2025. Axios recognized 13 members in its roundup of fall festivals and Forbes heaps praise on DC’s dining scene. International The People’s House opening generated over 200 placements in the Germany market with an ad value of $1.2 million. India highlighted DC’s robust arts and culture in multiple publications like India Blooms, CurlyTales and TourismQuest. Two inflight magazines from Australia and New Zealand, Kia Ora and Qantas Magazine, featured various arts and culture hot spots. CNN Viagem & Gastronomia and several other Brazilian publications covered the new OSGEMEOS exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum. Brazil’s O Globo featured DC as a monumental destination to visit ahead of the elections and Mexico’s Donde Ir highlighted new attractions in the nation’s capital. Trade Coverage included record visitation announced at DDC's Marketing Outlook Meeting and the Collective Advisory experience in articles from Northstar, Boardroom and USAE. Conference and Meetings World and Meetings Today highlighted DDC’s “Connected” positioning. More than 40 hotels, venues and attractions were featured in the Washington, DC location report for Mid-Atlantic Meetings and Events. Marketing Highlights Timely content marketing strategy paying off As part of an effort to engage consumers before and during the 30-60 day booking windows, optimize paid social and connect more content with future seasonal campaigns, the content team began publishing "Things to Do" by month articles this summer up to four months in advance. The tactic led to thousands of sessions on washington.org that the site wasn't previously earning and will continue as results have shown how the event-focused content is a valuable resource for planning trips. Content-filled hub coming to washington.org In an effort to increase user engagement and better-present the website's inspirational content, DDC will launch "The District Blog" in November. The blog landing page will serve as a multimedia-rich content hub where users can more easily interact with washington.org content, from filtering by tags to scrolling through featured, trending and new articles to watching social videos. The team expects The District Blog to drive a 15% increase in editorial pageviews, a 5% increase in sitewide average engagement time and a top-10 pageview ranking. Social Highlights Leisure Social In September, we shared an exciting recap of the DC JazzFest with Brian Oliver, spotlighted Black Broadway Tours with Anela Malik and promoted TheatreWashington’s Theater Week Kickoff Fest, showcasing the best of DC’s theater scene. We also collaborated with IGLTA on a 3-day itinerary in preparation for WorldPride 2025 and featured the best things to do this fall in the District. Finally, we highlighted the newest exhibit at ARTECHOUSE, Twilight Zone: Hidden Wonders of the Ocean—a must-see for ocean lovers and art enthusiasts alike. Popular posts included a peek inside the Renwick Gallery, pastel views of the city and a peaceful cruise through Rock Creek Park. Industry Social Industry channels honored 9/11 and World Tourism Day. Staff highlights included a photo dump from this summer’s conferences, congratulating our Employee of the Quarter and celebrating our Sept. milestone anniversaries, plus recaps of Marketing Outlook Meeting and Collective events. Member Spotlights featured Chopt and Dos Toros, American University Conferences, the Smithsonian Zoo, National Press Club, the Freedom Forum, Steadfast Supply and the Lego Discovery Center.
Media Day at the Washington Auto Show
On Jan. 23, 2020, the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association (WANADA) welcomed 30 students from the Academies of Hospitality and Tourism, Mass Media, and Automotive Engineering to its media day to kick off the 2020 Washington Auto Show. In addition to getting a sneak peek at this year’s show, students watched press conferences and interacted with representatives from the world’s biggest auto makers. One of AEF’s oldest partners, the Washington Auto Show is held every year at the Walter. E Washington Convention Center, featuring hundreds of vehicles from more than 35 car manufacturers. The show only occurs once a year, but there’s a lot of preparation for it. WANADA works year-round with a staff of eight, along with contractors, to make it happen. Mike Bushnell, Communication Director for WANADA, has worked on the Auto Show for three years. He says 80 percent of his time throughout the year is spent on Auto Show-related events. He spends months of preparation searching for cars to showcase and sponsorships to support the show. He and his team must work very closely with auto manufacturers to earn media coverage. Their hard work begins from Thanksgiving to the closing day of the show. After the Auto Show begins, there are even more things to pay attention to. Mike says that even one phone call or email can affect how the show runs. One of the biggest problems is the weather; if it’s snowing, fewer people come out to the show. As Mike can’t control the weather, one thing he can control is how people hear about the Auto Show. Advertising and media coverage is very important. Even though things are bound to go wrong when planning an event, Mike says he still loves his job a lot, especially seeing an event as large as the Auto Show come together. “There’s a lot of satisfaction in seeing all of our hard work pay off,” he said. “Just hearing someone at the show say they had a good time makes it worth it.”
Medical Meetings Advantage
There’s no better place to host a medical convention than in Washington, DC – where 40 percent of all meetings and conventions in the city are medical-related. Medical thought-leaders, decision makers, stakeholders and potential delegates comprise the industry landscape in Washington, DC, while access to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the nation’s top hospitals, makes the region fully equipped to host a successful meeting, convention or event. Learn how to grow your delegate base, sponsorship dollars and exhibitor footprint to gain a competitive advantage for your organization. Connect with Destination DC staff, submit a meetings RFP or learn more about medical-focused meetings and conventions in our medical white paper Access to Innovators & Influencers Connect directly with members of congress, policy makers and government experts for your event. The Healthcare Leadership Council is a national coalition of CEOs from all medical disciplines based in Washington, DC. Washington, DC is home to 180+ medical associations, organizations and foundations. As one of the nation’s leading cities in data confidentiality, DC is uniquely positioned to inform the future of health information management. Top Medical Centers & Hospitals 16 medical centers and hospitals form the District of Columbia Hospital Association, including Howard University Hospital, MedStar Washington Hospital Center, George Washington University Hospital and Bridge Point Hospital. Children’s National Medical Center is recognized as a leader in 10 pediatrics specialties: cancer, cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology and GI surgery, neonatology, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology. The Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is a designated comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute. Medical centers like the Advanced Surgical Technology and Education Center, the most technologically advanced surgery simulation facility in the region, work with associations to conduct or participate in surgical simulation events. Local Initiatives Local government is committed to research and programs to benefit underserved communities such as Thrive by Five DC, which makes available to families early childhood health and education resources. Considered a leader among U.S. cities for policies that improve the health and well-being of its residents, according to CityHealth. The DC eHealth Initiative is a nonprofit committed to improving the quality, safety and efficiency of care through information and technology by connecting national government experts with associations and advocacy groups. National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) 27+ institutes offer in-depth resources and expert speakers who can address visiting groups and associations interested in discussing the expansion and efficiency of medical research practices. NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world at $30 billion. Located within 10 miles of DC, the National Cancer Institute, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and National Human Genome Research Institute are some of the institutes and centers that comprise NIH. Qualified Medical Professionals DC ranks 8th in the nation for the highest amount of health care practitioners employed. Surgeon employment is nearly four times more prominent in the DC area than the national average, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Several medical teaching schools are integrated with some of the area’s best hospitals, establishing a pipeline for the industry’s future innovators. Interested in learning more about Washington, DC as a medical hub for meetings and conventions? Read our medical white paper and connect with Destination DC staff for more information.
Meet Me at 9:30: A History of DC's 9:30 Club
The 9:30 Club is a beacon for live music in the nation’s capital, a place where both renowned and up-and-coming artists from nearly every musical genre come to play. The venue is legendary in DC – the original club opened at 930 F Street NW in 1980 and moved to its current digs at 815 V Street NW in 1996, which was once the WUST Radio Music Hall and, prior to that, the site of a music club owned by local jazz legend Duke Ellington. In 2016, PBS launched Live at 9:30, a documentary series showcasing performances from a range of artists with interviews from band members and other special guests (you can stream the show anytime). To mark the occasion, we’ve gone back in time to examine the foundations of this DC institution, and relive its evolution into becoming the city’s most revered music venue. The Start of Something The 9:30 Club was founded by Dody DiSanto and Jon Bowers, and hosted its first show on May 31, 1980, featuring Massachusetts jazz-punk band the Lounge Lizards and local new wave group Tiny Desk Unit. Fun fact #1: NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts creator, Bob Boilen, named the radio program after the Tiny Desk Unit, for which he played synthesizer. The club was situated inside the Atlantic Building, which had been built in 1888, and certainly not for the purpose of hosting some of the most vibrant and influential rock music acts of all-time. The old 9:30 Club is remembered for its intense and cathartic shows, with the venue packed to the gills with sweaty teens and music lovers. Thanks to DiSanto, you could also catch offbeat theme parties and performance art inside, establishing a gathering place for DC creatives, well outside the realm of politics. 9:30’s decor– which featured video monitors throughout the club, unheard of at the time – would also change frequently, with cutting-edge visuals created by Mark Holmes, who also bartended, served as disc jockey and created the posters for the venue. Holmes tragically passed away in 1990, and the current club features an exhibit dedicated to Holmes and his work in the downstairs area. The club became a hub for local and national bands that simply had nowhere else to play; the punk rock movement alienated owners of larger clubs all over the East Coast, but 9:30 was happy to welcome just about any group through its doors. DC’s hardcore music scene came into its own at the venue, with bands like Teen Idles, Minor Threat and Bad Brains performing to energetic crowds. The club also hosted all-ages and matinee events, so that younger, “straight-edge” fans could take in their favorite local bands. Of course, hometown sounds went beyond the punk set, as go-go music became a sensation in the city in the ‘80s as well. While various strains of punk music regularly echoed from the 9:30 stage, it also bellowed the locally grown sounds of go-go, with groups like Trouble Funk filling the venue. Fun fact #2: The original 9:30 Club was situated right next to Ford’s Theatre and had a back door where bands loaded in and out that led to the same alley John Wilkes Booth used for his escape after assassinating President Lincoln. This communal atmosphere not only catapulted 9:30 Club to the forefront of the city’s music scene, but also elevated DC’s cultural stature all over the country. As the ‘80s stretched on, you could catch an emerging indie band at the 9:30 Club nearly every night; some went on to superstardom. A few of the bands that took to the original club’s stage before they really hit it big: R.E.M., Nirvana (who, in 1991, wrote their 14-song set list on a paper plate before the show), Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smashing Pumpkins and Jane’s Addiction. The Big Move Seth Hurwitz and Rich Heinecke began booking shows for the 9:30 Club in 1981, and bought the establishment in 1986. The club’s notoriety only grew, and eventually, the cozy and condensed confines of 930 F Street NW could no longer hold the spectacle inside. As new venues like The Black Cat started opening, Hurwitz and Heinecke felt it was time to re-invent the club. On Jan. 5, 1996, the new 9:30 Club opened with a raucous show that fittingly featured the Smashing Pumpkins, who were in the midst of massive MTV stardom at the time. The legal capacity of the original venue was 199; the current iteration of 9:30 holds up to 1,200 people. Since then, the club has continued to welcome emerging artists from all over the world, as well as established acts. Fun fact #3: Bob Dylan, Radiohead, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters are some of the big names that have performed surprise shows at the second incarnation of the 9:30 Club. The original 9:30 Club helped revolutionize the DC music scene, establishing a new touchstone in the city’s storied musical history, which dates all the way back to the era of “Black Broadway.” With the establishment of the current 9:30 Club on V Street, the venue again ushered in a new era, leading to the surrounding area’s wealth of culture and art that has the U Street and Shaw neighborhoods thriving today. Time to Rock Now that you know about 9:30 Club’s history, check out Live at 9:30 to dig even deeper into this DC gem and the outstanding performances that it holds. And, for darn sake, go to a concert, because no article or video can fully replicate the experience of seeing a show at one of America’s greatest venues.
Meeting & Convention Housing Services in Washington, DC
Destination DC has provided housing services for conventions and meetings in Washington, DC for more than twenty years. Destination DC serves as a liaison between the hotel and your staff, working efficiently within your budget to maximize your room block and manage, track and report your pickup. Our continued success has been built on the seamless relationship with the hotel community. Work with Destination DC to build your package using CVENT Passkey, one of the most recognized names in the housing industry. Benefits include: A custom booking website that allows attendees to make reservations 24/7 Assistance securing additional hotels if you sell out your room block or are past the cut-off date The ability to run comprehensive reports at any time, including cut-off and sold-out activity data A dedicated housing manager who can provide on-site assistance Room block strategies Revenue opportunities Audit and marketing services For more information, please contact Kristen Jacob, housing manager, 202-789-7094, Kristen.Jacob@destinationdc.com.