Conference Roundup: AFP New Orleans

From opening plenary session, presented by Mark Romig, CEO of the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corp.

• “Social media is key to taking your marketing to the next level, especially for smaller organizations with limited budgets. Be sure you’re monitoring and listening to what’s being said about you, and react when necessary — but always be pushing out useful information to your followers. Social media is transforming the way we market.”
• “Refresh your marketing campaign every three or four years.” Even if it seems like your mission isn’t conducive to changing up your marketing, you can keep your campaigns fresh. “You’re not rebranding; you’re just trying to look at things a different way. Focus on research. Talk to your donors. See how they are receiving your messaging. Is there something they aren’t understanding about what you do? Research is where you should be.”
• “Segment by psychographics rather than demographics. Whether someone is 18 or 62, they want the same things from New Orleans … some want the music, others want the architecture, others want the food and so on.” For Romig’s organization at least, interests are more of a common denominator than age.

From the session “The Terrible Ts: Trash, Toilets & Tents,” presented by fundraising consultant Susan Mancuso: