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MCVB Member of the Month

Restaurant Month

What the MCVB is Doing

Did You Know?

Travel Trends

In Memory of Elissa Giambastiani

About Us Events this month not to

be missed! Visit our Event Calendar often to stay

up to date on fun daytime activitiesand our eclectic nightlife!

Tuesday, January 8th at theBay Model in Sausalito, theTiburon Film Society presentstheir monthly documentaryopen to the publicTuesday, January 8th at theSweetwater Music Hall in MillValley is a Beat Poetry Readingin Tribute to Jack Kerouac and"On The Road" Friday, January 11th at theMarin Center is Drumline! Weekend of January 25th isthe 24th Annual Gem Fair atthe Marin Center's ExhibitHallSunday, January 27th is the8th Annual Point ReyesNational Seashore MushroomFestival

 How well do you know

Member of the MonthJanuary 2013

 

Vintage Oaks at Novato showcases over 50 stores andrestaurants for your shopping pleasure, all in onelocation. Vintage Oaks is home to DSW, Target,

Sephora, Macy's Furniture, NH2 Salon, and many otherstores that you can't find anywhere else in Marin

County! Visit the newly opened Hopmonk Tavern whichwill include an outdoor beer garden. The indoor stagewill host live music, comedians and open mic nights,

performing for up to 225 customers.

Vintage Oaks at Novato is conveniently located off ofHighway 101 in Novato, California just 30 miles

southwest of Napa and 20 miles north of the GoldenGate Bridge in Marin County. 

Vintage Oaks at Novato  has been a member of theMCVB since June of 2008

Marin and theArchitecture?

Where is this building located? Let usknow what you know, because we

love hearing from you. Hint: this is a Marin Community city

hall.

 

 

 

Don't Miss Out onRestaurant Month in January 2013

 Marin County Restaurant Month ispart of California RestaurantMonth, designated by VisitCalifornia. Over 30 destinationsacross California are hostingrestaurant weeks and other value-driven food programming this

January. According to Caroline Beteta, Visit California president &CEO, “California is the top U.S. destination for culinary travel– we have long been a leader in fresh produce and seafood,farm to fork dining, winemaking and more that any travelerwill find a one-of-a-kind culinary experience here to suit anytaste. California Restaurant Month gives visitors a chance toexperience it all with special offers they won’t see at any othertime of the year.”Last year travelers in California spent $23.1 billion on foodand beverages, more than for any other spending segmentand constituting 26 percent of all visitor spending last year(Source: Dean Runyan Associates), Beteta said. For more information about California Restaurant Month,visit www.visitcalifornia.com.For more information and a list of all participating MarinRestaurants, please visit our website at www.visitMarin.org

What the  Marin Convention & Visitors Bureau is DoingNew Sweepstake Winners:   The second winner to claim their prize was MaryPettifor d from Minnesota who was the recent Savor & ShopMarin sweepstakewinner.

The package included a two night stay at Best Western Plus ~ Corte Madera Inn,with a $350 gift card for shopping at The Village Corte Madera, gift cards for BocaPizzeria, The Melting Pot, and Il Fornaio as well, as ferry tickets to San Franciscoand a $300 gift card for shopping and lunch at the Ferry Building Marketplace.

Earlier this year Meghan Tucker of Belmont, California, wasthe first to claim the Relax on Tomales Bay package.

The package included a two night stay at Nick's Cove and Cottages in Marshall, witha complimentary in-room massage and a cheese basket from Cowgirl Creamery atTomales Bay Foods, as well as $500 worth of farm-to-fork cuisine at Nick's CoveRestaurant. Meghan's mother also enjoyed accompanied her and enjoyed all theamenities.

The second winner of last Spring's Sweepstake was Margo Wynne of FoothillRanch, California, who won our other Savor & Shop package.

Margo and family enjoyed two nights at the Extended Stay Deluxe in SanRafael, a $250 gift card for shopping at The Village Corte Madera and a $250shopping package at Town Center Corte Madera, along with $350 worth ofdining gift cards at Cheesecake Factory, The Melting Pot, California PizzaKitchen, and Il Davide. Another plus was a complimentary Golden Gate BayCruise from the Red and White Fleet.

Marin CVB Hosts Fall 2012 Meeting Planners FAM WeekendOn the weekend of November 9th the Marin CVB played host for a group of corporate, special event,government, and independent meeting planners. Each planner was treated to a two-night stay in a MarinCounty hotel with planned activities and receptions.The group really enjoyed their visit to Marin County and all were very impressed with the wonderfulactivities, event venues and lodging options here in our county. A very special thank you to all of our sponsors who participated in the Marin County FAM; California FilmInstitute, Cowgirl Creamery, Holiday Inn Express - Mill Valley, Il Davide Restaurant, the Left BankBrasserie, Marin Airporter Charters, Marin Bocce Federation, Nick's Cove Restaurant, Novato Oaks Inn -Best Western Plus, Terrapin Crossroads, Trek Winery and West Marin Food & Farm Tours.

Marin CVB attends the California Society of Association Executives Seasonal SpectacularEducation, Luncheon and Tradeshow

In December the MCVB once again attended the CalSAE SeasonalSpectacular in Sacramento. Once a year, more than 1,000 associationprofessionals and industry suppliers come together for CalSAE'sSeasonal Spectacular. This is the largest association industrytradeshow on the West Coast. We want to extend a big thank you tothe hoteliers who attended the show and participated at our tradeshowbooth: Kris Hillard from the Inn Marin in Novato, Lisa Giffin from theWater's Edge in Tiburon and Mill Valley Inn, Raejean Smith fromEmbassy Suites in San Rafael Shannon Harrison from the SheratonFour Points in San Rafael, Shantel Villarroel from the Lodge at

Tiburon, and Dena Grunt and Kathryn Marando from Nick's Cove and Cottages in Marshall.

Pictured from left to right; Kris Hillard, Raejean Smith, Shannon Harrison, Lisa Giffin, Dena Grunt,Kathryn Marando and Shantel Villarroel

Welcome Additions to the Marin Convention & Visitors Bureau Staff Since joining the Marin Convention and Visitors Bureau in May of 2012, JudeVasconcellos has been the person visitors first see in our Olema, West Marinoffice.

Jude grew up mostly in Corte Madera and Larkspur, and over the years hasregularly visited and lived in the West Marin area. She now resides full-time inInverness on the West side of Tomales Bay, and in her spare time works as anartist, sculptor, printmaker and maker of books from recycled materials. Jude says, "This place where I am surrounded by the beauty of the natural worldis a constant inspiration. It takes me only 15 minutes to get to the West MarinVisitors Center in Olema where I get to meet visitors from all over the bay area,the US and the world, and share my enthusiasm for all the great places there areto explore here."

Welcome Shannon Bohlke, our new Office Assistant. Born in San Francisco and raised in Novato, she iscurrently a senior at San Marin High School. Shannon loves to take road trips around California, and sinceshe has lived in Marin County her whole life, she considers herself an expert on fun things to do here.

She works at the Marin Convention and Visitor's Bureau every day after school listing events on the

visitMarin website, organizing visitor brochures, and helps with specialprojects. She says, "It is a great experience for me to learn this trade. I willhave a lot of office and visitor promotion experience now. I really enjoyworking at the Visitor Center. I can bring my dog to work with me too, whichis awesome! It is truly the best opportunity any seventeen year old can askfor."  

Did You Know?Marin has among fewest solo drivers who commute to work in Bay Area.The percentage of solo drivers in Marin who commute to work is among the lowest in the Bay Area, onlybehind transit-heavy San Francisco, according to U.S. Census data.

The data also suggest Marin has the highest percentage of workers in the Bay Area who walk or bike to work, or simply work from home. The data show that 65.2 percentof Marin workers drive alone, second only to San Francisco, whichsees 37.6 percent of its workforce go solo in a car, according tofigures from the census' 2011 American Community Survey, whichis based on questionnaires given to workers age 16 and older.Alameda County is a close third behind Marin with 65.4 percent ofits workers driving solo. Solano County has the highest percentageat 76.7 percent, almost even with Santa Clara County at 76.6 percent.

Marin commuters have also taken to ferry service out of Larkspur. The service has topped the 2 millionridership mark for the second year in a row, said Mary Currie, Golden Gate Ferry spokeswoman."The ferries are running at capacity out of Larkspur," Currie said. "The ferry allows people to use theirtime more efficiently because they can work on the boats."

The same census survey shows 8.4 percent of workers in Marincarpool, and another 8.3 percent take public transit. Solano Countyhas the highest percentage of carpoolers at 13.2 percent and SanFrancisco the lowest at 7.3 percent. Napa County has the lowestpercentage of workers who take public transit at 1.1 percent, withSan Francisco the highest at 31.5 percent.

"The Bay Area average for bike commuters is about 10 percent and it is thought to be higher in Marin,"Steinhauser said, indicating bike commuters likely make up most of that 19 percent. "The county and theMarin County Bicycle Coalition have done a lot of work to promote biking."

by Mark Prado ­ Marin Independent Journal

Travel  TrendsThe High­Tech Effect: Hotels using technology in new ways are driving customer loyalty

The hotel industry has never been known to be tech leaders, but more and moreexecutives are trying to meet than exceed customer tech demands. They realizetechnology is quickly becoming the point of entry to appeal to guests. But fortunatelysome hotels are taking the technological leap even further by offering programs andservices enabled by technology they hope will differentiate their hotels form thecompetition.

Take the Chancellor Hotel on Union Square in San Francisco, for example. Their team developed its ownapp two years ago enabling guests to stay connected with the hotel before, during, and after their visit. "The app gives guests that freedom to calculate their stays," says Nathaniel Ramos, director of sales andmarketing at the Chancellor, a 137-room boutique property. "Business travelers' schedules are verysporadic, and they can request an early check in before they arrive if they have to go to a meeting rightaway. We make it as easy as possible for them. They can call and request a late checkout. We'restreamlining checking in and checking out so guests can get in and out with the least possible speedbumps."Independent hotels, hotel groups, and a variety of brands have identified that they need to anticipateguests' preferences in the technology area just as they do for otherservices. Technology today means Wi-Fi enabled guest rooms aswell as plenty of bandwidth so guests can download videos, socialmedia and music as well as access e-mail and attachments. And theproblem is compounded because these days multiple guests per roomare looking to stay connected. Starwood's Chief Brand Officer Phil McAveety says understandingthe way people work today plays a role in creating public space."People want to be alone together," he says. "We had to rethink ourpublic space, and create the Link at Sheraton. It's our take on theinternet café."Three and a half to four years ago, Starwood rolled out the Link at Sheraton based on research about whatguests want. "Fifty percent of all guests spend time at the Link, more than at the gym or in the restaurant. People are working on weekends, working on the beaches," he says. People want to work in public spaces."So you have to have Wi-Fi in public spaces. Look around you. This is how people are working. Work,charge, connect. Creating the access ports. You've got to do that."Aloft hotels, another Starwood Brand, announced in September that it has added software called ICE,Interactive Consumer Experience, tailored for hotel apps, in some hotel lobbies, and plans to roll it out inthe entire Aloft group. "It's an iPad mounted on a stand attached to the table or desk" in the lobby," saysPhil Schwartz, chief marketing officer of the Intelity Corporation, which created ICE. Aloft Tallahassee Downtown, for example, provides guests with digital information about the hotel andthe surrounding area. It allows them to look up flight information and print boarding passes, and toarrange for taxi and other services such as maps, directions, and local attractions, restaurants, clubs, andmuseums.

Hotels are making technology available to guests in a different form. As Wi-Ficontinues to be one of the key tech items travelers want, some hotels are offering it as aperk. One Fine Stay gives each guest an iPhone for the duration of their stay to make localcalls. In addition, the phone is pre-loaded with One Fine Stay's app that givesinformation about exploring the surrounding area. The app also can be used as a hotelphone so that guests can call housekeeping or other services with the touch of a button.

by Harriet Edleson, Author, Hotel Interactive Editorial Division

In Memory of Elissa  GiambastianiFormer San Rafael Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Elissa Giambastiani, a tireless advocate forlocal businesses and her community, died December 16th at her San Rafael home from breast cancer thatmetastasized. She was 73. As chamber president, Mrs. Giambastiani developed and implemented theoverall program for an organization with over 950 members. She also took the lead in tracking andadvocating the business viewpoint on legislation, including an instrumental role in the formation of theAlliance of North Bay Chambers.She retired from the chamber in 2005, yet continued her passion for development and tourism in MarinCounty. Mrs. Giambastiani was one of the original founders of the Marin Convention & VisitorsBureau and served on its Board of Directors for numerous years. The family has planned a Mass and Celebration of Life on Saturday, January 26, 2013. To attend, pleasersvp to elissamemorial@gmail.com

The Marin Convention & Visitors BureauJanuary 2013 Newsletter

 Many thanks to all our members and partners who have been supportive of our continued presence inMarin County. May the New Year bring us more wonderful opportunities to work together!

Listen to our weekly podcasts at Marin PodcastEvery issue of our newsletter is posted on our website at www.visitMarin.org About Us:The Marin Convention & Visitors Bureau (MCVB) is a private 501-c6 organization funded by a BusinessImprovement District (BID). The MCVB represents eight Marin communities: Corte Madera, Fairfax, Larkspur,Mill Valley, Novato, San Anselmo, San Rafael, and the West Marin Visitors Bureau. We promote Marin Countyas an overnight destination through marketing programs, collateral materials, trade missions, and partnershipwith other industry-related organizations. Our mission is to develop a sustainable visitor base to Marin County,enhance the local economies, and protect the natural resources through responsible promotion.

Marin Convention & Visitors Bureau ¦ 1 Mitchell Blvd., Ste B San Rafael, CA 94903 ¦ www.visitmarin.org

This email was sent to: deborah@visitmarin.org

This email was sent by: Marin Convention & Visitors Bureau1 Mitchell Blvd Suite B San Rafael, California 94903 United States

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