By 
November 26, 2018
Did you know Huntsville and Madison County plays host to over 1,100 meetings and conventions each year?
Better still, did you know there’s an agency tasked to assist with the planning and execution of these events; making group experiences here in Huntsville one they’ll feel compelled to share with friends, families and other planners around the world?
Did you also know that everything this agency does for meeting planners and visitors is absolutely free?
The agency I’m talking about is the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau (Huntsville CVB), and they are here to support tourism and meetings in Huntsville, to the tune of $1.3 billion, last year alone.
Sure, the Huntsville CVB takes great pride in being involved with so many fantastic programs hosted in our area, but there’s something truly special and inspiring about homegrown initiatives.
One such example of a homegrown initiative is ThinkerCon.
If you haven’t heard of this event, ThinkerCon was a gathering of more than 100 of the world’s most noted online educational content creators. The event welcomed 1,000 public attendees to meet their internet favorites, participate in science experiments and listen in on intriguing panel discussions. The event was sponsored by YouTube and was held at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center on Saturday, November 17th.
The Huntsville CVB first became involved in ThinkerCon when this hugely successful enterprise was first a twinkle in the eye of local YouTube educational content creator, Destin Sandlin of Smarter Every Day.
As a first-time conference planner, Mr. Sandlin along with his Smarter Every Day team reached out for assistance in securing event venues, creating sponsorship opportunities, connecting with local catering, audiovisual and décor providers, setting up logistics, providing welcome signage and much more; information and services that the Huntsville CVB was happy to provide including total sponsorship/coordination of shuttling attendees and creators.
With an army of volunteers and overwhelming community support, ThinkerCon ultimately was able to showcase Huntsville to attendees from 39 U.S. states and 14 countries. Talk about wow factor!
The importance of hosting events like this cannot be overstated, not only was the event a huge win for tourism; it showcased Huntsville as a truly smart place for workforce recruitment and economic development.
So, if there’s a twinkle in your eye that needs a little encouragement, direction and support the Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau is here to help.
Visit them at huntsville.org or give them a call at (256) 551-2380.
