Vickie Clark is vice president of Administration & Regional Relations for the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, working closely with the president on the overall administration of the PACVB. She was appointed interim president twice.

She currently serves on the Dress for Success Board of Directors and on the Illinois Bureau of Tourism’s Convention & Visitors Bureau Effectiveness Study Advisory Committee. Past community involvement includes the Peoria Area Community Foundation board and the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce’s Government Task Force. She graduated from the Peoria Area Chamber of Commerce Community Leadership School and was among the 1997 Class of 40 Leaders Under Forty.

She lives in Princeville with her husband, Dan, and their two sons.

Talk about your background, schools attended, etc.

I have an associate’s degree from Illinois Central College and am in the process of completing a bachelor’s degree in management through the University of Illinois UIS program. I’ve achieved the International Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus (IACVB) Finance & Administration Certification and have attended various seminars and courses on management, supervision, employment law, time management, effective presentation skills, marketing, and media relations. I’ve also achieved credits toward the Professional Destination Management Degree through the International Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus.

I live in Princeville with my high school sweetheart. We’ve been married for almost 24 years, and we’ve enjoyed playing an active role with our sons, Jason (18) and Ryan (16). I enjoyed being a room mom when our boys were younger, being president of PTO, and a founding board member of the Princeville Education Foundation. Our home has been a gathering place for young people. Being involved with them has been a true blessing to us.

How have you juggled work and family though the years?

The key is to prioritize and balance—sometimes easier said than done. My priorities are God, family and friends, and community. Having a strong faith provides the foundation for life. Family and friends are such a key part of being who we are. A community focus helps us be part of something bigger than we are as individuals.

Working at the PACVB fulfills my need as an individual to set goals, achieve objectives, and grow as a person. It also feeds my community priority. During the years when our boys were younger, I was fortunate to work a flex-time position. I worked three to four days per week, which allowed me to be a more integral part of their lives. I also have a very supportive family. Our parents have been very involved. When I was interim president in 1993, our boys were seven and nine. I was able to focus on PACVB leadership because my family was there for me. In 1994, I chose to return to my flex-time position. While that may have meant putting my career on hold for a little while, I wouldn’t change it for the world. Those were precious years.

You’ve been with the PACVB for more than two decades. How did you become interested in tourism?

I started with the PACVB when I was 20 years old. At that time, I didn’t know a great deal about tourism. I interviewed because my guidance counselor thought it might be a good fit for me. After the interview, I wanted the job so badly I could taste it. What intrigued me was I could be part of an organization which played an integral role in showing people how to enjoy our community. The PACVB mission was exciting. That was interesting to a 20-year-old.

Through the years, as I’ve learned how important tourism is to the economic viability of our community, my concept has grown from “having fun” to include enjoying my participation in the economic pulse of our community. I’ve learned our industry has an energy on which I thrive, but I also know how important the business perspective is. We create revenue from visitor expenditures, which not only makes our restaurants, hotels, attractions, and events stronger, but it also makes our quality of life much greater. Knowing this gives greater meaning to what we do.

What is the mission of the PACVB and how has that changed over the years?

For many years our mission statement was “to promote and sell the attractions, retail businesses and meeting facilities in the Peoria area to the convention, group and tourism industry; thereby, contributing to the economic growth of the community and establishing the Peoria area as a destination location.” We’re undergoing a strategic planning process and are streamlining that mission. Ultimately, we market the area to increase visitor expenditures.

Convention and Visitors Bureaus have evolved over the years. Initially, we were considered “destination marketing organizations.” Our sole purpose was to market our community assets. The thought was that through marketing we would achieve more visitors. Now, while marketing is still an essential priority, we also realize we must be “destination management organizations” as well. Consumers expect more—from quality of product to greater service. They want it fast and they want it easy, but they’re also looking for value. We understand what visitors expect, and we work to educate our community businesses and municipalities so we can effectively pursue those visitors and ensure return visits.

Tell us about your position within the PACVB. What does your job involve? How does it contribute to the goals of the PACVB?

My current position is vice president of Administration & Regional Relations. I have internal and external responsibilities. I work closely with the president to achieve our goals, oversee personnel and financial matters, and serve as CFO/COO. We represent a six-county area (Bureau, Marshall, Peoria, Stark, Tazewell, and Woodford). I work with the communities in our service area to connect them with Illinois Bureau of Tourism staff, our PACVB staff, and programs to encourage tourism growth.

Two primary projects have been my focus this past year: the Illinois River Country regional marketing campaign and the Meetings are Valued in the Peoria Area (MVP) campaign. Both of these projects have accomplished our responsibility to be both a destination marketing and a destination management organization.

Through the Illinois River Country campaign, we consolidated with 27 other partners, including seven communities, to market to Chicago, Indianapolis, and St. Louis. We generated more than $328,000 in partner and state grant support to advertise in a market segment previously untapped by us. Individually, we could never have achieved the marketing appeal to these larger metropolitan areas. Collectively, we made a much more effective impact by building awareness in those markets through 1 million newspaper inserts in the Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post Dispatch, and the Indianapolis Star during April 2002, and then another 1 million newspaper inserts in the Tribune, Post Dispatch, Quad City Times, and other newspapers in Rockford, Champaign, and Springfield during August 2002. Our goal is twofold: build awareness about Illinois River Country and actually convert this awareness to visits to Illinois River Country. We’re currently working with Professor Daniel Ng and his Bradley University marketing students to research the effectiveness of the first-year campaign. Next year will be the second phase of a three- to five-year program.

The MVP program is an effort to increase convention and athletic events business to our communities and to involve our local citizens in achieving the group business. The MVP campaign has been a great way to educate the people of our communities on the importance of tourism, and it’s helped us expand our reach through their assistance. Each of us belongs to many organizations and may even attend multiple conventions and meetings each year. This project rewards people who connect us with their organization meeting planners so we can pursue a contract with them and ultimately convince them to bring their convention or athletic event to the Peoria area.

Building a consensus has been the greatest local accomplishment for these two campaigns. Our region is beginning to understand we can complete each other; we don’t have to compete.

You’ve been interim president of the PACVB twice. What did you learn from the experiences. Did those experiences change the way you approach your job as vice president?

The first time I was interim president was in 1993. While I was experienced with the internal operations of the PACVB, I had little experience in public speaking, governmental procedures, and media relations. My driving force was a determination that I simply wouldn’t fail. I was facing many situations new to me; it was both frightening and exhilarating. I also had a sense that many people in our community didn’t understand what we as the PACVB accomplished. I pulled the staff together and determined as a team we would accomplish bigger and better things than ever before. In preparation for our new president, we exceeded our goals, built a better relationship with media, and achieved a stronger internal team. It was an awakening experience for me. I’m forever grateful to the community leaders who believed in me and took the time to mentor. I realized many of the barriers we have in life are placed by ourselves. I began to thrive on the sensation of hurdling those barriers.

The second term as interim president was in 2000. I was much more prepared to succeed in that role. Yes, I would say those experiences changed my approach as vice president. Because I have held those positions, I’m more empathic to the leadership needs of the PACVB. When the PACVB faces a challenge, I think about the best way I can add to the success potential. I also have a much greater sense of what’s needed from a community perspective. Serving in that capacity helped me see the broader perspective and helped me relate to community and industry needs.

Talk about your involvement with Dress for Success. Why are you so dedicated to the program?

I’ve served on the Dress for Success board for the last three years. Dress for Success is a program affiliated with Friendship House of Christian Service. It provides quality professional clothing to women interviewing for a job. If the woman achieves the job, she can then return for an additional week’s worth of clothing. The program also has a second phase called Professional Women’s Group, in which members meet and are mentored by professionals. The reason the program is so important is best explained by a success story I like to pass along. A woman had an interview scheduled with a local hotel property. She came in to Dress for Success and was suited for her interview. This made such a transformation that she not only was hired, but she had interviewed for a housekeeping position and was hired for a front desk position—making $2 more per hour than she expected. We have taken “before” and “after” pictures of some of our clients. It’s truly amazing to see how their entire persona changes. Their confidence increases, and they can actually see themselves in a different light. That’s very rewarding.

You also are involved in a number of other community organizations. Why do you believe it’s important to support agencies such as the Community Foundation of Central Illinois and educational endeavors?

Basically, I believe we each have special gifts given to us. It’s important to share those talents with others. When a need is evident, it’s our responsibility to meet that need as best we can. The Community Foundation of Central Illinois supports so many worthwhile programs throughout our area; it was great to be a part of that organization. Their staff and board manage several grant funds, including various scholarship programs for companies. Serving on the distribution committee and education committee enabled me to see how generous our community is. It’s nice to see the support mechanisms in place that help fulfill needs. A lot of people’s lives have been touched because people have given of their time and resources.

Supporting educational endeavors provides knowledge. Through my experience with children in the Princeville School District, I’ve found a lot can be accomplished if the right education is provided. The Princeville Education Foundation provides grants to enhance education. Giving a creative learning environment helps teachers capture kids’ attention, and that’s so important. Children are our future; with education, the possibilities are endless.

Tell about your experiences serving on the Peoria Chamber of Commerce’s Government Task Force.

The task force was formed to determine ways various government entities and agencies could communicate and share ideas for growth and potential cost savings, including the reduction of duplicative efforts. While it’s understandable each community or agency would be interested in preserving their autonomy, I was pleased to see a genuine effort to discuss ways we might be able to grow our region by sharing areas which might cross boundaries. I was involved primarily because of our Illinois River Country campaign. Tourism is an area which can be cooperative because a visitor doesn’t see the city or county boundaries. They see our entire region as a site they’re visiting. Because we were able to create a consensus among 28 partners, both municipalities and businesses, the hope from the task force was this type of consensus could be shared in other areas as well.

I firmly believe we have a great community, meaning all communities and our region. So many accomplishments can be achieved if everyone works together. A win-win situation can always be reached if all parties are willing to come to the table and talk. Communicating our individual needs and discussing strategic growth for the region ultimately leads us in the right direction. If we work together, we succeed.

The PACVB has embarked on a new branding campaign for central Illinois. Is the campaign a success so far? What steps have you taken already, and what are your plans in the future for the campaign?

We realized we, as a PACVB, didn’t have enough marketing dollars to effectively make any impact in markets the size of Chicago, Indianapolis, and St. Louis. We met with other regional leaders and began to build a consensus. After many months of group sessions, through collective ideas and dollars, we developed the brand—Illinois River Country—and the position statement—So Many Ways to Play. The success of the campaign is twofold: we reached 1 million households two times during 2002, placing a total of 2 million newspaper inserts in Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Quad Cities, Champaign, Rockford, and Springfield; and we achieved a consensus-driven campaign. Collectively, 28 partners agreed to achieve more than we could ever have accomplished individually.

Our next step is to analyze the campaign benchmark year to determine its effectiveness. Our goals were to build awareness in the markets mentioned and to increase visits to Illinois River Country. Professor Daniel Ng’s Bradley University marketing students are assisting us with research on the initial year campaign. Professor Ng and representative students will join our advertising agency, Ross Creative+Strategy, and our partner task force while we explore next steps. We’ll make appropriate adjustments to the campaign content as needed. The concept of cooperative marketing, leveraged by the PACVB, will continue. The more partners we achieve, the greater the marketing campaign’s impact.

What strengths does central Illinois possess? How can these strengths be used to attract tourism and commerce to the area?

When visitors first enter our area, they exclaim, “I had no idea!” They’re thrilled with the friendliness, cleanliness, and ease of traveling throughout our region. Our current strengths include facilities such as the Peoria Civic Center, EastSide Center, and O’Brien Field. We have four market segments: conventions, athletic events, group tours, and individual/leisure travelers.

The convention market values our affordability and the team effort which pulls together great hotel bids for them. We provide many services at no cost to meeting planners. These can include housing reservation services, name badges, information hostesses, and coordination of activities.

The athletic event market is growing rapidly. We coordinate with facilities to ensure the best price and greatest package for planners.

The group tour and leisure travelers are interested in attractions and activities. They also need hotel room blocks and a coordination of itineraries while they’re here. They enjoy visiting our attractions, including the Par-A-Dice, Wildlife Prairie State Park, and the Festival of Lights. They also enjoy cultural and heritage traveling, including visits to Lakeview Museum, Eureka College, and the Dirksen Congressional Center.

Because we currently have limited “destination drivers”—attractions that would singly attract overnight visitors—we prepare tourism packages by combining a number of our assets. These affordable tourism packages can be purchased directly from our Web site, www.peoria.org. This translates our tourism product into options today’s customers require.

What areas do you believe central Illinois needs to develop to be competitive in the convention and tourism business? Are these areas currently being addressed?

We need more product. Three primary areas of need include family and cultural attractions, athletic venues, and expanded exhibit space for conventions.

Our riverfront is an attribute tourists enjoy. It’s a great asset, and the ambience is charming. When I envision our optimal development of river activities, I see a multitude of family activities with a transportation system carrying people from Peoria to Pekin to East Peoria to Chillicothe. The river ties these communities together; it doesn’t separate them. Visitors could come to Illinois River Country and enjoy ice skating, bicycling, paddleboating, canoeing, entertainment, family events—the list is endless. These are the types of developments that can come out of task forces like the Council of Mayors, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission, and the Civic Federation. These organizations are already working on a number of developments for regional growth. It takes communication and a willingness to step outside of our individual communities and think regionally. A great example of a regional attraction moving forward is the Regional Cultural Museum. Again, exciting things occur when people work together. This collaborative effort will bring us a tremendous tourism attraction, which will be a “destination driver” and bring an economic impact to our communities of between $7.5 million and $15 million annually.

EastSide Center has been a tremendous asset to our region. Last year, they hosted the National Softball Association tournament, which brought more than 60 teams. More importantly, we have the potential to bring the NSA World Tournament in 2006. This eight-day tournament brings 500 to 600 teams. The economic impact could be $11 million. Think about the impact the IHSA March Madness brings to the area; this would be as phenomenal. The key to hosting these types of revenue generators is to have the appropriate regulation size venues for them. We need an additional facility similar to EastSide Center to partner with that facility to fulfill all of the requirements for tournaments of this size. The Peoria Park District has discussed the possibility of developing a venue like this, and I strongly encourage its serious pursuit.

The recent research by C.H. Johnson Consulting firm, which conducted the master plan and feasibility study for the Peoria Civic Center, reflects the added economic value expanded Civic Center exhibit space would bring to our community. He also indicated the development of additional hotel room inventory adjacent to the Civic Center. These developments would open our eligibility to pursue another 320 regional and national convention groups. While we have grown in hotel rooms throughout the region—from 800,000 to 1.4 million rooms per year—that growth in room inventory has diluted occupancy from the convention hotels. A healthy environment for convention business requires premier full-service properties within walking distance of the Civic Center. When full-service convention hotels have higher occupancy levels, limited service properties have increased occupancy through overflow. By having the appropriate space to pursue larger convention groups, increased overnight room usage generates enough business to keep all of our hotel properties healthy.

All of these developments are important for our success as a convention and tourism destination; however, the critical need for their success is to provide appropriate marketing dollars to convey the attributes outside our community. The “If we build it, they will come” concept doesn’t bring visitors. We must market to visitors for them to understand what we have.

What does the future hold for Peoria area tourism?

Tourism is an economic mechanism that generates health to our region by utilizing visitor expenditures. The developments mentioned above will not only put us on the tourism map, they’ll provide a stronger ability for employee recruitment and a much greater quality of life for our residents.

Each overnight visitor to our community spends, conservatively, $130 per night. Approximately $67 of those expenditures are on hotels. That leaves more than $60 per person to be spent on shopping, restaurants, and activities. All of these developments, along with the appropriate funds to market these products, enhance our ability to bring visitors to the community. Those expenditures cycle to all of us as residents. It’s good for the community. TPW