MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Memphis CVB president Kevin Kane extended the live rock band’s performance twice at the 2012 BankTravel Conference in Memphis, Tenn. Attendees went to Graceland, legendary home of Elvis Presley, for a house tour and live concert.
“I don’t think this group is ready to leave just yet,’ said Kane as the delegates cheered. “So I’ve asked Andy Childs and his band to play a while longer!”
Graceland helped showcase Memphis during the Feb. 7-9 conference, which more than 185 banks and almost 300 travel industry attended.
“Our good friends at the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau have been telling us to ‘bank on Memphis’ for more than a year now, so we did, and it worked,” said Joe Cappuzzello, BankTravel Conference president and CEO. “Memphis was a huge draw with our banks, and we had a couple dozen new banks join us this year, which tells me that the city did its job.”
Laura Schwartz, former director of events for the Clinton White House and current author and television commentator, led the opening seminar called, “Eat, Drink and Succeed.”
“Your job may be nine to five, but your career is 24/7,” she stated during her seminar. “Every person you meet deserves your undivided attention. It’s not about what they can do for you, it’s about what you can do for them.”
Schwartz also shared with the bankers how her own grandparents traveled for years with their hometown bank in Wisconsin.
The bankers themselves led the other seminar sessions at a panel discussion about marketing trends, breakout sessions and a banker-led seminar on one bank’s program for protecting older clients against financial fraud.
Bank travel directors and travel industry members met during three Meet the Banker sessions for individual six-minute appointments. Of the travel industry present, more than three-dozen tour operators attended the appointments.
During the second evening event, the 2013 host city, Virginia Beach, Va., highlighted some of the reasons to attend the next BankTravel Conference on Feb. 5-7. For more information on the 2013 BankTravel Conference, visit www.banktravel.com.
