August Columbia, South Carolina

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1 2015 MCASC-NCMA-VMA Regional Meeting Dear Motorcoach Friends, Welcome to South Carolina s Capital City and Lake Murray Country. We hope you enjoy our destination as you participate in the 2015 MCASC-NCMA-VMA Regional Conference. It will not be long before your arrival, and our staff is busy preparing far in advance for this exciting event and your visit. Our region, offering the finest in nature, takes you from a metropolitan city to the Jewel of South Carolina... Lake Murray. Online Registration Available NOW! We are commited to assisting in making this the best conference ever. We have many exciting tours for you to experience during your visit (see page 4). The region s culture, cuisine, music, attractions and more will be showcased so you can see and experience all that the Columbia/ Lake Murray area offers to visitors throughout the year. South Carolina is Just Right for your conference! Sincerely, Miriam S. Atria President/CEO August Columbia, South Carolina

2 Hotel Reservations DoubleTree by Hilton 2100 Bush River Rd., Columbia, SC Room Rate: $119 Request: Supplier Block Motorcoach Association of SC, NC & VA Reservation deadline: July 26 Call to make reservations. Overflow Hotel: Embassy Suites, Columbia-Greystone 200 Stoneridge Dr., Columbia SC Call or EMBASSY Room Rate: $126 Reservation deadline: July 30 Getting There! The DoubleTree by Hilton provides airport shuttle service. Call the front desk at ; expect to wait about 20 minutes for shuttle arrival. Or, call in advance and provide flight information so the hotel can track it. The airport has a courtesy phone in the baggage claim area as well that dials directly to the DoubleTree s front desk. A DoubleTree sign is mounted over the phone. Driving From Atlanta: Take I-20 East toward Florence. Take Exit 63 (Bush River Road). Make a right at the light. Our hotel is located on the left. Driving From Richmond and Charlotte Take I-85 to I-77. Take SC-277, Exit 18 toward Columbia I-20W/Augusta. Merge onto I-20W toward Augusta. Take Exit 63 (Bush River Road). Make a right at the light. The hotel is located on the right. Driving From Spartanburg: Take I-26 East toward Charleston. Take Exit 108 (Bush River Road). Turn right at the light. Proceed 1.5 miles. Our hotel is located on the right. Driving From Charleston: Take I-26 West, toward Spartanburg. Take Exit 108 (Bush River Road). Make a left at the light. Our hotel is located 1.5 miles on the right. Ride- Along: You can also get there by riding the coach! Two coaches for ride-along passengers will originate in Virginia, one towards the western side and one from Richmond. Save travel funds and have a great time with other members during the journey! You can sleep, read, play games, catch up on s, and eat! There will be comfort stops along the way. If interested in this savings and convenience, check the appropriate box on the registration form. 2

3 Tentative Schedule of Events Wednesday, August 19 Note: NCMA Board of Directors will meet via conference call the week prior to the meeting dates. 1:00-2:30 MCASC Board of Directors 2:45-4:00 Operator Session 4:15-5:45 VMA Board of Directors Meeting 6:15 Operators Get to Know You Dinner Featuring ABA and UMA Town Meeting Conversation: Industry Update Motorcoach Jeopardy Game Best Practices Round Table Discussion Thursday, August 20 8:00-5:30 Registration 8:00-10:45 Coach Sales Market Place and Breakfast 11:00-5:15 Operator Education (See page 6) 3:30-5:30 Rising Star New Member/First Timer Orientation and Meet the Operators Round Table Discussion 7:00 Early Bird Dinner Event at Riverbanks Zoo (Coach boarding at 6:30) 9:00-12:00 Hospitality sponsored by Meet AC! (See information below) Friday, August 21 Casual dress day because of tours after market place. 7:30 Golf Tournament at Timberlake Country Club 8:00-5:00 Registration 7:00-8:30 Networking Breakfast 9:00-11:30 Market Place Session I (Scheduled Appointments) 12:00-5:00 Tours (Coach boarding at 11:45. Lunch is included.) 5:30-6:15 MCASC Business Session 5:30-6:15 NCMA Business Session 5:30-6:15 VMA Business Session 5:30-6:15 VMA Associate Business Session (Election) 6:45 Board Coach for Ice Breaker 7:30 Ice Breaker Dinner Event at SC State Museum 10:00-12:00 Hospitality sponsored by Duplin County Tourism Saturday, August 22 8:30-5:00 Registration 8:00-9:00 Breakfast 9:30-11:30 Market Place Session II (Scheduled Appointments) 12:30-2:00 Luncheon and Partial Awards Presentation at River Banks Zoo Botanical Gardens 2:30-4:00 Market Place Session III (Open Session) Blue Dot 4:15-5:45 Market Place Session IV (Open Session) Red Dot 6:15 Coach Boarding 6:30-9:30 Reception and Awards Dinner at Embassy Suites Hotel Entertainment: The Grand Majestic Dinner Theater Sunday, August 23 8:00-8:45 Breakfast 9:00-10:00 Devotion Session 10:15-11:15 Joint Board of Directors Meeting Join the Atlantic City Team for our sponsored Hospitality Night, Thursday August 20, 2015 from 9PM-12AM. Our destination is known for throwing the ultimate party, having fun, awesome entertainment and of course fabulous prizes, you won t want to miss it! Sponsored by Meet AC!, Resorts Casino, Tropicana, Bally s, Claridge Hotel & Steel Pier. 3

4 Tours Tour 2 Historic Columbia Tour including two historic homes in Columbia and a tour of the Newberry Opera House and Carter & Homes Orchid Farm the world s largest catalog orchid producing farm. Tour 1 SC State House/Vista Shopping In March 2001 the dedication of an African-American History Monument took place on the grounds. Senator D. Jackson called it, a reflection of what can be done when all citizens work together in unity. See the granite and bronze monument standing two floors high and 25 feet wide while at the renovated SC State House for a guided tour. Experience retail therapy with a stop in the Vista and The One Eared Cow Glass Shop. Tour 3 Congaree National Park Experience the only national park in South Carolina with a canoeing and kayaking tour. Tour 4 Columbia Culture In the summer of 2015, the Columbia Museum of Art will present From Marilyn to Mao: Andy Warhol s Famous Faces, a thematically-focused look at the artist s influential screen prints. Andy Warhol is central to the pop art movement and one of the best- known 20th-century American artists. 4

5 Online Registration Registration is available online! Visit one of the links below and click on Regional Meeting Registration at the top of the page. Be sure to read all of the meeting information before registering. MCASC: NCMA: VMA: An invoice will be sent once your registration form is received. Payment is due by June 30. Registration Confirmation Your registration confirmation will be ed to you about three weeks in advance of the regional meeting. Please review the confirmation carefully to make sure that your commitments are correct. If you signed up for a tour and find that your plans have changed, be sure to notify association staff as quickly as possible. Guaranteed numbers are given to host sponsors beginning about one week in advance of the regional meeting. The operator registration list will be published in electronic form unless the association office has been notified to send it by mail. Scheduled Appointments Market Place on Friday and Saturday morning will be on a scheduled appointment basis, while the clean-up Market Place on Saturday afternoon will be open floor. Appointments are assigned on a first-come first-served basis. Complete and return your registration materials as soon as possible. Specific appointment schedules will be ed to members approximately one week prior to the Regional Meeting. Insofar as possible, members will be able to choose a limited number of appointments. Keep in mind that there will likely be about 275 Associates who will likely want to have appointments with some of the same operators. It is impossible to give everyone a scheduled appointment with every operator requested so use the open floor session to see the operators not scheduled. Associates, be sure to list your preferences on the registration form. The operators will be located alphabetically on the market place floor. They will also have a number. Prior to market place, you will want to review the list of operators in the printed program and write in the booth numbers so that you are prepared as well as can be expected to find the operators with whom you have a scheduled appointment. The market place layout will be ed to registered members prior to the meeting. 5

6 Meeting Information Meeting Information Market Place The coach sales market place is scheduled Thursday morning and is a part of the full day of operator education, including a maintenance track featuring the coach electronic options covering lane departure, stability control/esp, SmarTire, general ABS, and adaptive cruise braking. Brad Aller, National Account Manager for Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems will conduct this session. Other sessions include a liability clinic, electronic logging, driver recruitment/training, and yard cost. There are four market place sessions for operators and associates. Associates, don t underestimate the value of visiting all operators. Charter operators will share your material with their charter customers. Many times their charter customers ask advice for their itinerary. See additional information about scheduled appointments on page 5. Operators, please plan to bring 300 business cards to share with associates in market place and at other meeting events. The Grand Majestic Theater is sponsoring the 3-ring binders for market place. Associates, please bring your material 3-hole punched or protected by a 3-hole punched acetate folder. Plan to deliver your material to the operators during your appointment. Display Booths MCASC-NCMA-VMA s regional meeting and market place will offer booth space for those associates who wish to bring a display. The displays will be placed convenient to the market place and other meeting events. Depending on available space, there may be as many as 15 display booths sold at $200 each. Please select the display booth option on the registration form. Display booths present an excellent opportunity for a prize drawing to promote your product as well. You will be responsible for the drawing and delivery of your prize. If you have questions, please contact Julia at the MCASC-NCMA-VMA office, or mmmjulia@embarqmail.com. New Member Orientation Veteran Members, including operators and associates, are welcomed in the new member orientation session. Your expertise in the group market over years of experience is priceless when shared with new members or first time attendees. If you are a new member or this is your first time to attend the regional meeting, come join us to learn, not only information about Market Place and the associations in general, but maybe pick up a tidbit of information that might help you. As a new member or a first timer, learn to network effectively with operators, gain their confidence and trust, and gain more motorcoach group business. You may submit any questions you have in advance by calling Linda at or at info@scmotorcoach.org. Audience participation is encouraged and welcomed. Operators will visit assigned tables for a get to know discussion so associates may learn more about them prior to market place. Dress Code Pack for comfort keeping in mind that while you re dressing for comfort, you re a professional. Dress code for all meeting events will be casual except for market place, which is a place of business. Logo wear is acceptable. Casual dress is acceptable for Friday market place because tours are scheduled following market place. If you have questions or concerns, please call the MCASC-NCMA-VMA office. The staff welcome the opportunity to be of service. If you have special needs, please alert staff prior to the regional meeting. 6

7 Awards MARKET PLACE OPERATOR OF THE YEAR (NCMA and VMA) will be presented to an Operator selected by the Associate membership recognizing the efforts made to be attentive and interested in information presented during market place appointments. MARKET PLACE ASSOCIATE OF THE YEAR (NCMA and VMA) will be presented to an Associate selected by the Operator to reward an Associate who has gone beyond the call of duty to help satisfy customers at the Associate s venue. MARKET PLACE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (NCMA) will be presented to a new member selected by the Operator membership who was most impressive in this year s market place in selling to the Operators. THE CHRIS HARROWER ROOKIE OF THE YEAR (VMA) will be presented in memory of Chris Harrower, a long time member of VMA. THE ASSOCIATES CHOICE AWARD (MCASC) will be presented to an Operator selected by the Associate membership recognizing efforts to support Associates and the group tour industry of South Carolina. THE OPERATORS CHOICE AWARD (MCASC) will be presented to an Associate selected by the Operator membership recognizing efforts to support Operators and the group tour industry of South Carolina. MCASC LEGACY AWARD will recognize an individual who has made a lasting impact on the motorcoach and/ or the group tour industry in South Carolina, one who has left a legacy or is currently a testament to ideals that shape the industry. These awards will be presented Saturday, August 22, at the Awards Dinner. Gifts and Doorprizes Gifts for the registration bags, group leader bags, or specifically for operators are a good way to get your name in front of the operators and others. It is a good way to get special recognition in printed materials for the regional meeting and afterwards. If you enjoy getting gifts in your registration bag, consider giving a gift. It is fun and it is a nice way to say welcome to the Regional Meeting. Because of the generosity of members in the past, door prizes have become so numerous that it takes a long time to distribute them despite the varied ways that staff has tried to make it a smooth, efficient distribution. Therefore, door prizes will be accepted on a limited basis. Only the first 15 door prizes registered will be accepted for distribution during education sessions. The best thing to do is complete the sponsor form which has been ed to all members. Fax or the form to the association office. If you have questions or want to check the status of registered door prizes, please call Cindy at or at cindy_p@embarqmail.com. Golf Come join fellow golfers from MCASC, NCMA, and VMA at the Timberlake Country Club. The golf fee is $70 per participant. Transportation will be provided. 7

8 Thank You Sponsors! MCASC-NCMA-VMA are grateful for the support of their Associate members. To date, these members are contributing financial support for meal events, meeting programs, notepads, pocket schedules, badges, registration bags, registration gifts, operator gifts, and door prizes. It is not too late to participate in the meeting as a sponsor. Call Cindy at or fax the sponsor form to The support of Associate Members is essential to implement a meeting that is of the quality to which members have become accustomed. Financial support for events helps keep registration fees at a minimum for all attendees. Sponsorships also give Associates an opportunity to be recognized and appreciated in a special way. We are happy to promote the sponsors by pre-meeting newsletter recognition, signage, program highlights, and post-meeting newsletter recognition. Every effort is made to let the sponsors know how much the members and staff appreciate this meeting support. A special thank you is extended to the following sponsors of the Regional Meeting to date: ABC Companies American Bus Association Burlington/ Alamance County CVB Capital City/Lake Murray Country RTB and its partners Cardinal Coach CH Bus Sales/ TEMSA Christian Tours/Burke International Tours Cross Country Tours-Trailways Duplin County Tourism Florence Convention and Visitors Bureau George Washington s Mount Vernon Graceland Division, Elvis Presley Enterprises Holiday Companies Lumberjack Feud Dinner & Show LW Transportation Meet AC! Motor Coach Industries Prevost Richards Bus Lines Ripley s Aquarium of the Smokies Sardo Bus & Coach Upholstery Sunway Charters The Grand Majestic Dinner Theater The Inn on the River United Motorcoach Association Venture Tours Visit Tallahassee Young Transportation & Tours Raffle The 50/50 Raffle has become a staple for the Regional Meeting! It is exciting when the tickets are drawn. Last year s big winner was John Laskowski with Receptively Yours in Ocoee, Florida. Who will be the big winner this year? The charity that will receive 50% of the raffle funds is Carol s Hope for Childhood Cancer, Inc. in Spartanburg, SC. This organization funds expenses for parents to be with their children while they undergo treatment for cancer including travel, lodging, and meals. 8