AURORA, Illinois (February 20, 2007) – The Aurora Area Convention and Visitors Bureau (AACVB) went home carrying three Illinois Governor’s Awards from the 2007 Illinois Governor’s Conference on Tourism, which honored work from the 2006 calendar year.

The AACVB won the 2007 Illinois Governor’s Conference on Tourism coveted awards in the following categories: best Newsletter, best piece in Alternative Advertising for the Blues on the Fox poster; and best radio campaign in the Audio Visual category.

The radio entry described a series of AM radio ads highlighting a bevy of attractions and summer events aired in June 2006 over three consecutive weeks. Each spot targeted a specific consumer and showcased facets of the area. The edgy, irreverent 60-second spots caused quite a stir.

The result? A WBBM Ch2 6 o’clock news segment based on the first radio ad, a 122% increase in Web hits the first week and overall bed tax revenues for June-August increased 12% from the same period the preceding year.

The Partner E-newsletter entered is a monthly image-driven content-savvy communication tool geared for our hospitality partners, board members and elected officials. Our e-newsletter delivers tight, punchy copy in a fresh and unique way—always remembering to bring the information on home with a local focus, said AACVB Director of Public Relations Laurie DiBerardino.

The “Blues on the Fox” poster delivers an eye-popping piece of art as its own principal event collateral, resulting in a piece of art as vibrant and engaging as the event itself.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, this event is the largest tourism-related competition of its kind. This year drew a record-breaking 154 entries in the awards categories and over 600 tourism executives from all over the state of Illinois attended. The contest entries were not limited solely to convention and visitors bureaus, but also included entries from destinations, hotels, chambers, art councils and consortiums.

“These wins are a testament to the AACVB’s hard-working employees, our quality, creative work, and our commitment to visitor service,” said Sue Vos, executive director of the AACVB. “This is a real tribute from our peers.”

“What an honor to win with such heavy hitters in the same category,” said DiBerardino. DiBerardino wrote the award- inning radio copy and served as both writer and editor of the e-newsletter.

The AACVB acquired more total wins than any other convention and visitor bureau. AACVB’s tourism marketing is consistently recognized for its practices and has earned nearly 28 Illinois Governor’s Awards over the past few years.

ABOUT THE AACVB:

The Aurora Area Convention & Visitors Bureau serves as the tourism marketing and management organization for Aurora, Batavia, Hinckley, North Aurora, Montgomery, Plano, Sugar Grove and Yorkville. This not-for-profit organization provides numerous travel resources to visitors via the Web site at www.enjoyaurora.com and a toll-free number 1-800-477-4369