Google guru keynote speaker at Nevada tourism conference

Google strategist Ryan Denny will reveal 10 quick ways to succeed in online advertising when he addresses the Nevada Commission on Tourism’s 20th annual Rural Roundup conference in Winnemucca March 24-26.

Denny, a travel industry advertising expert for the online search engine giant Google, is keynote speaker March 25 at the three-day conference in the Winnemucca Convention Center. He will provide quick and easy ideas for creating and measuring successful, big-impact online advertising.

“Online advertising strategies are a hot topic for the tourism industry, and rural Nevada communities that don’t have the luxury of an online marketing department will benefit from sessions on how best to utilize 21st century technology to achieve their goals,” said Brian Krolicki, Nevada lieutenant governor and NCOT chair, in a press release.

Delegates will learn how to: evaluate their websites, fill out a winning application for an NCOT rural grant, build itineraries that promote local attractions, appeal to international visitors, make the most of social media, search engines and Web surfing, maximize a return on marketing dollars, develop a visitor profile and follow up leads for new business.

Concluding a daylong series of workshops, Roger Brooks, an internationally recognized expert on how communities can attract more visitors, will describe what works best for “The New Age of Rural Tourism.” Brooks, of Destination Development International, has analyzed and guided more than 800 communities, including many in rural Nevada.

NCOT will present the annual VolunTourism Awards for outstanding achievement in each of the six tourism “territories” at the annual Rural Roundup awards dinner March 25.