Print

Tourism Industry & BACVA News

For Immediate Release: November 6, 2007

Media Contacts Only:
Sara Hisamoto
Baltimore Area Convention & Visitors Association
410-659-7071
shisamoto@baltimore.org

Cal Ripken, Bucky Lasek and Laura Lippman Among Celebrity Videos Added to VisitMyBaltimore.com
BACVA to Use Testimonials from Celebrities to Entice Tourists

(BALTIMORE, MD) - Local residents aren't the only ones "getting in on" the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association's new innovative video-based Web site, VisitMyBaltimore.com. Baseball legend and hall of famer Cal Ripken, proskateboarder Bucky Lasek, and fiction crime novelist Laura Lippman are the latest celebrities to share what they love best about Baltimore via videos on VisitMyBaltimore.com.

Cal Ripken's video features his baseball memories of Baltimore along with a few of his favorite places to take visitors and to eat. Laura Lippman takes viewers on a tour of her secret Baltimore, including her favorite places to write about in her Tess Monaghan books that are often set in Baltimore. Baltimore native Bucky Lasek weaves his passion for skateboarding into his Baltimore video. These celebrity videos will be posted on VisitMyBaltimore.com along with more than 140 other videos already submitted by Baltimoreans that showcase everything from arts and culture attractions to local Baltimore events like the Pigtown Festival and the Preakness Crab Derby.

"We enlisted the participation of local celebrities to help raise the profile of VisitMyBaltimore.com and awareness of the destination," said Tom Noonan, president and CEO, BACVA. "These celebrities have star power and are known by potential visitors living outside Baltimore."

You don't have to be a celebrity to become a movie star on VisitMyBaltimore.com. BACVA is also looking for residents to share their favorite spots in Baltimore, including those unknown treasures only locals know about but are just what visitors look for when they come to a city.

To encourage locals to submit videos and become virtual brand ambassadors for Baltimore, BACVA is including a number of incentives for individuals who submit videos to VisitMyBaltimore.com. Joan Chaskelson, from Reisterstown, Maryland, was the first video incentive winner, taking home a prize of $2,007 dollars for her Baltimore video. Mrs. Chaskelson's video features an original song she wrote about Baltimore that is set to a background of Baltimore images that illustrate the song's verses.

The second incentive, which is currently underway, is open to anyone who submits a video before December 14, 2007. The top 10 finalists will win restaurant gift certificates and attraction tickets, and the best video will take home a $2,000 shopping spree. Additional incentives will be added to the site throughout the year. To date, the Web site has received a total of 145 videos.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association (BACVA), a membership-based organization, is the official destination development and marketing leader for Greater Baltimore, responsible for generating incremental economic benefits to the community through the attraction of convention and leisure visits.