INTRODUCTION
As a marketing committee, our mission is to develop a detailed marketing action plan in order to promote and gain maximum exposure for the “Run With It” conference. Our primary goal is to attract Victoria’s local businesses and students to attend the conference.

Our key objectives are summarized as follows:

(1) To attract 200 guests to attend the conference by March 5, 2005,
(2) To promote our conference to both local businesses and students on how they can benefit from the 2010 Olympic games, and
(3) To maximize our learning experience as a marketing team, including team-working skills and problem solving skills.

Our core marketing strategies rely heavily on the use of Internet. We have built a database based on seven business segments, which includes Hotels, Bed & Breakfasts, Restaurants, Attractions, and BCYHA, Transportations and Local Tours. Such database includes 200+ potential business attendees with their contact information, in which invitation letters are sent through e-mails. An example of this invitation letter can be found in Exhibit 1

Furthermore, we also took maximum advantage of Tourism Victoria, where we are able to post our event on their bi-weekly newsletter. There are approximately 900 hospitality-related business subscribers, in which again, will allow us to expand exposure for our conference.

Creating a more personal and direct connection with students is an effective way to promote the conference. The marketing committee has developed three approaches to promote the conference to students as follows: (1) sending invitation letters to BCom students via e-mail(see exhibit 2), (2) placing eye-catching posters on bulletin boards on campus, and (3) making in-class announcements to BCom students. We will emphasize the importance of networking with industry leaders and the job opportunities create from the 2010 Olympic Games.