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November DCCVB Partner Newsletter
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In this season of thanks, we thank you all for being great partners and supporters of tourism. We are excited to share with you news of our newly redesigned website, a new attraction at a DeKalb County staple and more in this last partner newsletter of 2016.
Quick Links:
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DeKalbCountyCVB.com Gets a New Look!
Visit the all new
dekalbcountycvb.com! We launched the new look on October 27th, adding more pictures, a featured upcoming events section, new landing pages for event and tour planners, and more!
- Web traffic increases by 60%
- 29,960 visitors viewing 54,369 pages (July - Nov. 7, 2016)
- 11,620 visitors viewing 19,812 pages (July - Nov. 7, 2015)
- 80% of website traffic is new
- Top 5 pages:
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J
onamac Orchard Opens the Cider House
Jonamac Orchard partnered with Prairie State Winery and started producing wines and hard cider a couple years ago after a very bountiful harvest. The new addition to the Orchard's offerings was a big hit and has lead to the creation of Jonamac's newest attraction, the Cider House.
Co-owner and manager Jenna Spychal gives a little insight into why Jonamac Orchard wanted to build the multi functional tasting room structure.
"
[The] Cider House
has been an exciting new addition to our farm this season. We wanted a beautiful place to showcase our apple wines and hard ciders, but also the building has allowed us to improve and expand our sweet cider production facility. Guests can come in and sample our products, and also watch our cider be pressed and bottled giving them a unique 'behind the scenes' experience."
Jonamac Orchard also celebrated it's first Wine Nouveau event early this month. The 2016 Pomme Nouvea celebrated the release of the first wine made from the 2016 apple harvest.
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Winning 2015 Season Brings Championship to NIU
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For the first time in its Mid-American Conference history, Northern Illinois University will host the
MAC Volleyball Championship Nov. 17-20 at Victor E. Court
. The winner of the tournament will earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The economic
impact
to DeKalb County for the four day tournament is estimated to be $40,000.
The tournament is open to the public, and all are welcome and encouraged to attend.
All session passes - $30 Adult, $20 for Youth/Senior.
Day Passes - $10 Adult, $5 Youth/Senior
Free Parking
All matches will take place at Victor E Court at the NIU Convocation Center. More information can be found at
niuconvo.com; visit
mac-sports.com for bracket information.
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NIU to Host Premiere NCAA Golf Championship
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For two weeks in May the best NCAA Division I collegiate golfers in the country will convene at the home of NIU's men's and women's golf programs, Rich Harvest Farms, for one of the most prestigious and important collegiate athletic events ever held in the state of Illinois, the 2017
NCAA Men's & Women's Division I Golf Championship
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First time host, Northern Illinois University, will be welcoming players, coaches, press and visitors to Illinois May 19-24 (women) and May 26-31 (men) for only the third time in the tournament's history.
Volunteer opportunities available! Some of the volunteer jobs are walking scorers, standard bearers, spotters, shuttle drivers, hospitality and media/scoring.
NIU Golf also did a fun trick shot video promoting the tournament and NIU for
the Golf Channel, click below to watch.
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Whiskey Acres
From the start, Whiskey Acres Distilling Co. took the approach of finding a way to create a value added product using the crops they already grew on their family farm. Their whiskey, vodka, bourbon and rye have definitely met the mission they set for themselves.
On November 1st, these efforts were also noticed by the United States Department of Agriculture when they awarded Whiskey Acres a $250,000 Value Added Producer Grant. The Daily Chronicle reported on the announcement made by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin. Jamie Walter, Whiskey Acres President & CEO had this to say about receiving the grant,
"We are very pleased to be able to re-invest these grant funds in our community and the continued rapid growth of our business. Community support has been outstanding and we also owe a debt of gratitude to our outstanding team of employees and many thousands of loyal customers. This grant will serve as a real shot of adrenaline to help us expand production, build infrastructure, add jobs and bring more tourism and visibility to the DeKalb County area."
Whiskey Acres was also featured in the
November/December MidwestLiving Magazine (950,00+ distribution). The article speaks to Whiskey Acres upcoming volunteer bottling parties and highlights the community spirit that helps bring the variety of seed to bottle spirits to the store shelf. Check out the
full article online or pick up a print copy of the November/December issue of MidwestLiving.
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Have a fun and safe
Holiday Season!
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Upcoming Events & Early Shout Outs
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2016
2017
Want more event reminders?
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Chair - Brad Hoey
(NIU Marketing & Communications)
Vice Chair - Vicky Torres (Red Roof Inn & Suites)
Treasurer - Matt Duffy (DeKalb Chamber)
Secretary - Alex Nerad (Egyptian Theatre)
Immediate Past Chair - Kevin McArtor
(Jonamac Orchard)
Executive Director - Debbie Armstrong
Directors
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Jeff Dobie (Fatty's Pub & Grille)
Tim Holdeman (City of DeKalb)
Patty Hoppenstedt (City of DeKalb)
Mark Kerman - Ex Officio (Siepert & Co. LLP)
Maureen Little (DeKalb County Board)
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Maria Mamoser (Prairie State Winery)
Kathy Sands (Lake Shabbona State Park)
Ryan Sedevie (NIU Athletics)
Mary Supple (DeKalb County Board)
Rose Treml (Sycamore Chamber)
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A Big Thank You to our stakeholders, partners and board members. Without you,
the DCCVB would not be as successful. Your investment as stakeholders
and partners is invaluable to our mission to generate economic
impact
through tourism promotion.
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