Throughout his two terms, Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell’s administration has been committed to continuing economic investment in support of communities and businesses.

In spring of 2008, recognizing the importance of community-level stakeholders and tourism revenue to local economic development, Governor Rendell decided to convene a statewide Governor’s Conference on Tourism.

Group Incorporated was asked to develop, implement and manage this three-day policy conference as a forum to share knowledge and develop solutions for how Pennsylvania’s communities could work together to promote tourism in ways that preserve heritage while embracing progress. The conference took place May 4-6, 2008 at the Wyndham Hotel in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Group Incorporated conceived an original brand and unique format for the conference that brought key stakeholders together in a substantive and interactive analysis of place-based tourism. Participants were challenged with outlining a “blueprint for partnership” in the development of sustainable tourism projects across Pennsylvania.

Group Inc managed every aspect of the conference from the earliest stages of conception, including thematic development and program coordination, scheduling and logistics, speaker coordination, creation of video and multimedia content, and overall event production. The unique agenda format included a series of offsite case studies, town hall discussions and awards recognizing leadership and innovation in tourism, in addition to keynote speakers, expert panels and a closing banquet with live entertainment.

The inaugural conference has been an ongoing policy development tool for the state. Group Inc has been retained to continue to build the Destination Pennsylvania brand and to facilitate grassroots policy outreach through a series of regional workshops leading to another annual policy conference in 2009.