• We are currently accepting nominations for the LCVA Board of Directors. The LCVA members will vote for incoming board members during the LCVA Annual Meeting on March 25, 2008. If you or someone you know would like to be considered, please submit your nomination by January 15, 2008. Email Greg Harp or call him at 703-771-2170 ext. 14 for details about the nomination process.
  
  
• The deadline for the next round of applications for the LCVA Cooperative Marketing Fund is January 31, 2008. For more information, and application forms, please click here.
  
  
• The LCVA is producing a What's New for 2008 media enewsletter to be sent to local and national travel media, informing them about new developments in the Loudoun tourism industry for the coming year. Please forward information about any new packages, programs, renovations, events, etc. you would like to promote to the travel media in 2008 to Chris Geno by Thursday, December 27, 2007.
  
  
• Virginia's 75th Annual Historic Garden Week will be April 19-27, 2008. VTC Public Relations is promoting this as America's largest statewide garden week to national and state travel media. If you are interested in developing events, packages, or special offers for Garden Week in Loudoun County to promote to travel editors, please contact Chris Geno at the LCVA at 703-771-2170 ext. 17 as soon as possible.
  
  
• Romance and Valentine's Day is a major promotional opportunity for Virginia and the Virginia Tourism Corporation has already received media inquiries about romantic getaways and packages. Please forward your romantic getaway or Valentine's Day packages to Chris Geno at the LCVA. Please also remember to list them on www.Virginia.org.
  
  
• Make sure your upcoming events are included on VisitLoudoun.org. The Events Calendar generates nearly 9,000 unique visitors each month. Submit as many of your future events as possible - visitors use this website up to 4-6 months in advance of their visit! Submitting events is easy! Existing account holders, click here. One-time submissions, click here. Questions? Email Janet Tamassia or call her at 703-771-2170 ext. 16. For more information on LCVA services for special event producers and promoters, click here.

• The Dulles Hotel Connection has hired Judy Gamble as their new regional sales manager. Judy will be representing all of the Dulles Hotel Connection hotels, and will be working with the corporate and government markets.
  
  
• The Holiday Inn Washington-Dulles is proud to recognize Marisol Rocha as the recent recipient of the VHTA Manager of the Year award. Marisol is the Director of Human Resources at the Holiday Inn Washington-Dulles.
  
  
• The Fairfield Inn Dulles Airport has a new general manager, Mark Swander. Mark has been in the industry for 20 years. He has served as a general manager for Marriott, Hilton, and Holiday Inn. Most recently he was a Regional Director of Operations overseeing six hotels in the Midwest. He recently moved to Loudoun from Michigan.
  
  
• The National Conference Center will debut Northern Virginia's largest ballroom at West Belmont Place in February 2008. Please click here for more information.
  
  
• Dodona Manor, Loudoun Museum, Morven Park and Oatlands were listed in the Winter 2008 issue of American Heritage magazine, in the "Guide to 175 Historic Sites in Virginia."
  
  
• The Goodstone Inn & Estate has just been listed in the bestselling book "1,000 Places to See Before You Die in the United States and Canada."
  
  
• Leesburg Animal Park recently posted two videos about the birth of its cute Serval Tiger kitten on YouTube.com. To date, both videos have received 3,193 and 2,980 views respectively. To view the videos, please click here.
  
  
• Stone Manor B&B, which opened its doors in late April 2007, has recently done a market analysis on its business to-date, and reports that approximately 84% of its customers heard about the new B&B via VisitLoudoun.org.
  
  
• New businesses in Leesburg include Pump it Up Party, operating in the Cardinal Park Business Park, and Thai Royal, adjacent to the Liberty gas station on Loudoun Street. New additions to the Middleburg retail landscape include WhiteBench, a brand-new home-furnishings and accessories store, and Viccor, a jewelry store offering custom designs by owner/designer, Natasha Curry Kurfees.
  
  
• There & Back Again Used Bookshop in Leesburg has an upstairs space suitable for small meetings, book signings, speakers and book clubs. For more information, please call 703-443-2665.
  
  
• The Tally Ho Theater in downtown Leesburg will close at the end of the year.
  
  
• The Leesburg Economic Development staff and commission recently finalized and presented the Downtown Enhancement Study by Dr. John Accordino from VCU's Master of Urban & Regional Planning Program and the Wilder School of Government & Public Affairs. The study contains many elements that may be of interest to tourism industry partners in Leesburg. To receive a copy of the study, please contact Marantha Edwards.
  
  
• The National Conference Center and the Hyatt Place Hotel both have sales and catering positions available. Please visit the Industry Jobs page on the LCVA's corporate website for more details.
  
  
• Want to advertise employment opportunities to the industry? You can do so on the LCVA website under Industry Jobs. Email Greg Harp or call him at 703-771-2170 ext. 14 for more information.

Please email your industry news to Chris Geno, LCVA Director of Industry & Media Relations, by January 15, 2008 for inclusion in the January Tourism Industry Compass