One of our biggest goals at Visit Indiana is to help people understand all the amazing things to see and do throughout Indiana. Of course, we want to encourage people from outside Indiana to come to our great state when they’re looking to get away for a vacation, but we also want to remind Hoosiers of all the great things they can see and do within their very own state.

One way we do that is by being active on our blog and through social media like our Visit Indiana Facebook page and our @VisitIndiana Twitter account (not to mention Pinterest, Instagram, Flickr, Tumblr and other channels). In addition to getting feedback from our followers, it’s also very important for us to collaborate with others in the tourism industry to see what is or isn’t working for other tourism offices.

Last year, I attended the Social Media Tourism Symposium (a gathering of digital- and social media-focused professionals in the tourism industry) on behalf of our office. It was a fantastic conference where I learned a lot and for 2013, we have the opportunity to host the conference in Indianapolis. Our office is working with Visit Indy to bring the conference to Central Indiana in November, 2013. During last year’s conference in El Paso, TX, attendees spent money in town and were very active on social media channels promoting the conference but also the conference’s host city – El Paso. We want to bring the conference to Indianapolis to show other tourism professionals all that our great state has to offer and help change some long-standing impressions people have of the Hoosier state.

Unlike most conferences, the location for the Social Media Tourism Symposium is determined by popular vote, so we need your help to vote for Indianapolis as the site for the 2013 conference. Indianapolis is up against 12 other great cities and the first round will take place from Noon EDT on Wednesday, March 13^th to Noon EDT on Friday, March 15^th.

Click here to vote for Indianapolis!

The eight cities who receive the most votes this week will move on to a playoff bracket of the remaining cities. They’ll each be seeded by total votes in the first round and will compete in a round of eight, round of four and a final vote to determine the winning city. The playoff bracket vote times are detailed below. We’ll need your help to vote for Indianapolis as the host of the 2013 Social Media Tourism Symposium, so please share this blog post with your friends and encourage them to vote for Indianapolis.

The Elite Eight tournament match ups will be:

Monday, March 18 – 10:00am to 10:00pm Eastern Time – #3 v #6

Tuesday, March 19 – 10:00am to 10:00pm Eastern Time – #4 v #5

Wednesday, March 20 – 10:00am to 10:00pm Eastern Time – #2 v #7

Thursday, March 21 – 10:00am to 10:00pm Eastern Time – #1 v #8

The Final Four tournament matchups will be:

Tuesday, March 26 – 10:00am to 10:00pm Eastern Time

Thursday, March 28 – 10:00am to 10:00pm Eastern Time

The Championship Final: Tuesday, April 2 – 10:00am to 10:00pm Eastern Time

Just in case you’re curious, these are the 12 other cities that we’re up against:

• Branson, MO
• Missoula, MT
• Eugene, OR
• Grand Rapids, MI
• Huntsville, AL
• Milwaukee, WI
• Gulfport/Biloxi, MS
• Pocono Mountains, PA
• Cleveland, OH
• Eau Claire, WI
• St. Petersburg/Clearwater, FL
• Waterloo, IA