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The Wisconsin Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (WACVB) awarded the 2008 Wisconsin Tourism Trailblazer award to Kathy Manista for her role in promoting and advancing Wisconsin’s tourism industry. 

Wisconsin Department of Tourism Secretary Kelli Trumble joined WACVB in presenting the award to Manista during the WACVB’s 2008 Wisconsin Fall Tourism Convention in Wisconsin Dells. 

Manista, recently retired from the Chicago Tribune, worked on the Wisconsin tourism account for 23 years and is considered a good friend and colleague by scores of Wisconsin tourism representatives.  While her main goal was selling advertising for the Chicago Tribune, Manista often went above and beyond her responsibilities for the Wisconsin tourism industry throughout her career. 

Manista joins a prestigious group of past Wisconsin Tourism Trailblazer award recipients including former Governor Tommy Thompson, former Governor’s Council on Tourism chair and Tommy Bartlett Show & Exploratory President Tom Diehl, Kohler Company CEO Herb Kohler. In addition to the individual category, awards were presented to two organizations for outstanding marketing and partnership projects.  Organizations receiving this year’s awards are:

Visit Milwaukee 
Visit Milwaukee led a community effort to create a bronze sculpture of Fonzie, the iconic character from the popular TV show, Happy Days.  The organization raised $85,000 for the downtown Milwaukee tourism attraction and created events and other public relations efforts that generated $9.5 million in worldwide media coverage and at the same time raised $17,000 for a Milwaukee literacy program.  Visit Milwaukee also brought an educational component to the project by enlisting the assistance of UW-Milwaukee public relations students.

Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau
The Janesville CVB created a cooperative marketing position shared by the CVB and area tourism attractions in an effort to leverage financial and creative resources.   The partnership has led to improved quality and consistency of promotional efforts, improved communications and cost savings for the partners. Interest in joining the Partnership has been expressed from other area attractions and events since the program began.