Your Volunteer Digest - June 2023

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May 26, 2023
by Tony Snell

"Happy Friday and happy Memorial Day weekend! I hope you get to spend time relaxing and also honoring the spirit of the holiday. The War Memorial's Field of Flags installation is always a beautiful way to do so." - Peggy Williams Smith  

Volunteer Program Updates

  • Please note that the Wisconsin Center has been renamed as the Baird Center. It would be helpful to assist visitors and convention attendees in getting familiar with the new name as it might be unfamiliar to them.
  • Save the Date! VISIT Milwaukee's Annual Meeting and Party with the Partners is taking place on Wednesday, June 14, at American Family Insurance Amphitheater at Henry Maier Festival Park! RSVP for the event here.
  • As most of you know, VISIT Milwaukee went down to Chicago's Union Station to host Wisconsin in Chicago Day in partnership with Amtrak and Travel Wisconsin. VISIT Milwaukee was thrilled to coordinate this activation, which encouraged thousands of commuters to check out Milwaukee partners like Summerfest, Harley-Davidson Museum, Milwaukee Food & City Tours, Potawatomi Hotel & Casino, Junior's Smoked BBQ, At Peace Design, GBF Bespoke Balloons and Event Services, Explorium Brewpub, Lakefront Brewery, Pabst Theater Group, and Shaker's Cigar Bar. In a room off of the Great Hall, our sales and communications teams hosted a reception for over 50 Chicago-based meeting planners and media members to showcase all of the exciting things happening in Milwaukee, including the Baird Center expansion, Summerfest's 55th anniversary, Harley-Davidson's 120th Homecoming Festival, and the opening of The Trade, an Autograph Collection Hotel by Marriott. We thank Donna Johnson, Annette Scigliano, MJ Link, and Doug Glasnapp for their invaluable volunteer contribution. They warmly welcomed visitors, shared delicious treats and their knowledge of Milwaukee, and even poured gallons of root beer for passersby. Thanks to their efforts, the event was a huge success. To see more photos of the day, please visit here.

  • Please share with your friends, family, and groups you know! Milwaukee is gearing up to welcome back one of the country's biggest and most exciting multisport events - the USA Triathlon National Championships! The event will take place on August 4-6, 2023, at Milwaukee's lakefront, and we need your help to make it a success.We would love to see individuals and groups showing their team spirit and community support as volunteers for the USA Triathlon. Please sign up for and share this exciting volunteer opportunity.                                                                                                                                                                                                                    To incentivize group participation, the following rewards will be offered to groups that sign up and complete 4-hour shifts:

    -Groups that fill 10 shifts will get $100 -Groups that fill 20 shifts will get $250 -Groups that fill 30 shifts will get $400 -Groups that fill 40 shifts will get $550

    Groups must enter their organization's name when they register on Volunteer Local.

  • Tour of America's Dairyland (ToAD), the largest road cycling race in the country, needs your help to make the event a success. Be a part of the action for 11 days of adrenaline-pumping, fast-paced cycling races through the heartland by volunteering. Sign up to volunteer and play a vital role in making this incredible event one of the best bike races in the nation! Sign up here.
  • Please check out all the volunteer needs and events here

Community Highlights

  • After more than 60 years of company leadership, including 31 years as chairman of The Marcus Corporation, the board of directors unanimously appointed Stephen H. Marcus as non-director chairman emeritus and special advisor to the company.  He is a hospitality giant who always puts Milwaukee first. Happy retirement, Mr. Marcus!
  • A huge announcement was made this week; Green Bay was chosen to host the 2025 NFL Draft!! VISIT Milwaukee and Sports Milwaukee have supported the Packers' and Discover Green Bay's bid for this from the very start and are proud to continue to support the event in any way we can. No matter your thoughts on draft picks or quarterbacks, we can all agree this is a win for Milwaukee's hospitality community, Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport, and the entire region!  Congratulations! As the Milwaukee Film Festival wrapped up its 14th showing, they realized a massive year-over-year increase in attendance for a total in-person cinema attendance of 29,718.
  • Also on the lakefront, the Bartolotta Restaurants opened the Roundhouse at McKinley Marina this week! Congratulations to Paul, Maria, Keith and the team on this milestone!
  • Congratulations are also in order for Wach Hospitality (Rob Levin and Tony Bisciglia) and James Beard Award Winning Chef, Justin Carlisle on the opening of 1033 Walkers Point. The small plate and raw bar restaurant was designed by Three Sixty, and the food was amazing.
  • Potawatomi Casino | Hotel, opened two new restaurants this week in its newly revamped Marketplace. Share this information with our visitors.
  • Beginning next week, the Wisconsin Department of Tourism will begin construction to rehabilitate I-43 from Brown Street to Capitol Drive. The project, scheduled for completion in late 2024, will work to repair lanes, shoulders and connecting ramps to I-43. Stay up to date about the improvements coming to I-43 by reviewing the Project Brief, Project Overviewand the Wisconsin Department of Transportation's website.  
  • Tour of America's Dairyland, the largest road cycling race in the country, needs your help to make the event a success. Be a part of the action for 11 days of adrenaline-pumping, fast-paced cycling races through the heartland by volunteering. Sign up to volunteer and play a vital role in making this incredible event one of the best bike races in the nation! Sign up here.
  • Milwaukee Downtown is back with more entertainment for office workers, downtown residents and millions of visitors: Starting June 1, PNC presents Tunes@Noonwill take place every Thursday at noon in the 411 East Wisconsin Center courtyard and Heart(beats) of the City powered by MGIC takes place every Wednesday at 11:30 AM, starting June 7, in Red Arrow Park. If this past weekend's Big Truck Day attendance of 4,500+ community members is any indication of the summer fun ahead, we can't wait! 

Incoming Groups
Groups booked by VISIT Milwaukee in town in the coming weeks. To see all incoming groups for the quarter, click here.  

  • 2023 Maker Festival, May 25-27, estimated 2,080 attendees, Wisconsin Center 
  • 2023 Regional Pokémon Championships, June 1-4, estimated 2,500 attendees, Baird Center 
  • American Booksellers Association - 2023 Children's Institute, June 6-8, estimated 625 attendees, Baird Center 
  • 2023 Summer Feis, June 3-4, estimated 350 attendees, Baird Center 
  • Professional Bowlers Association - 2023 PBA LBC National Championships, June 3-July 16, estimated 600 attendees, Bowlero Wauwatosa 
  • The Salvation Army - 2023 SA Commissioning Event, June 9-11, estimated 1,500 attendees, Miller High Life Theatre 
  • 2023 Manitou S&S Days, June 6-9, estimated 100 attendees, Hyatt Regency 
  • The Whole Bead Show, June 7-10, estimated 350 attendees, Baird Center 
  • Achieving the Dream - 2023 Cohort Kickoff and Accelerating Equitable Outcomes, June 12-16, estimated 200 attendees, Hyatt Regency 
  • Retail Confectioners International - 2023 Annual Convention and Industry Expo, June 12-16, estimated 250 attendees, Baird Center 

Upcoming Cruises
If you see cruise visitors around town, please give them a warm Milwaukee welcome!

  • Hanseatic Inspiration - Arrival: Monday, May 29th
  • Viking Octantis - Arrival: Friday, June 2nd
  • Viking Polaris - Arrival: Friday, June 2nd
  • Pearl Mist - Arrival: Wednesday, June 7th

Visitor Insights

  • This week we're taking a look at the travel patterns of Illinois-based visitors to Milwaukee, a market that is typically always our second-largest feeder state behind Wisconsin. This year has been off to a great start for Illinois visitation, which has grown nearly 6% over the same time last year and 2% over 2021. Out-of-state visitors typically stay longer and spend more when they're here so the more out-of-state visitation can eat away at total visitation, the better! Illinois residents usually stay 1.1 days in our market, whereas Iowans tend to stay 1.3 days on average while Minnesotans and New Yorkers are averaging 1.5 days in market.

Media Highlights

Welcome, New Partners!

Partner Wins

Exciting news from our partner businesses. 

  • Another week closer to summer means more beer gardens have opened across the area! Milwaukee County Parks debuted their new permanent beer garden at Juneau Park on Wednesday and The Vine Humboldt in Bay View and the War Memorial Beer Garden on the lakefront both officially opened yesterday! And speaking of beer gardens, The Tap Yard at Schlitz Park officially celebrates their one-year anniversary with a party and you're invited! 
  • This week, the Milwaukee Public Museum had their fifth round of gallery unveilings for the Future Museum, including the We Energies Foundation Gallery: Rainforest, the Puelicher Butterfly Vivarium and Bucyrus Rooftop Terrace!  
  • This fall, the Milwaukee Art Museum will present Art, Life, Legacy: Northern European Paintings in the Collection of Isabel and Alfred Bader, a major exhibition of more than 75 exquisite Dutch and Flemish masterpieces of the Baroque period, including works by Rembrandt van Rijn and Jan Lievens. It will be on view from September 29, 2023, through January 28, 2024. 
  • The first MKE Black Marketplace is taking place at Deer District Plaza on Sunday, June 11 from 11 am - 4 pm!  
  • Congrats to the Pabst Theater Group on the news regarding their new East Side venue coming to Farwell Avenue! 
  • The Milwaukee County Zoo recently opened Dino Don's "Journey to the Ice Age," a special exhibit featuring animatronic animals, that will be on display until October 7. 
  • Congrats to partner Punch Bowl Social in Deer District, which recently unveiled a new menu! 
  • Speaking of menu changes, Buttermint Finer Dining & Cocktails in Shorewood is updating their brunch and dinner menus, expanding their kid's menu, and adding carry-out options. 
  • Brady Beach, the outdoor patio area outside of Nomad World Pub along Warren Avenue, officially returns this weekend!  
  • It was announced this week that the fourth annual Bloody Mary Festival - Wisconsin is returning to the area on August 12, but this year, the event is moving to Henry Maier Festival Park!  
  • PianoArts presents Granados' masterwork Goyescas on Sunday, June 11 at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music! 

Volunteers are the life of the party! 

Thank you!