Koranda takes reins at NCVB

By Carol Cole-Frowe

January 04, 2009 01:09 am

— Stephen Koranda has spent his first month as executive director of the Norman Convention and Visitors Bureau meeting Norman leaders, learning the city's ordinances and the NCVB history.
"I have been so busy meeting people and not tripping the alarm," he said.
The 40-year-old Koranda said one of his first priorities is getting all Norman's tourism stakeholders together to come up with a strategic plan.
"What do we want Norman to look like as a tourism community in five years?" he said. "It's a smart thing to do for any business or corporation. ... It's a wonderful time for all of us to come together and map out a strategic plan together."
His first day on the job was Dec. 1. He will make $52,000 annually, with a benefits package.
Koranda said January and February will be busy months for the NCVB, with five trade shows and needing to fill a sales position. He's staying at the new Embassy Suites Hotel for the time being.
"A message I hope Norman hears loud and clear," he said. "That's a beautiful facility there."
And although he considers himself a Kansas Jayhawk fan, he has an idea about a great way for Sooner fans to fully enjoy the Jan. 8 national championship game in Miami. Stay home.
Koranda's idea is to book a room at Norman's Sooner Legends Inn and Suites, which is decorated in Sooner memorabilia. Watch the championship game on the seven big-screen televisions at the hotel's sports bar and then revel in Sooner atmosphere after a victory and being crowned No. 1.
"Stay and keep the feeling," he said.
He said in Norman, tourism is about an $114 million industry, although he hopes to do some further research to validate and maybe increase those numbers.
Koranda said in most markets, it's sometimes difficult to make residents, businesses and industry understand the importance of marketing the community.
"Unless you live in Vegas ... tourism is a hard thing to get your arms around," he said.
Koranda wrote in an e-mail while applying for the Norman job that he took pride in "23 quarters in a row of growth in the transient guest tax, the introduction of six new attractions and the implementation of a research-based marketing initiative" while at the Olathe, Kan., CVB.
"Moving forward, I think we have great opportunities," he said about Norman.
He also said the things being done by Oklahoma City help Norman also, just as being on Kansas City's doorstep helped Olathe.
"Oklahoma City is doing great things," Koranda said.
He said he was excited that Norman was named No. 6 on the CNN/Money magazine list of "Best Places to Live" among small cities.
"Anytime you can get the two words, 'Norman, Oklahoma' in a national publication, there's value," Koranda said.
Koranda most recently headed up Stephen Koranda and Associates, a marketing, advertising, organizational development and event management firm based in Gardner, Kan., since December 2007.
He has spent eight years in destination marketing and was vice president of the Olathe Convention and Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission from 2002 to 2007, as part of the Olathe Chamber of Commerce.
He is a Kansas Destination specialist for the Travel Industry Association of Kansas and a certified tourism ambassador for the Greater Kansas City Convention and Visitors Association.
He was a 2001 graduate of Leadership Olathe.
Koranda also spent about 10 years in radio broadcasting as an announcer, operations manager and program director in the Dodge City, Kan., and Topeka, Kan., markets.
He holds a bachelor's degree in marketing from Washburn University, where he was named the "Graduate of the Last Decade" in 2003 by the university's alumni association.
The NCVB budget for the 2009 fiscal year is $497,000, Koranda said. The City of Norman contributes 50 percent of its hotel/motel room tax to the NCVB, with 25 percent going to capital improvements in parks and 25 percent going to the Norman Arts and Humanities Council.
City Finance Director Anthony Francisco said the City of Norman budgeted $425,830 for the NCVB for the '09 fiscal year, which began June 30, 2008, and has paid the agency $212,945 year-to-date.
Norman's contribution to the NCVB was $307,508 in fiscal year 2004; $293,247, fiscal year 2005; $320,682, FY 2006; $357,137, FY 2007; and $392,154, FY 2008, Francisco said.
Koranda is also an avid bicyclist and runner and has participated in several duathalons. Koranda organized and directed the Olathe Marathon and the World Championship Qualifying Prairie Punisher Duathlon in Gardner, Kan.
"I'm looking forward to getting involved in the cycling and running communities," Koranda said.
He is married to Angela and has a son, Joshua, and daughter, Jamie.

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