The Tennessee Overhill Heritage Association, representing Polk, McMinn and Monroe counties, participated in the Tennessee Sampler at Chicago last week. Sponsored by the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development, the Sampler included several days of sales calls to travel agents, AAA offices, group tour operators, and media.  Ninety four participants from Tennessee tourism organizations and businesses worked on sales and media teams in and around Chicago to promote Tennessee. The sales teams presented the travel businesses with a large notebook that included profile sheets on all the Sampler participants as well as a goody bag. The media teams presented writers and editors with an electronic media kit that included a feature story and photographs from each participant.

Shyam Nunley, Special Projects Coordinator for the Tennessee Overhill, was part of a sales team that visited travel businesses around the Chicago area, including Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, and Wisconsin.  Linda Caldwell, Executive Director for the Tennessee Overhill, was part of a team that met with travel media in Chicago, including the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun, Chicago Parent, Elks Club Magazine, and more.

The Sampler was capped off with a trade show where the Tennessee Overhill had a booth. Caldwell noted that McMinn County sponsored the Tennessee Overhill's participation at the Sampler, expressing thanks for the county's support. She said, "The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development worked very hard to put the Sampler together and we are pleased to have been a part of this statewide effort to promote tourism."