Lt. Governor Boyd Rutherford, Comptroller Peter Franchot and Secretary of Commerce Gill will address Maryland hospitality and tourism industry leaders in Annapolis this Friday, February 26, for Maryland Tourism Day. The event, sponsored in part by the Maryland Tourism Coalition (MTC) and the Maryland Association of Destination Marketing Organizations, provides an opportunity for tourism advocates to meet with their representatives to discuss the importance of tourism to the Maryland economy.

“Tourism in Maryland is a $16.4 billion industry that directly employs more than 140,288 Marylanders,” says Kevin Atticks, president of MTC. “Collectively, we are one of the Top Ten private sector employers in the state and generate more than $2.2 billion in State and local tax revenues,” Atticks continued. “These tourism revenues ease the tax burden on Marylanders to the tune of $1010 per year, per household.”

In 1816, Baltimore was the first American city to illuminate its streets with gas streetlights, revolutionizing the urban landscape. This year, Baltimore celebrates that feat, and the city’s ensuing 200 years of innovation, with its inaugural Light City Baltimore festival. The first celebration of its kind in North America, Light City will transform the city through the 1.5 mile BGE Light Art Walk with 50 attractions including illuminated art works, street theater, musical performances and more. But Light City also seeks to create an “eco-system of ideas” through four innovation conferences dedicated to powering social change. The festival begins on March 28 and runs through April 3. For more information on Light City Baltimore, visit their webpage.

Now in its eleventh year, Poetry Out Loud (POL) continues its impressive growth with more than 100,000 Maryland students having participated in the event. The event celebrates poetry while literally giving a voice to Maryland kids. The POL state championships will be held on March 12 at the Baltimore Museum of Art with host Aaron Henkin of WYPR’s “The Signal,” and musical guest Victoria Vox.

The event, which is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts and The Poetry Foundation, challenges students to memorize and recite poems of increasing complexity with the chance to win college scholarships and textbook stipends. In addition to encouraging students to explore their literary heritage, the program is designed to build self-confidence and improve students’ public speaking skills. The winner of Maryland’s statewide competition will proceed to the national championship in Washington, D.C.

OTD has developed and launched the Maryland Media Measurement tool, or M3, to better evaluate the effectiveness of media relations efforts. “With M3, we can look at a year of data and see which of our programs are resonating and then tailor our efforts to maximize our impact,” says Leslie Troy, who co-developed M3 with Connie Yingling, both communications specialists with OTD. M3 gives OTD a tool for measuring the value of internet reach and appearances on non-ad based programing, both of which are ignored by traditional ad valuation tools.

As one of the first DMOs in the nation to launch a second-wave marketing measurement tool, OTD’s industry leadership is already paying dividends. Current thinking in the industry, for instance, says that press releases are no longer a useful tool, but by utilizing evidence-based marketing data, M3 has shown just the opposite. “Some of our biggest successes over the last year have come from press releases,” says Troy. “Without M3, we would have no way to show that,” agrees Yingling. “This allows us to work smarter.”

Tiffany Zappulla, set decorator for “House of Cards,” has been nominated for two Emmy Awards and won a pair of Art Director’s Guild awards, and she credits Maryland’s competitive film industry for contributing to her success. “I was very fortunate, because there was so much great film work coming though Maryland,” says Zappulla, whose television and film credits include work on “VEEP,” “Syriana,” “Ladder 49,” and “Tuck Everlasting.” And Zappulla is not alone. Through its first four seasons, “House of Cards” is projected to have hired more than 9,000 Marylanders, including nearly 1,500 crew professionals such as Zappulla. “We have a great local crew. Carpenters, set painters, props, everyone in the art department; the crew is integral in making the film a success,” continues Zappulla. While television and film have been important drivers for Maryland’s economy, with “House of Cards” and “Veep” generating a projected economic impact of $600,867,932 from FY 2012-FY 2016, Zappulla sees that impact on a personal level.

“I personally have more than 200 vendors from corner to corner covering 14 counties plus Baltimore City,” says Zappulla. “These are people who, when we’re not filming, I get calls from, asking, ‘when are you starting back up?’.” Zappulla and thousands of other Marylanders will soon begin work on “House of Cards” season five.

Pictured: Tiffany Zappulla receives Art Director’s Guild Award for set decoration

Each week, the Maryland Minute provides highlights and insights on this weekend’s events around the state. Maryland Minute is featured on CBS radio stations in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. and on Baltimore’s WBAL-AM 1090.