VISIT Milwaukee Blog

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Wednesday, May 22, 2013 By Bill Prange Web Marketing Specialist VISIT Milwaukee

Have you entered to win our "Party Like a Rock Star" sweepstakes? This is your chance to win the ultimate trip to Milwaukee to Party Like a Rock Star!

For those who haven’t heard, we’re giving one lucky person the chance to visit Milwaukee with a guest during Summerfest, the World’s Largest Music Festival. We’re pulling out all the stops to give you experiences usually reserved for rock stars and celebrities.

What experiences, you wonder? Here are just a few:

• Tickets to see John Mayer perform live at Summerfest on July 6, plus other perks from Summerfest
• Round-trip airfare to Milwaukee from Southwest Airlines
• Deluxe hotel suites for you and your entourage at the luxury boutique hotel, Hotel Metro, right in the heart of downtown Milwaukee
• Leather jackets, courtesy of Harley-Davidson, to complete your rock star look, plus a VIP tour of the Harley-Davidson Museum
• A private yacht cruise on Lake Michigan from Sea Dog Sailing
• Culinary experiences at Dream Dance Steak and the Harbor House 

And that’s just the start! The entire prize package is worth more than $4,000! See the full prize list, details and official rules.

How can you win the Party Like a Rock Star sweepstakes? It’s easy. Simply visit www.visitmilwaukee.org/rockstar2013 to enter the sweepstakes. You can also enter one additional time on our Facebook page.

Even better, you can earn additional entries in the contest by sharing with your friends and family. After you enter, send the sweepstakes to everyone you know who would be interested in entering themselves. Tell them to list you as their “Referral Name” when entering their information. When they do, you will BOTH get an extra entry in the sweepstakes! There is no limit to how many extra entries you can earn by being listed as a referral name, so don’t hold back from telling everyone you know!

Well, what are you waiting for? Enter now and get ready to Party Like a Rock Star in Milwaukee!

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Wednesday, May 15, 2013 By Jeannine Sherman Director of Public Relations VISIT Milwaukee

A lot of people claim to know their home town “like the back of their hand.” Rory Orgill does. Rory’s been a Milwaukee cab driver for more than 16 years and he loves what he does. He’s an unheralded ambassador for the city, unabashedly proud of Milwaukee – and in particular Milwaukee’s music scene. The latest in the innovative Dear MKE series features his story, and shows how the view from the backseat can be surprisingly entertaining, enlightening and purely Dear MKE.

Milwaukee director, Frankie Latina, and cinematographer, Vinnie Besasie, spent an evening riding with Rory. Along the way, they discovered just how passionate he is about live music. He’s the kind of guy who’s kept every ticket stub to every concert he’s ever been to in Milwaukee and no matter what kind of music you like, he’ll know just the place to catch a live set. Although his “office” is a little different than that of most people, Rory wouldn’t have it any other way. He likes the freedom of being his own boss, meeting new people every night and sharing the wisdom earned from almost two decades behind the wheel.

The film is the fifth in the acclaimed Dear MKE series, and features music by local musicians Eugene Rueter, Kyle Feerick, and the band Collections of Colonies of Bees.

To see an additional 300+ video clips, stories and photos of Milwaukeeans sharing their love, pride and stories about Milwaukee, go to www.DearMKE.com.

Let us know what you think of the film on Dear MKE’s Facebook and Twitter!

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Monday, May 13, 2013 By Zack Zupke Creative Services Manager VISIT Milwaukee

I don’t remember the first baseball game I ever watched or my first trip to County Stadium to see the Brewers in person. They’re all a blur, as most things are year after year, but extremely-fond blurs. Yelling “hey Sixto!” at right fielder Sixto Lezcano from our seats and he waved back! Sitting with my son in the bleachers as Ben Sheets fanned 18 batters. Running down the aisle toward the railing behind the on-deck circle seeking my holy grail: an autograph from Robin Yount.

As I walked through “BASEBALL– Innovations That Changed the Game,” a limited-time exhibit at Discovery World on Milwaukee’s lakefront, more and more memories popped up, so to speak. The life-sized Paul Molitor and Ben Ogilvie bobbleheads instantly took me back to 1982 and the excitement of game one of the World Series when Molitor tallied an amazing five hits in six at-bats. Seeing the evolution of the base ball (the proper spelling was two words back in the day) bat from inception to present day made me long for the many bats I’ve loved and, unfortunately, discarded. Same goes for gloves. Man, I wish I had every glove I’ve ever used, every favorite ball I’ve ever owned and every baseball card I’ve ever collected (well, I still have most of those).

Gloves to hats, equipment to jerseys, “BASEBALL– Innovations That Changed the Game” is a fun look back on not only Milwaukee’s major-league history, but the game itself. And, there’s no better time to visit the Discovery World exhibit (and all of the other incredible offerings at the one-of-a-kind attraction) now that spring has finally sprung and the Brewers are battling to get to first place. But, you better hurry, the exhibit ends May 19.  

I hurried as fast as my little 7-year-old legs would take me toward my idol, the Brewers shortstop. Robin spotted me about half way down the aisle and grinned (in my memory anyway), watching as I desperately tried to take just one leap between those giant, stadium-sized steps. As he signed my scrap of paper and his lips spoke some seemingly-foreign language, all was quiet for me. I could smell the fresh-cut grass, feel the sunlight on my face, see him place his autograph in my hand. I was in my happy place - a blur I’ll never grow too old to forget.

Details:
BASEBALL– Innovations That Changed the Game
Through May 19
Discovery World
500 N. Harbor Dr.
 

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by Guest Blogger Carrie Woods

What do you get when you cross high-tech gadgets, a giant game of hide and seek and Milwaukee’s historic buildings, best attractions, beautiful outdoors and more? An opportunity to enjoy a great time discovering the city, one neighborhood at a time! 

VISIT Milwaukee is getting in on the action of geocaching, the popular real-world, outdoor game where participants navigate to a location using GPS coordinates to find a hidden container. To date, more than 5 million people are in on the fun, searching for more than 1.4 million geocaches hidden around the world. In recognition of National Tourism Week, a week designated to celebrate the impact of the travel and tourism industry, we’re officially launching our program!  

Our geocaches are part of an official GeoTour called “Discover Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods” that takes participants on a trek from the stunning shore of Lake Michigan to a historic village, through green space galore in our award-winning Milwaukee County Parks, past downtown skyscrapers and character-filled streets, to our best attractions and more!

If that sounds like fun to you, here’s a quick how-to guide on getting started!

1. Watch this quick video on geocaching or check out this 101 section for more details on the activity.
    
2. Grab your smartphone and download the Geocaching app or grab a GPS enabled device.
    
3. Go to visitmilwaukee.org/geocache and read about the 15 neighborhoods you’ll meet along your way. Don’t miss the fun facts at the bottom of each description!
    
4. Click here to see the complete “Discover Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods” GeoTour and download the list to your device.
    
5. GET GOING! Head to the neighborhood nearest you to meet Milwaukee!
    
6. Complete all 15 geocaches and fill out the Official Milwaukee Neighborhood Expert passport to receive a custom, limited-edition “Discover Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods” GeoCoin (details here).
    

PRIZES: On Tuesday, May 7, the first five people to discover each geocache will be able to exchange a token found in each container for an official “Discover Milwaukee’s Neighborhoods” t-shirt and tickets or a gift certificate to explore the area (while supplies last).

What are you waiting for? Go meet Milwaukee’s neighborhoods! Share your experiences with us on Facebook and Twitter – we’d love to know what you think of the program.