With a record year in 2015 for lodging tax in hand the Miami County Visitors and Convention Bureau expanded its horizons to include a drone video advertising project and videos for villages and others to help spread the word of their offerings.

Diana Thompson, the bureau’s executive director, shared the organization’s annual report and plans for the future, such as an expanded focus on sports marketing, during a meeting recently with the county commissioners.

The county’s 3 percent lodging tax, which makes up the bulk of the bureau’s income, brought in $419,728 in 2015, up from $412,727 the previous year. Total revenues for the year for the bureau were $430,415, up from 2014’s $421,708.

Spending in 2014 was $359,217 compared to $438,496 last year.

Thompson said the bureau last year, with its board approval, took on around $37,000 in projects that were not included in the budget. The spending versus revenues for the year was a negative $7,734, with the difference taken out of reserves, she said.

Most of the added work in 2015 involved special projects with companies hired to videotape. Niche Productions was hired to produce a drone video of the county and its offerings and a local company also was hired to do some other videotaping.

Commissioner Jack Evans said the drone project “was a good one. It was money well spent.”

The drone project produced a 30-second commercial of the county titled “Goodbye Big City” and a four-minute video about visiting the county. “We are very proud of that,” Thompson said.

Videos also were made, at the bureau’s expense, for villages and attractions such as WACO, Miami County Fair, Hobart Arena and the villages of Covington and West Milton. “We were happy to do that as partners so they can get out and be more visible to people visiting their websites,” Thompson said.

Among other 2015 accomplishments were completion of a new visitors guide, initiation of a social media calendar and the bureau helping sponsor a high school wrestling tournament at Hobart Arena and the cycling summit in Piqua.

The visit by the Lincoln Funeral Train and the almost yearlong stay by the Lincoln monumental statue on the Courthouse Plaza also were pointed to as highlights. The statue, part of the continuing Sculptures on the Square project, will be leaving this spring following an extended stay.

This year’s plans include airing of 30-second commercials about the county from June through October. Those videos were made last year and will be shown primarily on cable channels.

More attention is being given to sports marketing and its offerings. A representative of the National Association of Sports Commissions will visit the county at the end of April to meet with government and sports leaders, among others, to talk about possibilities for activities in the county.

“If we don’t do it now, we are going to get left in the dust, so to speak, so we need to be venturing more into the sports category,” Thompson said.

Commissioner John “Bud” O’Brien said the bureau has become more active in the community during the past four years or so.

“I commend you for your leadership ability to be able to accomplish that. I like hearing the fact that you are not concentrating on our three cities, but also going out to our villages and assisting them any way we can. I think that is important,” O’Brien said.