By Wally Kennedy

wkennedy@joplinglobe.com

Mike McAfee, director of the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau, has accepted the position of director of the Bloomington (Ind.) Convention and Visitors Bureau.

McAfee submitted his resignation last week.

“This is a great opportunity for me,” McAfee said Wednesday. “I will be promoting a major college town with more budget and more staff, and I will be closer to my family. But Joplin has been great to me. Joplin has so many things going on. It was a tough decision.”

Lynn Onstott, public information officer for Joplin, said McAfee will be meeting Monday with City Manager Mark Rohr and Reba Snavely, the city’s human resources director, to develop a job description for a national search.

The Joplin position, depending on the applicant’s experience, has a starting salary range of $39,900 to $59,100.

McAfee said that during his tenure, Joplin “has got back into the game” in terms of convention sales and marketing. He attributed the turnaround to the bureau’s director of sales, Cameo Harrington.

“What I have enjoyed doing is advertising and promoting Joplin in fun and creative ways,” he said. “Our Web site numbers have exploded. It’s getting a lot of attention for us.”

The tourism bureau and the Joplin Sports Authority are supported by Joplin’s motel-hotel tax. The tax is projected to generate $1.2 million this year.

“Joplin has growth and momentum going for it,” McAfee said. “We were a piece of that puzzle in helping make it happen.”

McAfee took over as director of the Joplin bureau in April 2004. He came to Joplin from Portland, Ore., where he worked with a radio network.

McAfee, who starts his new job Sept. 5, has 15 years of experience in tourism, marketing and advertising, including working with state tourism offices in Missouri and Montana.