Does the thought of high-energy nightlife, topnotch entertainment, great dining, elegant spas, professional sporting events and nonstop, 24/7 fun make you want to head to your favorite getaway destination? If your answer is yes, then you should be headed straight to Atlantic City.

The Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority, on Thursday, October 16, 2003, during a much-hyped and highly enthusiastic ceremony, announced the authority's new theme "Atlantic City - Always Turned On" to a capacity crowd at the Atlantic City Convention Center. The theme, which is aimed at the city's primary target market of adults between the ages of 35 and 65, was unveiled to much fanfare and delight.

"There's always something fun and new happening in Atlantic City, always something to get 'turned on' to," said Jeffrey Vasser, executive director of the ACCVA. "It's a vibrant city, with a great energy to it and we want to convey that with this theme."

The new theme, along with a vivid new logo, will now be seen on all of the ACCVA's marketing materials for visitors and meeting planners, advertising and official Atlantic City logo merchandise. The phrase was developed to address the results of extensive research that found the previous theme of "Atlantic City - America's Favorite Playground" did not accurately reflect the "new" Atlantic City and did not provide the impetus to attract new visitors.

"While we will continue to welcome the visitors we have served in the past, we will cultivate new visitors in our primary target market through this new theme. Our research confirmed that the primary target for new visitors should be grown-ups," Vasser said. "It also pointed out that our previous slogan did not reflect the great casinos, nightlife, entertainment, beach bars, spas, golf and shopping opportunities we offer. We sought something completely different, something to grab visitors' and meeting-planners' attention that they'll remember and we think 'Always Turned On' sums up the current Atlantic City atmosphere very well."

The City of Atlantic City will celebrate its 150th birthday on Friday, March 5, 2004, and a yearlong celebration is planned to commemorate the occasion. A new logo (left) depicting the city's colorful past, present and future was unveiled in the fall of 2003 after a contest was held asking the public to come up with a logo that properly reflected the city's image.

So spread the word, Atlantic City will soon be 150! More information regarding specific celebrations and events will be announced in the near future.