Convention Centers

Did you ever stop to think about how much energy and resources are being committed from your community to guarantee your facility’s success? Not just the efforts you and your staff put forth on a daily basis, but those by other organizations such as city government agencies including the mayor’s office, the convention bureau, the hotels that service your facility, the boards that provide governance, and the elected officials that may provide funding.

Did you ever think about how much more effective your facility could be at attracting and retaining your customers if all of these agencies were aligned? In today’s economy where event planners are seeking help to increase attendance at their conference/ convention/trade show and attendees seek, not just nice accommodations, but to “feel the experience,” more and more emphasis needs to be placed on aligning all agencies in a common vision.

Clients and attendees are looking for a seamless transition from conceptually understanding what the community and facilities have to offer to the actual experience. They want what was promised! Therefore, many convention centers seek to generate a brand identity by offering a high level of service, food and ambiance. That effort is lost, however, if the same brand identity is only exhibited within the four walls of the facility and not within the community.

Who in your community is the gate keeper of all messages and promises being communicated? That responsibility is falling more and more on the shoulders of the convention center manager. As Michael Hughes of Tradeshow Week states, “The trends in our industry today point out that convention center managers must become better versed in sales and marketing, public relations and politics. The convention center manager has to play an influential role in coordinating resources and messages both inside and outside the facility.”

In today’s economy, organizations and business entities are being held to a higher degree of accountability. In government, if convention bureaus are not deemed effective, funding is slashed or top executives replaced. Convention bureau contracts are beginning to include mutually developed sales goals based on more than just room nights. Hotels, bowing to the demands of their ownership, begin to waiver in maintenance and service standards, price competitiveness and room availability. Government leaders and support agencies question the rationale for hosting an event that stretches city services and budget.

A look into the future reveals the benefits of a closer alliance between both public and private entities that are communicating with and serving your customer. The convention center manager must be able to link all applicable agencies and businesses into a more collaborative effort. Remember, customers must be able to depend on the brand to deliver the same experience every time. Because your market experiences your values through your brand, the only way your customer will truly become loyal to your community and facility is through your dedication, commitment and consistency.

Facility and convention bureau executives as well as elected officials are recognizing the value of enhancing the coordination of their sales and marketing efforts, sharing marketing resources and cross-selling, with a goal of growing business while minimizing duplication/overlapping of efforts.

In San Diego, CA, city officials placed the burden of selling the facility onto the convention center by transferring sales associates from the convention bureau into the facility and making them employees of the corporation. The convention and visitors bureau is now strictly focusing on tourism. In Rochester, NY, convention sales teams from both the visitors association and the convention center are housed within the convention center. The change has improved resource efficiency and dramatically improved customer response time.

Tightening resources (especially room taxes which cities are turning to for revenue relief) have led some communities to establish additional industry-wide assessment programs, primarily via Business Improvement District (BID) formation. Sacramento, CA, and Spokane, WA have led this trend by working to revamp their state's BID laws to allow for individual business sector (primarily hotels) assessments to augment their lower-than-average public funding revenues. This trend has increased some convention bureaus sales/marketing budgets by as much as 50 percent.

More and more collaborative efforts are being seen as a way to pool resources and align messages and efforts. An excellent example is the Convention Marketing Committee formed by interested stakeholders in the convention industry in Madison, WI. The committee, consisting of members from two convention/trade show facilities, six support hotels and the convention bureau, aligned to set market strategy for the destination.

Their work, which included the analysis of the benchmarks, capabilities and strengths of the market and facilities, resulted in a Joint Effort Marketing Grant from the State of Wisconsin Department of Tourism. The resulting $80,000 budget will target growing industries, and past as well as future top convention producers who have a concentration of industry experts living within the area. The targeted groups will be organizations and businesses not already targeted by other marketing strategies. The marketing message communicated to these organizations is credible because they know Madison will be able to deliver on the brand promise of the destination.

If you are not thinking more globally, outside the walls of your facility, you may be missing an opportunity to become more efficient and effective at the way your message is delivered. And by not paying attention to the efforts going on outside your walls you may be disappointing the one entity that keeps you in business – your customers.

Gregg McManners is director of operations for the Monona Terrace Convention Center in Madison, WIisconson. He may be contacted at gmcmanners@mononaterrace.com.