Meeting News - January 7, 2008 - (Page 14)

CVBs Dallas Chief Urges Construction of HQ Hotel Phillip Jones goes on record: City is poised for bigger opportunities but lacks inventory Center is five blocks away—the Adolphus, with 422 guest rooms, 16 suites, and 24,000 sf of meeting and event space. And, reportedly, the convention center itself is lacking in meeting rooms to accommodate conventions that require substantial break-out sessions. Karen Malone, vice president of meeting services for Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society, told Tradeshow Week that her group would avoid Dallas unless the city manages to secure an anchor hotel that can provide her organization with more meeting rooms and another 200,000 sf of exhibition space. The HIMSS show will be in Orlando this year and in Chicago in 2009. The Dallas Convention Center comprises more than 1 million sf, with 726,726 sf of contiguous exhibition space, along with a 203,000-sf columnfree exhibit hall. In addition, the center has a 9,816-seat arena, a theater with a 1,750-person capacity, and 96 meeting rooms. Currently, the only other major meetings city without a headquarters hotel is Los Angeles, but its L.A. Live project will add two HQ properties by 2010. (For more on the L.A. Live development, see Destination Insider on page 27.) Apparently, part of the years-long delay in Dallas has been the necessity for public funding to aid in the headquarters hotel’s development. Nine different sites are under consideration for the property, and the city is hoping for a hotel of at least 1,000 guest rooms and 100,000 sf of meeting space. Edited by Elizabeth West elizabeth.west@nielsen.com Hartford (above), Madison, and Spokane form latest CVB triad. Photo: Dallas CVB Three More CVBs in Joint Marketing Effort New York—Seeking to leverage similar services, facilities, and geographical diversity, the bureaus of Hartford, CT; Madison, WI; and Spokane, WA, have formed a marketing partnership to promote multi-year, rotating meetings in their respective cities. “There is a market for second-tier cities that consider citywide business,” said Greater Hartford bureau’s vice president of sales, Michael Van Parys. Krista Flanagan, Greater Madison CVB’s vice president of sales and marketing, added, “We hope to. . .develop relationships with planners that extend to all three destinations.” Joint marketing agreements among similar but geographically dispersed destinations are turning into a trend. Earlier in the fall, Sacramento joined with Baltimore and Fort Worth in a three-city arrangement to market a meetings package—an arrangement the participants termed as unique at the time (see Dec. 17 MN, p. 18). The newest trio of cooperating CVBs will work to accomplish similar goals, developing a three-city approach suited to associations seeking destinations for their rotations, as well as corporations with regional meeting needs. H —Section by Christopher Hosford www.meetingnews.com “Big D” needs more sleeping rooms to snag the nation’s biggest convention groups. Dallas—No ifs, ands, or buts. Phillip Jones, president/CEO of the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, said the city must have an anchor hotel next to its convention center. Last month, Jones told a gathering celebrating the CVB’s 50th anniversary that Dallas needs a headquarters hotel if the city doesn’t want to lose some of the biggest shows in the country that are already signed and ready to go but are ready to walk if space becomes inadequate. “We cannot reach our potential as a destination without an [anchor] hotel,” Jones said.“There are 80 groups that won’t come here because they have outgrown the city.” Currently, the nearest hotel to the Dallas Convention Down Under, It’s Green for the Holidays and Beyond Melbourne CVB is taking conservation to heart in 2008 T he Melbourne Convention & Visitors Bureau partnered with Climate Friendly to deliver a fully climate-neutral Christmas event for its members in December. Climate Friendly conducted a green audit of MCVB’s event—calculating the dollar value of carbon emissions generated by the event. Then, MCVB used several strategies to achieve its climate-neutral goal: G Ticket sales to offset carbon emissions G Using local produce for climate-neutral meals G 100-percent green power electrical sources G E-invites only Recycled-paper name badges MCVB staff to arrive by tram or train Sandra Chipchase, MCVB’s CEO, said that this was one way that the bureau is leading and supporting green initiatives in the business events industry in Australia. “We recently completed an audit of Melbourne’s green credentials and will be releasing more information about that shortly,” Chipchase said. “In addition, Asia-Pacific Incentives & Meeting Expo 2008 will be the first major business events industry exhibition in Australia to be climate neutral,” she said. G G 14 MeetingNews January 7, 2008 http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nielsen/mn121707/index.php?startpage=18 http://www.meetingnews.com

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