Successful Meetings - May 2010 - 52

DETROIT > TENACIOUS ‘D’

TENACIOUS

‘D’

A CONTINUING DOWNTOWN REVIVAL, A BIT OF MARKETING HUMOR, AND PLANS FOR NEW COBO CENTER LIFT DETROIT
By William Ng

T

here is a lot to love about Detroit. Yes, really. So says Larry Alexander, president and CEO of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau, who acknowledges that the city has a public relations challenge amid the auto industry crisis, recent mayoral scandal, and battered image of its downtown. But Alexander and the CVB are overcoming misconceptions by highlighting the $20 billion worth of modern civic and hospitality infrastructure that, in the past several years, has turbocharged a downtown revitalization. And they have been using some self-deprecating marketing humor. “The sales team knows how to take rejection well,” laughs Alexander.

When Mensa International, in 2007, selected Detroit and the suburb of Dearborn for its 2010 Annual Gathering, which takes place next month, the CVB came up with an ad that read: “Who’s the Genius Who Picked Detroit? The Board of Directors of Mensa.” The ad continued: “If the smartest 2 percent of the world’s population chose Detroit … what’s your excuse?” And when the Public Relations Society of America International Conference swooped into “The D” less than two years ago, it circulated this ad: “Finally, Detroit Gets Some Good PR.” But there is dead seriousness behind the CVB’s creative strategy. Says Alexander, “We’re working hard, we know there’s an

Downtown Detroit has undergone massive revitalization, and the city’s CVB has continued to make planners aware

ESSENTIAL Tool Box
CONVENTION CENTERS & FACILITIES
Cobo Center (700,000 sf of exhibit space, 80 meeting rooms totaling 178,446 sf of space)

DAILY BUSINESS COSTS*
Hotel $190.30, F&B $108.77, Car $175.25

FOR MORE INFORMATION
www.visitdetroit.com www.cobocenter.com
*Business Travel News 2010 Corporate Travel Index

READERS Recommend
PINNACLE AWARDS GO TO:
• MGM Grand Detroit

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - May 2010

Successful Meetings - May 2010
Contents
Editor's Letter
Senate Passes FAA Reauthorization
Education
Meetings Law
Incentive Insights
Visionaries
Guilt-Free Pleasure
A Million Dollar Handoff
Show Me the Results
Places + Spaces
India
Indianapolis
Detroit
Cincinnati
Britain
London

Successful Meetings - May 2010