Wild Review for December 2005

Aggressive Plans in 2006 to Build Business for the New Civic and Convention Center

Last month, I discussed the exciting developments in the Communications & Marketing Department with the rollout of our new Web site. This month, I want to tell you about ACVB’s planed efforts in convention sales for 2006, and give you a brief snapshot of what is ahead.

As with any effective planning process, the goals established need to be meaningful and measurable and, to a degree, timeless. Goals for ACVB contain strategies and actions and provide guidelines for these commitments. They are representative of the purpose and mission of an organization and establish the criteria that determine investments. The three primary goals for ACVB are:

1. Generate more tourism dollars to sustain / diversify Anchorage economy.
   
2. Establish ACVB as the expert for visitor information, statistics and resources for our key audiences, including meeting planners, travel agents and tour operators, media-members.
   
3. Convince Alaskans of tourism’s value in the Anchorage community.

In particular, let’s focus on the work plan for ACVB’s Convention Meeting Sales and Services(CMSS) department. Activities in CMSS for 2006 can be broken down to a handful of areas. Starting with lead development, our sales managers and sales support staff work through sales leads to establish a prioritized list of accounts to pursue. Contact begins with key decision-makers, and in some markets, ACVB employs part-time assistance of companies such as Parker Pacific Company and The Hyland Group.

ACVB’s preliminary sales blitz calendar will hit the following cities with the support and assistance of ACVB members and hoteliers. The ACVB sales team will be in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Juneau, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco/Oakland, Seattle, and Washington, DC. During the sales blitz, sales managers will meet face-to- face with prospective clients and sell the services and amenities available in our city. This is also our opportunity to work as a team to highlight Anchorage’s sophistication as a meeting destination and its unique exotic appeal as a world-class destination.

The CMSS team will also be working the following industry trade shows to build sales leads, which will increase targeted larger meetings for the new civic and convention center.

• American Society of Association Executives Annual Convention /Boston
  

• Holiday Showcase/Chicago
  
• IT&ME/Chicago
  
• Springtime/Washington, DC
  
• Connected International
  
• Meeting Planners Association-TBD
  
• Destinations Showcase/Washington, DC

The CMSS sales schedule also includes familiarization (or fam) trips for 2006, which brings prospective meeting planners to Anchorage for three days to experience activities, view the area and conduct hotel and convention center site inspections. Seeing is believing, and we view our fam programs as being highly effective. 2006 fams are: March—Iditarod Fam; May—Spring Fam; and September—Fall Fam.

This program requires a significant commitment of time and resources. However, in many cases, it is the deal-closer in securing convention business.

In short, ACVB has an aggressive plan in the making for 2006, recognizing the importance of building business for the new civic and convention center. With our civic and convention capacity increasing by 300percent, it will take our resources and collaboration with ACVB members to ensure the success of the city’s convention business. These are great opportunities for Anchorage, with great returns to the economy of our city.

Bruce Bustamante

---

The Anchorage Advantage

Jim Henderson and Barbara Kramer were joined by representatives from most major hotels in Anchorage as well as Alaska Heritage Tours on our trip to the San Francisco Bay Area where they sponsored the luncheon at the Leadership Institute organized by the Northern California Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI).

The Institute took place on Nov. 2, at the Sofitel San Francisco Bay Hotel with about 75 members in attendance. The Anchorage Team had plenty of opportunities to network with the attendees. Jim Henderson gave a captivating PowerPoint presentation about the advantages of planning meetings in Anchorage.