J Magazine Fall 2017

‘‘
right convention center built at the right time
Cities that know the
VALUE Of convention
centers and trade shows know
it goes far beyond the dollars
spent at the meetings.”
PAUL ASTLEFORD
Visit Jacksonville president and CEO
the person most specifically responsible
for revitalization.
More specifically, in that new study, the
Strategic Advisory Group figured that the
— note those qualifications — could deliver
$3.52 in economic impact for every $1 invested
in debt service and operating-cost subsidy.
But Jacksonville would be buying into
intense intercity competition. “There are
rivalries between cities for the best sports
team, snack food, even slogan. But the most
cutthroat competition might be one local residents
barely ever notice: the bruising, toothand-nail
fight to host conventions and other
big special events,” Amanda Erickson wrote
five years ago in a CityLab article titled “Is It
Time to Stop Building Convention Centers?”
She quoted Christopher Leinberger, a
fellow in the Brookings Institution Metropolitan
Policy Program, as saying too many people
bought into the same vision at the same
time. “So many were saying, ‘All you have
to do is get 1 percent of the national market
and you’ll do just fine.’ Three hundred cities
bought the same logic.
“You need to look very carefully before
building another convention center in this
country.”
Sanders, in his “Convention Center Follies,”
said consultants may claim a long-term
history of demand for convention-center
space, but actual demand fluctuates with the
national economy, plunging after 9/11 and
the Great Recession.
Current data from the Center for Exhibition
Industry Research show that conventions
and trade shows rebounded quickly
after the recession in events, attendees and
spending but have leveled off with modest
growth.
IACC, an international association of
small- to medium-sized conference venues,
also reports growth: “As the meetings industry
continues its recovery for the fourth year,
IACC is seeing increased investment in newbuild,
meetings-focused venues as well as
capital investment in existing venues looking
to be at the forefront of meetings innovation.”
Sanders cautioned, “The reality of far
more limited growth, even in the face of a
continuing expansion of supply, is that the
convention market appeared to be increasingly
zero-sum.”
So a Jacksonville convention center
would plunge into immediate and intense
competition to take business away from other
cities — not the national powers like Chicago,
Atlanta and Orlando or what Sanders
calls “prime visitor destinations” like Boston
and San Francisco, but rather regional cities
like Tampa, Charlotte, Baltimore or Dallas.
So if we built a fancy new convention center,
how would we compete?
“First of all, it’s the destination,” said Brad
Mayne, president and CEO of the International
Association of Venue Managers. “Our
annual conference this year is in Nashville,
A tech conference attendee
finds a quite place to work on
his computer at the Prime F.
Osborn III Convention Center.