Big wild life: big wild conventions: attracting organizations will bring millions to Anchorage.

• Author: Saupe, Julie

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The year 2008 is the genesis of a new era for the conventions and meetings market in Anchorage due to extensive expansion of the city's convention centers.

The Anchorage Convention Centers' facilities comprised of the new 200,000-square-foot Dena'ina Civic & Convention Center, the newly remodeled Egan Center, and the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts (PAC), will increase the citywide convention capacity by 300 percent. This change is noteworthy, in that the city is now able to compete for, retain, and host multiple mid-sized conventions simultaneously, as well as bid for larger conventions with up to 5,000 attendees.

Meetings are big business in Anchorage and growing this industry is instrumental to the development of the city's economy.

In 2007, the business of conventions boasted an economic impact of $97 million. Individually, each meeting or event positively impacts the city's bottom line, but collectively, conventions cause a ripple effect that deposits essential dollars into local accommodations, restaurants, tour companies, retailers, service providers and the arts community. With that in mind, ACVB has engineered an aggressive marketing strategy, setting the stage for Anchorage to increase its share of the meetings market pie.

SELLING A CITY

Representing Anchorage in a national and international meetings arena comes with its inherent advantages and disadvantages. Anchorage's unique geographic position provides the city with the beneficial reputation as an exotic locale, filled with once-in-a-lifetime experiences awaiting eager travelers. That authentic Alaska image, while a boon for tourism, simultaneously conjures images of snow-covered streets, icy walkways and often-antiquated technology in the mind of the meeting planner. Educating meeting planners about the feasibility of year-round opportunities in Anchorage's convention calendar and emphasizing the city's modern facilities, world-class amenities, advanced technological capabilities and competitive pricing are paramount to securing successful meeting bids.

Taking a cue from the Internet's social networking sites, one of the strategies ACVB employs to combat these "cold and old" images is creating a network of advocates for the city within the Anchorage business community.

By working with local business that have national and international ties, ACVB positions Anchorage from within the walls of a given company. A prime example of this type of...