20 Convention planning tips: go green, share, shop around, save big in buyer's market.

• Author: Resz, Heather A.
• Position: SPECIAL SECTION: CONVENTIONS

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As a destination for meetings and conventions, the mystique of the Great Land is unique. While many cities have convention facilities, none can match the opportunity Alaska offers to turn a convention into a family adventure.

ALASKA LURES

"The amenities that meeting planners and attendees seek can be found throughout Alaska, but it is the lure of the experience that makes Alaska such a great destination," said Jennifer Jolis, director of meetings and conventions at the Fairbanks Convention and Visitors Bureau.

As Sen. Mark Begich is known to boast, Anchorage is one of the few places you can catch a 50-pound king salmon, walk a few blocks to a five-star restaurant, and attend a Broadway play the same night, all without leaving downtown.

In fact, as he'll tell you, even the city's tap water is extraordinary--ice cold from glacier-fed Eklutna Lake in the Chugach Mountains.

For decades, destinations across the state such as Anchorage, Fairbanks, the Mat-Su Borough, Juneau and Sitka have been marketed as world-class for meetings and conventions. The economic impact of conventions held in Anchorage in 2008 was nearly $97.3 million, according to the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau.

ANCHORAGE TRUMPS

ACVB President and CEO Julie Saupe said 2009 meetings are keeping pace with 2008 numbers and sales are on track to reach $95 million in meetings sold for the year.

Annual meetings held and sold figures are expected to increase as the impact of bookings at the new $111 million, 215,000-square-foot Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center downtown hits its stride.

"We're a brand new destination these large conventions always wanted to come to, but were too big," says Karen Zak, general manager of Visions Meeting and Event Management. "The addition of the Dena'ina Center has opened up a whole new market."

Before the Dena'ina center became available last summer, Anchorage did not have the facilities to host "mega" conventions in the range of 3,000 to 5,000 people concurrent with large trade shows, now it does.

When a large convention comes to town, not only does it fill downtown hotels, but participants overflow into the midtown hotels and beyond, she said.

ALASKA DEALS

This season's forecast for reduced statewide tourism and an increase in hotel inventory is good news for people planning a meeting or convention in Alaska, according to Zak, a 20-year industry veteran.

"I am encouraging my clients to schedule their meetings this...