6 cities looking at 2012 RNC bids

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2012 Democratic National Convention Site Selection News
2012 Republican National Convention Site Selection News

Atlanta is moving forward with its efforts to bid for the 2012 Republican National Convention, with a meeting planned for Nov. 22 to kickstart the effort. Here's the October letter announcing the meeting:

We are excited to announce the formation of the Georgia 2012 Republican National Convention Bid Committee. I wanted to give you an update:

The first meeting of the Committee will be Saturday November 22, 2008.
...
After Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine called for Atlanta to host the RNC in 2012 at the 2008 RNC in Minneapolis Minnesota, members of the party have unified behind this effort.

And even better for us, they let us know who the competition is:

Already Republicans in Arizona (Phoenix), Indiana (Indianapolis), Louisiana (New Orleans), and Texas (Dallas) are organized and moving forward with their 2012 bids. All these states have already formed committees - before the close of the 2008 election cycle. In fact, Arizona who is busy trying to elect their US Senator as President, is able to also focus on 2012. New Orleans has already earned the support of the Democrat Mayor, who sent an official delegation to Minnesota to observe and prepare for their bid. Indianapolis is hosting the 2012 Super Bowl and the Indiana state GOP is working with the business community - today - to do both the Super Bowl and the National Convention.

There are also stirrings in San Antonio:

San Antonio was at one time among the cities considered to host the 2008 Democratic and Republican national conventions, but those mega events were eventually awarded to Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul, respectively.

Now some Texas Republican leaders say they would support San Antonio making a bid as a potential host city for the GOP’s 2012 national convention.

San Antonio showed indifference in 2006 when it was among the cities under consideration by both parties for their 2008 national conventions.

That spring, San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger, concerned with the high costs associated with hosting a national political convention, informed officials on both sides of the political aisle that the Alamo City was declining the invitations to bid.

See here and here on why San Antonio dropped out of the 2008 bid process.

Previous posts on Indianapolis and Dallas.

Washington Post needs to do a little research

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The Washington Post tried to give an overview of the site selection process, but didn't do a good job:

The Democrats' choice of Denver for the convention, to be held Aug. 25-28, 2008, in a downtown basketball and hockey arena, had become almost a foregone conclusion in recent months.

First mistake. Denver was always a netroots favorite, and often a front-runner, but never a foregone conclusion, especially when their bid was considered "disatrous".

In the initial jostling to be host city, New Orleans seemed to be the front-runner, because a convention there would remind voters of the Bush administration's much-criticized response to Hurricane Katrina.

Mistake 2: New Orleans was always an intriguing choice, but it's downsides never made it the front-runner.

When New Orleans officials dropped out of the competition last summer -- the city said it couldn't afford to host a convention in the midst of rebuilding -- New York and Denver became the finalists.

Biggest mistake. When New Orleans dropped out, that left three cities. The Post missed St. Paul, which was probably the favorite until the GOP picked it for their convention. Only then did New York and Denver become the final two. Three mistakes in three paragraphs. Let's hope the rest of the paper has a better average.

How we got here

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There have been a lot of new readers since this blog started over a year ago, so here's a summary of how we got to two cities, Denver and New York, both vying to be the host of the 2008 Democratic National Convention:

I started the blog on November 7, 2005, just after DNC Chairman Howard Dean announced that the convention would be held Aug 25-28, 2008, just after the Summer Olympics, which was a great date both for both financial and political reasons, and eventually forced the GOP to start their convention on Labor Day. New Orleans was the first city openly discussed, but Denver, as they have all year, was first in expressing interest, forming a Host Committee, and accepting an invitation to bid for the convention. But even by late November, 2005, questions about Denver's labor issues began to surface. By mid-December, 35 cities were invited to bid to host the convention.

Although other cities such as Anchorage were proposed, the real players soon emerged. First to accept a bid were Denver and Orlando, soon followed by Anaheim, Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York City, Phoenix and San Antonio, with Denver, New Orleans and New York considered the front-runners, although the netroots supported Denver and New Orleans. Some cities started slowly: Detroit couldn't agree whether it had accepted the bid, Dallas was more concerned about the Mary Kay convention, and San Antonio was worried about feasibility and costs. By mid-April, Orlando was expressing concerns about the cost. Phoenix was the first to drop out, and Orlando and San Antonio soon followed.

The DNC held their spring meeting in April in New Orleans, which brought front and center the good and bad about having the convention there, and where the general feeling was that Denver had the bid all locked up, although the first signs of problems from local Denver union officials began to surface. Anaheim dropped out in early May, soon followed by Dallas, and then, surprisingly, Detroit, thought to have a good chance to host the convention, and finally Las Vegas, which realized it could make more money with their normal convention schedule than with a political convention. This left four cities which were reported to have made bids to host the convention: Denver, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New Orleans and New York.

Or maybe not. Questions about whether New Orleans really made a bid started to surface, as no site visit had been scheduled, and in mid-July, it was official - New Orleans dropped out, saying the cost of holding the event after Hurricane Katrina last year was too massive. This was a controversial decision, with some feeling the DNC should have lessened the financial requirements for New Orleans due to its special situation.

In June, the Site Selection Committee started its visits, visiting New York, Denver and Minneapolis/St. Paul. July saw Denver trying to raise money from other states, the DNC focusing on the St. Paul Xcel Center for the Twin Cities bid, and Denver hiring a "heavy hitter" to run its bid. August started quiet, although Denver, New York and St. Paul all hosted receptions at the summer DNC meeting. But by the end of the summer, money and labor issues were impacting Denver's bid.

Denver's efforts bottomed out in early September, when its bid was called "disastrous". But the bid improved, and when the GOP preemptively chose St. Paul as the site of their convention, Denver was a contender again, Then Denver's Convention Headquarters Hotel was unionized, which was considered a "huge deal".

Denver's roll continued with reports that New York was having problems raising money, and then Democrats won the Governor's race in Colorado. And while Dean expressed concern about Denver's ability to raise money, Denver seemed to answer those concerns.

Denver was confident that would get the nod in a early December decision, but New York made a last-minute push, and by mid-December it was 50-50, with a decision considered imminent. But then a Denver union leader refused to sign a no-strike pledge, New York had more issues raising money, and finally the DNC announced they were delaying a decision until January.

So where does that leave us? With the following questions:

Where does Hillary Clinton really want the convention?
Where does New York mayor Mike Bloomberg really want the convention?
Where does Denver's Local No. 7 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees really want the convention?
And finally, the only question that really matters, where does DNC Chairman Howard Dean really want the convention?

Looking back at 1988

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Kerri Rebresh over at Colorado Confidential has a look back at the site selection for the 1988 Democratic Convention. After the GOP chose New Orleans, Houston and Atlanta were the final two, and the DNC chose Atlanta for political reasons not unlike the arguments for Denver in 2008.

For more on the 2004 site selection, see my post here, and Democracy in Action's overview here.

Update: Her take on 1996 is now up. Interestingly, she mentions that it was originally proposed that the final night of the 1996 GOP convention be held outdoors at the baseball stadium. At one point, a similar proposal may have been part of Denver's bid this year, although I wrote in March that I thought it made no sense.

Update: 1992 and 2000 are now available

Hurricanes hurt Tampa's GOP bid

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I've argued here and here that it's just not fair to rule out coastal cities as hosts of political conventions because of hurricanes. Five conventions have been held in hurricane prone cities in recent years: Houston - 1992, New Orleans - 1988, Miami Beach: 1968 (Rep) and 1972 (both Dem and Rep). Add Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Charlotte, and even Philadelphia, New York and Boston, and you've got a lot of potential cities that could be hit by a hurricane. Well unfortunately for Tampa, Tropical Storm Ernesto was headed toward Florida in late August, and it looks like the GOP did not want to take a chance:

Tampa bid organizers said [Ken] Mehlman, [chairman of the Republican National Committee] told them the threat of hurricanes cost them the convention.

How short-sited of the GOP. Are they also going to avoid West Coast cities also because of the potential for earthquakes? Actually that's fine. Hopefully the Democrats can make a big statement in 2012 by having the convention in Miami, Charlotte, or, of course, New Orleans.

New Orleans Superdome re-opens

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Through much of the spring, I followed New Orlean's progress towards recovery and its ability to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention. A lot of people were disappointed when New Orleans decided not to bid for the convention, citing higher priorities. While I think that was the right decision, as I write this, there are over 70,000 people in the Superdome getting ready to watch the Saints play a football game, and that's way more than would ever be inside the Superdome for a political convention. While I understand that the logistical requirements of the convention are far greater than for a regular-season NFL game, it makes you wonder whether New Orleans made the decision not to bid for the 2008 Democratic Convention a bit prematurely.

Hurricanes and conventions

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As we hit the one year anniversary of Katrina, and as we are almost exactly two years away from the 2008 Democratic and Republican Conventions, I wanted to revisit the question of whether the parties should hold their conventions in hurricane-prone cities.

When New Orleans was still a major contender for the Democratic convention, I claimed that the chances of a hurricane actually hitting a specific city during a convention was so low, that it was unfair to rule out New Orleans as a site for this reason. And it's not just New Orleans (which hosted the GOP in '88); it's also Miami, which has hosted multiple conventions, Tampa, in the running for the GOP in '08, and Houston, which hosted the GOP in '92. Unless you want to put a permanent hex on these cities' tourist industry every late summer/fall, it just wasn't fair.

Let's look at it another way. The Democrats were in San Francisco in 1984. In 1989, a major earthquake hit during the World Series. If the earthquake had happened 3 years before the convention, would the Democrats have been justified in going elsewhere? I don't think so.

Well, that's all well and good, but 24 hours ago, it looked like a hurricane was heading towards the west coast of Florida. (Luckily, the threat has lessened since then). Ohio blogger Psychobilly Democrat has been following the GOP site selection process because Cleveland is in the running, and he writes:

Just thinking out loud, but if I'm part of the committee deciding where to place the next GOP convention, I'm realizing that about 2 years to the day from now, the 2008 RNC Convention is slated to start.

I'm remembering that just a year ago, again almost to the day, Hurricane Katrina rumbled through the Gulf Coast and came ashore in Louisiana and Mississippi with 125mph winds, strong enough to earn Category 3 status.

I'm watching Tropical Storm Ernesto bearing down on Florida.

And I'm thinking: Tampa Bay isn't such a great choice, is it?

This is not good timing for Tampa's bid.

National Urban League president urges a New Orleans convention

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While his heart is in the right place, the National Urban League's president Marc Morial's call for the Democrats and Republicans to hold their 2008 convention in New Orleans is a bit of a publicity stunt at this point:

In spite of the fact that New Orleans officials in July withdrew their bid to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention, the president of the National Urban League on Wednesday urged both parties to hold their conventions in the city.

New Orleans on July 13 said it was too difficult to raise money to finance a national political convention. A spokesman for the city told Congressional Quarterly that city officials wanted to focus on rebuilding the city after Hurricane Katrina instead of spending time and money on a political convention.
...
National Urban League President and CEO Marc Morial said [the convention] could help rebuild New Orleans and that hosting one of the conventions there "will also demonstrate that the nation's political leaders are squarely and solidly committed to rebuilding."

In a letter sent Wednesday Morial urged DNC Chairman Howard Dean and RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman to consider New Orleans. Morial asked both political leaders to limit convention expenditures to 50 percent of the 2004 levels and contribute the rest to rebuilding the Gulf Coast.

"The GOP came to New York City's rescue in 2004. Why can't the political parties come to the aid of New Orleans, which was hit by a tragedy nearly as grave as 9/11 and as deserving of such grand gestures," Morial said.

Everything was OK until this statement. The GOP convention in 2004 did not come to rescue New York, it came to use New York as a prop in the GOP's politicization of 9/11. New York did not need any rescuing three years after 9/11, and certainly not from the GOP.

"Our political leaders need to put their rhetoric into real action. What better way to help the victims than to hold their conventions right in the midst of Katrina's Ground Zero," Morial said.

I think most people could think of lots of better ways to help victims of Katrina then holding a political convention 3 years later. If Morial was serious, he could have released this letter before New Orleans dropped out, when it was still relevant. But in any event, the leaders of New Orleans decided their time and resources were best spent elsewhere, and we should not ask them to revisit that decision.

Is Denver's union issue really an issue?

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I've been tracking the Denver union issue here, here and here, but, to be honest, it's really hard to judge whether this will be a significant problem for Denver's bid to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention. In recent history, the Democrats have never held their convention in a non-union city before - it's a main reason the Democrats have never held their convention in New Orleans. However, Dean's 50-state strategy clearly calls for Democrats to go into and contest areas that aren't traditionally Democratic, and if Dean wants the convention in the Mountain West in order to make an impact in that area, by definition he's going to have to hold the convention in a city whose hotels are, in general, not unionized.

If there are any readers out there who feel that they have a good insight into this issue, please comment on whether you think the lack of union hotels is or is not a significant problem for Denver's bid.

Bid cities to host receptions at August DNC meeting

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In April, the DNC held a meeting in New Orleans and I watched with interest how different cities were hosting receptions, and especially how Orlando's cancelling of their reception was followed 2 weeks later by them dropping out of the running to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Well the DNC is meeting in Chicago in August, and the three cities still in the running are all hosting parties:

New York: Thursday Aug 17 - evening
Minneapolis/St. Paul: Friday Aug 18 - evening
Denver: Saturday Aug 19 - morning

Unless the New York reception gets cancelled, I can assume the rumor about New York dropping out is unfounded.

Denver makes pitch to DLC Democrats

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The DLC was in Denver this weekend for a major meeting, and Colorado Democrats promoting Denver's bid to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention took full advantage of the opportunity:

"It was really well taken," Farber said Monday. Denver lawyer Steve Farber, who co-chairs the committee trying to woo the Democrats, hosted about 200 officials at his house Sunday night. He made a point to invite them back on the eve of the 2008 convention.

...

"Many of the delegates felt very comfortable with Denver, so it wasn't just pushing," he said. "It was letting them feel what Denver was about and knowing that Denver could do a good job hosting the convention."

In fact, the DLC gathering took the role of a kind of test run while Denver officials hinted, nudged and yanked the idea of a Western convention into conversations, or discussed the idea in informal meetings.

Before his remarks Monday, Mayor John Hickenlooper made sure to draw attention to the city's ability to host a large convention. "It is not just the hotel rooms, and it's not just how clean the city is," Hickenlooper said after he addressed the DLC. "I think they have been generally impressed with the spirit of the city. It's Republicans working with Democrats, and it's all important issues rather that just bickering over somebody's interpretation of a problem."

...

Local officials have been frothy on Denver's chances since New Orleans pulled out of the competition this month. Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff said Monday that the convention "is ours to lose."

Denver is very optimistic, but St. Paul has a lot going for it also.

Democratic Convention Quotes

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Here are some recent quotes from and about the cities bidding for the 2008 Democratic National Convention:

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman:

I am very optimistic that one of these conventions would be held in the Twin Cities. When you look at the amount of time that the Democrats spent in the Twin Cities, they're doing it for a reason."

DNC spokesman Damien LaVera:

"In the end, we're sure we'll select a city that will position our candidate for a great campaign," LaVera said, adding that logistics are the main factor in deciding where the convention is located.

City Councilwoman Elbra Wedgeworth, co-chairwoman of Denver's host committee, discussing St. Paul and New York:

"Denver is the only one not bidding for the Republican National Convention as well."

"More from Wedgeworth:

"It's been 100 years since we've hosted a convention here," she said. "We're also casting it as a regional bid - Wyoming, Montana, Utah, Kansas - we look at it as a place focusing on the Midwest and the West."

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, on New Orleans dropping its bid:

"It's hurricane season and that makes it tricky," he said. "They were certainly a sentimental favorite, but after Katrina it will take a few years before people feel comfortable. I think they will come back, though. It's a great city."

"And just like the last time I did this, I couldn't find one quote about New York. There's just nothing interesting to say about New York's bid, and I don't think that's a good thing for New York's chances.

Denver comments on New Orleans

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Dan Slater, Vice-Chair of the Denver 2008 Host Committee, is very happy that a potential contender is gone:

This is obviously great news for Denver’s ongoing bid. New Orleans’ exit leaves Denver, New York City, and Minneapolis - St. Paul as the only remaining finalists for the 2008 Convention (and both New York and Minneapolis - St. Paul are also bidding for the Republican Convention). (Caveat: for those of you who are unaware, I serve as the Vice-Chair of the Denver 2008 Host Committee.) The Denver 2008 Host Committee is continuing to work hard to raise the money and exceed the expectations of the DNC. Expect to continue to hear good news about our bid in the next few weeks…

New Orleans is out - updated

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As I posted yesterday, New Orleans is no longer in the running to host the 2008 Democratic Convention:

New Orleans has dropped out of the race to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention, saying the cost of holding the event after Hurricane Katrina last year was too massive.

...

"The main reason is that we're not at a point to raise the millions and millions required," said Kelly Schulz, vice president of communications with the city's conventions and visitors bureau. Schulz estimated it would require at least $11 million in in-kind donations.

"If we're going to raise millions of dollars in sponsorship, it can go to other needs," Schulz said. "We're definitely open for business again, but there were larger needs. It might be a little early to host something this large."

It all came down to money for New Orleans, and this is the right decision for the city. While they could host the convention in 2008, and they would have done a fine job, the focus just needs to be on more important things.

I would also expect Howard Dean to be breathing a sigh of relief as he doesn't have to be in the position of saying no, or saying yes, to New Orleans.

A source tells me that they were told that New Orleans never really submitted a bid, or maybe never submitted a complete bid, after they supposedly got an extension. The details at this point are not important. No more posts about Librarians or Realtors. And then there were three...

Update: Comments from news reports from the cities:

New Orleans' WWLTV:

New Orleans Convention and Tourism President Steve Perry said the city would have needed to raise $70 million to host the event, money which generally comes from big Fortune 500 companies.

Perry said in a post-storm environment, New Orleans does not have any of those companies to turn to for help in raising the capital.

“The Democratic National Committee would have definitely loved to have come here, it would have been a perfect fit for them from the political side and it would have been a great fit for us from the tourism, and convention and meeting side. But the sheer finances of it now have just put it out of our range.”

From Denver's Rocky Mountain News:

Colorado Democrats aren’t breaking out the champagne just yet, but New Orleans’ decision to drop out of the race to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention certainly improves Denver’s odds.

"Clearly, the fewer contenders, the better," said Pat Waak, chairwoman of the Colorado Democratic Party. "I think many worried New Orleans would draw a sympathy vote. Now, with them out, we clearly have a better chance of hosting the convention," she said.

Still in the competition, however, is New York and Minneapolis-St.Paul, both strong contenders because they are so well-known to the eastern establishment, political observers say. "But I think Democrats are looking to the West, and Colorado certainly is one of those states that could switch from red to blue, so along with our scenery and proven capacity to host a convention, I think we are in a strong position," Waak said.

And from Minneapolis, the Twin Cities Pioneer Press:

“Given the current situation in New Orleans, when we looked at what we had to raise, financially -- $70 million -- we felt that wasn’t a good financial decision,” said New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau director of communications Mary Beth Romig when the Scoop called her this afternoon.

The dropout was first suggested by Democracy in Action and by the Demconwatch blog, so we thought we’d just ring up the Big Easy and see if it were true. Shore ‘nuff.

“Certainly, we don’t want it to be a reflection that we can’t host a convention that size,” Romig said. ...
But given that parts of the city are uninhabitable and, well, it’s hurricane season again, New Orleans apparently thought it had better things to spend $70 million on than balloon drops and chain-link fencing.

New Orleans drops out?

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Democracy in Action is reporting that New Orleans has decided not to pursue a bid for the 2008 Democratic National Convention. I haven't seen this reported anywhere else, but the DiA site is usually reliable.

Tourism planners happy with Librarian convention

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The biggest issue New Orleans has to overcome to even have a chance of getting the 2008 Democratic National Convention is to show that the infrastructure is in place. Well, business convention planners attending the recently completed American Library Convention at the New Orleans Convention Center thought things went very well:

As the biggest conference held post-Katrina, national meeting planners watched the city perform for the ALA the last week of June — 10 months after the storm — to see if it remained capable of providing a world-class experience for an estimated 17,000 visitors.

Lingering questions about service staff shortages, a dearth of taxicabs and airport shuttles, and crime in the Crescent City remained. Patti Shock, chairwoman of the tourism and convention administration at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, said it’s one thing to convince a meeting planner to schedule an event but quite another to convince skittish members to attend.

“The images in my head are of the horrific things happening at the Convention Center — the reporter’s descriptions of the smell of death in the place. I would have a hard time walking into the Convention Center with those images in my head,” Shock said.

...

Deidre Ross, ALA director of conference services, said the media coverage wreaked havoc on the minds of her members. “People were nervous because of the stuff coming out of the media,” Ross said. “It was disgraceful. They always try to find the worst thing that happened and blow it up so our members thought all sorts of terrible things were going to happen to them.

“But the city was great. They immediately had an answer for any concerns and that was key. Because if they didn’t, our people would have been hysterical and no one would have come.”

The four-day ALA conference began June 24 and came off smoothly. “When we held the doors open and let them in building it was so emotional,” said Jill Alexander, Convention Center sales and marketing director. “We thanked everyone for coming and the attendees had tears in their eyes. They were so happy to be a part of everything.”

Ross said the ALA was concerned there wouldn’t be enough taxis to accommodate members but it turned out to be a non-issue. Staffing worries evaporated after the general service contractor said there was more than enough help. “We were last here in 2002 and there was no difference between now and then. I think New Orleans is back,” Ross said.

Sue Gourley, vice president of the National Realtors Association convention group, volunteered four staff members to work the ALA conference. The Realtors annual convention is scheduled Nov. 9-13 in New Orleans and Gourley wanted a behind-the-scenes look at operations. “We were very pleasantly surprised to hear that it all went very smoothly,” Gourley said. “The setups, the hotels and restaurants were all ready. In some ways it was smoother than it usually is.” Gourley expects a record 30,000 real estate agents to attend the New Orleans convention.

Brendan Lynch, senior associate editor with Meetings & Conventions magazine in Secaucus, N.J., traveled to New Orleans to gauge it as a premier convention destination. He said New Orleans aced the first post-K test of city infrastructure. “It passed with flying colors,” Lynch said. ... The Convention Center was in really good shape and some people said it looked better than before. Meeting planners out there are going to get that message.”

...

Not everyone remains convinced, however. Shock said librarians returned to New Orleans out of a strong sense of duty to help rebuild the city’s libraries.

“It’s not your typical group,” Shock said. “Most people are going to take a wait-and-see attitude because they’re afraid to risk their major fund-raising source for the whole year on a troubled city. You might be able to bring the meeting planner down there and do a site inspection and convince them all is well but you can’t do that for every single attendee.

Sounds like New Orleans made a major step forward here. The next test will be the site visit scheduled for August.

New Orleans site visit scheduled in August

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The delayed site visit to New Orleans is now reported as being scheduled:

Next month the delegation will be in New Orleans, the fourth city on its list of host finalists.

I'll update when a date is available.

New Orleans ALA convention mostly successful

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The American Library Association is holding its annual convention in New Orleans, and being the first big convention to be held in New Orleans, all eyes in the tourism (political and otherwise) industry are watching to see how New Orleans' infrastrucure is holding up. The verdict: mostly good, but some issues still needing work:

Participants and observers in town for the first major convention in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina offered mostly praise for the hospitality industry's handling of the event, but the limited number of flights into the city has emerged as an issue. More than 18,000 members of the American Library Association are in town for a conference at the Ernest N. Morial Convention
Center. It began Thursday and ends Wednesday. It is the first major event to test the city's convention industry, and the reaction to it will go a long way toward preserving or diminishing New Orleans' reputation as a premier convention destination.
...
Other conventioneers said they noticed that some operations were short-staffed, but they were not inconvenienced. "It's been great," said Dan Donovan, who traveled with his librarian wife from Raleigh, N.C. The hotel "is shorthanded, but everybody's doing the best they can. It
seems like people don't mind waiting."

Kevin Cleary of Cleveland said the hotel staff "apologized for (the service) upfront." "But it wasn't that bad," said Cleary, an exhibitor for Collegiate Directories Inc. "It's New Orleans. You expect a leisurely pace."
...
However, not everything has gone smoothly. The lower number of flights into Louis Armstrong International Airport has emerged as an issue. The airport has about two-thirds of the 166 flights per day it had before Katrina.
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"That is a problem," said Roz Kriener, a meeting planner with the National Association of Realtors' conventions and meetings department. Kriener is in town to observe the library convention in preparation for the Realtors convention in November, when at least 25,000 attendees are anticipated. Kriener, who has been telling members to book flights early, said the city desperately needs more direct flights to accommodate large groups. Otherwise, Kriener said, she was encouraged by what she saw and is confident New Orleans is capable once again of hosting a large conference. "Everything seems to be coming back to life," she said.

It's clear New Orleans essentially passed its first test, although it's also clear that the bar was not set too high. The larger Realtors convention in November will be an even bigger test. However I wonder if New Orleans will even still be in the competition by then. Let's see when the site visit gets scheduled. The longer it gets put off, the less likely New Orleans will stay in the competition to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Update: Some facts about the ALA convention: "The attendance was 11,605 registrants and 4704 vendors, for a total of 16,309—a little more than ten percent below the 18,344 figure for the Orlando conference in 2004 at the time".

Update 2: The site visit to New Orleans is reported to be scheduled for August.

Update 3: And from Chris Rose in the Times-Picayune:

I don't think I'm quite ready to climb to the top of the Superdome and scream "We're BACK, baby!" But as harbingers of recovery go, the American Library Association convention this weekend was a serious step in the right direction.
...
I have probably covered 100 conventions in this building over the years and the difference in appearance between this one and all the others was . . . nothing.

And the bottom line?

They were here. They got their work done. They had a great time. And nobody got shot.

New Orleans hotels look for tourists to return

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I've been tracking the recovery of New Orleans' tourism business, and the first big test starts tomorrow. New Orleans CityBusiness provides a good overview of how things are going:

About 25,000 convention attendees will visit New Orleans by the end of this month, which begins a crucial tourism return to downtown hotels post-Hurricane Katrina. At hotels like the Hilton New Orleans Riverside, where convention and meeting business made up 75 percent of the hotel’s bottom line, tourists have been absent since Katrina. But the Hilton Riverside is serving as headquarters for 3,000 attendees to the Air and Waste Management Association convention, which ends Thursday.

General Manager Fred Sawyers of the Hilton said he has worked with out-of-town meeting planners ever since Katrina inviting them to see core tourism areas are intact. Some clients, Sawyers said, have tried to drop out of 2008 and 2009 commitments claiming force majeure, an act of God rendering hotel services unavailable.

“If we get people to visit, we have a lot of success. But convincing them to come see it is a challenge,” Sawyers said. “Two important questions will be addressed in the summer: The first is ‘Can you really pull off a big convention again?’ and ‘Can you survive another hurricane season?’ ... If we do the first convention well, the pace should pick up by September.”

The first major convention calling on New Orleans will be the 20,000-attendee American Library Association June 22-28 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Convention Center officials are calling for 8,000 peak room nights while the group is in town.

...

Some downtown hotels are still repairing meeting space damaged by Katrina while others have booked local organization meetings and companies to fill the void of fewer conventions.

The Omni, which reopened to tourist reservations Dec. 1 after FEMA guests checked out, reports business in the spring is off 30 percent from the same 2005 period. The hotel recently held a wine tasting and Vintner’s Dinner event given by Rib Room chef Anthony Spizale and Gallo Family Vineyards as part of the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience. “The hotel is also still getting a lot of wedding business,” said Noto. “We’ve always done a lot of destination weddings.”

The Hilton Riverside has served as the temporary home of students from Dillard University, whose campus was severely damaged by the floodwaters that ravaged Gentilly. Sawyers said students will remain in class there until early July.

The hotel has given some Dillard students part-time jobs. Sawyers said 90 percent of the original management staff returned and he expects more of the line-level employees to return soon. Last month, 25 line-level employees at the Hilton Riverside returned to their pre-Katrina jobs, Sawyers said.

The Hilton Riverside had up to $50 million in damages from Katrina with water leaks from the roof causing a great deal of trouble. The storm tore the roof from the health club, which is above the meeting spaces. Water came through the hole and seeped down to the meeting spaces. Sawyers said 85 percent of the meeting spaces have been refurbished and a new ballroom was constructed in May.

The Marriott suffered minimal rain damage and has been open since Nov. 1. “We’ve had a solid first quarter,” Chambers said. “Room sales are comparable to the same period last year but the hotel’s ancillary business has suffered, like catering, food and beverage service.”

Flooding at the Fairmont damaged the heating, electrical and air conditioning systems, all in the basement. Roof damage also caused rain damage in the higher floors. Michael Touchy, Fairmont director of marketing, says the company plans to reopen in early fall. “You don’t get a medal for opening first. We want to do it the correct way.”

The Fairmont continues to assure clients its 70,000 square feet of meeting space and all rooms and restaurants will return with the old ambiance intact.

...

Hotel officials say it is vital for out-of-towners see tourist areas are doing fine. At the Omni, Noto brought in clients for the French Quarter Festival and Jazz Fest to spread good word-of-mouth. Chambers says most prospective clients worry about staffing levels at hotels and restaurants, the condition of downtown and the status of the airport. “People need to be convinced we can weather another storm,” he said. “The New Orleans you know and love needs you right now and we can deliver.”•

I'll update here with reports of how the ALA meeting at the Convention Center goes this week.

Convention-al Wisdom

WE'VE MOVED! Democratic Convention Watch is now at http://www.DemocraticConventionWatch.com

I've been waiting to use that title for a while. Here are some thoughts, opinions and quotes from some news articles on the site selection process for the 2008 Democratic National Convention:

Also that New York is the safe bet, a tried-and-true convention city that can handle the logistical details at least as well, if not better, than it did for the Republicans in 2004. And, this being a Democratic town, empty some of the deepest Democratic pockets to pay for a spectacular event.
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“Nothing could more eloquently speak to America’s resolve not to be defeated,” Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff told The Observer in July 2002, “than to see democracy celebrated in this city.” Expect that tone in one of New York’s competitors’ bids: New Orleans, still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, is another finalist for the convention nod.
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The final decision will be up to Howard Dean, the Democratic chairman, a New York native—but also one who has been pushing a 50-state policy, intent on winning support anywhere and everywhere, even in traditional red states. In pursuing the policy, though, he has been butting heads with Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Congressman and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, who favors investing money in races the party already has a chance of winning.
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“Rahm Emanuel might favor New York, thinking it’s a place where you may be able to pick up a few upstate seats, versus Howard Dean, who would say, ‘Why not go to Denver and eventually turn it into fertile ground for Democrats?’” said Ross Baker, a professor of political science at Rutgers University. “It never works. Frankly, I see no advantage in where the convention is held in terms of how many votes it pulls in. There may be some symbolic significance in having it in one place or another. But frankly, I think everybody wants to come to New York and will look for an excuse.”

In other words, New York is no longer the sentimental choice; that would be New Orleans. But right now the local committee is working on answering additional questions raised by its first bid, submitted in May, according to Damien LaVera, a spokesman for the Democratic National Committee. No visit has been scheduled.
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The Minneapolis visit, scheduled for June 26, will take D.N.C. members through a onetime capital of the Democratic heartland that has been exhibiting Republican tendencies lately. The site selection committee will also visit Denver, where Democrats run both state houses and recently recaptured a Senate seat.

Denver is the supposed front-runner, with a seven-year-old arena and a brand-new convention-center hotel. Sources said Denver also fit in with Dr. Dean’s “50-state” strategy, in which the Democrats attempt ambitious wins in previously hostile territory.
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Denver is the supposed front-runner, with a seven-year-old arena and a brand-new convention-center hotel. Sources said Denver also fit in with Dr. Dean’s “50-state” strategy, in which the Democrats attempt ambitious wins in previously hostile territory. Another source said that the size of the Denver and Minneapolis arenas would allow Dr. Dean to hold a convention that accommodated the largest possible number of people.

Neither theory of the D.N.C.’s motives would seem to put New York—or its small, somewhat haggard convention site at Madison Square Garden—in a particularly good light by comparison. The Minneapolis Metrodome, for instance, could hold some 10,000 more people when configured as a convention site.

But whether Denver or Minneapolis could deliver the hotel accommodations needed might be another question. Denver’s bid has already been cursed by labor leaders angry because the city’s hotels have been unfriendly to unions. That could turn the party’s most important constituency against it. In New York, by contrast, the Central Labor Council favors a convention in 2008 and has already begun discussions for a no-strike agreement, according to Carolyn Daly, a spokeswoman.

Mr. Sheekey downplayed the Garden’s lower capacity, saying that the main point was to give ready access to media outlets and thereby a national television audience—that is, assuming people actually watch party conventions these days.
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Rutgers University political scientist Ross Baker said and Democrats [would benefit] by selecting New Orleans. Democratic Party leaders have tried to make the Katrina catastrophe a metaphor for Republican incompetence and cronyism.

"To have it in the Superdome, where all those people were abandoned, would be a great symbolic gesture for Democrats," Baker said.

There's some good analysis here. I'm not sure the size of MSG will make a big differerence versus the other arenas, although if the Democrats want to be in a dome, both New York and Denver could lose out. I didn't focus on the money issue here - I will soon - but it's going to be a big part of the equation, and New York will usually win any money competition.