To the Point
Beast or Boon?
Beast or Boon?
Change. Regular readers of this column know I frequently talk about how the meetings industry can - and should - take advantage of the opportunities change can bring. We've got to be able to anticipate and adapt to change, but its incredibly fast pace and the chaos it often causes can make it more of
a beast than a boon. * Nowhere does this ring truer than in the world of convention and visitor bureaus. In the last few years, CVBs have faced funding dilemmas, intensified scrutiny of their operations, and in some cases, have had to learn some hard political lessons. And that's just in their own communities.
On a wider scale, many bureaus have been challenged by customers to become more service-oriented. They've faced intense competition for conventions and meetings from other destinations, and tried to establish better traction with the traveling public, especially younger generations.
The result? CVBs have had to make serious changes. In some cities, we've witnessed massive overhauls of the traditional CVB model. All those years of trying to define exactly what a CVB does are gone, as bureaus have found that it's what makes sense in their own city that matters most.
While there is some merit to a one-size-should-fit-all concept, each CVB should be free to make adjustments or create its own model of operations based on its individual funding sources, size, local politics, and related local organizations. Sometimes CVBs can take advantage of synergies. But they often find they can't be all things to all people - and frankly, they can't fight City Hall.
At the same time, does the growing number of alternate models make things more difficult for meeting professionals? I hope the best practices that are being developed in the ways CVBs partner with convention centers will help make planners' experience a seamless one from city to city (see our cover story on p. 36). In the meantime, the onus is on each CVB to clearly define its role and operations, and determine what other local entities can best assist with other functions.
You might notice that I continue to use the "CVB" moniker, though more and more organizations have dropped the term "convention and visitors bureau" from their names (see story on p. 58). After all, aside from changing your whole business model, changing your name is probably the most revolutionary change you can make. Or is it?
The majority of these name changes were made to better market to individual travelers. And many will tell you that they've been successful in that respect. But the meetings industry has not been unaffected.
In the short term, there's been some confusion about what these organizations do and whether the group with this other name is actually the same CVB from the past. In the long term, I wonder what the combined disappearance of a standard name and a standard model will mean for the meetings industry. CVBs play such an important role in the success of meetings, and the last thing we want is to see them fade - in name or spirit.
I suspect we haven't seen the last of the reinvention effort in the CVB world. It certainly will be interesting to see which innovations rise to the top and which ones fizzle out. I hope our cover story gives you a better understanding of why all these changes are taking place in our industry. I'd love to hear how they are affecting you. Are you finding them a beast or a boon? Please let me know your thoughts at deborah.sexton@pcma.org.
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