For most, Super Bowl Sunday was all about the New York Giants battling the New England Patriots. Virginia Beach, on the other hand, was busy hosting a Super Bowl of its own. That was the day the American Bus Association (ABA) and its 3,300 attendees pulled into town for its annual Marketplace, appropriately themed, "A New Wave of Business." For a city of its size, scoring the ABA was huge for Virginia Beach. Not only was this the first major national convention held in the city, but it took place during the off season, an added boost as the city tries to turn the "Beach" into a year-round destination. Plus, it was the first show to use all 500,000 square feet of the entire $202.5 million Virginia Beach Convention Center.

So, how did the Virginia Beach CVB pull it off? Here is how the city tackled the biggest hurdles ABA's event presented.

From the Ground Up
The event lasted six days, but for the city, it was four years in the making. In 2004, Peter Pantuso, president and CEO of the ABA, rode a bus onto the dirt floor of the Virginia Beach Convention Center while it was in the midst of construction and signed the contract to bring the Marketplace to town. Before the ink had dried, the city's wheels began to turn.

It was the first year Virginia Beach had bid on the show, and it beat out Atlanta, Boston, San Antonio, and Montreal. In past years, the Marketplace has been held in first-tier cities like New York and Chicago.

The Virginia Beach CVB knew from the start what a successful ABA convention would mean for the city. The ABA is the leading association in North America for the $40 billion motor coach business. There are approximately 4,000 members who represent every segment of the travel industry. It's the spin-off business that most cities hosting this Marketplace are after.

According to a recently released study conducted by Lisa Neirotti, Ph.D., a tourism and sports management professor at George Washington University, the motor coach industry brings in $16.5 million annually to Virginia Beach; a one-night stay brings in approximately $6,000.

By successfully hosting the Marketplace, Virginia Beach could expect to see a 10 percent to 30 percent increase in group tour business, according to James Ricketts, director of the Virginia Beach CVB. The overall economic impact of the Marketplace is $5 million, he added, including more than 12,000 hotel room nights.

Space: The First Frontier
The first challenge was accommodating the show itself. Pantuso proudly points out that this convention has grown 10 percent every year. Although this is good news for the ABA, it put the 516,000-square-foot Virginia Beach Convention Center to the test.

"We maxed out every square inch of this place," explained Lynn Brewer, ABA's senior vice president, meetings, education, and member services, as she took a precious minute out of her schedule to sit down and talk to Convene while the Marketplace was in full swing. This included the 150,000-square-foot exhibition hall, 31,029-square-foot ballroom, and 28,929 square feet of meeting space. "Based on the success we had in Virginia Beach, we would love to come back in 2013 but won't be able to if they don't expand the center."

An annual highlight of the convention posed a particular space challenge: its Broadway Revue where the hottest stars of the most popular Broadway shows perform during lunch. Actors, actresses, singers, and dancers from "A Chorus Line," "Curtains," "Hairspray," "In the Heights," "Legally Blonde," "The Lion King," "The Little Mermaid," "Mary Poppins," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Spamalot," "Wicked," and "Young Frankenstein," performed. While the staging and lighting for this show is elaborate - giving the center an opportunity to showcase its audiovisual capabilities - the event is a space hog. The 31,029-square-foot ballroom wouldn't be able to accommodate this setup as well the number of tables necessary to accommodate all the attendees for lunch.

"We knew we were in trouble," said Brewer. "We brainstormed and threw every idea we had on the table. We even considered box lunches. Then we came up with a great idea: have lunch in the beautiful foyer that sits outside the ballroom." The area is part of the center's 94,000-square-foot prefunction space.

So, plated Chicken Caesar Salads were waiting at each table in the foyer along with beverages and desserts. As soon as the group finished the meal, they were ushered into the ballroom where theater-style seating comfortably accommodated them.

Speaking of Food…
All in all, the center served up 13,900 meals. A similar lunch format was sponsored by the Branson/Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce & CVB, served prior to the Branson Matinee. Attendees got a glimpse at the diversity of Branson's theater and musical attractions with world-class performers including Tony Orlando, Roy Rogers Jr., and singers from "Noah the Musical."

Another day's lunch was sponsored by Gaylord Hotels in anticipation of the 2010 marketplace, which will be held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in Prince George's County, Md. Guests enjoyed regional culinary specialties and a performance by "An American Musical Landscape," with spectacular regional imagery set to well-known musical tunes. More than 70 partners from around the Capital Region supported the event, including hotels, attractions, and destination management organizations.

Held to a Higher Standard
On to the next challenge: shuttle service. Obviously, with transportation being this group's livelihood, the CVB knew it had to ensure the group would be shuttled to and from events flawlessly. Adding to the pressure: Convention attendees were spread out at 12 hotels.

"We're all about transportation. If the transportation for our meeting doesn't run on a dime, we're in trouble. That's what our people do," explained Brewer.

Nine motor coach companies and 100 coaches from as far as Baltimore made their way to Virginia Beach to help. Continuous shuttle service was provided between the ABA hotels. In addition, a free trolley ran every 30 minutes along Atlantic Avenue, stopping at the dozen hotels.

In addition, "Bounce Around the Beach" transportation service was made available to delegates who wanted to linger after convention activities were finished and the last shuttle had departed. The cost was a flat $10 per person. This service, created for the ABA, will be made available to convention groups in Virginia Beach in the future.

Service With a Smile
From greeters at the airport to welcome desks at all 12 hotels, the city rolled out the red carpet with the help of more than 400 volunteers from the local area, who covered a staggering 1,700 shifts. The CVB wasn't leaving anything to chance. For five months prior to the convention, all volunteers, as well as CVB staff and hotel employees, had to undergo rigorous customer service training. "From housekeepers to managers, all were required to take these courses. This was how committed we were to making sure we were ready to host this group," said Al Hutchinson, Virginia Beach CVB's vice president of convention sales and marketing.

In servicing a convention of this size, there was no room for adversarial feelings among competitors. For six months leading up to the conference, Hutchinson set up weekly meetings for the general mangers and key staff of the 12 host hotels.

The CVB's efforts did not go unnoticed. "The CVB met us with a smile and accommodated every challenge we were confronted with. It was an amazing level of partnership and teamwork," said Brewer. "We became an extension of their staff and they became an extension of ours."

It's the little things that matter, and the city made sure no opportunity to exceed attendee expectations was lost. Chewing a piece of famed Virginia Beach saltwater taffy, an attendee's dental crown fell off. As luck would have it, the father of the general manager of the Hilton, where the man was staying, is a dentist. He met him in his office to re-cement it. This incident was reported to the CVB, and in the man's room when he returned to the hotel was a care package (taffy-free!) from the CVB to let him know they were there to help.

Final Initiative
"We formed an alliance with other CVBs in the area to package all of our amenities together. We needed to have a lot of reciprocal give and take with a convention like this," said Ricketts.

Norfolk got in on the act by holding a themed event, "The Reason the Mermaid Came Ashore." Featuring a sampling of 15 different city restaurants, live entertainment, and harbor cruises, the festivities were held in the Nauticus Maritime Center.

The closing "Disco Inferno" party, held in the convention center ballroom, was sponsored by Visit Charlotte - complete with '70s outfits and a 13-piece Right On Band, based in the Virginia Beach area. Charlotte will host the 2009 ABA Marketplace January 7 through January 12.

"Virginia Beach was not really on our radar before. We will definitely start to market Virginia Beach and the region to our clients more aggressively in 2009," said John Meier, general manager/CEO, Badger Coaches, who served as the association's 2008 Marketplace chairman. "This was an exceptional Marketplace. If we were in a bigger city, we would be only one conference of many. Here, we took over the entire town and the locals and volunteers were just spectacular. The CVB really got them to buy into it. Everyone was so friendly and thankful to have us in town - even the employees in the local convenience store. I've never seen anything like it. Virginia Beach really hit it out of the park." Actually, in keeping with the Super Bowl timing, it was more of a touchdown.

700: The Magic Number
The Marketplace delegates included nearly 700 registered buyers, 700-plus destination marketing organizations (DMOs), and close to 700 lodging representatives. Also present: nearly 900 attraction representatives, and more than 200 associate members, including suppliers and manufacturers. Each category represented showed record numbers, and more than 100,000 scheduled appointments were conducted on the business floor during the show.

Obama Hits Virginia Beach On the Heels of ABA
On the final day of the ABA convention, Courtney Dyer, general manager of the Virginia Beach Convention Center, got a phone call from Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign team. They wanted to hold a "Stand for Change" rally at the convention center on Sunday, Feb. 17, just three days after the American Bus Association convention left town, and a few days shy of the next scheduled event. Dyer and his staff rose to the challenge.

An online press release was all that it took to bring 18,000 people to the Virginia Beach Convention Center on a Sunday in February to hear Obama speak. The rally was the largest group to come together in the exhibit hall for a single event since the center opened its doors two years ago. Pulled together in a matter of days, the event went off without a hitch.

It's Not Your Typical Trade Show
Prescheduled seven-minute appointments are the core of the American Bus Association (ABA) Marketplace, enabling buyers (bus owners and tour operators) and sellers (travel industry representatives from destination marketing organizations, attractions, restaurants, receptive operators, and hotels) to meet - efficiently - face-to-face.

"It's like speed dating for the tour industry," said Peter Pantuso, president and CEO of the ABA, with a laugh.

Nearly 700 registered buyers sat in booths and met with sellers during the Virginia Beach Marketplace. Above them, a huge score board counted down their allotted seven minutes. A 60-second warning sounded with chimes, signaling it was time for the meeting to come to a close. Some of these are appointments were introductions, laying a foundation for future business. Others ended with signed contracts. The whole process takes some getting used to and first-timers are given a floor tour, an audio tour, and then take part in mock appointments of their own.

This year, 105,000 appointments between buyers and sellers took place over four days … with more than $35 million in business booked. In addition to these appointments, there were also education seminars and networking opportunities. The newest show component, the MARKET at Marketplace, offers operators the opportunity to view the industry's latest products and services.

ABA Gives Back
At its Marketplace, the American Bus Association (ABA) initiated several programs to give back to the Virginia Beach community. Four ABA tour bus operators donated their buses to transport 450 underserved students to the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center. Some of these kids live a half-hour from the beach and had never seen it.

Although it was February, there were some ABA attendees you couldn't keep out of the cold Atlantic Ocean. They took the plunge for charity. "Freezin' for a Reason" is the ABA's version of a Polar Plunge. More than $25,000 was raised for the American Cancer Society in memory of Daisy Cohan, who had been a Virginia Beach CVB staff member. In another charitable program, approximately 66 students from universities throughout the state participated in the 2008 ABA Educational Outreach program sponsored by the ABA Diversity Committee. A panel of industry experts taught the students about the group travel and tourism industry. In addition, they had the option of attending one of two educational seminars. More than 115 ABA member companies have agreed to consider these students for possible internships and full-time employment.

Andrea Doyle is Convene's senior writer.