September 10, 2009
 Yes, the City Center Expansion WILL Happen
And it will begin, officially, at 11 a.m. on Monday, September 14 when shovels will turn earth in a commemorative ceremony marking the start of a multi-million dollar expansion and renovation of the 25-year old Saratoga Springs City Center. Without spoiling the surprise, let’s just say that several appropriate and charming tributes to the original building are planned – and all of it will take place in the loggia area adjacent to the City Center and Saratoga Hilton. A start to the demolition of the loggia is scheduled for following day and construction of the new 12,000-plus square foot, two-story addition goes forth from there. This is exciting stuff for the north end of Broadway and a fresh new quarter century for a building that has served Saratoga exceptionally well for so many years. The public is invited.
On a personal note, it has been my pleasure to serve as an ex-officio member of the City Center Authority Board and observe this process as it’s moved from idea to concept to revised concept and now to the construction phase. Having seen this board work -- sometimes under duress -- I have to say that I’m in awe of the leadership of City Center President Mark Baker, whose dedication and attention to detail in this project has been unmatched; and Board Chairman Michael Toohey, whose patience and skill in running a meeting and managing this process is quite remarkable. Kudos to them, the Board and the entire supportive community of Saratoga Springs.
The reward after all these months and years of planning is that the timing in all this could not have been better. Favorable construction costs will very likely bring the building in at or under budget; the timing for marketing the building is just about perfect – meeting planners love Saratoga are looking for reasons to book our destination and recognize Saratoga’s value in this down economy. New is a relatively easy sell – because it is always appealing. Saratoga will soon be in a position to say that no other city in the region has this kind of outstanding new space, within walking distance to more than 1,000 hotel rooms and adjacent to a safe, vital, welcoming and walkable downtown. Saratoga has always been special – now we’ll just be more special.
Destination Marketing Association International CEO Michael Gehrisch in Saratoga!
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
Partnerships, relationships, networking. You never know where a piece of business might come from – or who may spread the word and recommend your destination. With that in mind, the Bureau recently welcomed two very connected travel industry heavyweights to experience Saratoga. Michael Gehrisch, president and ceo of Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI); and Ryan George, president and ceo of Simpleview Inc., a relational database development company with close ties to meeting planning companies, third party planners and convention bureaus across the country. It was Gehrisch, who after less than a day of Saratoga touring suggested that Saratoga might be the perfect place for an industry meeting for ceos or “shirtsleeves” seminar for sales, services or membership managers. Further pursuit of those possibilities to follow.
Convention Bureau Staff with Michael Gehrisch
Simpleview, Inc CEO Ryan George
Andy Brindisi and David Zunker
Joanne Kirkpatrick, Colleen Carlson, Charlie Wheeler,
Cindy Hollowood, Judy LeCain
Kathy Denkenberger, Marianne Barker, Mary Cae Asay
While the summer still has a few weeks left to it, the summer season is officially over. We at the bureau are taking this time to look back at the last three or so months, and are very pleased with what we see. Below is an overview of what the Bureau Sales and Service team has been up to this summer:
- We organized and hosted a Summer Familiarization tour, hosting 14 meeting planners and their guests for two days of intensive Saratoga familiarization
- The sales and service team, along with hotel partners, made weekly trips to the Albany/Troy/Rensselaer/Latham area to call on current and prospective customers. Over 75 calls have been made just this summer!
- Services and Membership traveled to Empire Farm Days in western New York, where over 35 agricultural associations, who hold first quarter meetings, were exhibiting.
- The bureau hosted over 30 meeting planners at the Saratoga Racecourse, in our grandstand box and at the Meeting Professionals International of Northeastern New York Annual Day at the Races.
- We hosted over 25 meeting planner professionals for site tours of Saratoga hotels, restaurants, shops and attractions.
- The bureau staff continued to visit and build relationships with meeting planner professionals throughout New York State and the Northeast.
- The bureau, along with hotel partners, presented to the Board of Directors of a large association for a multi-year conference, which we subsequently won.
- Numerous meeting leads were sent to all area properties, and many repeat and new bookings were made
The bureau staff hopes all of you had a wonderful and successful Summer season. We are looking forward to a fantastic Fall!
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**The Convention Bureau is coming into a very busy season and as a benefit of membership, we display brochures, menus, coupons, or any collateral material from our members to display at registration tables when groups and conferences come to town. We are expecting approximately 19,000 convention delegates between now and the end of November!! We would be glad to get your information into their hands. If you have any questions please call Connie Crudo at 518-584-1531 or e-mail connie@discoversaratoga.org
Membership – Never More Important
In these trying times, some members may be looking at their budgets and putting their membership dues on their things to possibly cut list. According to Associations Now Magazine -- 5.7% will drop memberships in the coming year, but, the magazine also counsels, if you demonstrate to them how essential their membership is, you may experience growth. In a membership environment (as in a small community) everyone knows and watches out for one another – they know that the best place to learn is from their peers. Sharing, rather than hoarding information, is the key and we stress to our members that a recession is all the more reason to join or maintain a membership. Membership means partnership opportunities and relationships that translate to business. The value of this Bureau’s membership far outweighs its minimal cost – more than anything membership conveys support for collaborative efforts to raise that rising tide everyone talks about. Don’t let your membership lapse – instead become an advocate for Bureau membership. Get involved, reach out – call Connie Crudo or connie@discoversaratoga.org for even more inspiration and for a summary of Bureau benefits -- and if you can put us in touch with Bureau member prospects we’d be eternally grateful.
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Bureau Staff Members Attend Empire Farm Days
Kathy Denkenberger and Connie Crudo attended one day of the Annual Empire Farm Days Show in Seneca Falls, New York in August. This was a “fact finding” mission to look for agriculture related groups that could potentially hold their conference/meeting in Saratoga Springs, NY during our first quarter.
The “monsoon” rains the evening before did not deter Kathy and Connie from walking in shoe-deep mud and water to accomplish what they drove there for. They felt very good about the number of associations they found information on. Some of the people they had the chance to talk to were meeting planners themselves. Angela LaTerra is using the information to find main contacts, research for future meetings, and build out a prospective database that will be turned over to our sales team for follow-up.
The only disappointment of the day was that this atmosphere was not like a “fair” at all and had no “Fair Food” available. Their venders were all farm related so we didn’t get any fried dough or snow cones!
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