Convention & Visitors Bureau: Your Keys to Conference Greatness
By Brittney Roberts, Program Services Coordinator II, HAPS
From the very beginning, local Convention & Visitors Bureau’s (CVB) that get involved with your planning can be a wonderful aid for venue search and selection, vendor management, and attendee experience.
Venue Search & Selection
At the beginning of the conference planning process, our team first reaches out to the CVB directly to communicate our needs for a future meeting in their city. The CVB then sends out our RFP to surrounding hotel properties and the convention center that may be interesting in bidding for our conference. Once we gather all of the proposals from interested properties, we work with the CVB directly to schedule a site visit of each property.
The CVB helps us select our location based on our needs. For one conference, you might need a general session room that can hold 500-600 attendees, an exhibit hall that also hosts posters, food and beverage. Some events all need a seating area for attendees, a place for special breakfast events and an area to Receptions or Socials. Regardless of the event, the CVB can help you narrow your selection process to the venues that can accommodate your needs.
Promotion & Hype
Once we’ve contracted with our chosen venue, the CVB sends promotional materials from that particular city. This helps promote the location of our meeting, the attractions of the city and lets attendees start planning for their visit to the city. Building hype around the location of your event can help build attendance and engagement, and that helps produce a successful event.
Vendor Selection
As planning ramps up, the CVB provides a list of vendors, which help us during our “quote” process. Often, conference events require contracts with printing companies, decorators or event services, transportation, catering and many other services. The CVB can help narrow down your selection of vendors based on experience with your venue, popularity, and even diversity of selection.
The CVB is a vital resource we use for every one of our conference. They are there from the beginning to the end and provide help along the way and are one of the main tools we use at ASG to plan and execute a great conference event.
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Brittney Roberts has been with ASG for 3 years and is the Assistant Business Manager for HAPS. She graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management.
