Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce Director Roy Williams must think we all fell off the turnip truck yesterday.
He took a quarter of a million dollars of taxpayers money and paid for a study of the Cox Convention Center. The result of this study told him exactly what he wanted to hear... that his convention center is lacking. He made a statement yesterday to the effect that the purpose of a convention center is to draw people into Bricktown where they will spend money. The convention center is not supposed to make money in and of itself.
Whatever... Ask the convention center in Vegas if it makes money. They will say yes. Ask the convention center in Ft. Lauderdale if it makes money... another nod. So why can't the OKC center operate in the black?
Ok, for the sake of argument, lets say that there is no way the Oklahoma City Convention Center will ever make money (snort).
In order to draw out-of-towners to Bricktown where they will empty their wallets and wear down the mag strips on their credit cards, Williams says he needs a 400 million dollar convention center. Who does he want to pay for it? That's right, boys and girls... get ready to cough up your own stimulus package. Are you kidding me?
Williams needs to look inside the chamber and stop blaming a perfectly good convention center for his own shortcomings. There are cities out there who would die to have a facility like the Cox Center.
A press release issued by the chamber that appears on its own website says, "The study also evaluated meeting planners' perceptions of Oklahoma City as a meetings destination and found most meeting planners were not familiar with the city."
Well, Roy! There's your problem right there!
If meeting planners have never heard of Oklahoma City, then someone at the chamber's not doing their job!
Is there a marketing plan for the convention center? Is there a markting budget for the convention center? How is that being spent? Are we attending trade shows? Are they the right ones? Do we ever call anyone who might be ameeting planner and invite them out? Apparently not, if we are to place any stock in that quarter-million-dollar report of his.
No new facility, no matter how big, cutting edge, or expensive is going to put OKC on the map if the chamber doesn't know how to market it.
The $250,000 taxpayers spent for the study would pay the salary for a dedicated convention center marketing professional for the next five years. The 400 million that Williams wants would fund the entire marketing budget for the chamber for the next half century....
Tax payers should not stand for Williams' smoke and mirrors act.
His request to place a burden on taxpayers at a time when everyone is finding it difficult to live within their means is not only ill timed, but ridiculous.
Trim the fat, Roy, like everyone else.
Lets work with what we have... make it better... and sell it strong.
If you need any help with that, drop me a line.
He took a quarter of a million dollars of taxpayers money and paid for a study of the Cox Convention Center. The result of this study told him exactly what he wanted to hear... that his convention center is lacking. He made a statement yesterday to the effect that the purpose of a convention center is to draw people into Bricktown where they will spend money. The convention center is not supposed to make money in and of itself.
Whatever... Ask the convention center in Vegas if it makes money. They will say yes. Ask the convention center in Ft. Lauderdale if it makes money... another nod. So why can't the OKC center operate in the black?
Ok, for the sake of argument, lets say that there is no way the Oklahoma City Convention Center will ever make money (snort).
In order to draw out-of-towners to Bricktown where they will empty their wallets and wear down the mag strips on their credit cards, Williams says he needs a 400 million dollar convention center. Who does he want to pay for it? That's right, boys and girls... get ready to cough up your own stimulus package. Are you kidding me?
Williams needs to look inside the chamber and stop blaming a perfectly good convention center for his own shortcomings. There are cities out there who would die to have a facility like the Cox Center.
A press release issued by the chamber that appears on its own website says, "The study also evaluated meeting planners' perceptions of Oklahoma City as a meetings destination and found most meeting planners were not familiar with the city."
Well, Roy! There's your problem right there!
If meeting planners have never heard of Oklahoma City, then someone at the chamber's not doing their job!
Is there a marketing plan for the convention center? Is there a markting budget for the convention center? How is that being spent? Are we attending trade shows? Are they the right ones? Do we ever call anyone who might be ameeting planner and invite them out? Apparently not, if we are to place any stock in that quarter-million-dollar report of his.
No new facility, no matter how big, cutting edge, or expensive is going to put OKC on the map if the chamber doesn't know how to market it.
The $250,000 taxpayers spent for the study would pay the salary for a dedicated convention center marketing professional for the next five years. The 400 million that Williams wants would fund the entire marketing budget for the chamber for the next half century....
Tax payers should not stand for Williams' smoke and mirrors act.
His request to place a burden on taxpayers at a time when everyone is finding it difficult to live within their means is not only ill timed, but ridiculous.
Trim the fat, Roy, like everyone else.
Lets work with what we have... make it better... and sell it strong.
If you need any help with that, drop me a line.
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