Meetings: Minnesota's Hospitality Journal

Events of the Month: Bloomington CVB & MSAE Golf Tournaments

With the July heat comes the golf tournaments. Never fails to be one of the hottest days of the year on these days, but that doesn't stop the fun. Here are the details. If you go, look for Joel!

 

 

Bloomington CVB Foundation Golf Tournament
July 16
Town & Country Club, St. Paul
10:30 a.m.-12 p.m. Registration and BBQ Lunch
12:30 p.m. Shot Gun Start to 18 holes of Scramble format golf
Dinner Reception to follow on the Back Lawn
18-holes, team prizes, online auction (going on now!), hole giveaways and more! This event is currently sold out but you can put your name on the waiting list.

(Photo courtesy of the Bloomington CVB)

MSAE Golf Classic
July 17
The Wilds Golf Club, Prior Lake
7:30 a.m. Registration and Continental Breakfast, Driving Range Open
8:30 a.m. Shotgun Start
12:30 p.m. Golf Clinic
2 p.m. Luncheon, Awards & Prize Drawings
It's an 18-hole best ball scramble tournament with great networking, prizes, contests, golf and more.

--Amanda Fretheim Gates
Managing Editor

Bump, Set, Spike: Minneapolis Scores 2014 USA Volleyball Championship

For about a week now, I've been hearing rumors of a big event coming our way. Here in the office we speculated that we'd finally hear about the Major League Baseball All Star Game for 2014 (fingers still crossed on that one). Instead, today Meet Minneapolis held a press conference to announce the 2014 USA Volleyball Girls' Junior National Championships (ages 12-18), to be held at the Minneapolis Convention Center June 25-July 2, 2014. This event will be the biggest one for our area since the Republican National Convention.

Pictured left: Meet Minneapolis President and CEO Melvin Tennant, Kristy Cox of USA Volleyball and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.

Here's what we learned about the impact of USA Volleyball's eight-day event:

• Economic impact of more than $60 million
• Support for 10,200 jobs
• $2,252,000 in local taxes generated
• Pre-booked lodging in more than 65 hotels, with 54,200 room nights
• 9,500 athletes and more than 20,000 spectators

"This is a major score for Meet Minneapolis," said Meet Minneapolis President and CEO Melvin Tennant. "Our team worked on this bid for over a year. The competition to land an event of this magnitude is fierce." At the event, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak entered playing volleyball with five teen volleyball players. "Hospitality is one of our most important industries," he said. He called this is critical get for the city and this region.

Meet Minneapolis will be working with 13 other metro cities on booking rooms for the event. Mayors from those cities (Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington, Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Eden Prairie, Edina, Maple Grove, Mendota Heights, Minnetonka, New Brighton, Plymouth, Roseville and St. Louis Park) joined to create the video below.

--Ellie M. Bayrd
Associate Editor

[Photo by Amanda Fretheim Gates, video courtesy of Meet Minneapolis]

In This Issue: People to Know

In every issue of the magazine, we profile hospitality professionals and meet some really interesting people who are contributing to this industry. Here are a few you can meet in our spring issue:

• 5 Questions: Chieko Karlsen
  A tour guide for more than 10 years, Karlsen created MSP Tours, which helps travelers make the most of a travel delay at MSP airport with a light rail tour. Amanda wrote about MSP Tours for Minnesota Monthly's Minnesota Journey's blog earlier this year.
• In the Lead: Jim Cunningham (pictured)
  You may know his voice, but get to know more about Cunningham's love of hosting and emceeing events--he's  game host for the Twins and the Wild and emcees meetings and events, like the Bloomington Diamond Service Awards.
• Peers: Jacki Brickman
  As a speaker and trainer, Brickman helps people improve their communication skills.
• Profile: Garth Peterson
  Read more about Peterson, director of sales at IDeaS Revenue Solution, and his work with the Global Soap Project, in this post.

--Ellie M. Bayrd
Associate Editor

[Photo by Todd Buchanan]

The Future of the Twin Cities: The Story Continues

In our spring issue, the cover story "The Future of the Twin Cities" takes a look at a bunch of planned and proposed developments and the effect those changes may have on hospitality and tourism. I begin the story, "Open the Star Tribune or Pioneer Press these days and there's likely to be a story about a proposed renovation to one of our cultural destinations, efforts to revitalize a stretch of downtown or a status update on a stadium project." Well, that's still true, and I'll continue to update this blog post with the latest news.

Since I wrote the article, for instance, the future of the Vikings stadium (see rendering above) has taken several turns. UPDATES: On Monday, April 17, the House voted down the stadium proposal, a move that the Star Tribune says, "leaves the Vikings stadium plan in peril." On May 10, the Star Tribune reports that stadium proposal, approved by the House and Senate, will go to the governor. In late May, a preliminary vote from the Minneapolis City Council approved the plan.

Here are a few other projects mentioned in the feature:

• Downtown 2025: The Minneapolis Downtown Council has great plans for transforming downtown Minneapolis. Highlights include upgrades to Nicollet Mall, transforming Hennepin Avenue into a cultural corridor and creating Gateway Park (see rendering on right). UPDATE: In April City Pages reported that renovations plans for Peavey Plaza were voted down by the Minnesota Heritage Preservation Commission. In May, the Minneapolis City Coucil voted to go ahead with demolition (Star Tribune).
• Phase II for Mall of America: What's next for the mall? First, completion of the Radission Blu hotel. Next? More hotels, shopping and attractions. The Star Tribune shared some updates on these plans recently.
• Rebuild Saint Paul and Great River Passage: Saint Paul's future plans include the Penfield development, creating a strong river corridor destination (rendering of Harriet Island on right) and upgrades to the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. UPDATE: Since this issue went to press, Ordway plans have been delayed a year, according to the Pioneer Press.
• Stadiums: The Vikings stadium is just one proposed sports project. Target Center is due for renovations and the Saints want a new home. The Saint Paul Saints stadium, however, didn't make the Senate's bonding bill, the Pioneer Press reports. UPDATES: Target Center also came out a winner in the Vikings deal, promising at least $60 million for renovations. A recent land deal in Lowertown has set up space for a future Saints stadium in that neighborhood.
• Central Corridor: The Central Corridor light rail project continues to grow and anticipates completion in 2014.

Those are just some of the projects in the works and in the dreams of local officials. Read the full story to learn more. You'll hear from both Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, plus members of the Metropolitan Council, Minneapolis Downtown Council and more. Share your thoughts on these and other tourism related developments in the comments here. UPDATE: For more from Mayor Rybak on the future of Minneapolis, watch this video from the Star Tribune.

--Ellie M. Bayrd
Associate Editor

[Vikings rendering courtesy of Minnesota Vikings; Gateway Park rendering by Damon Faber Associates, courtesy of Minneapolis Downtown Council; Harriet Island rendering by Wenk Associates, courtesy of Great River Passage]

Event of the Month: Red Bull Crashed Ice

Each month, Event of the Month spotlights a meeting or event, big or small, happening in Minnesota.

It's the New Year, so we have some new ideas to share for the blog. Today, we put a local event in the spotlight in the first Event of the Month. Event of the Month joins Venue Highlight and two others in rotation each Tuesday on the Blog.

Beware of ice skaters racing 40 miles an hour past the Cathedral of Saint Paul this weekend (Jan. 12-14). The Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship is taking over with an event perfect for the State of Hockey. In this extreme sports competition, ice hockey skaters careen down an icy race track over jumps and bumps, past obstacles and by tough competitors. It's all part of a sport called ice cross downhill.

The Red Bull Crashed Ice World Championship began in 2001 in Stockholm, Sweden. Now, 20 Crashed Ice races have been held in 10 different countries. Last year, Crashed Ice drew in more than 170,000 spectators and featured skaters from 30 countries. This year, we're lucky enough to get the event's U.S. debut!

Construction of the race track began in late December and takes riders from the steps of the Cathedral of Saint Paul, over John Ireland Boulevard and down to College Avenue. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman helped draw the event to the Twin Cities, after watching last year's event on television.

For details on how to get there (hint: shuttle or bus), where to enter (FYI: it's free!) and everything else you need to know, consult this handy FAQ or read this info from the City of St. Paul. You can also watch live at various St. Paul bars or wait until the NBC broadcast on Jan. 21.

Here's a bit more on ice cross and the event from today's Star Tribune and a video that offers a sneak preview:

--Ellie M. Bayrd
Associate Editor

[Photos: Above, National Final 2011, Russia, (c) Daniel Kolodin/Red Bull Content Pool; Below, World Championship 2011, Quebec, Canada, (c) Andreas Schaad/Red Bull Crashed Ice]

Cover Story: Good Sports. Amateur Sporting Events Prove to be an Asset to Minnesota Cities

This issue's cover story, "Good Sports," focuses on the impact of sports, specifically amateur sports, on the local hospitality industry. We felt it was an important issue to cover in the magazine because through the worst of this economic crisis, sports events have continued to take place. In fact, they barely took a dip. And, in turn, many Minnesota cities discovered this was a valuable segment to market to.

In the story we talk to several experts whose main jobs focus on attracting sports events to their cities, by either a) nabbing one-time, national sports events like the Senior Olympics, b) creating their own events that happen on a regular basis, like Star of the North Games or the USA Cup, or c) offering out their facilities for rental to sports associations, locally and around the country.

A few interesting quotes:

Resilient Market
"If you look at the data and the statistics, it’s been one of the more resilient segments of all of the tourism economy,” says John Connelly, director of sales and development for the National Sports Center in Blaine. “We’ve been able to run USA Cup for 28 years and every year we’ve been able to grow at least one segment. That’s a testimonial to the category. We may be down with teams from California or Chicago, but we make up for it by recruiting from Canada.”

Built-in Audiences
“Parents may cut back on that trip to Mexico or not go on a cruise this year, but they’ll still go to the tournaments and make that the mini family vacation,” says Kelly Sayre, director of sports and special events for the St. Cloud Area CVB. “And they bring spectators. You have mom, dad, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, grandma and grandpa, whereas with an adult convention—or even an adult softball tournament—most often they’re just going by themselves.”

Hidden Gems to Promote
“Every community has some gems and they just need to look around,” says Larissa Mrozek, senior sales director for the Greater Mankato CVB, who mentions the city's awesome BMX track. “It’s some of those sports that you maybe don’t think of right off the top but they still bring people to the community.”

Create Your Own Event
"If you create your own event, you own it, you can define the terms and it happens every year where you want it to happen,” says Barclay Kruse, chief communications officer for the National Sports Center as well as associate director of the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission and executive director of the Star of the North Games.

Pro Sports Matter Too
“[In 2008] Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers hit 28 home runs in the first round,” Melvin Tennant, President & CEO of Meet Minneapolis says about a potential MLB All-Star Game and Home Run Derby at Target Field. “If you can imagine 28 panoramic views of downtown Minneapolis? That would be immeasurable for us.”

What do you think? How important are sporting events to your city or your business?

[Photo of 2011 Schwan's USA Cup by Todd Buchanan]

-- Amanda Fretheim Gates
Managing Editor

USA Cup at the National Sports Center

I took a trip up to Blaine this week to get a peek inside the huge event that is the USA Cup. Here are some fun facts about this event and where it takes place, the National Sports Center (NSC).

+ 942 teams from 20 states and 17 countries come here to compete.
+ 1,000 volunteers
+ The event has an economic impact of more than $20 million for the area and is the largest youth soccer tournament in the Western Hemisphere.

+ The NSC houses the world's largest contiguous soccer complex
+ The NSC's Super Rink is the world's largest ice facility
+ The NSC's Velodrome is one of only three all-wood, all-weather cycling tracks in the country.
+ The complex's soccer stadium is home to our pro soccer team, the Minnesota Stars
+ Just some of the events that have been held here: U.S. Olympic Festival, the International Special Olympics, the World Ultimate Disc Championships, the World Broomball Championships & the Women's World Hockey Championships.

Stayed tuned for more on the USA Cup in our Fall issue!

-- Amanda Fretheim Gates
Managing Editor

Case Study: Life Time's New Vision

In the summer issue of the magazine we showcase Life Time Fitness' Inside Companies Conference and Expo and their partnership with metroConnections. Take a look at the video that Life Time used to help launch its new branding as the "Healthy Way of Life Company" and promote its 19 inside companies.

--Ellie M. Bayrd
Associate Editor

Meet Casey, the Sports Intern at the St. Cloud CVB

If you haven't had the privilege of watching the video series by Casey, the sports intern at the St. Cloud CVB, take a moment, because the guy is pretty charming. Not only is he the only guy in an all-female office (poor guy can only get some privacy in the men's room, where he films a lot of his monologues), but he's a full-out sports lover who has jumped into St. Cloud's sporting events business with both feet. Watch him practice for a duathlon, play a little rugby and train for the Star of the North Games, where he claims he'll participate in all 19 sports.

He's building quite the portfolio for himself. It's pretty cool to watch. Here's his inaugural video (prepare to have The Office theme song in your head the rest of the day):

-- Amanda Fretheim Gates, Managing Editor

More on the aftermath of the Dome collapse

Last month, I asked what the economic impact would be on Minneapolis if the Dome was shut down for an extended period of time. The Journal has a great story this week highlighting just those issues. A few facts pulled from the article:

+ Restaurants like Maxwell's and Hubert's have been financially hurt, not just because of missed Vikes games, but because of cancelled or relocated events like Rollerdome, Monster Jam and Twins Fest.

+ Same can be said for the Holiday Inn Metrodome, who's GM said Twins Fest and Monster Jam were the hotel's top two events. The GM also suspects to see a decrease in room nights when high school and college baseball families don't come downtown this spring for games.

The article alludes that between the Twins heading across town, the Gophers heading back on campus and now this, it's almost like a perfect storm of financial woe on Dome-adjacent businesses. With the possibility of an as-late-as August fix for the Dome (endangering Vikes pre-season games), things may only get worse.

-- Amanda Fretheim Gates
Managing Editor