Content area
Full Text
SALT LAKE CITY--For every one marketing dollar spent, $6 has come back in in-kind and trade value at the Visalia (Calif.) Convention Center.
Creative ways to meet the challenge of stretching budgets while marketing facilities in the community and industry was the topic of a panel during the joint District IV and VII meetings of the International Assn. of Auditorium Managers here. Sandra Carl, South San Francisco Conference Center, moderated the panel. Participants were Joan LeMahieu from Visalia; John Root, San Mateo (Calif.) County Expo Center; and Kevin Twohig, Spokane (Wash.) Arena.
LeMahieu said marketing was the primary consideration when Visalia first considered expansion. "We polled political clients and asked them what they would like us to do. They said, "Make it more marketable."
"We were under scrutiny," she recalled. Like many facilities in California and nationwide, it's incumbent on management to find ways to reduce the need for public subsidies. At the same time, the Visalia facility had to justify expansion.
The approach was three-prongedpublic relations, sales and partnerships, she said. The print media allowed the...