The recent call from the Governor’s Conference on Tourism by Governor Jim Doyle, Tourism Secretary Kelli Trumble and Commerce Secretary Dick Leinenkugel to choose Wisconsin for company’s conventions, trade shows, training sessions and board meetings is timely. The meeting planning industry has been shaken by the economic downturn and scrutiny over when and where corporate events are held. In fact, I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal, that discussed the fact that some resort properties have actually changed their names because the term “resort” has developed a negative connotation for business events. Many business events formerly slated for, as one recent CRW source noted, “a destination surrounded by water” have been cancelled, postponed or relocated.

There’s opportunity to be found in Wisconsin, both for the hospitality industry and businesses planning their meetings and events. Many of your businesses already hold your activities here, and bravo to you. For others, Wisconsin may not be your first choice, but hopefully this initiative will put it on your short list. We have such a wide range of great venues in the state, and a work force truly engaged in providing terrific experiences, that it is possible to find the right venue, location or destination for just about any business event.

I am a huge advocate for choosing local, both as a business and a consumer, but it isn’t always an easy choice. Sometimes pure economics, as well as other elements, simply win out. However, it’s always a consideration for me, as I hope it is for you.
For example: Where I live, within about a 10-minute drive down the same exact stretch, there is a local, independent bookstore and two national bookstore chains. While I would love to say I solely support the independent bookstore — a former Harry W. Schwartz’s location, for those of you in metro Milwaukee — I have to be honest. I don’t. I’d like to, but economically I just can’t. If I have a coupon for 30 or 40 percent off my purchase (or a discount and free shipping on line), I am going to use it. It doesn’t make sense not to. And though this particular location attempted to sustain a coffee bar (a now de facto element of any chain bookstore), it never made it, though I patronized it for years before it eventually disappeared behind a large wall of magazines.

Even with that, when I am in need of a book or a magazine, I do stop and consider whether I can buy it there first. I know that more of my dollars stay in our local economy when I make purchases there, and that is important to me. On a much larger scale, that’s what this initiative will do for Wisconsin.

For the numerous members of the Wisconsin hospitality industry, meetings do mean business … and big business at that. The development of this initiative is a good one. If Wisconsin isn’t your first choice for meetings and events, at the very least, it should be a strong contender.

By Laurie Arendt

Laurie Arendt is editor of CRW. She can be reached at crweditor@crwmag.com