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Convention Services


It Never Gets Old

The Meet Minneapolis convention services staff did it again. For the 11th time, it won the Gold Service Award from Meetings & Conventions magazine, and for the 11th consecutive year, it won the Pinnacle Award for outstanding service from Successful Meetings magazine.

The department's service is legendary in the convention industry and it demonstrated why with multiple groups in 2007. The veteran staff assisted groups like the National Conference on Tobacco & Health (booked directly from the city's smoking ban ordinance in 2006) and Green Roofs Convention (a high profile group that promotes green initiatives for healthy cities). In total, the department hosted 360 meetings with more than 400,000 attendees. The department's assistance is instrumental to groups holding conventions in Minneapolis, including the following efforts during 2007:

  • When hosting a large African American convention (Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.), Convention Services provided guidance for a family picnic that filled Loring Park in July.
  • The department's event-planning experience went into overdrive when NAFSA—Association of International Educators—came to town. To entertain its 9,000 attendees from more than 78 countries, dozens of parties were held for various delegations.
  • For the American Council of the Blind, menus at restaurants surrounding the venue were translated into Braille, and the Hyatt made many accommodations for attendees, including putting out mats for seeing eye dogs.
  • When the American Trucking Association held its convention here, the Minneapolis Convention Center helped coordinate the National Driving Championships, with semis making their way around the exhibit halls.

Services That Go Above and Beyond

In 2007, Meet Minneapolis repositioned its full-service meeting planning program. Now called Meeting Services Plus, the program provides A-to-Z planning services to groups meeting anywhere in the country. Two groups meeting in Minneapolis were booked by Meeting Services Plus: Northwest Area Foundation (meeting in May 2008) and Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine (meeting in 2009).

In 2007, the Restaurant/Information Booth at the Minneapolis Convention Center was improved. Newly sponsored by American Express, the booth's design was overhauled and more technology was added to deliver more efficient service to convention attendees.

Great Service = Great Attendance

The department's hotel housing services were put to the test in 2007—and passed with flying colors, with multiple groups including NAFSA and the International Chapter of PEO Sisterhood going into "overflow." The year's large groups exceeded attendance expectations, thanks in part to Meet Minneapolis's attendance-building tools and the department's quality pre-promote services. In total, the Housing division placed 65% more attendees in hotel rooms, and coordinated efforts to find space for them when groups exceeded their original room blocks.

Getting Ready for the Big Show

In 2007, Meet Minneapolis played a large role in planning efforts for the Republican National Convention. Convention Services staff members lent their expertise and time to the Delegate Experience program, including the airport welcome, downtown welcome ambassadors, hotel information desks, downtown signage, free time activities for delegates and guests and venue coordination for parties. Marketing played a key role in the development of a communications plan, and Administration and Government Relations were highly involved with securing a transportation partner, providing counsel on transportation-related areas, working with taxis and other legislative issues.