I’m certainly disappointed about the news regarding the Senior Games. For everyone who attended and participated, the event was a big success. A dedicated team of volunteers and staff from multiple cities in the metro area welcomed nearly 10,000 athletes who spent millions of dollars here—this is money flowing into our local economy that would not have been here otherwise. Any negative media attention doesn’t at all diminish the hard work that many individuals put in over the five years since we originally confirmed the Senior Games for the area.

Questions have come up about whether people who are on the Meet Minneapolis Board of Directors should also be on local organizing committees or other host committees for events that come to town. The answer is, absolutely! In fact, our board members, elected officials and community leaders are the perfect people to help bring events to reality in Minneapolis. The board of directors is appointed because of their ties to our community, and because they believe in Minneapolis as a destination for convention and leisure travel. They’re also people who understand that a strong convention and tourism industry is critical to our local economy, and that kind of business doesn’t just happen unless you work for it. That’s the work Meet Minneapolis is here to do, with our myriad partners.

The efforts of our board members, elected officials and other community members is a key part of our success, and they’re important in keeping us competitive against all the other cities that are battling for those out-of-town dollars as well. Convention groups frequently expect that destination marketing organizations, like Meet Minneapolis, will have strong ties to the community so we can help ensure their event is a success, and our board of directors includes a wealth of people from across sectors who can leverage their connections to draw and host successful events. They’re often members of national professional organizations looking for convention destinations, and those connections can help us get those events to Minneapolis.

So, to our board members, and especially to those who give their time to be involved in a range of event committees and activities, I want to say thank you. What you do is not easy, but our community is stronger and better because you do it.

Broadening the topic a bit, you may have heard me speak of Meet Minneapolis’ strategic plan, which we named “A Whole New Playing Field.” Since its adoption by our board of directors in 2013, we have worked hard to aggressively address its seven pillars, including maximizing relevance among key stakeholder groups. When we speak to our partners and discuss this component of our strategic plan, we often paraphrase it by asking: Who would miss us if we were gone?

Fortunately, our public and private sector partners have been shoulder to shoulder with us in marketing and selling Minneapolis for more than a quarter century. During that time, we have seen a new convention space constructed and then expanded; several growth spurts in hotel room inventory; and metro-wide visitors increase from fewer than 5 million annually to now more than 30 million. And lest we forget, we had the Best. Year. Ever. in 2014 and our travel/hospitality industry may even exceed that record year this year.

Our work goes beyond the high profile mega events that grab headlines. It’s the family reunions and weddings we help to come off without a hitch. It’s the tour groups that come in to take advantage of our Signature Experiences. It is those short-term corporate meetings that fill space in need periods at our local hotels and Minneapolis Convention Center. These are the real bread and butter groups that we work hard to attract and to host.

We will continue to work with our public and private sector partners to attract events into the city. We know that numerous businesses count on us, and more importantly, the tens of thousands of hospitality industry employees who reside in Minneapolis are the ones who really count on us. We take the idea of relevance very seriously.

I’m certainly disappointed about the news regarding the Senior Games. For everyone who attended and participated, the event was a big success. A dedicated team of volunteers and staff from multiple cities in the metro area welcomed nearly 10,000 athletes who spent millions of dollars here—this is money flowing into our local economy that would not have been here otherwise. Any negative media attention doesn’t at all diminish the hard work that many individuals put in over the five years since we originally confirmed the Senior Games for the area.

Questions have come up about whether people who are on the Meet Minneapolis Board of Directors should also be on local organizing committees or other host committees for events that come to town. The answer is, absolutely! In fact, our board members, elected officials and community leaders are the perfect people to help bring events to reality in Minneapolis. The board of directors is appointed because of their ties to our community, and because they believe in Minneapolis as a destination for convention and leisure travel. They’re also people who understand that a strong convention and tourism industry is critical to our local economy, and that kind of business doesn’t just happen unless you work for it. That’s the work Meet Minneapolis is here to do, with our myriad partners.

The efforts of our board members, elected officials and other community members is a key part of our success, and they’re important in keeping us competitive against all the other cities that are battling for those out-of-town dollars as well. Convention groups frequently expect that destination marketing organizations, like Meet Minneapolis, will have strong ties to the community so we can help ensure their event is a success, and our board of directors includes a wealth of people from across sectors who can leverage their connections to draw and host successful events. They’re often members of national professional organizations looking for convention destinations, and those connections can help us get those events to Minneapolis.

So, to our board members, and especially to those who give their time to be involved in a range of event committees and activities, I want to say thank you. What you do is not easy, but our community is stronger and better because you do it.

Broadening the topic a bit, you may have heard me speak of Meet Minneapolis’ strategic plan, which we named “A Whole New Playing Field.” Since its adoption by our board of directors in 2013, we have worked hard to aggressively address its seven pillars, including maximizing relevance among key stakeholder groups. When we speak to our partners and discuss this component of our strategic plan, we often paraphrase it by asking: Who would miss us if we were gone?

Fortunately, our public and private sector partners have been shoulder to shoulder with us in marketing and selling Minneapolis for more than a quarter century. During that time, we have seen a new convention space constructed and then expanded; several growth spurts in hotel room inventory; and metro-wide visitors increase from fewer than 5 million annually to now more than 30 million. And lest we forget, we had the Best. Year. Ever. in 2014 and our travel/hospitality industry may even exceed that record year this year.

Our work goes beyond the high profile mega events that grab headlines. It’s the family reunions and weddings we help to come off without a hitch. It’s the tour groups that come in to take advantage of our Signature Experiences. It is those short-term corporate meetings that fill space in need periods at our local hotels and Minneapolis Convention Center. These are the real bread and butter groups that we work hard to attract and to host.

We will continue to work with our public and private sector partners to attract events into the city. We know that numerous businesses count on us, and more importantly, the tens of thousands of hospitality industry employees who reside in Minneapolis are the ones who really count on us. We take the idea of relevance very seriously.