Week 3: The Hotel Reception

On September 28th I attended the Commission's annual Hotel Reception. This year it was held at a local spot called Cheers Bar and Grill Downtown. There were three types of guests at this reception; the Tacoma Sports Commission staff, the major executives of the WIAA (Washington Interscholastic Activities Association), and the General Mangers and Marketing Directors for all the local hoteliers. We provided dinner, dessert, games, drink tickets, door prizes, and swag galore! We gave out Seahawks tickets, rounds of golf, autographed baseballs, jackets, gift-cards and more! The purpose of this annual event is two-fold.

The first thing the Commission is trying to accomplish is to thank all the local hoteliers for working with the Commission in 2011 while also inadvertently encouraging them to be oh-so-generous when we begin asking for our free 2012 hotel rooms. The reason we work to get an allotment of free comped nights at our local hotels is because when we are bidding on an event we like to add in as many perks and additional goodies to help pitch our case. Ex: When asking USA gymnastics to come to Tacoma it doesn't hurt to offer free hotel nights, flights, complementary meals, and more. In order to provide these additional benefits it is imperative that we have a surplus of free hotel night-stays at our fingertips.

The other reason the Sports Commission holds this event is to thank the WIAA for picking Pierce County (aka us) as their destination for many of their high school state championships. Tacoma hosts approximately 8 high school state championships annually. These are huge economic drivers that bring money from other parts of the state into Pierce County. In fact, our largest event that generates approximately 3.8 million dollars in direct spending is the WIAA Wrestling State Championships known as the WIAA Mat Classic.

Overall the experience was eye-opening. I was able to network with local hoteliers and WIAA Executives and Athletic Directors. I was able to experience an event based on schmoozing and sales. It was a prime example of how the I-help-you, you-help-me type of business works. I must say, the Tacoma-Pierce County Sports Commission knows how to throw a party and collect and distribute swag when necessary.