Boston Pursues Strategies to Leverage Value

Many convention centers and the people who run them have long relied on the old measurements of“heads on beds” and other economic impacts to measure the worth of the work they do. This model was created during the second half of the 20th century during the trade show boom when events expanded dramatically in the U.S. At that time， destinations decided that economic impact alone was reward enough for building， maintaining and upgrading facilities. The “loss leaders” status of convention centers became the model around the world， with few in the industry pushing the envelope away from economic impact to revenue generation.

However， between the recent economic downturn， a saturation of new convention facilities and the strains of subsidizing some operations， that old model is now being called into question. In Boston and throughout the world， if meetings and conventions are to ingrain themselves into their city， state or country’s economic engines and push towards self-sufficiency， changes needed to be made.

At the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority， we are working to make this change by optimizing our space and finding unique ways to increase revenue.

Our first step in this direction was the formation of the MCCA’s Strategy and Product Development Team， a team dedicated to analyzing and eventually selling services that will both help generate additional revenue and help Boston events thrive. The creation of this new team and the work they will do is instrumental to the future of the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority， and we also view this effort as a bellwether moment for the meeting and convention industry， as for all of us to continue to do the important work we do， we must begin to change the way we operate.

The team， led by Chief Strategy Officer Johanna Storella， began by taking a deep look at the performance of the MCCA’s current products and services to try and understand the value to the customer， and to centralize the sales and marketing of those services. From marketing and selling a state-of-theart event management system developed in-house by the MCCA， to running rather than simply hosting events， the MCCA is out to break the mold.

Though still early in the process， the team has developed a new evaluation metric to determine if new ideas are a good fit for the MCCA while analyzing revenue potential. For example， the group is looking at how they might be able to help smaller events with registration， without competing with other registration suppliers that assist larger events.

To better optimize space in its two convention centers in Boston， the MCCA also repurposed 20，000 square feet of underutilized meeting space at the Hynes Convention Center and converted it into restaurant space that now generates additional revenues and resulted in two amazing restaurant spaces inside the convention center. And through a new video wall and outdoor marquee at the Boston Convention Exhibition Center， advertising and sponsorship revenues are now being generated.

In addition， the Strategy and Product Development team is in the midst of creating or co-sponsoring events that fill unique niches and can grow and generate revenue based on their success.

Two new events have already been announced. Working with Intelligence Summits LLC， the MCCA announced the launch of Culinary Intelligence Summit， a full-day conference focused on solutions for larger-scale food service operations working to implement and manage gluten free/allergy meal solutions to meet consumer demand. The event will take place June 10， 2014， at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston.

The MCCA and Sitarian？ Corporation also announced the launch of the Advanced Audio + Applications Exchange？ （A3E？） w w w. A 3 E xc h a n g e . c o m ， a n international tradeshow， conference and social network exchange focused on the exploration of new technologies that are transforming the music industry and the creative processes of musicians and audio professionals. The inaugural event will take place September 23-24， 2014， also the Hynes.

These and all future events are created to avoid competing with existing clients while filling a strong need. If successful， the events can travel independently of their Boston roots， taking place anywhere there is demand.

When looking toward the future， you cannot help but analyze it from where you stand now - and in our view， where we stand now is not sustainable. We realize not everyone has the ability or option to try this approach， but we’re happy to share our thoughts with other industry members to encourage the industry to grow and flourish. Meetings and conventions are not going away –but we have to find better ways to grow their benefits.