Point of View’ Tricia Simpson, CMP, Manager, Meetings & Conventions InternationalTrademarkAssociation (INTA)
‘YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED’: Some second-tier cities represent themselves as first-tier when they make sales calls to INTA’s Tricia Simpson.
It’s difficult not having a source that has [an accepted listing of the city-tier classifications], so
when people come to my office from cities to do sales calls, I generally ask them what [level] they consider their city to be, and you would be surprised at the answers I get. Because they
“Most cities that say they’re first-tier, access is their No. 1 claim, and then culture, the convention center, and hotels.”
present themselves a certainway, but when they’re asked point- blank, they admit that they’re a second-tier destination. About 65 percent of INTA’s attendees are international, so
accessibility is very important tous. Attendees have tobe able to get [to the host city] in one leg or less. The more direct flights, the better.We can’t go anywhere people can’t get to. And most of the cities that come in and say they’re first-tier, that is their No. 1 [claim]—access to the city—and then culture, the con- vention center, and the hotels. There’s the cultural aspect of the city. It has to have some- thing to offer.We need to be close to where businesses are located
so that people can combine the trip—they’re traveling very far—and, of course, you have the convention center and hotel component. For example, Seattle is not a first-tier city, but for us, it was a great destination because our group is “hugely net- working” and so even though we didn’t have the lift that we wanted into Seattle, once we got there, the convention center and the hotels were right in the same area, and it made it eas- ier to find people and to get around and all the restaurants were close by. It’s a compact little city. Chicago considers itself first-tier, but we didn’t, because it
was difficult for ourmembers tomove around. In the end, when you host ameeting and you look at all the different components that the city has to offer, it’s difficult generally to say what con- stitutes first-tier and second-tier. I think the distinction between the different tiers will remain
largely a matter of perception, because what’s first-tier to me may not be first-tier to someone else. Looking at it from a totally measurable point of view would give the [classifications] some consistency, but it still would mean different things to differ- ent people.