GregoryA.O’Dell President andCEO Washington Convention and SportsAuthority
Coming soon—a convention-center hotel and a whole new brand
As the group travel market continues its slow but steady return to health, what will your venue be doing to remain competitive within the industry? There’s been such a dramatic change, and I don’t think our market is going to change back. “Value proposition” is no longer just a catchphrase for any of us.We’re going to have to continue to drive value for our customers and really see how we can partner with them.We really have to distinguish our- selves in terms of what our destination and what our build- ing offers, and I don’t see that going away ever again in our industry.
What valuable lessons with respect to the meetings business have you learned over the past two years? We really have tried to get more attuned towhat the customer’s needsmay be, and not just offer what we think is a good solution—really understand their busi- ness and particularly their shows, and see how we as a building can help them.We just have to be sensitive to that, and offer a customized approach and not a cookie- cutter, one-size-fits-all approach.
What are you doing to help planners meet their goals for sustainability and corporate social responsibility? We’re very fortunate that we have such a new building. It’s only seven years old, and it was already a very energy-efficient build- ing when it opened. One of the main things we certainly do is try to highlight our recycling program. All of our recycling is free.We also try to hook up with local organizations, so instead of customers reshipping or packaging or throwing things away, there are materials that can be a benefit to local organizations.
TRADEOFF: “If you’re going to pay a little more,” Gregory A. O’Dell said, “we have to show how that’s going to be a benefit.”
96 pcma convene January 2011
Even for food-and-beverage, Centerplate, our caterer, has a composting program.We’re also in the process of seeking Exist- ing Building LEED certification for the building.
What will be the top destination-selection criteria for meeting planners during the coming year? Nomatter howyou slice it, cost is going to be an issue—avail- ability of the destination, availability of the hotel inventory, and, obviously, the right price point for the appropriate meeting space that they need. But I think there’s a tradeoff. Obviously if you’re going to pay a little bit more in cost, as you may for a destination like Washington, D.C., then we have to be able to show how that’s going to be a benefit to themto meet theirROI.We’re excited about having more hotelinven- tory, as we see not only our convention- center hotel come online for future bookings — that’s going to be 1,100 rooms and suites, and 100,000 square feet of meeting space—but other hotel inventory as well.
What technology innovations will you be pursuing in 2011 and going forward?
At the end of 2010, we were able to finish up a couple of major retrofit projects.We used the Skyfold vertical-partitioning wall system, which allowed us to create an additional 48,000 square feet of meeting space at the turn of a key. That was great use of technology. The other thing that we finished up in 2010 was awhole new lighting-efficiency programthroughout the build- ing, so not only is it generating better lighting for our customers, particularly in the exhibit halls, but it’s much more efficient. What we’re going to focus on in 2011 is our digital-sign-
age program.We’re rolling out a complete interior and exte- rior signage program throughout the building, and a compo- nent of that will be the digital-signage piece. Andoneof the things thatwe’ll be doing isacomplete rebrand-
ing as an organization.We’ll be rolling that out by the middle of January.We’ll really focus on us delivering all types of events, managing the event experience forWashington, D.C.