Work in Progress A Freeman crew of about 250 spent six weeks getting the Tampa Bay Times Forum ready for the convention. Work included removing bolted- down stadium seats to install the media seating, stage, and production platform.

Host City: ‘So They Keep Coming Back’

The whole world may not have been watching, but a good many people did tune into the 2012 Republican National Convention (RNC). And the host city made sure to capitalize on its moment in the spotlight. “Our goal was not just to capture their attention while they were here,” said Matt Becker, chief operating oficer of the Tampa Bay Host Committee, “but to draw them in so they keep coming back.”

A coordinated marketing plan Early in 2012, 15 community and economic development organizations came together to jointly develop a 14-point marketing and promotion plan, which included hiring a PR firm to create four Tampa Bay–related pitches for national media. It also included a national media buy, targeted to the in-flight magazines of US Airways and Southwest Airlines, the two carriers that would be ferrying the most convention-related visitors to Tampa Bay. Additional efforts included hosting

national media site visits and client familiarization tours for meeting planners.

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“Everything was sequenced to build brand awareness and excitement about the Tampa Bay area,” said Kelly Miller, president and CEO of Tampa Bay & Company.

Tampa Bay as a business center One of the biggest departures from past marketing by political-convention host cities was Tampa Bay’s focus on the region as a place to start or relocate a business. To reach — and woo — the many CEOs in Tampa for the 2012 RNC, the Host Committee partnered with business- news giant Bloomberg on an Economic Development Series that addressed topics such as international trade and featured such high-profile panelists as former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Partnership, a CEO-led regional economic development organization, unveiled “Front Row Tampa Bay,” a live web-TV program that showcased business leaders discussing economic trends, issues, and opportunities in the Tampa Bay region.

Proactive social-media strategy Social media was a central component of the

coordinated marketing plan, with Tampa Bay & Company launching a Social Media Command Center (SMCC) — the first of its kind for a political convention. Rather than just push out tourism information via a one- way stream, a team of 50 social-media and destination experts monitored social-media channels in order to respond to Tampa- related conversations. “We had two goals with the command

center,” said Doug McClain, Tampa Bay & Company’s vice president of marketing and communications. “The first was hospitality and simply taking care of delegates and the media that was in market. That included everything from information about Hurricane Isaac, to someone wondering where they could [take] a yoga class.” The second goal of the SMCC was to

monitor people’s perceptions of Tampa Bay. The SMCC provided an opportunity to engage visitors and respond, in real time, to their sentiments of the host city. By convention’s end, the command center had processed 190,000 conversations, according to McClain. And the host city, Miller said, “hit a grand slam in leveraging this once-in-a-generation opportunity.”

NOVEMBER 2012 PCMA CONVENE 45

PHOTOGRAPHS ON PREVIOUS SPREADS BY DOUG ASHLEY FOR FREEMAN