This week, the Saratoga County Chamber was the host of a three-day two-night national conference for Chamber event managers organized by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE).
This conference attracted 70 chamber event professionals from across the US from places like: Lexington, KY; Cleveland, OH; Topeka, KS; Fort Collins, CO; Lafayette, LA; Omaha, NE; Waco, TX; and more.
This conference has traditionally taken place in larger metropolitan areas such as; Kansas City, Atlanta, Louisville, and New Orleans. So all of us at the Saratoga County Chamber were thrilled to have this chance to showcase our world-class small city.
As the marketing materials promoting this conference stated: “From Annual Meetings to golf outings and festivals to fly-ins, chambers are known for bringing people together for events of every variety.”
The seminar subjects ranged from: Organize, Track, Evaluate, Improve – Tools to Successful Events; Transforming the Event Sponsorship Process; Intercity Visits that Drive Positive Community Change; and 60 Event Ideas in 60 Minutes, etc.
The Saratoga County Chamber was asked by ACCE to convene a local panel of experts to discuss the subject of “Growing your economy through community events.”
The preview for this seminar stated: “Saratoga Springs was once marketed as the “Summer Place to Be.” But thanks to organizations like the Saratoga Rowing Association, the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau, the Chamber, and the Saratoga Springs City Center, this city of 28,000 now attracts tens of thousands of people year-round through a variety of unique events. The panel will discuss the origin of these events and how they’ve been developed and marketed to drive up overnight stays and re-brand Saratoga as the place to be 24/7/365.”
To be honest, we likely could have had a panel of 100 or more local leaders who now organize and host events that draw visitors and residents to Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County.
But with just 90 minutes, we were confident that this panel could talk about events that span the entire year and which attract a wide range of attendees to Saratoga from leisure to group visitors, to locals and tourists who love dancing, chowder, rowing, horse racing, Jazz, comics, pond hockey, giant pumpkins and more.
During the session on Thursday, we talked about the Regatta’s; Chowderfest; Dance Flurry; Giant PumpkinFest; the All American City Celebration; Comic Con, etc. We shared how they were started. How they are funded. How they’ve grown or changed. And we also shared some insight about the challenges we face locally in continuing to sustain these events and to ensure their continued success.
I think it is safe to say the audience was impressed by how many and how diverse the events are that we somehow pull off in a City of 28,000 people.
But as the audience of event professionals shared stories with us, we learned that our local struggle in sustaining signature events is a challenge everywhere. There is so much competition for sponsorship dollars not just here but in communities across the US.
The logistics of hosting events has become more complicated and expensive. Plus, what audiences are actually interested in attending is changing too. So clearly growing a local economy through community events will always be a work in progress for cities and communities of all sizes.
Let’s hope we in Saratoga can lead the way in finding solutions to these challenges.
And then maybe we’ll be asked to organize a similar panel or to host this event again five or ten years from now.
