D.C. Hosts Rivals for Convention Business

First, primp the palms. Then bring in a jazz trio, crank up the chocolate fountain and throw a swanky dinner for your guests with an icon of their industry. This is cutthroat competition, Washington style.

Or at least it was at the end of last week, when the Walter E. Washington Convention Center demonstrated the saying, "keep your friends close, but your enemies closer," hosting meeting planners from dozens of other U.S. and international cities that would love to lure away its business.

With the largest concentration of associations in the country, Washington represents the mother lode of meeting planners. To convention and tourism bureaus, the Destination Marketing Association International's Destination Showcase is an opportunity to get them thinking about holding their next event in Reno or Grand Rapids, Kansas City or maybe even Maui. Which is why the guests, planners of everything from meetings of 10 people meetings to 1,500, arrived with empty wheeled suitcases to load up with trinkets.

"Ooh, where did you get that?" asked one planner, pointing to a combination of woven straw cubes, shells and tropical nuts that adorned another woman's neck.

"Hawaii is giving them away," the woman responded, holding up her new lei for inspection.

This is, of course, a gimmick that everyone seems happy to play along with. But the event is not a game. When the economy tanks, companies tighten their belts. Many of the event planners who attended Thursday's show had meetings to book for clients, so they wove through aisles lined with colorful booths, dropping off requests for proposals at cities that seemed enticing.

Food seems to be a big part of selling a city. There were close-ups of Corpus Christi's Whataburger and what appeared to be giant sparkly gumdrops at Knoxville's booth. Albuquerque flew in pastry chef Chris Morales to whip up some "magic cookies" and give away loaves of his green chili bread in burlap bags.

"Especially during slow economic times, associations can save us," said Monica Thomas, director of special events and sponsorships for Lancaster County's Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The number one thing we'll have to see is if they'll be willing to leave D.C. [for meetings], and that's 50-50."

Washington is not likely to give up good business willingly. And it used its home-court advantage to woo customers. With the largest booth, prominently positioned at entrance of the exhibit hall, D.C. convention officials put their center's best foot forward, giving a behind-the-scenes tour to select planners and showcasing its catering at a dinner featuring Arthur Frommer, founder of the eponymous travel guidebook publisher.

"The best position is to actually get potential customers to sample your product," said Victoria Isley, vice president of marketing for the convention center. "It allows them to imagine hosting their future events [here]."

-- Anita Huslin