George pointed to the city’s decision to shift the city’s management of the Zoo and Union Station to private non-profits as functional models to emulate. “We don’t have an overall management structure in place other than political office,” he said of the current arrangement. “Having to go through City Hall to get things done instead of through the staff is an issue.”

Oscar McGaskey, who manages the city’s convention facilities, has an “open mind” on the issue. “I think long-term it could work very well in Kansas City, if it’s done the correct way.”

Tom Holden would prefer an authority system as well, because it protects the tax dollars that are supposed to be going to Bartle Hall. “That’s what got us in trouble before,” he reminded his peers. “When those funds go into the city, they don’t always go to Bartle Hall or to Oscar.”

Marketing

On the positive side, an aggressive marketing campaign can do much to attract groups. By contrast, there was very little the city could do to attract a business traveler. “Anything that can be done to attract these groups to Kansas City, the effort is well-spent,” said Don Breckenridge.

Unfortunately, not much marketing money will be coming from Jefferson City. As Katie Danner pointed out, to balance the state budget, the Missouri Senate is moving to cut the tourism budget to $10 million, down from $24 million just three years ago. This, of course, means less money for Kansas City. Danner suggested that legislators who spend “a lot of time and money trying to influence behavior for one day, their election day, don’t understand that we’re trying to do it 365 days a year.”

Bill Chapin of the Chiefs commented on a little-noticed marketing asset. “Our citizens are amazing ambassadors,” he said. “There’s a Midwest attitude of ‘how can I help you, so glad that you’re here.’”

Hughes presented an interesting graph that showed the difference between out-of-market public expectations of Kansas City and on-the-ground perceptions. Groups that have never been to Kansas City rank it in the lowest quadrant as a destination behind Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and Houston. Those that have actually been to the city rank it in the upper quadrant with cities like San Diego, San Antonio, and Denver. Hughes asked how the city could get the exposure it needed to reverse preconceptions.

On the baseball front, as David Hayob of the Royals observed, the All-Star game in July will present an excellent opportunity for the city to show its wares to the world. “It is a national showcase,” said Hayob. “It’s the event space, hotel space, Plaza Red Carpet Parade, downtown Fan Fest, and obviously what’s going on at the sports complex itself.”

“To me,” said Hughes, “the real benefit is what you’re hitting on, national and international exposure. We have a real opportunity to showcase KC to the world.”

George Guastello wondered what the strategy was to address the demographic skew of a sporting event like a baseball game. “How are we going to market and capitalize on it?”

Katie Danner assured him that the state, which has two Major League Baseball teams and partners with both of them, was already mapping this one out.

“The cool thing,” she said, “is we already know the game is hard to get to. So we’re really marketing the experience—the All-Star week. Come get all of the experiences we have in Kansas City.”

 

 

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