For Immediate Release Contact s18
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Scott Carpenter
1634 North Main Street, Suite 102 Capture Public Relations & Marketing
High Point, N.C. 27262
336.884.5255 336.408.5247
HIGH POINT CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU SEEKING
MARKETING & ADVERTISING AGENCY FOR EVENTS CENTER
Joint Committee Formed to Oversee Marketing for the Events Center
HIGH POINT, N.C., JANUARY 26, 2018 — At its January meeting, the High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau board of directors voted to distribute a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking an advertising and marketing agency of record for High Point’s new downtown events center and all of the other new attractions coming soon to downtown High Point. Those include the stadium, new hotel, children’s museum complex and park, and new amenities that will be announced soon. The events center is scheduled to open in 2020 and will be managed and operated by the High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau. A special joint marketing committee for the events center, which includes representatives of both the events center and Convention & Visitors Bureau boards, is being formed to review the RFP submissions to select the most capable firm.
“For years, we at the Convention & Visitors Bureau have advocated for an events center in downtown High Point—particularly after we lost use of Showplace as event space several years ago,” High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Tim Mabe said. “Now we not only have that event venue, we have a whole new visitor experience to market and sell year-round. In fact, our inventory will have more than doubled. Now the hard part of our work begins. Large events, conventions and groups book event space at least a year or two in advance. As operator of the new events center, the Convention & Visitors Bureau must work fast and furiously to assure bookings are in place when its doors open.”
“The Convention & Visitors Bureau has a clearly defined mission: to encourage and promote economic development in High Point through travel and tourism,” Mabe said. “The public has been equally clear by its mandate for us to focus our work on the events center and other downtown catalyst projects to make them a success for the benefit of the entire community.”
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The High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau (HPCVB) has previously committed $5 million toward the debt service to the City for the catalyst. “We are now pleased to announce that HPCVB has committed an additional $1 million for the development of the events center. Further, HPCVB has entered into a management agreement with the Downtown transformation executive board led by Dr. Nido Qubein. The event center board, recently appointed by Dr. Qubein will provide oversight and work with HPCVB on ensuring the event center is a successful draw for visitors year- round in the catalyst project area. HPCVB will not charge a management fee to the downtown transformation executive board. “This is certainly going to be a challenge for HPCVB but with the leadership involved, and our city desiring our downtown to be activated I am confident it will be successful. Cooperation, an effective and aggressive marketing strategy, and all eyes focused on the desired outcome are key. The goal is to make the catalyst project area continually activated and a very vibrant and bustling year-round destination,” Mabe said.
With a goal of creating demand from North Carolina and neighboring states, the Convention & Visitors Bureau’s RFP stipulates that the selected agency will prepare marketing research to identify target markets and users to develop an aggressive marketing strategy for an initiative to generate year-round bookings for the events center. In addition, the RFP says the design, copy and graphics of all materials created by the selected agency must position High Point as a as a leading contender in the market place as a destination of choice for meeting planners, large groups and conventions.
“The RFP includes some very expensive yet highly necessary items like computer software and training, website development, and regional paid advertising and social media campaigns. We also have to create renderings of the building and 3D videos,” High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau board chair Patrick Harman said. “Those are the things that people booking large events and conventions demand to see, especially for a building that has yet to be built. With our own $1 million investment in the events center, the Convention & Visitors Bureau is greatly interested in it being a success.”
“Our competition from other cities is well equipped in terms of marketing to groups and events, and we must compete with them head-on to make High Point’s event center a winner from day one,” Harman added. “We’re also thrilled to be working with Bruce Davis, who serves as chair of the events center board and is a former chair of the Convention & Visitors Bureau board. He has an incredible depth of experience and knowledge regarding work with the events and convention industry.”
Harman said the RFP already is available to agencies. The Convention & Visitors Bureau’s goal is to select an agency by early March and have marketing materials ready in April.
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“The operational partnership between the Convention & Visitors Bureau and the events center makes perfect sense,” Bruce Davis, chair of the event center board said. “The events center will be a game changer for High Point. If we market the events center in the right way—and that means very aggressively starting now—we believe it could draw an additional 1,000 to 2,000 out-of-town visitors per event, at a minimum, and create an annual economic impact potential of more than $10 million.”
“The event center is a big investment for our city and we must make every effort to maximize its use to gain the highest return on investments. We can’t afford to let it sit empty,” Davis added. “Working with the High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau board and staff, together as a team, we’re all ready to roll up our sleeves to bring new tourist dollars to High Point and create a vibrant, year-round downtown destination. Let’s get started.”
Questions about the RFP should be directed to the Convention & Visitors Bureau, attention “Melody Burnett - RFP”. Submissions are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, February 16.
About the events center
The events center is part of an extensive transformation of High Point’s downtown area that also will feature other nearby attractions including a multi-purpose stadium, hotel, a children’s museum, educational cinema, playground and a park. Plans call for a state-of-the-arts events center to open in 2020. The events center will be designed to accommodate banquets and special events for 1,000 or more attendees, including space for 50 or more booth exhibits with several breakout spaces, and will position High Point very positively as a major player in the mid-size conference business both statewide and in the immediate Southeastern region.
About the High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau
The High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote and encourage economic development in High Point through travel and tourism. The High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau works closely with meeting planners to bring events to High Point and to enhance their experience here, providing white glove assistance with event planning tasks including registration, transportation, and coordination among various venues. These services ensure that every group event will be successful down to the last detail because we want each visitor to make yourself at home. Established by state legislation in 1984, the High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau is an independent 501(c) 6 nonprofit organization funded by a self-imposed three percent room occupancy tax on local hotels. No taxpayer funds—city, county or state—are used to fund the High Point Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Regional Visitors Center is located at 1634 N. Main St., Suite 102, High Point, N.C.
For more information, please visit highpoint.org.
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