Adam RasmussenChannel 2 News
More businesses bringing in millions of dollars to the Reno-Tahoe area--that's the goal for the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority.
They're hoping to do just that while hosting the HelmsBriscoe Annual Business Conference through Friday.
It features 2,000 businesses and meeting planners from around the world. The HelmsBriscoe company is the world's largest third-party meeting planner. That means they help convention and meeting planners find places to hold their events.
The RSCVA hopes to convince those planners to bring those future events to Reno.
"It is one of the biggest events you can possibly host, in terms of potential," says Christopher Baum, CEO and President of RSCVA.
And, that potential comes from the thousands of convention and meeting planners here from all over the world. So, just how big is the HelmsBriscoe company representing these planners?
In 2010, the company generated $675 million by booking 25,000 events and nearly four million room nights worldwide. Over the last four years, they've brought in about $5 million worth of business to the Reno area.
The RSCVA hopes that number jumps up dramatically after the conference is over. They say most people visiting for this conference view Reno as a "small Las Vegas", something the RSCVA hopes to change.
"We all know that we're much more than that," says Baum. "We have such a great outdoors orientation, so many great facilities. I think the local resorts have blown them away."
HelmsBriscoe held this same event here back in 1998. They say hosting it here in Reno again this year should bring a positive outcome for the city.
"We expect the number of meetings that we put into the Reno-Tahoe area to grow naturally just because of this exposure," says Greg Malark, COO of HelmsBriscoe.
Malark says the visit to Reno has been nearly perfect, and the response from everyone here has been nothing but positive.
"So, everybody's having a really good time and I think rave reviews are going to go back to their clients from this event," he says.
More good news came out of the convention as well. The RSCVA reached an agreement with the American Society of Association Executives--which operates trade shows and publications. The agreement gives Reno even more exposure to over 20,000 CEO's and partners across the country.
"We think it's going to mean a lot of new business for the region, and it's just the start," says Baum.
That agreement is costing the RSCVA nearly $300,000 each year for three years, but they say it shows a commitment to bringing more business to the area.
