Courtesy CTCSB
Here’s what the CTCSC did:
• Recruited, trained and oversaw more than 300 volunteers.
• Organized and hosted a statewide rally that raised awareness for the event and solicited in-kind and cash donations with a goal of raising $60,000 to cover logistical expenses.
• Secured free parking at nearly every garage and lot in downtown Hartford for attendees
• Worked with city and state transportation officials and the police on logistics.
• Ensured that an 8,000-person cheerleading competition, a 3,000-person family show and a 1,300 person educational conference could go on while the run was being held. More than 50,000 people were estimated to be in Hartford the day of the run.
• Arranged for 160 National Choir Students, grades 4-5, in Hartford for a convention, to participate in the educational conference and Sandy Hook Run’s opening ceremony.
• Recruited and promoted restaurants that opened early for the event. Pancake breakfasts, buffet breakfasts and to-go service was provided at various locations.
• Handled public relations and promotion for the run.
Plows and parking
CVBs are old hands at planning and hosting site visits for meeting planners. No two visits are the same, and on occasion, a conference’s needs are new to the host city.
Take for example, the Transportation Expo Snowplow Roadeo, a regional event held in Columbus, Ind., a few years ago.
Roadeo organizers contacted Becky Harper, the CVB’s director of sales and hospitality. They would need a site with indoor and outdoor trade show areas, rooms for meals and meetings and a driving course for the snowplow skills portion of the event.
The county fairgrounds seemed a good fit, so planners came to Columbus in the cold winter months to see it before the summer event. Harper tromped around the fairgrounds with them, trying to evaluate whether buildings that were housing boats and other equipment over winter would be large enough for the group. They also mapped out a driving skills course.
The group also realized it had another need: assistance setting up the obstacle course that would test drivers’ skills.
Harper had called upon student volunteers at the local Job Corps Center to help set up a golf tournament and suggested that Job Corps students might help with the Roadeo.
The planner, who had worked with Job Corps centers in the past, liked the idea.
“He thought it was a great fit, and a way to show these young volunteers all kinds of jobs,” Harper said.
Now Harper is working on another project; finding parking for cars and car haulers for a car club that would like to convene in Columbus.
Parking for such events is typically not a challenge, but the group wants to be based downtown the same weekend as a major festival.
Harper has been calling city hall, talking to city planners and, in the process, is learning new things about her town.
“I have learned of a lot of parking locations that I had never considered,” she said. “I think it is important to know about everything that is out there as everyone is looking for experiences and unique things. Part of our job is to really know what we can provide here and be able to call on our resources.”
