Explanation
BACKGROUND
This legislation authorizes the Director of the Department of Development to enter into a grant agreement with the Greater Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau Inc., a non-profit entity, dba Experience Columbus, for the purpose of providing support to the organization in its efforts to market Columbus for sporting events, conferences, conventions, and planning activities, and to authorize an expenditure in an amount up to $750,000.00.
Experience Columbus is an organization whose vision is to be the leading force in creating and revealing the best of the Columbus Experience to the world. The mission of Experience Columbus is to sell, market and promote the “Destination Columbus” experience to visitors. Columbus is increasingly seen as a destination city and host candidate for major national conferences and conventions. These events result in tens of thousands of visitors to Columbus and millions of dollars in direct and indirect spending, supporting a significant number of jobs and businesses in Central Ohio.
In 2023, Columbus will host the annual meetings for the Professional Management Convention Association (PCMA) and US Conference of Mayors.
PCMA is one of the world’s largest, most-respected, and most recognized network of business strategists. The organization helps members become industry leaders through education, networking, and conferences. PCMA’s 2023 annual Convening Leaders will welcome 4,500+ association, corporation, government and agency decision makers in person with an additional 1,000+ digital attendees representing over 25 countries.
The US Conference of Mayors is the official non-partisan organization with a population of 30,000 and largely represented by their elected official, over 1,400 mayors. Sixty percent (60%) of attendees bring their families to the annual conference. The primary role of the conference is advocacy, best practices, business connections, promotion, and networking. Hosting...
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