Republicans ask Atlanta to bid on ’08 convention
Now we all know how much fun this would be! Actually, what would be really great is if the Dems and the Repubs had their conventions at the same time in Atlanta and stayed at hotels across from each other!
“…The Republican National Committee (RNC) has asked 31 U.S. cities, including Atlanta, for bids to host the 2008 Republican National Convention. [] The committee will create a list of finalist cities by mid-summer. [] Atlanta hosted the Democratic National Convention in 1988…”
The disappointing part about the story is that it doesn’t tell us how much conventions tend to add to the economy, how much they cost the city, what needs to be done to host it, etc.
Huh. According to this (see page 3) the RNC convention 2004 in NYC netted a positive $163 million for the city. The DNC 2004 convention in Boston netted a negative $8.2 million for the city. (those were both predicted values – I’m not sure what the actual value was. My googling only goes one page deep).
Wow, now I would not have expected a negative figure in net revenue. Perhaps it was more the draw of NYC that resulted in a positive cash flow. Not, that Boston is not a good town but, when you compare cities to NYC is a big difference.
I made the post because it struck me as funny but, it is important to get a true understanding of a financial impact. I may be off base but, if the RNC were to come to ATL, would one think that GA., being a “red state” (and I hate that term) might draw some non-delegates into the city to spend some money? Of course, the very tight security concerns might put a damper on all of it. Plus, I wonder just how much money ATL would have to spend on security. That would have to be a major expense.
It would be interesting to see what happens.
For the DNC, according to http://www.beaconhill.org/PR_DNC080904FINAL.pdf
the Democratic 2004 “convention generated benefits of $156.7 million but cost $141.9 million in lost spending due to ‘displaced events and lost tourist and commuter spending’ for a net gain fo $14.8 million.”
For the RNC, according to http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2004/repconv04/rconvmain04.html
“city officials claimed ‘a net positive estimated economic impact on New York City’s economy of $255 million’ ($341 million in economic activity and a loss of $86 million due to disruptions).”
The reports I skimmed across read along the lines of NYC running things with more police but otherwise business as usual, while Boston actively stifled tourism and in-town commuting (how I don’t know) to comply with security measures. I wonder how much, if any, federal aid went to either convention. I think Atlanta would fare poorly no matter who comes to town, but I could be mentally scarred from getting trapped in the NBA All-Star Game gridlock.
Well, Atlanta won’t be hosting the Democratic convention in 2008, as they declined an invitation to pursue a bid to host the convention. You can track the news on the Democratic Convention site selection at 2008 Democratic Convention Watch.
Oh, man, I’m still mentally scarred from the NBA All-Star game also. Talk about horrible traffic management (then again I guess we didn’t expect so many people all wanting to go to Lenox – seriously, Lenox?)
I think NYC might be the only city in the US large enough to handle a national political convention as “business as usual” and make money at it. Sort of like the Olympics, only a city in the US is likely to break even.
I was here in ’84 for the DNC covention and had a politco buddy who was working and got me in one day. It was cool, I got to see one of the first uses of HDTV in the US (piped internally only). The bad news was that tight security nearby and stupid business decisions (hosting an “alternative convention” that looked to the police to be a call to riot) by the owners wipied out The Metroplex, which was far and away the best small rock venue in the city.
I was living in Boston during the Dem Convention, and while yes, the city made a bit of dough, the convention was nothing spectacular. It was in the Fleet Center, and the demontrators were confined to a tiny little fenced-in ghetto about two blocks away. We walked around downtown the on the last day and it was just a ghost town down there. Not a soul around. Dull.