Ray Gillen, chairman of Metroplex announced Friday, Feb. 6, that the organization has been working with the Chamber of Schenectady County to recruit conferences and meetings to the downtown Schenectady area.
With 14 events scheduled for the coming months, Gillen said, the entire county will benefit financially from the increased activity.
Meeting planners are looking for different venues, said Gillen, adding that Schenectady has the unique spaces people are looking for.
Last year, Metroplex provided $45,000 to the Chamber of Schenectady County to help support efforts to attract more conference and meeting business to the area.
According to the National Convention and Visitors Bureau, meeting visitors contribute about $200 per person per day to the local economy.
`These small groups are coming in for two to three days, and they have 100 people,` said Gillen. `You can do the numbers. It’s significant and it’s nice to see that activity.`
The joint effort of Metroplex and the Chamber is designed to create additional economic activity for county restaurants and hotels, as well as increasing sales tax and `bed tax` revenue.
Area hotels, as well as restaurants and entertainment venues, have also done their part to attract meeting business.
`Both the Holiday Inn and the Hampton Inn have booked some great meetings, conferences and banquets this month and through spring of this year,` said Greg Schahet of Schahet Hotels in a written statement. `And most of these groups are not from the immediate area so we’re seeing a real good diversity in the groups staying with us.`
Gail Kehn, vice president of visitors services for the Chamber of Schenectady noted that this is something that benefits all of the properties.
`If you had one of those meetings come in, every one of our hotels would be booked,` said Kehn.
As an example of how multiple venues in Schenectady would benefit from these conferences, she said that Glen Sanders Mansion might have an opening dinner and the Schenectady Museum might have an opening reception.
`From small groups to conferences that need room for almost 500 attendees, we have the facilities that meeting planners need right here in Schenectady County,` said Gillen in a written statement.
Proctors, as well as the cinema complex downtown, are two examples of meeting venues in the area.
`We have the GE theater [in Proctors], and we have the cinema complex, ` said Gillen. `We really built [the GE theater] for shows and entertainment, but early on we discovered that people really like the space for meetings.`
He said Proctors has had a number of inquiries from people interested in having meetings at the GE theater because they were looking for venues that were different and new.
`The role of the space has really taken off,` said Gillen. `We’re booking more and more meetings.`
He said that meeting packages are also being put together for groups.
`They book rooms, they got to the restaurants,` said Gillen. `It’s really been an outgrowth. We didn’t know the reaction would be this good.`
Upcoming conferences to be held in Schenectady County include Take Shape for Life, Theta Phi Alpha Weekend Meeting and Retreat, Capital Region Wine Festival, the NYS Farmers Market Association, the Underground Railroad Public History Conference and the Antarctica Conference. These conferences will take place at various venues across the county.
The Chamber of Schenectady County has created a spot on its Web site, www.sayschenectady.org, that includes information for meeting planners on Schenectady County facilities.
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