February 2010
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Par Excellence

While Montréal has the civility expected of a Canadian city, it does not shy from grand schemes, having developed a shorthand for quick collaboration between industry and government.

By Allan Lynch

MONTRÉALERS JOKE THAT THEIR CITY HAS TWO SEASONS: WINTER AND ROAD WORK.

And while some may adhere to Voltaire’s dismissive description of Canada as “a few acres of snow,” Montréal has a 24/7 vibrancy, a cross between New Orleans fun, New York drive and France’s joie de vive. It’s also one of few cities—including London, Paris, Rome, San Francisco—to enjoy coverage in an entire issue of Gourmet magazine.

“Montréal is an absolutely extraordinary city. Here, all the best aspects of the French, English, Greek, Italian, West Indian and Jewish traditions that have gone into the making of this city are treated with equal reverence,” said former Gourmet Editor Ruth Reichl. “No wonder the markets are so rich, the restaurants so pleasurable. No wonder so many artists and musicians have chosen to live here. And no wonder Montréal is now a tourist mecca.”

While Montréal has the civility expected of a Canadian city, it does not shy from grand schemes, having developed a shorthand for quick collaboration between industry and government—par example the World Information Technology and Services Alliance (WITSA) and its 18th World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) in May 2012.
Marie-France Polidori, international business development manager for the Montréal Convention Centre/Palais de congrès de Montréal (MCC), says Montréal’s high-tech sector made the city uniquely alluring for event organizers, and vice versa.

“We looked at what it brings to the industry—a focus on Montréal—which will help to promote even better some of our real commercial objectives,” she said.

An organizing committee comprised of the Canadian Society of Information Technology, economic development agency Montréal International, creative industries promoter Montréal Technopole, IT giant CTI and the MCC, as well as the provincial industry and development ministries, produced a candidacy book and strategy to influence voting and national members of the WITSA’s general assembly.

Because of its late entry, Montréal wasn’t prepared to rely solely on the bid book. It launched a four-pronged attack that included a letter-writing campaign to all WITSA national members, visits by ambassadors to all 19 national voting members and last-minute lobbying before the vote in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, promoting Canada and Montréal’s IT sector and its natural fit for the conference (the scale of the Canadian industry, experience with large international events, positive delegate experience and security for high-profile guests).

Montréal sweetened its bid with a CAD$500,000 grant to help representatives from smaller companies and countries attend the conference, a focus on small and medium-sized players—who represent 85 percent of the industry—and assurances that officials would assist with visa issues for delegates from developing countries.

Described as the Davos of IT, the conference is a nice piece of business, attracting an expected 3,000 international delegates and as many as 50,000 trade show attendees, including high-profile attendees such as CEOs of Cisco, IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Toyota, as well as Warren Buffet and Bill Gates.

According to Claude Lemay, CEO of WCIT 2012 and vice president of the Information Technology Association of Canada, the 2008 meeting generated US$3.6 billion in business, which is why Montréal put so much effort into winning the event.

“The amount of effort required to win business depends on the dynamic of the conference,” Polidori said. “This one was very special because it has several objectives. The commercial objective for the city was very important. For us, it was to consolidate our position.

“So do we do that every time? Not in the same way. We try to understand what makes a decision fall into our favor. It is very important because it is not a question of giving the best price or giving the less expensive hotel; it’s a package. We are not only here to generate economic spin off, we are here also to generate intellectual spin off. For example, sometimes the end objective for a medical congress is to showcase the city for that science and for future scientists who might be interested in practicing in Montréal. The first objective is to have the meeting, to fill the hotels, but there are also other objectives behind that, and these are the ones we have to understand to make a good pitch.”

Polidori notes that U.S. associations don’t tend to form local organizing committees as often as their Canadian and international counterparts.

“That’s a difference in the way they are working, and they don’t necessarily go to places where the science of the subject is strong,” Polidori said.

To the outsider, it can seem that destination decisions are based on convenience, price or salability rather than natural professional connection. While an under-performing committee can give planners and tourist boards nightmares, groups that use them are impressed by their abilities to fundraise. Given today’s more challenging economy, Polidori is seeing an evolution in U.S.-based associations to give local organizing committees responsibilities limited to fundraising.

“They have the contacts. They know which door to knock on in terms of fundraising,” she said.

Meanwhile, Montréal continues to scope out meetings to fill hotels and provide long-term economic benefit for the city. One+

ALLAN LYNCH is a Canada-based freelance writer.

What’s New in Montréal
• The 454-room Le Westin Montréal opened last year in converted newspaper offices within steps of the Montreal Convention Centre.
• The 275-room Montréal Airport Marriott Hotel opened last year in Dorval near Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. It offers 14,770 square feet of meeting space.
• The 250-room Waldorf=Astoria Montréal is set to open in 2011. It will offer 15,000 square feet of event space.

Transportation Tips
• Montréal’s Pierre-Elliot-Trudeau International Airport (YUL) is a 20-minute drive from downtown. It is served by direct daily flights to 200 destinations. Toronto, New York, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington, D.C., can be reached within a one-hour flight.
• Montréal is a hub for both Via Rail Canada and Amtrak, and is just 46 miles from the U.S. border.

Fun Facts
• Montréal is the world’s second-largest French-speaking city, after Paris. Don’t panic, because while 150 languages are spoken here, it’s fluently bilingual.
• On Canada Day (July 1) don’t plan on hiring a truck. That’s when apartment leases expire and 7 percent of the city’s population moves—every year.

Montréal Lessons for Planners
1. Look for natural tie-ins with local industries at a short-listed destination and encourage them to prompt the CVB to sweeten the bidding for your business.
2. If you’ve never worked with a local organizing committee, consider starting with a limited fundraising role since it’s harder for suppliers and sponsors to say no to locals.
3. Make venues aware of the pre- and post-economic benefits of hosting your group such as ongoing economic development, raised international or industry profile, the potential to grow local industry or introducing the locale to new decision makers.
4. Pay attention to details: Can smaller startups afford to attend? Will there be bureaucratic obstacles for delegates from certain countries? Is there a way to facilitate the paperwork or assist with delegate costs?

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