Learning from Experience

Education support association takes the plunge at the new Santa Fe Convention Center.

By Sandi Cain

WHEN SANTA FE, N.M., ANNOUNCED THAT ITS NEW CONVENTION CENTER WOULD OPEN IN FALL 2008, David Rogers knew it was the opportunity he’d been waiting for to expand the reach of his organization, Dual Language Education of New Mexico (DLeNM). Rogers, executive director of the Albuquerque-based group, wanted to rotate the group’s annual conference around the state to show support for local schools. But he was stymied by a lack of sufficient facilities for the roughly 1,200 attendees of training program La Cosecha each year.

So it was no surprise that La Cosecha ended up being the first large group to meet at the newly expanded facility in November, even though Rogers knew it would be a tight fit. The Santa Fe Convention Center has 40,000 square feet of event space, and there are 1,500 hotel rooms within walking distance of the center along with additional meeting space at those hotels.

“We thought with the number of hotels nearby we could manage the number of people,” Rogers said.

They pulled it off, though, with a few growing pains along the way.

One surprise for Rogers was the need to hold more offsite sessions than originally planned. The organization knew it would quickly use up the meeting space at the convention center, but when the fire marshal said the group couldn’t place exhibit booths in the lobby, they had to use some session space for exhibits and scramble to find more offsite rooms. The Ghost Ranch, headquarters Hotel Plaza Real and even the First Presbyterian Church came through to help.

“People need to know that they’ll have to sacrifice [meeting] space for exhibitors,” Rogers said.

That was one example of the need for planners to be ready with a Plan B when working in a new facility. In this case, the news came as a surprise to convention center Executive Director Keith Toller, too.

“You can only go by what the fire marshal tells you, which always seems to be less than [typical] meetings standards,” Toller said.

With extra signage, Rogers says the offsite sessions went off without a hitch.

Toller admits, though, there were a few glitches in pre-planning, but says the building staff was ready for the group and the glitches mostly reflected new people or procedures. Even he had trouble getting parking prices because the convention center doesn’t control the parking.

Since most attendees were staying close to the convention center, Toller thought it would be easy enough for them to walk or take shuttles from outlying hotels, and that the parking charge would only affect a few. While that was the case for most, a few attendees were unable to walk from their hotels for physical reasons, and the hotel shuttles to the convention center didn’t run on demand. Those attendees were met with a higher parking fee than the group originally was given, Rogers says.

MPI New Mexico Chapter member Arlene Schiffer of destination management company Passport New Mexico (which was not involved with the DLeNM’s event) says transportation issues are among the reasons that many planners try to keep room blocks within the historic district.

“Santa Fe is a smaller city that has no bus companies,” she said.

Making up for minor new-building glitches, the convention center staff performed admirably in preparing for a concert by Los Lobos held in conjunction with the closing banquet.

“To see our guys turn the room from a general session to a setup for [Los Lobos] in one afternoon [tells me] they really knew what they were doing,” Toller said.

Rogers credited Cowgirl BBQ Catering for its help with the preparations and gave high praise to the banquet chef and his crew for their efforts.

“It was one of the smoother large events we’ve done,” said Cowgirl’s Nicholas Ballas.

From his point of view, minor problems were related to new equipment and new staff working in a new building. They involved figuring out how to change the air temperature, operate new coffeemakers or work with other new equipment.

“There was a learning curve,” Ballas said. “It’s like buying a new car and getting used to the features.”

What helped make the banquet and concert a success in Ballas’ eyes was the way DLeNM crew and volunteers, the convention center and Cowgirl were able to use their “willingness to produce” to work together and make the event a success.

“It’s a fantastic facility with lots of kitchens and preparation areas that made it easy to succeed,” Ballas said.

The end result was happy attendees.

“From a participant’s perspective, it was a very positive experience,” said Rogers, who heard a lot of buzz about area restaurants, the breakfast at Garrett’s Desert Inn and the hotels.

The Hilton Santa Fe Historic District played host to a few small meetings for the group before the annual conference began and had a block of rooms for the group. Sales manager Anabelle Tiberi says the block was slow to fill at first, but came together in the end.

“Rogers was one of the easiest planners I’ve worked with in a long time,” she said.

The proof: La Cosecha is scheduled to be back in Santa Fe in 2010. Rogers says he’s happy that convention center representatives want to build a long-term relationship with the group. His plan to have more details in the contract will help to avoid some of the early glitches from 2008. In addition, DLeNM plans to use Hotel La Fonda on the Santa Fe Plaza along with the Hilton and another hotel for meeting space that’s convenient to the convention center. La Fonda alone has about half the space Rogers expects to need for the event next year, making it easier to juggle sessions and exhibitors between the properties. One+

SANDI CAIN is an experienced meeting and event industry writer based in California.

New Mexico Fun Facts
• Santa Fe is the second-oldest U.S. city and the oldest in the West.
• The first Space Port America broke ground in June 45 miles from Las Cruces, one of New Mexico’s largest cities. Virgin Galactic—which started taking reservations for space flights two years ago—will base its personal space flight business there.
• The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta is the world’s largest hot-air balloon festival and draws more than 700 balloons each fall.

Transportation Tips
• The New Mexico Rail Runner Express now operates train service between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
• Daily American Eagle flights were launched between Dallas and Santa Fe in June. The airline will begin a Santa Fe-Los Angeles route in November.
• Passengers arriving in Albuquerque by train from Santa Fe can get to the airport from the Downtown Albuquerque Station-Airport Connection.

What’s New in New Mexico
• A 387-room Hilton and 79-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton opened last fall at Buffalo Thunder Resort 12 miles north of Santa Fe. The hotels are on Pojoaque tribal land and feature convention facilities, entertainment and a new casino.
• The Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown Hotel completed a US$25 million renovation that included its 17,000 square feet of meeting space and its 295 guest rooms.
• The new Santa Fe Convention Center opened last fall and has 40,000 square feet of event space within walking distance of 1,500 downtown hotel rooms.

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