Visit Seattle Enlists Its Big Tech Companies to Reposition City to Meeting Planners

The Visit Seattle convention and visitors bureau hosted its inaugural Event Innovation Forum last month, connecting senior meeting planners from around the country with leaders in the region's innovation economy. Up until 2014, Visit Seattle had a customer advisory board of experienced planners who were flown into the city on an annual basis to help the bureau gain insight into industry trends and best practices. The planners would also meet with convention facilities, hotels, and other tourism and hospitality industry partners. However, as in many cities, these types of networking events often benefit the host destination more than the planners, who sometimes feel obligated to participate due to their relationship with the bureau as past customers. Visit Seattle cancelled the process in 2014 because the experience had become somewhat stale and unproductive. Since then, a growing number of cities worldwide have been promoting their local leaders in their advanced industry s