Listening to Customers: Advisory Council Use Expands

Show managers and even some convention centers have long used exhibitor advisory committees to find out what their customers want, need, like and don't like. But now convention and visitors bureaus are also taking advantage of customer advisory boards — to conduct direct research with users, explore solutions and find out about best practices and expectations. It's a trend that the Intl. Assn. of Convention & Visitor Bureaus' staff is paying particular attention to, said Kristen Clemens, the association's director of marketing and communications.

The Chicago Convention & Tourism Bureau runs practically every proposal by its advisory council. Dallas is in the process of creating a council and several other cities already have them in place, including Atlanta; Columbus, Ohio; Denver; San Diego; Toronto; and Vancouver, British Columbia.

In November, the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau formed an advisory council comprised of senior-level association, corporate and third-party meeting professionals, according to Stephen Perry, New Orleans CVB president and CEO.

Sandra Moreno of the San Diego Convention Center said a consumer advisory board has existed in her city since 1996. "It's not to solicit the board members' business," said Moreno, adding that the group's meetings are strictly for the exchange of information and an effort to move the industry forward. There's even an alumni advisory board that meets regularly.

Typically, CVBs will have the 15- to 30-member councils visit twice a year to make suggestions on how to better market the cities — almost all with one cardinal rule: These are absolutely not fam' trips. The Chicago group holds day-and-a-half Thursday-to-Friday meetings every February and August. It has 30 members serving three-year terms. Each year, 10 new members join the group as terms expire to ensure a constant influx of new ideas.

Former CCTB President Deborah Sexton (and now president and CEO of the Professional Convention Management Assn.) said new members are usually quiet at their first meeting, but by the second meeting are eager to offer ideas. "If you can demonstrate that you're listening and reacting to the council — or that you hear them, can't do what they recommended, but can accomplish it another way — it shows that their time and ideas are valued. Sure, we wine and dine them, but the important thing is to demonstrate that we're paying attention. Then they're willing to invest the time to participate."

The CCTB meetings are moderated by Nancy Morrell-Swanson of Global Marketing Services, an independent consultancy that facilitates a number of other councils around the country.

Tom Noonan, senior vice president of the Dallas CVB, said members of the city's advisory council are flown in and provided with meals, but they're not solicited for business nor given any gifts. CVB staffers attend some council meetings, but others are held only with elected officials, such as the mayor and City Council.

Communication goes both ways. For instance, the Chicago bureau asks its council to review marketing policies and advertising campaigns. It even created digital marketing and resource kits for clients' use with the council's help and approval.

But "we're there to listen," said Sexton. "If they ask questions, we respond, but we're there to hear from them. We update them on what we've done since the last meeting, and send out homework assignments and things to be discussed at the next meeting."

Councils can advocate for issues the CVB supports. If a council recommends a new convention hotel or facility expansion, for instance, the suggestion is liable to carry more weight with city bigwigs because it's coming from important customers (or potential customers), and not just CVB officials who may have a vested interest.

Noonan pointed out that the Chicago advisory council alerted elected officials "that traffic was a nightmare," making it difficult for attendees to travel between hotels and McCormick Place. That helped advance the bureau's proposal for a dedicated lane for attendee buses.

The councils also can generate good word of mouth for their destinations, and members often act as advocates for their councils, Noonan said. The meetings are not fam' trips, but members can't help but notice what the city's done to improve itself since the last meeting.

Sexton said the Chicago bureau was one of the earliest to institute a council seven years ago. Her involvement with advisory boards goes back to her starting one 20 years ago at Sonesta Intl. Hotels. That group was small, and the hotel chain privately owned. But it responded quickly to customers' suggestions, and was the predecessor of the council Sexton created when she moved to the Chicago bureau.