Military Groups: Volunteer Brings Vets to Reno

By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 1/29/2007

Most people would guess that Reno, Nev.'s biggest convention-business assets are its 1.5 million square feet, or so, of meeting and exhibit space and 20,000 guest rooms in a wide variety of expo halls, event centers and reasonably priced hotels.

They'd be wrong — at least when it comes to SMERF conventions. In that corner of the market, Reno sports a top secret weapon that few other cities can claim. It comes in the form of a mild-mannered, 70-year-old military veteran who, without being paid a single dime in return, has brought thousands of convention attendees to the city.

Meet Don Brown. After serving 20 years in the U.S. Navy, Brown went to work for the U.S. Civil Service, retiring, after another 22 years, in 1996.

Brown is the living, breathing archetype of the AARP's 21st century member. Craving the continued conviviality of the peers he'd worked alongside, he joined the U.S. Submarines Veterans' and Natl. Active and Retired Federal Employees Assn. (or NARF) and regularly attended their gatherings, as well as those of the U.S.S. Blackfin, the Navy vessel on which he'd served.

"We're a very close organization," Brown said, of the former submarine sailors. "I'd gone to several of their conventions, and we decided to have a reunion, so we had a couple small ones."

In 1994, the former Blackfins, as they call themselves, wanted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their ship's commissioning. Brown volunteered to put on the big party.

Not knowing where to begin, he got in touch with the Reunion Network, a Hollywood, Fla.-based organization that offers education and information to volunteer military reunion planners. TRN, as the network is known, put Brown in touch with the Reno-Sparks Convention & Visitors Authority

"Don ... has been priceless to us," said Robyn Nichols, RSCVA national sales manager.

It's a good choice of words. About 200 people showed up at Brown's first Blackfins reunion, compared with the 50 to 80 at previous events. Since then, he's organized several group, state and national conventions in Reno for the Blackfins, Sub Vets and NARF — picking up the Fleet Reserve Assn. along the way — each time improving attendance, and never receiving a cent for his work.

In 1999, for example, he planned the Sub Vets' national convention at the Peppermill Hotel Casino. The association expected 1,200 people; 2,800 showed up.

"It turned into a logistical nightmare," Brown recalled. "We had to cut off the banquet at 1,200 because we couldn't seat them all." When the group returned to Reno in 2003, the city was ready for the 4,000 submarine veterans that Brown brought.

"The Reno Hilton (now the Grand Sierra Resort & Casino) really appreciated it," he said. "They kept calling me asking when I was going to do another meeting."

It's Brown's relationships with the hotels and CVA that make him an invaluable asset.

"Don's our major contact for the Submarine Vets," said Nichols, who's known him since her days at the Reno Hilton, where she was a saleswoman for 25 years. "He's also heavily involved with NARF and a couple other military groups. Whenever they come for site visits or meetings, he's always involved."

In fact, these cozy relationships are one thing that both Brown and Nichols believe make Reno such an appealing city for SMERF meetings.

SMERF clients, Nichols said, "enjoy the aspects of a first-tier city, but want the individualism of a second-tier. That's what Reno does best. We treat people like they're in a small town."

Brown said he once tried to organize a reunion for 150 people in Las Vegas and couldn't get anywhere. "They don't want to talk to the small groups," he said. "Reno welcomes small groups."

At the same time, the city has much more convention space than other small towns where he's planned meetings — places like Mystic, Conn., Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., and Little Rock, Ark.

The high space-to-rooms ratio in Reno is another thing, Nichols pointed out, that makes the city SMERF-friendly. "They're space-intensive," she said. "A lot of destinations won't give them that, but we have an enormous amount of space."

The Reno-Sparks Convention Center has nearly 520,000 sq. ft. of exhibit space and 114,500 sq. ft. of meeting space. The CVA estimates that the city's hotels and the Reno Events Center add another 1 million sq. ft. of convention space to the mix.

The city also offers more affordable casino-resort entertainment, dining and shopping than other gaming destinations.

Many military meeting attendees come from "the Midwest and the East," Nichols said. "They will play, but it's really the experience of enjoying this environment, having a meal and a show they can afford."

What's more, all of this is embedded in the natural beauty — and endless recreational options — of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Inside the city of Reno is the Truckee River Whitewater Park, where visitors can watch (or try their hand at) kayaking in one of the 11 drop pools with class 2 and 3 rapids.

Nichols said the setting is ideal for military groups, whose members like to bring families. "While grandpa's in his reunion, grandma can go shopping and take the grandkids down to the pools to play," she noted.

It may sound like Reno sells itself, but it won't have to worry about not getting help from Brown any time soon. He said he'll keep bringing meetings to the city "as long as I'm breathing." He's got a small Nevada NARF convention scheduled in May at the Peppermill, and the Blackfins' reunion is on the books again in '08.

Why keep doing it?

"Because I enjoy it," he said. "One of my biggest rewards is watching two people get together who haven't seen each other in 50 to 60 years. At one of our Blackfins meetings, these two guys got together who hadn't seen each other since 1943. Each one thought the other was dead, and it turns out they live within 90 miles of each other...

"That's the best part," he continued. "Watching them hug and cry."

The feeling must be contagious. Nichols said the SMERF business is "a wonderful market. The best part is that it has the sweetest, most wonderful, dearest people. I constantly fall in love with them."