Bigger Digs New Orleans was able to accommodate the needs for housing, conference and exhibition space during the Direct Marketing Association’s 83rd annual fall conference last month. But that’s true of just a handful of cities.
Last year, the DMA found that it had grown too big for many convention cities, says spokeswoman Amy Blankenship. Toronto proved unable to meet the DMA’s needs for housing and exhibition space. Although the annual event has yet “to crack the top 200 conventions in the country,” it has nevertheless become large enough that only a handful of cities can handle it.
“It’s more than just convention space,” Blankenship explains, enumerating issues such as housing for the more than 16,000 delegates and speakers, transportation to and within the host city and even price.
“New York would be too expensive for many of our members who would want to attend the annual conference.”
Next year the conference will be in Chicago, followed by San Francisco in 2002 and Orlando, FL in 2003.
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