More than a handful of venues contracted to host events for the Republican National Convention say they are severely underbooked — and some say they haven’t had any RNC-related events scheduled despite being contractually obligated to keep the week open.
Finance & Commerce reports that many venues such as Solera, Mall of America and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts have had far fewer bookings than expected and some are saying convention organizers oversold the benefits of hosting convention events. Approximately 40 venues signed contracts with convention officials.
“We thought we would be completely booked about six months ago,” Julianna Nelson, the director of sales and marketing for Solera Restaurant and Event Center told Finance & Commerce. “I have colleagues who are disappointed with what the outcome has been. We expected to be completely booked; we are not.”
“I think it’s important to keep things in perspective,” said Teresa McFarland, communications director for the Host Committee. “Not everyone’s going to be happy all the time, but overall, this convention is bringing a significant amount of business to the Twin Cities that would not normally be here. The majority of (official) venues are going to see more business than they would have last year at this time.”













1 Comment »
Comment posted August 25, 2008 @ 3:39 pm
A great way to get informed and laugh about politics!
An Evening to Learn Politics with Comedian Bill Arnold
As part of Saint Paul-itics, a series to inspire the public to get politically involved and informed, the Saint Paul Public Library will host Triple Espresso comedian Bill Arnold, at 7 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 26 at Highland Park Branch Library, Hillcrest Auditorium 1974 Ford Parkway, Saint Paul, MN. It will be a political conversation for everyone.
Arnold will make light of the current elections and the upcoming Republican National Convention, along with highlighting fun ways to become active in your community. He will also answer questions you might have about our wacky, complicated, and sometimes confusing election process.
Free and open to the public.
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