DNC not Denver's only big to-do

Others spend a lot, but Dems draw lobbyists, media

By Joanne Kelley, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published July 7, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Photo by Dennis Schroeder / The Rocky

Attendees view the coolest gadgets at the 2006 Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association trade show at the Denver Convention Center. One of Denver's biggest trade shows with 30,000 people, the group will meet a week after the DNC.

The Democratic National Convention will likely rank as the biggest gathering of its kind for Denver, a multiday affair bringing more hotel guests, money and parties to town than any other single event to hit the metro area.

But the Mile High City regularly plays host to other huge meetings that keep the convention arena, hotels and other attractions hopping. While some remain obscure compared with the high-profile DNC confab, a trade show known as CEDIA scheduled a week later will draw about 30,000 people to Denver.

"These are people who will spend far more than the DNC delegates will ever think of spending," said Dan Melfi, director of hospitality and tourism for Denver International Airport.

CEDIA (the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association) will attract mainly men between the ages of 22-50, a group known for its taste in entertainment and fancy restaurants. The estimated economic impact of the group: about $60 million.

Later in September, another 17,000 people who spend money on fine dining and entertainment will arrive for the Ace Hardware Fall Convention & Exhibit, pumping $34 million into the local economy.

Of course, even without fat expense accounts, many of the 6,000 or so DNC delegates will be wined and dined by somebody else who picks up the tab.

"We anticipate about 1,200 to 1,500 events going on that week," said Richard Scharf, president of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. "There will be a lot of security, limos, cars, private shuttling that you just don't find in a typical convention."

When World Youth Day brought 90,000 people to Denver in 1993, many stayed in private homes and campgrounds set up for the event.

DNC planners requested about 18,000 hotel rooms for attendees. But Scharf has already heard about large numbers of lobbyists, lawyers and corporate types coming to town and helping to fill many of the other hotel rooms in the metro area.

That's partly why the convention bureau has forecast an overall economic impact of close to $160 million for the city.

Unlike the fire chiefs convention, which will bring 15,000 to the city Aug. 14-16, the DNC promises to be a magnet for media. The weeklong event is expected to bring more journalists, production crews and the like than Salt Lake City drew for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

In all, an estimated 17,000 media representatives are expected to set up shop in Denver a few days ahead of the Aug. 25-28 convention.

The interest in the selection of a Democratic presidential nominee has created a frenzy of favorable stories about Denver by leading travel writers trying to set the scene for readers.

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