Sports events planners converge on Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - About 70 sports events planners have come to Cedar Rapids this week as the city's tourism bureau attempts to woo more competitions, races and tournaments here.

'These people own events - National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, dragon boat racing, international bags, everything you can imagine,” said Aaron McCreight, president and CEO of GO Cedar Rapids, which is hosting S.P.O.R.T.S. The Relationship Conference this week.

The annual conference matches the planners with representatives from cities across the country. For the host city, McCreight said it provides a perfect opportunity to showcase not only the local sports venues, but Cedar Rapids itself.

'That's where you sell the city. There's a thousand cities in this country that have ball diamonds, arenas, but it comes down to, what are we going to do off the court, off the field? Do you have a cool place to come to?” he said.

At the conference's opening reception Monday night, attendees played human foosball at the U.S. Cellular Center and had batting practice and experienced curling at other venues.

Talty O'Connor, the producer of the conference, said about 60 sports are represented this week. Planners, he said, want to know 'do I know you, like you and trust you” to help put on a great event.

'At the end of the day, it's a small world out there, so even if a sports planner of some event is not a good fit for here, they're talking to somebody else” who might be, said O'Connor, who also is the publisher of Sports Events magazine, based in North Hollywood, Calif.

Tournaments and other sports events, McCreight and O'Connor said, ultimately can bring millions of dollars into a community.

Cedar Rapids is just a few hours away from larger metros, though, that are often in the running for tournaments and large events.

Even so, McCreight called the city's proximity an advantage as it can pull attendees from the areas.

'To be able to say we're five hours from Milwaukee, Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Minneapolis …,

we can say we've got 20 million people within a five-hour drive. We can draw from those major metro areas,” he said.

The biggest obstacle, McCreight said, is an outside perception that Cedar Rapids may not have more to offer.

'The toughest part of our job, and one of the main reasons we wanted to bring this show here, was just people understanding what Cedar Rapids has. People think, ‘Iowa - why would I come to Cedar Rapids, Iowa? What do you have, corn?' It's breaking down that barrier of perception,” he said.

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