RAGBRAI investment should pay dividends

Gazette Editorial Board

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The two committees leading the planning and organization of last month's Cedar Rapids

RAGBRAI event have declared it to be a great success. We agree, although there are lessons to take away, too.

A report issued Thursday by the committees - and outlined in their guest column today on page 11A - states that the out-of-pocket cost is about $25,000 of the total cost of $385,000. The Cedar Rapids Area Convention and Visitors Bureau will ask the City Council to OK covering the shortfall from the $60,000 advanced from the city's hotel/motel tax, as previously approved by the Council.

Yes, the organizers' goal to break even or profit from the July 26-27 stopover fell short. But considering the big picture, $25,000 looks like a good return on investment of public money.

Keep in mind that the hotel-motel tax is generated primarily by visitors. The CVB uses its annual share to market and promote our community and region to help attract those visitors, who spend time and money here.

As for the economic impact of at least 15,000-plus bicyclists plus support people, Marilee Fowler, CVB president/CEO, told us RAGBRAI officials estimate the spending here at $3 million. If the official amount was even half of that, it's a big plus. One comparison is the annual girls' state volleyball tournament that Cedar Rapids hosts - it's credited with a $1.8 million local impact, and that's over nearly a week's time.

Beyond the RAGBRAI event's immediate impact is potentially greater benefit from the impressions left on visitors by the 700 volunteers, police and city staff, dozens of businesses and many other residents. Our guests may return and encourage others to visit here.

Fowler believes those impressions were virtually all positive. “I equate it to those MasterCard ads,” Fowler told us. “The cost to do this: $385,000. The money it brought in: $3 million. And the bottom line for our community: Priceless.”

She said the three campgrounds were well received, and guiding all those riders into and through the heart of Cedar Rapids and its cultural districts on a 9-mile route with no one hurt was no small feat.

That said, the May's Island concert with headliner Counting Crows was 1,000 tickets short of goal. RAGBRAI officials selected the band, negotiated the contract, then turned over responsibility to the local committees. A lesson emerged, Fowler acknowledged. “They kept us apprised ... but next time, we maybe would want more involvement in selecting the big-name group and finding out more what the community wanted.”

Learning from the RAGBRAI experience can and should help planners of future big events. However, considering the scale of this one and the extensive coordination required, we call it a job well done and well worth the effort and money.

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