Risky convention hotels Friday, March 04, 2005 Both New Haven and Shreveport are struggling with the issues of a convention hotel. In Shreveport, the proposal call for public financing. In New Haven, private financing is supposed to do the job. In both cities, serious questions are coming to the surface. In Shreveport, the mayor's proposal for a hotel must confront market realities outlined in a Louisiana Tech report. As one of the authors concludes: "In and of itself, the hotel appears to be a very risky venture." Read more. The controversy in Shreveport has gotten so out of hand that a new web site has popped up to try to pry the facts out on the deal. Visit the site. In New Haven, serious questions are being raised about the soft hotel market in the city and whether a conference center would be a sufficient draw to support another hotel. One participant in the debate, a Yale political science professor, puts the issue in perspective: "On the conference center there's quite a large literature out there in the policy community … that these centers invariably lose money, and for that reason they have to be done with substantial public money. It's almost always the case that those who estimate the demand for conference and convention centers greatly exaggerate the actual demand. In one city after another, actual demand has been considerably less than the initial estimates." Read more posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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