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Monday Buzz: The Impact of Small Events

Just because an association event isn't bringing in millions of dollars doesn't mean it isn't helping the community hosting the event. Plus: A massive event got even bigger this year.

It may not have shot to the top of Google News or occupied a lead spot in The New York Times, but the recent tournament hosted by the National Dart Association (NDA) in Rockford, Illinois, had a positive impact on the community nonetheless.

“The location worked out tremendously,” Leslie Murphy, NDA’s executive director, told the Rockford Register Star. “People have been super, very accommodating. People are having a good time.”

And that good time comes with a good surge of revenue for the town, which estimates that more than $58,000 in tourism spending has been generated by the event.

“It’s definitely a great number for a first-time darts regional tournament,” Nick Povalitis, the Rockford Area Convention & Visitors Bureau’s sales manager, told the newspaper. “That number won’t capture all the gas, food, and beverage. That’s probably a conservative estimate.”

It just goes to show that not every association event has to take place in a major city and that those events can have an outsized impact on the smaller communities that are flying under the radar.

Broken Record of the Day

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Credit: Consumer Technology Association

After setting the record last year, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has outdone itself by taking up a world-record 2.47 million net square feet of floor space in Las Vegas last week. And, once again, the Consumer Technology Association’s flagship event brought in huge crowds, with attendance hitting 176,000, according to TSNN.

Other Good Reads

As publishers know, getting readership metrics right is crucial, which is why Apple’s confession that it has been misreporting readership totals via its news app is so eyebrow-raising. The Wall Street Journal has the full story.

If you’re unsure about the efficacy of your organization’s service projects, then consider taking some pointers from these British Columbia Institute of Technology students featured on the Event Manager Blog.

It’s fun to keep an eye on the hottest new apps to see whether a new Instagram is waiting in the wings, but so far, according to CMSWire‘s Derek Walter, the buzz-generating app Peach has “no clear business use.”

(Comstock/ThinkStock)

Morgan Little

By Morgan Little

Morgan Little is a contributor to Associations Now. MORE

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