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Inclusion
Pays Off for Minnesota
Taken
from Autumn/1999 issue of the ZEITGEIST Client Newsletter
When former pro wrestler, turned actor, turned Mayor/Radio Talk Show
host Jesse
Ventura announced that he was running for Governor, very
few in Minnesota took him seriously.
The media
covered him as a "sidebar." Trade Associations focused their
lobbying and fundraising activities on the two "front-runners."
In fact, during the campaign, only three State Associations took the
time to invite Ventura to sit down and talk issues.
One of those was the Minnesota Association of Convention &  Visitors
Bureaus. North
Metro Minneapolis CVB CEO John Connelly recalls that first
meeting with a smile. "Jesse said that the existing $9 million
State Tourism budget seemed like an awful lot of money. It was clear
to us that Ventura, if he were successful, would not just ignore MACVB's
proposal to increase the State budget...but actually cut it!"
That's when Connelly and MACVB got to work. They made the case that
dollars invested in tourism promotion generate more tax revenue than
what is spent. Indeed, new research in Wisconsin and Oklahoma places
the ROI of State advertising at 16:1.
When painted in a language that Ventura could appreciate (more tax revenues
generated for additional programs), Jesse became an advocate for the
Tourism industry. The result: While other associations and industries
stood scratching their heads in disbelief, Ventura passed his first
State budget as Governor with a big, fat $5 million increase for the
Office
of Tourism.
The moral: You gotta be there BEFORE you gotta be there.
What did it take for the MACVB to include Jesse in their candidate forums?
An hour, tops. What did it get them? A friend and advocate that will
remember them always as one of a handful that took him seriously when
everyone else chuckled.
Oh yea...and an increase of $5 million.
It's not enough to contact leaders and power brokers when you need something.
Get close to them now for the payoff down the road.
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