New HVCB program
aims to create army of
isle ambassadors
Everyday kuhina can help
By Russ Lynch
Hawaii hold its own in winning
convention business, the agency says
Star-BulletinDisney World trotted out 50 entertainers and put on a big show for the International Association of Letter Carriers. Hawaii had some macadamia nuts and hula dancers. The result was that the union's annual convention of 5,000 or so delegates went to Orlando, Fla., last year and not Hawaii.
Next time Hawaii was better prepared and fought harder but lost again, this time to Las Vegas -- which gave away free hotel rooms and lots of other incentives.
Hawaii has yet to win but it's not giving up, thanks to the zeal of a Hawaii "ambassador," Honolulu mailman Sam Hipa.
Jon Conching, Hilton Hawaiian Village sales director, last week cited Hipa's efforts as an example of efforts people in all walks of life can make to bring significant convention business to the islands.
"Each time we lose we learn something," Conching told some 400 business representatives at a special breakfast at the Hawaii Convention Center to kick off the new Kuhina -- ambassador, in Hawaiian -- program launched by the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau.
Conching was one of several speakers with stories to show how the personal touch, by someone from Hawaii, can make the difference in bringing valuable convention business to Hawaii.
Gov. Ben Cayetano kicked off the first of what the Hawaii Visitors & Convention Bureau hopes will be annual breakfast meetings for the Kuhina program.
Hawaii's people can help, by going to trade associations, companies, unions, social organizations and other national groups they are connected with and persuading them to hold their meetings in Hawaii, speakers said.
"We know it can be done," Cayetano said. "It won't be too hard, I think, for you to sell Hawaii."
He talked about how Walter Dods, chairman of First Hawaiian Inc., persuaded the American Bankers Association to hold its convention in Hawaii, how Realtor Bill Chee won for Hawaii the convention of the National Association of Realtors.
Lions Club representative Herb Watanabe of Hilo told how, backed by parcels of macadamia nuts and other goodies, he successfully lobbied Lions Clubs International to hold their convention of 30,000 or more at the convention center in June 2000.
Watanabe made up a "spread sheet" comparing Hawaii with other destinations in the worldwide competition to be the host city. It showed the Honolulu was the second most expensive convention city after Hong Kong but beat everywhere else but New Orleans in one aspect, closeness of the hotels to convention facilities.
In New Orleans, 100 percent of the beds are within two miles of the convention center. Here, it's 96 percent, Watanabe said. He said he delivered a package of Hawaii gifts to each of the 36 board members who would vote on the convention site, along with a personal letter to each of them, signed by the governor.
Watanabe said people asked him: "How in the world did you get him to do that?" Watanabe's answer: "Just ask!"
Sandra Moreno, HVCB vice president of meetings, conventions and incentives, said business travelers are good for Hawaii. They make up only 7 percent of the visitor market but account for 14 percent of visitor spending, she said.
She told how Jim Konersman, president of Anheuser-Busch Sales of Hawaii Inc., wrote to the parent company in St. Louis and got the company to hold its national sales meeting of more than 2,000 representatives in Hawaii.
Dentist Derek Ichimura went to the Hilton Hawaiian Village for help because he thought an association he belongs to, the 35,000-member Academy of General Dentistry should meet here. Hilton flew him to a mainland meeting where he made his pitch and flew home, only to find Hawaii had lost by one vote.
Ichimura said he didn't give up but wrote to every member of the association's board of trustees reinforcing Hawaii's pitch. The trustees had the right to overturn the membership's decision and did just that. The result will be a 2,000-member convention in Hawaii in 2002.
Conching said he and others will promote the Kuhina program at as many other meetings they can find to go to, hoping to develop a wide force of Hawaii ambassadors. More information about the program can be obtained from Moreno at the HVCB, 924-0272.
