Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, December 23, 1993 TAG: 9312220262
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Sandra Brown Kelly
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Not much, William Shakespeare would say. Remember: "That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."
But when it comes to naming conference centers, the name is "everything," say the marketing experts planning sales promotion materials for the new meetings facility adjoining Hotel Roanoke.
The problem is that the Hotel Roanoke conference center - note that's lower case of the words "conference center" - doesn't have an official name, yet. There's nothing permanent to put on those 3,000 coffee mugs waiting to be sent to convention planners or the myriad of other materials that will tout the strengths of the Roanoke area.
The first ad for the center, which is scheduled to open in spring 1995, was placed with Virginia Business magazine and didn't mention the conference center by any name.
A consultant was paid $18,000 to concoct a name, but his recommendation - the Conference Center of Roanoke - hasn't been adopted.
Well, maybe not.
"We're looking at several names," said Brian Wishneff several weeks ago. The former city economic development chief is acting director of the Hotel Roanoke Commission and apparently the last word on decisions affecting the center.
This week, though, Wishneff says the consultant's name is fine with him, but the promotional materials don't totally suit him. People charged with preparing the materials, however, say they still haven't been given the go-ahead on a name.
So what's going on here?
Bureaucracy? Power plays? Lack of communication?
The name game is probably all the harder because there's not just one bureaucracy involved, but two: The city of Roanoke, which is footing the bill for the conference center, and Virginia Tech, which owns the hotel. Couple that with the business-citizens group, Renew Roanoke, which raised about $7 million to give the hotel renewal project legitimacy in the first place.
The situation can be compared to a group of family members that have been asked to agree on a name for the new baby. Except this isn't a potential namesake for Aunt Susie; this is a high-tech building that has to be filled with lots of customers or it could become a big, white elephantine offspring.
The conference center is, as Tech's new president Paul Torgersen said at its ground breaking:
" . . . a front door to Virginia's largest university."
It is, according to Roanoke Mayor David Bowers at the same ceremony: " . . . a major element in the redevelopment of downtown."
But, does it have a name? And why is the name so important?
The conference center is scheduled to open in 15 months.
Conventions are usually planned years in advance; large meetings and seminars also need long planning times.
The time to have promotional materials winging their way to meeting planners has come and gone.
"You can start an initial ad campaign without a selected name of the conference center," Martha Mackey, executive director of the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, said. However, the $43,000 being spent now and another $16,000 scheduled to be billed early in the next fiscal year will not be getting the center the needed name recognition unless the advertising carries a name.
The bureau has been hired to promote and sell the center. It hired Lin Chaff's public relations firm to prepare the promotion campaign. Chaff said everything has been go for weeks except for lack of a name.
Name recognition comes with repetition, Chaff explains.
"Marketing research shows that for a prospect to become a buyer the prospect must hear or see your name an average of nine times," said Chaff.
Chaff says it likely will be at least a year and a half anyway after the center opens before it has substantial use. This makes any delay in promotion all the more serious.
But equally serious, Chaff believes, is the possibility of confusing convention planners by changing the name in mid-promotion as Wishneff once speculated might happen.
"You need consistency with your message," said Chaff. "That's what marketing is all about. When you launch a new product, that's when you make your first impression in the purchaser's mind."
The rumor was that the final naming had been waiting for an event that could mean more money for the center and affect its name. That event was being orchestrated at Virginia Tech, Wishneff said, and was to have taken place weeks ago.
When the "event" didn't happen, Wishneff said a week ago that the consultant's $18,000 name was as good as any and besides whatever was going to happen probably wouldn't affect the name, "but might be a name within a name."
Besides, Wishneff said:
"Around Roanoke, picking a name is the hardest thing to do."
Wishneff reversed himself last week and said the name is no problem now and never was. He said he doesn't like a "saying" proposed for use on the outside of promotional materials. He wants an "alternative" to show City Manager Bob Herbert who is charged with giving final approval to all promotional materials.
Meanwhile, conference center promotion is not at a standstill. Mackey has hired the needed sales staff, and they are following leads for business for the center.
Gary Crizer, sales manager for Doubletree Hotels Corp., the Phoenix outfit that will manage Hotel Roanoke, said he has been able to "overcome" the lack of a permanent name with prospective users because of where the conference center is.
"The biggest thing in our favor is the reputation of Hotel Roanoke," Crizer said.
Crizer, and Wishneff, say the $13 million center will get its identification from association with the historic hotel that is being renovated at a cost of $28 million.
However, as far back as Nov. 1, Crizer said:
"A name is something we could definitely use right now. Hopefully, it won't drag out very long."
by CNB