Worcester Business Journal

16 Worcester Business Journal | March 21, 2022 | wbjournal.com F O C U S G O L F & M E E T I N G S G U I D E Meeting 2022 with optimism Post-COVID corporate events and conferences are back on the calendar at Worcester venues BY SUSAN SHALHOUB Special to WBJ M anagers of meeting, conference, and convention venues in Worcester report COVID as a time of temporary building closures, a wait- and-see approach, and postponed events. In some cases, deposits were refunded; in all cases, there was great uncertainty, staff furloughs, and close monitoring of state and city regulations. e mood is now decidedly upbeat when it comes to meetings and confer- ences coming back to Worcester venues such as Mechanics Hall, the DCU Cen- ter, and AC Hotel by Marriott Worcester. All report an uptick in bookings, though the catchup phase is still under- way. Reschedule, repeat A major part of corporate venue busi- ness is recurring events: associations, companies, and organizations hosting expos, annual meetings, or conferences every year. ese groups have all had to shuffle and reshuffle dates and are now, finally, back to gathering in person. e Fire Chiefs Association of Massa- chusetts' annual conference took place Feb. 28 to March 3 at DCU Center. "ere were 450 fire chiefs represent- ing Massachusetts communities here, with a fire truck in our exhibit hall," said Jim Moughan, assistant general manager at DCU Center. "is conference was supposed to be held last June." Moughan, who has been with DCU Center for 40 years, said the venue did the best it could in terms of marketing to new clients during its shutdown: no easy task in an uncertain environment with depleted staff levels. A major focus was keeping in touch with booked clients, assuring them appropriate safety measures would be in place if needed when the venue reopened, and keeping them updated on the facility's status. "About 85% of our business is repeat customers," Moughan said. "A lot of groups had contracts for space. We would call them up on a regular basis. We are in the hospitality business, and that personal touch goes a long way. Some 2020 events rescheduled, resched- uled again in spring of 2021 but are happening in 2022." "Happy to be back again" DCU Center is now back to full staffing capacity, like AC Hotel, and Mechanics Hall is almost there Mechanics Hall had some restructur- ing of roles, and three new team mem- bers came aboard, said Melissa Provost O'Brien, communications and develop- ment manager. Mechanics Hall clients with bookings were allowed to resched- ule, as the venue shut down, reopened, and shut down again. During normal times, about 35% of its business is cor- porate, including the annual Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce Game Changers conference. "In September of 2021, we saw people transition from being very uneasy to a mode of, 'is is our new normal, and we need to move on.' When we re- opened, people were so happy to be back again. Having the doors closed is really devastating," O'Brien said. Mechanics Hall took an interesting marketing angle during COVID, build- ing on its history: Constructed in 1857, having withstood the flu pandemic of 1918, this is not the first epidemic the fa- cility has seen. At the start of the spread of COVID, Executive Director Kathleen Gagne invested in signs with positive messaging right before the facility shut down, that read "All Will Be Well." Busy bookings Like Moughan, O'Brien estimates the meetings and conference rebound at about 50%, with new inquiries from new clients for 2022 and beyond. She The DCU Center in Worcester is seeing an increase in its bookings for business conferences. The relatively new AC Hotel by Marriott Worcester barely had time to establish itself before COVID hit. PHOTO | TMS AERIAL SOLUTIONS PHOTO | GRANT WELKER

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