Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) is a public/private partnership that owns and operates the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC), Cashman Center, and Cashman Field and is responsible for the advertising campaigns for the Clark County, Nevada area.

The fourteen member board is appointed by various elected governing bodies in the County. Funding is provided by a room tax on all hotels in the county and through building revenue from the Las Vegas Convention Center and Cashman Center. The Authority is responsible for "attracting visitors by promoting Las Vegas as the world's most desirable destination for leisure and business travel."

The organization recently won the Psychologically Healthy Workplace Award sponsored by the American Psychological Association.

Branding

One of the primary tasks for the LVCVA is the promotion and branding of Las Vegas. Since 2007, the Las Vegas brand is the second most recognized brand in the U.S. following Google.

The authority is also responsible for the advertising campaigns for Las Vegas and Southern Nevada. Working with the advertising company R&R Partners since 1982, they have developed iconic ad campaigns including:

• Only in Vegas
• What happens here, stays here

What Happens here, stays here

After the $1 sale of the "What Happens here, stays here" copyright to R&R Partners on November 9, 2004, the LVCVA paid $321,000 in attorney's fees because of an investigation into the legality of the controversial sale. The sale was later overturned by a federal judge who claimed that the sale was made without the knowledge of the board.

According to internal LVCVA documents the advertising campaign "What happens here, stays here" has had little impact as most people, about 70% stated to R&R (the advertising firm who created the ad and conducted the market research) that the slogan had no impact on their decision to visit Las Vegas. A recent study by Applied Analysis shows that the advertising efforts of the LVCVA return $26 for every $1 spent.

VegasMeansBusiness.com

In March 2009, the LVCVA launched VegasMeansBusiness.com, a resource for the business community to keep up-to-date on the latest news and events in Las Vegas and the Meetings & Conventions industry. The website also promotes Las Vegas' attributes as a leading destination for meetings and conventions, including the 140,000 rooms and nearly 10,000,000 square feet (930,000 m²) of meeting space available and close proximity to McCarran International Airport. With Vegas known as the place built on big ideas, the LVCVA created VegasMeansBusiness.com to increase awareness of Las Vegas as the premiere location to foster innovation, new ideas and creativity.

Las Vegas Global Business District

The authority has announced plans to expand the direction of the LVCC by creating a Las Vegas Global Business District. Those plans resulted in the announcement for a planned acquisition of the Riviera in February 2015 for $182.5 million.

Activities

The authority works to bring events to the Las Vegas area, sometimes by providing funds to subsidize events. These events include:

• The National Finals Rodeo
• Professional Bull Riders World Finals
• USA Sevens International Rugby Tournament
• 2009 NASCAR Champions Week
• 2009 NHL Awards Ceremony
• 2007 NBA All-Star Game
• 2006 Tennis Channel Open Tennis Tournament

Visitor Profile Study

Since the mid-1970s, the LVCVA has published a Visitor Profile Study, based on thousands of personal interviews with visitors. The latest study (covering the year to 31 Dec 2007)shows that:

• Las Vegas hosted a record-breaking 39.2 million visitors in 2007.
• The overall average age of a Las Vegas visitor is 49 years old.
• International travelers represent approximately 13% of Las Vegas visitors.
• The average gaming budget per trip, per person, was $556

The LVCVA posts research publications about Las Vegas visitors at

Board of Directors

The authority is governed by a 14-member board. Of those 8 are required to be elected officials and the other 6 are appointed by the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and Nevada Resort Association.

• Chairman, Lawrence Weekly, Commissioner - Clark County Commissioner Office
• Vice Chairman, Chuck Bowling, President and Chief Operating Officer - Mandalay Bay
• Secretary, Bill Noonan, Senior Vice President of Industry and Government Affairs - Boyd Gaming Corporation
• Treasurer, Tom Jenkin, Global President - Caesars Entertainment

• Ricki Barlow, Councilman - City of Las Vegas
• Susan Brager, Commissioner - Clark County Commissioner Office
• Gregory Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer - Eureka Casino Resort
• John Lee, Mayor - City of North Las Vegas
• John Marz, Councilman - City of Henderson
• Kristin McMillan, President and CEO - Las Vegas Metro Chamber of Commerce
• George Rapson, Councilman - City of Mesquite
• Steven D. Ross, Mayor Pro Tempore - City of Las Vegas
• Cam Walker, Mayor Pro Tempore - Boulder City
• Maurice Wooden, President - Wynn & Encore

Controversy

The Nevada Policy Research Institute uncovered fiscal mismanagement with the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, a public agency in Las Vegas which is funded by visitor-paid room tax dollars. According to NPRI's investigation the LVCVA entered into a 10-year no-bid contract with R&R, a marketing firm, where R&R overcharged the LVCVA and despite the LVCVA uncovering the over-billing management refused to seek repayment. The LVCVA also allowed R&R to approve its own expenses, and failed to question or oversee most of the expenses being billed to them. The contract with R&R is worth $87 million, including a $40 million advertising contract, which includes a commission for R&R, where the LVCVA cannot identify R&R's expenses. Public records show that Rossi Ralenkotter approved approximately $30,000 in spending that included multiple dinners with bottles of wine, veal, fillets, chocolate mousse dessert and a $25,000 donation to the National Jewish Medical and Research Center, a Denver-based hospital which was giving Mr. Ralenkotter an award that year. The documents also show that Mr. Ralenkotter used taxdollars to pay for limousine services and a tuxedo.

According to NPRI, the LVCVA is funded by the room tax ($220 million in revenue), taking in more money than the Clark County School District, and is also a state agency subject to state laws regarding employees, benefits, and travel expenses. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority the problems uncovered by NPRI's reports were already documented by an internal auditor and the problems have been addressed by management.

External links

• Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority homepage
• VegasMeansBusiness.com