2012 GOP CONVENTION

Tampa will host Republican convention GOP announces 2012 plans

Convention website at http://www.gopconvention2012.com/

http://www.myfoxtampabay.com/dpp/news/local/hillsborough/gop-convention-decision-051210
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Chris Chmura, FOX 13

TAMPA - It will be a grand old party in Tampa when August of 2012 rolls around.

The Republican Party today selected Tampa to host its next presidential nominating convention, an event that will attract as many as 40,000 visitors and potentially provide an economic boost in excess of $100 million.

The convention is scheduled to take place the week of August 27, 2012.

Dignitaries, including Mayor Pam Iorio and developer Al Austin, who has led the effort, received the news by telephone. They gathered in the 21st-floor offices of Tampa Bay & Company, which markets the area to tourists and conventioneers.

Cheers let out as an ordinary office speakerphone reverberated the extraordinary news.

"We are very, very proud for the selection and we're really looking forward to being with you," RNC Chairman Michael Steele told the room. "We're excited and ready to get to work on what we know will be one of the best conventions we've ever had."

The wait was anxious, after all Tampa was unsuccessful in two previous attempts to land both the 2004 and 2008 conventions.

Members of the GOP's Site Selection Committee picked Tampa over Salt Lake City and Phoenix. The vote took place in suburban Washington, D.C.

Florida has not hosted a national political convention since 1972. In that year, both the Republican and Democratic conventions were held in Miami.

The St. Pete Times Forum is likely to be the main venue for the convention, though much planning will be needed before a schedule is developed. Other venues, including the Tampa Convention Center, are likely to house a portion of the convention and/or the throng of national and international news media that will inevitably converge on the area.

More than $100 million is necessary to host the convention. Roughly $40 million is expected in private donations to the host committee. The remainder is allocated from federal funds, including a $50 million grant for security and at least $16.8 million for planning.

Tourism officials were encouraged by the possibilities of the convention. Minneapolis estimated a $168 million boost in 2008; New York estimated more than $200 million in 2004.

Showcasing is also part of the equation.

Minneapolis estimated the convention in 2008 led to 10 billion "impressions" in the broadcast, print, and online media. That is equivalent of 150 Super Bowl ads, Minnesota organizers said.

Florida will relish that kind of exposure.

Flashing across two screens in the conference room Wednesday afternoon were a red GOP logo -- the star-clad elephant -- surrounded by the words "Tampa-St. Petersburg." Below it read "Republican National Convention 2012."

Another slide said "Catch the Wave." TB&C staffers sported campaign-style button with the phrase.

While camera crews assembled and the visitors bureau prepared for the announcement, TB&C executive vice president Steve Hayes wiped down the wooden conference table with wax. He joked that the expected crowd was growing by the hour.

"You know it could be 'no,'" he said he told the callers.

He has happy to be wrong.