Yesterday I told you, with the help of a trusted FBvian who was in attendance, that at a speech to the Dallas Assembly, Mayor Tom Leppert said that as a result of the recently concluded meeting in Dallas of the Professional Convention Management Association, 30 new conventions have been booked in Dallas, with a value of $65 million. The numbers seemed high to me. I asked the folks at the CVB to verify them. Phyllis Hammond, the VP of PR there, said she wasn’t at the speech and punted to Chris Heinbaugh, the mayor’s chief of staff. Here’s what Heinbaugh said:
I was not at the event [yesterday] morning and I don’t know what was said or that the Mayor was heard correctly. But I can tell you the figures he’s been using since PCMA: Bookings are very strong. Omni says they already have $13 million in bookings and about another $50 million in the pipeline, and that was before PCMA. Also, the DCVB says they have booked 4 major citywide conventions (the really big ones) with an estimated economic impact of $72 million. 6 to 7 more citywides in the pipeline for just this quarter.
Now, the FBvian who attended the speech yesterday is not a working journalist. But I know him to be a trustworthy fellow. And he was taking notes. I’ve asked the Dallas Assembly folks if they have videotape of the speech. I’ll determine with certainty what the mayor said. But bottom line: 30 new conventions haven’t been booked since the PCMA meeting here.
Update: The Dallas Assembly folks tell me they didn’t videotape the speech, and they referred me back to Chris Heinbaugh. It appears the wagons are circled. To put it charitably, then, Mayor Leppert misspoke at the luncheon — and it was a pretty gross error in misspeaking.
