Business
Insider Trading At BCVB For G-BAD Election?
May 10, 2011 
E-mail is such a wonderful thing!
Once something hits cyberspace it leaves tracks like an 800 pound gorilla in fresh snow. Such was the case when the following showed up in the GUARDIAN’s “In” box this morning.
“Sully – Here are the hotel contacts. Sorry, I forgot to send them to youyesterday. If you click on them you’ll get the name and email address. Let me know if you have questions or need something else.”
Terry
Ms. Terry Kopp
Volunteer
Boise Convention & Visitors Bureau
1199 W. Main Street
Boise, ID 83702
PH 208.344.7777 ext. 323
TF 800.635.5240
TX 208.344.6236
www.boise.org
We are seeking an answer to the question: “Are all the candidates and interested parties getting the same list of hotel executives personal e-mail?” The GUARDIAN has the list, but figured these busy managers didn’t need to have their personal addresses made available for political spam.
UPDATE noon 5/10/11–
BCVB tells the GUARDIAN the list will be made available to all candidates who request it.
FURTHER UPDATE Wednesday 5/11/11–
The BOISE WEEKLY backed away just a bit from last week’s story about violating rules with an interview with a BCVB staffer that is revealing in its tone and attitude.
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Comments & Discussion
Comments are closed for this post.
May 10, 2011, 9:41 am
This election affects the hotels directly. The BCVB would give out hotel contacts to people who ask, if it makes sense. And this absolutely makes sense.
The hotels shouldn’t turn their heads like all of this isn’t happening. They have a couple choices, vote for a group of people who will hire a marketing services company to sell their building AND the city for other events, or vote for the group who will only book a building- no more sport events, motorcoachs, or meetings going into other hotels.
May 10, 2011, 2:23 pm
I didn’t give my email out to the BCVB for them to turn around and dish it out to the politicos. I gave it to them to fill my Hotel!
Now they are going to hand it over to all candidates?
What happened to professional courtesy?
What happened to basic manners?
They couldn’t send a simple email out asking:
Dear Hotelier,
One of the GBAD candidates has requested your email addresses, you okay with me giving it to him?
Chances are, no one will request a copy of the all important Hoteliers email list.
It is just the principle of the matter……….
May 10, 2011, 6:16 pm
Are there words to describe these people? The CVB, Schmader, Sullivan, and Wali apparently can’t comprehend the phrase “AGAINST THE LAW”. 1. The Statutes clearly state that GBAD can only market what they own. 2. The Idaho State Supreme Court upheld that statute in the Pocatello case. 3. The State Attorney Generals office offered an opinion in support of that decision. 4. Other legal experts have come up with the same opinion. BUT somehow these people come up with a different answer. Again, the CVB will never, ever get GBAD money. IT IS AGAINST THE LAW.
May 10, 2011, 6:38 pm
Why would the hotels care about the CVB, they have their own sales staff. It wasn’t like the CVB was doing anything for them in the first place. If what I read was true, that it took 346,000 room nights annually to pay for the CVB’s services, how could they possibly make that up??
May 11, 2011, 5:27 am
This type of behavior by the BCVB and it’s Board typifies it’s actions over the past several years. Unfortunately, two of it’s recent Board members are GBAD candidates. They DON’T care about the law and have made that clear in the past.
It is exactly this type of reckless activity that caused GBAD to move away from it’s longtime association with BCVB.
There were many opportunities for the BCVB leadership to take a step back from it’s emotionally based stance and bridge the gap between them and the GBAD Board. It was their decision to dig their heels in the ground.
Good comment Time Travelor, I think the number regarding room nights that you used is incorrect, but it IS fair to say that hoteliers will take care of themselves. After all, that is what we do for a living.
May 11, 2011, 8:21 pm
ChuckEverett, this is how a hotelier explained it to me. The average daily hotel room rate is around $75. The 5% room tax would be $3.75. The CVB was getting $1.3 million from GBAD. Dividing 1.3 mil by 3.75 equals 346,666 room stays. So, it would take 346,666 room stays to pay for that $1.3 million.
May 12, 2011, 7:53 am
I have always taken her budget, 1.3 million, and factored that against the amount of hotel rooms she claims to have brought to town. I’ll give her that number, but I believe it to be drastically overstated. Typically, that number, expressed in dollars per room, is more than the average hotel rate in town. Therefore, the rooms she brings don’t pay for themselves. But, I like your way of figuring it better. Either way, the math doesn’t work out in her favor. Especially @ $160,000 plus per year!