Event Prospects & Recruiting
HBCU Invitational
This event is put on by the Austin Area Urban League (AAUL) and will be held at the H-E-B Center November 2-3, 2023. They are looking to have six college teams participate in the tournament. They will be reaching out to hotels to schedule room blocks in the next month or so once the teams have been confirmed. AAUL has been provided with a listing of all Cedar Park hotels and their sales contacts. AAUL is also looking to work with other venues in Cedar Park for an additional entertainment component, but details are still pending. We will update you on the details once we have confirmation. Cedar Park Tourism has been working closely AAUL on this event and is assisting in putting together a student package as an additional enticement for students to travel to the tournament. We will be reaching out to Cedar Park hotels for room blocks for the students, as well as other Cedar Park businesses for coupons and discounts. This information will then be put into a microsite (similar to this update) to be distributed to the students. We will also be assisting AAUL with backup practice space, promotional items, event marketing, and volunteer recruitment.
AAUL Football
Austin Area Urban League is also looking to host a college football event similar to the HBCU Invitational (above). They are looking at holding it late November to early December of 2024 and have identified a location in Cedar Park. However, the venue does not start taking bids until August of 2024, which poses a problem for planning the event. Cedar Park Tourism is working with our contacts to see if there is a way to secure the facility sooner. We will update you as details develop.
U.S. Figure Skating Excel National Final
Austin Figure Skating is working with U.S. Figure Skating to host the Excel National Final July 13-16, 2023 at The Crossover. They have already secured several room blocks in Cedar Park, but have asked Cedar Park Tourism with help in various other aspects of the event including assistance finding volunteers and promotional materials. At this time we are waiting for them to provide us with their volunteer information link and participant head count.
Annual Spring Event
The City of Cedar Park has discussed establishing an annual event for some time and has recently asked Cedar Park Tourism to focus on a Spring event in 2024. This event is intended to be different from other city events in that it will be larger and geared towards bringing in tourist. We are looking at a two-day, weekend event that is unique enough to bring in over-night stays. At this time we are in the early phases of researching existing festivals that are looking for new or additional locations and talking to various event production companies. We’ll share more information as it materializes.
Solar Eclipse Event
On Monday, April 8, 2024 there will be a solar eclipse. Many surrounding communities will be holding events or running marketing campaigns to take advantage of this unique occasion. Cedar Park Tourism is working with the Parks and Recreation Department to contact area businesses to see who already has something planned or who will be planning something. From there, Parks and Tourism will look at structuring a small complimentary event and marketing everyone’s event as a whole (places to view, places to stay, countdown clock, etc.). If your business is planning something, please let us know.
All American Cup
Cedar Park Tourism worked with Tennis Ventures to bring the All American Cup to the H-E-B Center in December 2023. Unfortunately, the dates they needed were not available and they had to go elsewhere this year, but will revisit the H-E-B Center as a possibility next year.
National Collegiate Wrestling Association
Cedar Park Tourism worked with the National Collegiate Wrestling Association to bring the bring their annual tournament to the H-E-B Center in March 2024. Unfortunately, the dates they needed were not available due to the Stars Hockey and Austin Spurs Basketball schedule. They will revisit the H-E-B Center as a possibility for future events.
Facility Listings
In an effort to get Cedar Park meeting/event facilities out in front of meeting/event planners, Cedar Park Tourism has looked into utilizing outlets outside of our traditional marketing and cold-call efforts. Some of the outlets we've considered include the following:
TxMET
Texas Meetings and Events Tracking (TxMET) is a database of current and historical bookings for qualified meetings that is shared and updated by the Texas Association of Convention and Visitors Bureaus (TACVB) member subscribers. TxMET subscribers gain access through a web portal to share meeting records of organizations, meeting contacts, and meeting profiles. This web-based tool is designed to help TACVB members more effectively prospect for, book, and service Texas meetings. Cedar Park Tourism is a member of TACVB, but has not subscribed to TxMET. Feedback from other members was that the database was not updated often enough to be useful. However, TACVB has done a recent overhaul and Cedar Park Tourism is reaching out to subscribers to see if they find more benefit in the new product.
MINT+
The Meetings Information Network (MINT+) database helps destinations prospect intelligently by using both historical data and information on future bookings. A joint venture between Destinations International (Cedar Park Tourism is a member) and Simpleview (designed Cedar Park Tourism's new website), MINT+ is a shared repository of information on organizations and their meetings and events and is the DMO industry’s exclusive data cooperative. The feedback from current MINT+ members was similar to the feedback from former TxMET users in that the database was not updated often or thoroughly enough to justify the cost.
PlayEasy
This is a platform that allows users to find, connect and communicate with the largest online network of Sporting Event Organizers, Destinations, Facilities and Events in the United States. Cedar Park Tourism has completed a demo and is now reaching out to Cedar Park venues to make sure they have no issues with being featured on the platform.
Cedar Park Tourism will continue to research meeting planner platforms and implement those that bring the most benefit to our goals.
