If you pay attention to the happenings in Reno, you’d have to have been hiding under a rock lately to have missed the hubbub over Hot August Nights announcing that they would be kicking off the annual classic car festival in Long Beach, California, ending that kickoff event in a cruise from Southern California, to Tahoe, and finally to Reno; and that they had signed a six year “exclusive” agreement with Long Beach to hold the event there.
HAN’s executive director, Bruce Walter, has maintained all along in the Reno press that the event is not leaving Reno, just branching out to Long Beach to secure additional revenues from the event’s primary feeder market, to help absorb the continually escalating costs of doing business in Reno-Sparks – including paying three different police departments and private security for the privilege of hosting events in Reno, Sparks, and unincorporated Washoe County.
Still, that didn’t do much to calm the furor that erupted when the Los Angeles Business Journal attributed a statement to Walter that the event had signed a six year exclusive agreement to move the event to Long Beach. Walter insists that what he actually said was that Hot August Nights’ exclusive California home would be Long Beach, not that the event would be moving outright.
And that’s all without even touching on the public reaction of many of Reno’s elected and appointed officials, which culminated in Walter being called up before the Reno City Council to explain what’s really going on.
Newspaper and blog comments on the subject range in sentiment from “Screw Hot August Nights!” to “Boy, our incompetent ‘leaders’ really screwed this one up!” but the hyperbole and plain emotional reaction of the commenters is very real and understandable given the tough economic times.
The presence of the hyperbole is the reason this blog decided not to jump to snap conclusions, but rather to let the story play out a little bit, before opining on the subject.
The assessment? HAN should have handled this better from a PR perspective from the start. Making the announcement in Reno that they were looking to expand the event to include another location to secure additional revenues, prior to having a deal signed with Long Beach, would have been a good start.
At the same time, there’s plenty of owning up to go around. RSCVA not having a contract with HAN on the books just as they would with any large conference or the bowling tournaments. Reno, Sparks and Washoe County governments for not working better together to provide a one stop shop for security services for any special event looking to hold functions throughout Reno-Tahoe. (This could be on RSCVA’s head as well, frankly.) Public officials for publicly lashing out in the absence of strong behind-the-scenes relationships with the people in charge of HAN.
At the end of the day, aside from all the shoulda-coulda-woulda and finger pointing, what is to be made of the situation?
First, it remains to be seen and proven whether the additional venue will have a positive or negative impact on the event. In the absence of solid market research, one person’s supposition that it will cause the Reno event to go down in flames is just as flimsy as another’s supposition that it will engender growth for the event and put the event on a more solid financial footing.
But for many of the event’s attendees coming from Southern California, the plan does create quite an opportunity. The proposed group cruise up to Reno from LA promises to be something that the attendees will look forward to all year. The Long Beach event also may well bring in additional participants, revenue and brand equity for the event for those people who have always wanted to, but can never seem to make the trek up to Reno with their cars.
And it’s worth noting at any rate, that Reno’s location is perfect for serving the entire West Coast – not just the people who come from Southern California. Northwest car buffs are closer to Reno than to LA by far, and there is untapped potential in those feeder markets. Same goes for people coming from the east from such places as the Wasatch Front. Bay Area visitors like to make the trek up to Reno-Tahoe as well. RSCVA, and Hot August Nights need to do a better job growing these feeder markets to strengthen the Reno event.
Finally, the public dialogue that was opened up by this sudden and unexpected news can only be a positive for the community. In the face of the nation’s highest unemployment and many consecutive quarters of declining tourism-based revenue, it will not do well to take these important economic drivers for granted. Indeed, taking the strategic partnership with HAN more seriously and getting the long-term commitment to the region in writing will go a long way toward calming everyone’s nerves. And the opportunity for changing the way business is done with special event organizers across the multiple jurisdictions in Reno-Tahoe – moving beyond a direct subsidization model and more in the direction of making it easier, and more affordable to proffer services such as police protection – will have an impact beyond just the one event.
It’s understandable that emotions have run high on the heels of this news. HAN is already controversial and somewhat unpopular with many Renoites, with the additional noise, traffic and exhaust fumes that it brings – and the people of Reno do love them some complainin’. But for all the reasons outlined here, it will be best for cooler heads to prevail. Let’s hope HAN stays – and grows - in Reno for a long time to come.