A publicly owned convention authority and its DMO return to public-trust footing.
What four sub-segment agents, five shared cross-segment agents, and senior judgment produced for a city-owned convention authority and its destination marketing organization — built to survive open-records review and a public-board hearing.
Illustrative engagement composite · identifying details anonymizedThe brief.
Where the engagement stands.
Currently in Phase 4 — deliverable production. The senior advisor reviewed the operating-discipline and destination-strategy drafts with the Authority CEO and DMO President last week. A public board work session is in nine days; the district resident coalition briefing follows the week after.
The current numbers.
Illustrative figures. Operating discipline and destination strategy improve the odds of sound performance; the firm does not promise a specific lift in bookings, room nights, or economic impact.
What the agents are doing right now.
Four sub-segment agents (Public Convention & Tourism) plus five Shared cross-segment agents from Suite 08 Mission Hospitality. All owner/operator-side and public-sector. All under senior advisor judgment, all orchestrated by Cross Suite 00. Every deliverable is a draft until the Principal reviews and signs it.
Public Convention & Tourism — sub-segment agents (4)
Convention Authority Operations
Rebuilt the authority’s operating discipline for running the building once events are booked — space utilization, event mix, booking pace, and the public-accountability seams. Every utilization target and event-mix rule is designed to survive an open-records request and a public-board hearing. No public cost moved off the public ledger to make a number look better. Routed all procurement-law and bond-covenant questions to counsel via CS00.
DMO Strategy
Rebuilt the destination strategy: positioning, target-segment priorities, the stakeholder coalition, and — critically — a measurement model that distinguishes what the DMO actually moved from what the market would have done anyway. No vanity metric the DMO can claim but cannot defend as incremental. Strategy is fundable at the DMO’s actual lodging-tax / TID budget.
Public-Private Partnerships
Assessed the proposed headquarters-hotel P3 from the public owner’s side of the table only — where the risk and reward actually sit, and where the public interest is exposed. Explicitly not legal advice: deal terms, contracts, procurement compliance, and bond/tax structure are flagged and routed to qualified counsel and the municipal financial advisor before the authority acts. Produced a stewardship framework, not a deal narrative that hides the real allocation of public risk.
Equity in Destination Development
Honest accounting of who benefits and who bears the cost as the district develops — residents, workers, and local small businesses who gain, and who carries displacement and cost-of-living risk. Built a community-benefit framework with structure and measurement behind it, not equity language the authority cannot stand behind. Guards against equity-washing. Dignity, not pity: the resident coalition is a stakeholder with standing, not a charity case.
Shared cross-segment agents — Suite 08 (5)
Mission Service Discipline
Set one teachable service standard across the building — show-floor, registration, F&B, and public-facing front-of-house — written so it holds the public mission and the guest experience at the same time. Designed to be read aloud at a public board meeting and recognized as a faithful use of the authority’s standing. Staffable on every shift at the actual labor model.
Public-Trust Governance
Designed the accountability structure for an open-meetings, open-records public authority and its public-charter DMO: decision rights, oversight cadence, reporting line, transparency posture, and conflict-of-interest discipline — especially around the P3. Strengthens trust rather than performing it. Open-meeting / fiduciary / procurement law flagged and routed to counsel.
Frontline Workforce & Culture
Workforce strategy for a 168-FTE base that ramps for large shows, with building-trades and service-union relationships honored and a local-hire pipeline tied to the equity framework. Dignity of work as a design principle. Collective-bargaining and wage-and-hour questions flagged and routed to counsel; no SSNs or immigration-status documents requested in intake.
Mission Hospitality Risk & Continuity
Risk register specific to a public civic venue: large-crowd life-safety, severe-weather and grid continuity, public-records and open-meeting exposure, event-cancellation and economic-shock continuity, and the public-trust weight a stopped operation carries. Code-compliance, insurance-coverage, and fire-engineering certifications flagged and routed to qualified professionals. No safety risk understated to make a report look better.
AI-Era Mission Hospitality Operations
AI-era operating model, NIST AI RMF-aligned and human-in-command: demand and booking-pace forecasting, utilization optimization, and voice-of-stakeholder monitoring — each use names the person in command of the consequential decision and the RMF function it’s governed under. No human designed out of a consequential public decision for speed. Outputs to the public are explainable and open-records-defensible.
Every signed deliverable · sequenced.
- Intake Memo · Engagement question, success criteria, public-accountability scopeSenior advisorPhase 1 · Signed
- Operations & Utilization Diagnostic · Space utilization, event mix, booking pace, accountability seamsMH-14 + CS00Phase 2 · Signed
- Private-Operator Takeover Alternative Analysis · What outsourcing the building would cost the public (fiscal + control + accountability)Senior advisor + MH-02Phase 2 · Signed
- Destination Strategy & Honest-Attribution Model · Positioning, target segments, incremental-vs-baseline measurementMH-15Phase 3 · Signed
- Headquarters-Hotel P3 Public-Interest Assessment · Where public risk & reward sit — routes deal terms to counsel/financial advisorMH-16Phase 4 · In review
- Equity & Community-Benefit Framework · Local-hire, local-procurement, anti-displacement safeguards + measurementMH-17Phase 4 · In review
- Service Standards Manual & Workforce Plan · One building-wide standard + local-hire pipelineMH-01 + MH-03Phase 4 · In review
- Public-Trust Governance & Transparency ArchitectureMH-02Phase 4 · In review
- Agentic AI Deployment Roadmap · What deploys when, human-in-command, NIST AI RMF-alignedMH-05Phase 5 · Queued
- Public Board Work-Session Memo · What the board needs to confirm in open sessionSenior advisorPhase 5 · Queued
- Capital Plan & Lodging-Tax Alignment Memo · Integration with city capital planMH-14 + city financePhase 5 · Queued
- Quarterly Public Monitoring & Reporting ArchitectureCS00 orchestratorPhase 6 · Queued
- Closure Memo + Documented Handoff to Authority CEOSenior advisorPhase 7 · Queued
Full financial picture.
Public-budget summary, capital stack, debt service, and three-scenario stress test — anchored to the authority’s lodging-tax, TID, and facility-revenue structure. Illustrative figures; the firm does not promise economic-impact or room-night outcomes.
Enterprise P&L summary — year 2 of recovery plan (base case)
| Revenue | $12,580,000 |
| Facility rental (halls, ballrooms, meeting rooms) | $4,200,000 |
| Food & beverage / catering & concessions | $3,180,000 |
| Event services (AV, rigging, labor, drayage) | $1,840,000 |
| Parking & ancillary | $1,900,000 |
| Sponsorship & partner (public-approved) | $1,460,000 |
| Operating expenses | ($10,070,000) |
| Payroll & benefits (event labor + core staff) | ($4,180,000) |
| Event operations (F&B cost, AV, setup) | ($2,180,000) |
| Sales & marketing (DMO co-op, booking) | ($1,320,000) |
| Facility operations & utilities | ($1,560,000) |
| Admin, insurance & shared services | ($830,000) |
| Gross operating profit (GOP) — 20% margin | $2,510,000 |
Public budget summary — year 2 of recovery plan (base case)
| Revenue & public funding | $33,180,000 |
| Lodging-tax allocation (authority + DMO) | $14,600,000 |
| Tourism improvement district (TID) assessment | $5,200,000 |
| Facility revenue (rental, services, parking) | $7,940,000 |
| F&B / concession commissions | $3,180,000 |
| Sponsorship & co-op marketing (public-approved) | $1,460,000 |
| Grants & intergovernmental | $800,000 |
| Operating expenses | ($31,320,000) |
| Personnel (168 FTE + event labor) | ($14,800,000) |
| Destination marketing & sales (DMO) | ($6,100,000) |
| Facility operations + utilities | ($4,260,000) |
| F&B / event services cost | ($2,180,000) |
| R&M + small cap-ex | ($2,090,000) |
| Insurance, compliance, public-records, shared services | ($1,890,000) |
| Net to facility reserve / debt & community fund | $1,860,000 |
Capital stack · debt service · public position
| Capital stack | |
| City / authority capital allocation | $96,000,000 |
| Convention-center revenue bonds outstanding | $71,500,000 |
| Capital reserve (10-yr modernization) | $9,400,000 |
| Operating reserve | $5,100,000 |
| Debt position | |
| Lodging-tax-backed revenue bond | $71,500,000 |
| Annual debt service | $5,420,000 |
| Lodging-tax debt-service coverage (post-recovery) | 1.74× |
| Liquidity & public interest | |
| Operating reserve (months of expenses) | 2.0 months |
| P3 public-risk exposure | Routed to counsel/FA |
| Long-run public stewardship rating | Sound (post-recovery) |
Three-scenario stress test · year 3
Each scenario tells a full operating story — driver assumptions, financial result, public-mission impact, mitigation trigger, and the response playbook the senior advisor pre-built. The board knows in advance what the firm will recommend if conditions shift — and every move is one the authority could defend in open session.
Travel downturn + lodging-tax shortfall + operator-takeover pressure returns
A regional travel downturn compresses convention demand and lodging-tax receipts fall 11%. With debt service fixed against lodging tax, coverage tightens. The private operator renews its council lobbying, and the headquarters-hotel P3 stalls in due diligence. The district resident coalition warns that any cost-cutting will land on community-benefit commitments first.
- Lodging-tax stabilization conversation opened with city finance (open session)
- Discretionary cap-ex paused; life-safety / ADA only
- Two senior vacancies held; cross-train existing leads
- Community-benefit commitments ring-fenced — cut last, not first
- P3 timeline re-sequenced; counsel/FA re-engaged before any concession
- Board re-briefed in open session; public dashboard updated within 30 days
Recovery plan executes — booking pace climbs, attribution holds, equity framework lands
The recovery plan executes. Booking pace climbs 27%, the honest-attribution model holds up to TID-ratepayer scrutiny, the community-benefit framework launches with measurement behind it, and the council defers the private-operator takeover pending continued review. The P3 advances with deal terms in counsel’s hands and the public-risk read on the record.
- 10-year cap-ex pipeline executes on planned trigger schedule
- TID-ratepayer + resident-coalition cadence: quarterly public briefings
- Honest-attribution model published in DMO annual public report
- Surplus directed: 40% capital reserve, 30% community-benefit fund, 30% reserve build
- Quarterly senior debrief with board chair + city liaison (open session)
Anchor rotation secured + P3 closes well-structured + district investment compounds
The DMO secures a multi-year rotation of two national conventions. The headquarters-hotel P3 closes on terms counsel and the financial advisor signed off on, with the public-risk allocation visible on the record. District investment compounds: local-hire and local-procurement targets are met early and the resident coalition co-publishes the community-benefit results.
- P3 stewardship terms enforced; public-risk allocation reported each quarter
- Community-benefit fund scaled with growth, co-governed with the coalition
- Event-labor pipeline converts seasonal roles to year-round where demand holds
- Anchor-rotation framework formalized (recurring-venue agreements via counsel)
- Board retreat on next-decade convention-district architecture
- Honest-attribution model offered as a peer-DMO reference (anonymized)
The Pulse — this month’s report.
The Pulse is the monthly monitoring report included in every Cross Suite Advisory engagement — a single signed page that tracks the metrics that matter, flags what moved and why, and surfaces what needs the Principal’s attention. Below is an illustrative month for the convention authority and its destination-marketing organization. Every Pulse is reviewed and signed by the Principal before it reaches the board.
| Tracked KPI | This month | Target | Variance | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Convention room nights (definite) | 38,400 | 36,000 | +2,400 | On track |
| Event bookings closed | 27 | 25 | +2 | On track |
| Booking pace — forward pipeline vs. plan | +27% | +22% | +5 pts | On track |
| Attendee count (events held) | 61,200 | 64,000 | −2,800 | Watch |
| Venue utilization (sellable sq-ft days) | 63% | 66% | −3 pts | Watch |
| F&B + event-services revenue | $2.74M | $2.65M | +$0.09M | On track |
| Group lead-to-booking conversion | 22% | 26% | −4 pts | Off target |
| Estimated economic impact (events held) | $48.6M | $47.0M | +$1.6M | On track |
| Partner-hotel room-block utilization | 81% | 85% | −4 pts | Watch |
| Destination / planner satisfaction (of 5) | 4.4 | 4.3 | +0.1 | On track |
What moved and why
Booking pace beat plan on the forward pipeline. Definite convention room nights and forward pace both came in above target as the recovery plan’s anchor-rotation outreach converted — the healthy way to grow, on definite business rather than tentative holds.
Lead conversion slipped while pace rose. Group lead-to-booking conversion ran 4 points under target. MH-15 traced it to slow response time on inbound RFPs and a partner-hotel block-rate gap on two mid-size groups — a sales-process bottleneck, not weak demand.
Economic impact held above plan. Estimated economic impact beat target even with attendee count soft, because the events held skewed to higher-spend convention delegates. The honest-attribution model reported the figure as an estimate, not a claim.
Flags for the Principal’s attention
Flag 1 — lead conversion is the red line. Conversion is the only off-target metric this month. Recommend the board endorse a 24-hour RFP-response standard and a partner-hotel block-rate review with the DMO; no counsel required. Senior advisor to bring a one-page corrective to the next board check-in.
Flag 2 — partner-hotel block utilization edging down. Room-block pickup fell to 81% against an 85% target, concentrated in two partner properties. MH-14 ties it to attendee-side rate sensitivity, not block sizing. A watch item, not yet a red — flagged now so it does not soften lodging-tax receipts two quarters out.
The Pulse is illustrative. It reports; it does not decide. Every flag is the board’s to act on — the firm brings the read and the recommended response, signed by the Principal, defensible in open session.
The bench behind this engagement.
Senior judgment and agentic capacity are only credible if they sit on relevant prior experience. The firm advises on convention-authority and DMO operations; it has not operated a convention center or a DMO, and never implies it has.
Senior advisor on this engagement
What each agent has been trained on · calibrated against
Every agent in Suite 08 sits on a calibration corpus of anonymized prior engagements, named industry reference documents, and senior-judgment review.
Convention Authority Operations
Calibrated against: Public convention-authority operating models, space-utilization and event-mix discipline, public-accountability and open-records operating standards, public-board governance cadence, and the labor and budget constraints a public owner-operator must run inside — never operations the board cannot approve in public.
DMO Strategy
Calibrated against: DMO / CVB positioning and target-segment models, lodging-tax and TID funding structures, stakeholder-coalition alignment patterns, and — centrally — incremental-vs-baseline attribution methods that distinguish what the DMO moved from what the market did anyway. No vanity-metric over-attribution.
Public-Private Partnerships
Calibrated against: Public-owner-side P3 structures (headquarters-hotel, facility-management, concession, co-op marketing), public-interest risk-and-reward allocation, and stewardship/transparency terms. Explicitly not legal advice — calibrated to flag and route every deal-term, procurement, bond, and tax question to counsel and financial advisors.
Equity in Destination Development
Calibrated against: Community-benefit frameworks, local-hire and local-procurement mechanisms, anti-displacement safeguards, and measurement the public owner can actually deliver and report. Calibrated to name real trade-offs, guard against equity-washing, and treat communities with dignity and agency — not pity.
Prior engagement archetypes · reference experience
| Engagement archetype | Scale | Outcome class | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public convention-authority operating recovery | $20–45M budget, 250k–600k sq ft | Takeover paused + discipline restored | Direct template — operating discipline derived here |
| DMO destination strategy + honest attribution | Lodging-tax / TID funded | Funder-defensible measurement adopted | Attribution model built on this corpus |
| Headquarters-hotel P3 public-interest read | $60–180M deal value | Public risk surfaced; terms routed to counsel | MH-16 assessment pattern (not legal advice) |
| Equity / community-benefit framework | District-scale development | Measurable community benefit, no equity-washing | MH-17 framework derived |
| Public-trust governance & transparency | Open-meetings / open-records bodies | Accountability strengthened, hearing-ready | MH-02 architecture pattern |
| Public-institution AI governance | Open-records-bound deployment | NIST AI RMF, human-in-command, defensible | MH-05 deployment pattern |
All prior-engagement references are anonymized composites. No identifying details of any real client are disclosed.
Ten-year cap-ex plan — aligned to the city capital plan.
| Year | Capital project | Estimate | Priority | Funding source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yr 1 | Exhibit-hall modernization — phase 1 (rigging, power, floor) | $6,400,000 | High | Capital reserve + lodging-tax capital |
| Yr 1 | ADA accessibility — concourse, restrooms, signage | $1,620,000 | High | Compliance-driven; city capital |
| Yr 2 | Ballroom & meeting-room A/V + connectivity upgrade | $2,800,000 | High | Capital reserve + sponsorship |
| Yr 2 | Exhibit-hall modernization — phase 2 | $5,900,000 | High | Capital reserve |
| Yr 3 | Kitchen / loading-dock + sustainability retrofit | $3,200,000 | High | State energy + federal grants + reserve |
| Yr 3 | Public-realm + district streetscape (community-benefit linked) | $2,400,000 | Med | City capital + TID + community-benefit fund |
| Yr 4 | Registration / front-of-house redesign | $1,900,000 | Med | Capital reserve |
| Yr 5 | Building envelope + roof — main exhibit halls | $8,600,000 | High | Revenue-bond refinance + capital reserve |
| Yr 6 | Renewable-energy install + microgrid resilience | $4,100,000 | Med | IRA tax credits + state energy grants |
| Yr 7-10 | Long-cycle: HVAC, life-safety, vertical transport, infrastructure | $16,800,000 | Med | City capital + ongoing reserves |
All projects above $1M require public-board capital approval in open session. The district public-realm project is explicitly linked to the community-benefit framework and co-reviewed with the resident coalition.
Current cap-ex projects.
| Project | Contractor type | Budget | % complete | Public-process coordination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exhibit-hall modernization, phase 1 | GC (public-bid) + design firm | $6,400,000 / $3,520,000 spent | 55% | Board capital approved |
| ADA accessibility — concourse + restrooms | GC + ADA-specialty consultant | $1,620,000 / $972,000 spent | 60% | ADA review cleared |
| Ballroom A/V + connectivity design | A/V integrator + MEP | $340,000 design / $238,000 spent | 70% (design) | IT integration in review |
| District public-realm — pre-design | Urban design + community engagement | $140,000 / $84,000 spent | 60% (pre-design) | Resident coalition consulting |
All work follows public-bidding / procurement process — procurement-law compliance routed to counsel, never adjudicated by the firm. ADA work requires accessibility sign-off. Projects >$1M require public-board capital subcommittee approval in open session.
Funding sources in play.
| Funder type | Program / source | Ask | Probability | Decision date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City / county | Capital plan allocation — exhibit-hall modernization | $4,000,000 | High (70%) | Budget cycle |
| Lodging tax | Statutory allocation to authority + DMO | $14,600,000/yr | High (statutory) | Annual |
| Tourism improvement district (TID) | Ratepayer-assessment renewal | $5,200,000/yr | Med (60%) | Renewal vote |
| Federal (DOE / IRA) | Renewable + microgrid resilience | $640,000 | Med (55%) | Q4 |
| Federal (EDA) | Public-realm / district economic development | $900,000 | Med (45%) | Spring |
| State (energy office) | Energy modernization grant | $520,000 | High (75%) | Q2 |
| National foundation | Inclusive-growth / community-benefit capacity | $750,000 | Med (50%) | Q4 |
| Sponsorship / co-op (public-approved) | Recurring convention-sponsor program | $1,460,000/yr | High (75%) | Q1 + Q3 cycles |
Expected probability-weighted capture year 1-2: $5.1M (excluding statutory lodging tax). TID renewal is a public ratepayer vote — outcome not assumed. No funding outcome is promised.
Public-entity positions and annual value.
Positions and values illustrative. Tax treatment, bond structure, and statutory authority are flagged and routed to qualified counsel and the municipal financial advisor — never adjudicated by the firm.
| Position | Mechanism | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lodging-tax authority | Statutory dedication to authority + DMO | $14,600,000/yr | In place |
| Tax-exempt revenue bonds | Public-entity municipal financing | ~360 bps yield advantage | In place |
| Property-tax status | Publicly owned civic facility | ~$2,900,000 avoided/yr | In place |
| Sales/use-tax position (public entity) | Operating purchases (per jurisdiction) | ~$610,000/yr | Per-jurisdiction |
| Tourism improvement district (TID) | Ratepayer assessment mechanism | $5,200,000/yr | Renewal pending vote |
| Federal IRA energy credits / direct pay | Solar + microgrid (public-entity elective pay) | $1,100,000 one-time | Pending project — route to FA |
| P3 tax & bond structure | Headquarters-hotel deal financing | Material — not assessed here | Routed to counsel/FA |
| Unrelated-activity / arbitrage discipline | Bond-proceeds & private-use monitoring | Compliance-managed | Monitored w/ counsel |
Risk transfer in place.
Coverage-adequacy and policy-interpretation opinions are routed to qualified insurance professionals; the firm designs the risk posture, not the coverage opinion.
| Coverage line | Source | Limit | Deductible | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Property (convention center, full replacement) | Public-entity property program | $420,000,000 | $250,000 | In force |
| General liability (large-crowd premises + ops) | Public-entity risk pool | $10,000,000 occ / $25,000,000 agg | SIR $500,000 | In force |
| Liquor liability (F&B + events) | Specialty liquor liability | $5,000,000 | $50,000 | In force |
| Public officials / management liability | Public-entity POL program | $10,000,000 | SIR $250,000 | In force |
| Cyber + privacy (PCI + public records) | Public-entity cyber program | $15,000,000 | $100,000 | In force |
| Workers’ compensation | State / public-entity (statutory) | Statutory | n/a | In force |
| Special-event / terrorism (large assemblies) | Per-event + TRIA endorsement | $25,000,000 per event | $25,000 | In place |
| Builder’s risk (cap-ex in flight) | Per-project policies | Project value | Per project | By project |
What could go wrong.
| # | Risk | Impact | Likelihood | Mitigation status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Private-operator takeover pressure returns at council | Severe | Medium | Quarterly public briefings + operating discipline on record |
| 2 | Lodging-tax / TID shortfall vs. fixed debt service | Severe | Medium | Downside scenario triggers pre-built; coverage monitored |
| 3 | Large-crowd life-safety / mass-casualty event | Severe | Low | Event-security protocols, emergency mgmt, TRIA coverage |
| 4 | P3 public-risk allocation lands against the public | Severe | Medium | MH-16 read on record; terms routed to counsel/FA |
| 5 | Equity-washing — benefits claimed but not delivered | Severe | Low | MH-17 measurement behind every commitment; coalition co-reports |
| 6 | Open-records / open-meeting compliance failure | Moderate | Low | MH-02 transparency architecture; counsel on statute |
| 7 | Labor action (building trades / service unions, peak shows) | Severe | Low | Labor-council liaison; contingency event-labor plan |
| 8 | Capital project cost overrun (multi-year) | Moderate | Medium | Quarterly cap-ex review; contingency reserves |
| 9 | Attribution overstatement erodes funder trust | Moderate | Low | MH-15 incremental-vs-baseline model published |
| 10 | AI deployment failure (open-records / accountability) | Moderate | Low | MH-05 human-in-command + NIST AI RMF guardrails |
What’s due, when.
| Month | Item | Authority | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| This month | ADA compliance attestation — concourse + restrooms | City ADA office + state | In progress |
| +1 mo | Annual fire / life-safety + assembly-occupancy inspection | Fire marshal | Scheduled |
| +2 mo | Food-service license renewal · ballroom + concessions | County health | Scheduled |
| +3 mo | Liquor license renewal | State ABC | Scheduled |
| +3 mo | P3 term-sheet review · public-interest read on record | Counsel + financial advisor | Routed (not firm-adjudicated) |
| +4 mo | TID assessment renewal · ratepayer notice & vote | City / TID administrator | Scheduled |
| +5 mo | Public-records / open-meeting training recertification | City clerk / counsel | Scheduled |
| +6 mo | Revenue-bond annual continuing disclosure | MSRB / EMMA | Scheduled |
| +9 mo | Building energy benchmark filing | State / city energy office | Scheduled |
| +12 mo | Public-board capital subcommittee review · 10-yr cap-ex | Authority board capital committee | Annual |
How this authority compares.
Seven anonymized peer publicly owned convention authorities + DMOs at similar scale and metro size. Public owner-operators only.
| Metric | This client | Peer median | Peer top quartile | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combined operating budget | $33.2M | $27.4M | $48.0M | Above median |
| Exhibit-space utilization | 58% | 52% | 67% | Above median |
| Booking pace vs. prior 4-yr avg | +27% | +9% | +31% | Near top quartile |
| TID stakeholder confidence | 81% | 61% | 84% | Near top quartile |
| Attribution discipline | Incremental-vs-baseline | Gross / claimed | Incremental | Top quartile |
| Community-benefit measurement | Structured + reported | Aspirational | Structured | Top quartile |
| Lodging-tax debt-service coverage | 1.74× | 1.45× | 2.1× | Above median |
| AI-deployment governance discipline | NIST AI RMF, human-in-command | Ad-hoc | Formal governance | Top quartile |
How the authority and destination are perceived.
Stakeholder-trust trend (rolling 12-month, scale 0–100)
Resident sentiment is reported honestly — rising but not yet at parity. Equity work is honest accounting, not a slogan; the gap is named, not smoothed over.
How the partners are performing.
| Vendor / role | Quality | On-time | Cost discipline | Public-process fit | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC — exhibit-hall modernization | A | A− | B+ | A (public-bid disciplined) | Retain |
| Design firm — venue | A+ | A | A | A | Retain |
| A/V integrator — ballroom | A | B+ | B | B+ | Monitor |
| ADA-specialty consultant | A+ | A | A | A+ | Retain |
| F&B / concession operator (public contract) | A− | A | A− | A+ | Retain |
| Event-security contractor | A | A | A− | A | Retain |
| Urban-design / community-engagement firm | A | A− | A | A (coalition trust) | Retain |
All contracting follows public procurement process. Procurement-law compliance and contract enforceability are routed to counsel — the firm scores performance, not legal validity.
Posture and gaps.
| Data class | Volume | Storage | Encryption | Access control | Breach readiness |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attendee / registration data (PII, badges) | ~110 GB | Encrypted event / registration platform | At rest + in transit | RBAC + training | Strong |
| Payment data (rentals, F&B, parking) | ~52 GB | PCI-DSS-compliant systems | At rest + in transit | RBAC + 2FA | Strong |
| Stakeholder / TID-ratepayer data (PII) | ~38 GB | DMO CRM | At rest + in transit | RBAC + quarterly review | Strong |
| Employee data (HR, union, payroll) | ~44 GB | Public-entity HRIS | At rest + in transit | RBAC + MFA | Strong |
| Operational data (financial, vendor, capital, P3) | ~160 GB | Public-entity ERP | At rest + in transit | RBAC + SoD | Strong |
| Public records (open-records applicable) | ~26 GB | Public-records / FOIA system | At rest | Searchable + auditable | Compliant |
No critical gaps identified. Recommendation: annual tabletop exercise with the public-entity IT security office, focused on large-event and open-records-specific scenarios. AI use in the operation is logged and open-records-defensible per MH-05.
Both measured. Both honored.
Public-mission & community-benefit metrics
Revenue & fiscal health
Revenue figures are real public-budget lines; mission figures are backed by structure and measurement, not claims. The honest-attribution model means the DMO reports only what it can defend as incremental.
What the firm is asking the board, the CEO, and the city to decide.
The senior advisor will bring the recommendation at the next public work session. The board and the city own these decisions; the firm provides the analysis and the discipline of the choice — and flags every point where counsel or the financial advisor must act before the public owner does.
- Adopt the destination strategy and the incremental-vs-baseline attribution model as the DMO’s public reporting standard.Next board mtg
- Receive the P3 public-interest read into the record — and direct counsel + the financial advisor to complete deal-term review before any vote.Before any P3 vote
- Approve the equity & community-benefit framework with its measurement and co-reporting with the resident coalition.90 days
- Approve the agentic AI deployment roadmap (MH-05) under human-in-command, NIST AI RMF governance.Phase 5
- Confirm the multi-year capital-reserve and community-benefit-fund split of operating surplus.Budget cycle
- Confirm the quarterly public-briefing cadence (board + TID ratepayers + resident coalition).Next board mtg
What the firm is producing for this public owner. In one sentence.
A convention authority and DMO that were drifting toward a private takeover and a quietly-structured deal — converted into a disciplined, transparent public operation the board can defend in open session, the TID ratepayers will fund, the meeting planners will book, the district residents can see is fair, and counsel and the financial advisor can sign off on — restoring it to a public trust faithfully kept.
“You came in with a private takeover at the door and a deal moving in the dark. You leave with a building you run with discipline, a strategy you can defend with honest numbers, and a community that can see the growth is theirs too — all of it able to be read aloud at a public hearing.”
— Senior advisor close-out language, Phase 7 template