PORT OF SEATTLE

MEMORANDUM

COMMISSION AGENDA

Item No.

Date of Meeting

October 4, 2011

DATE: September 22, 2011

TO: Tay Yoshitani, Chief Executive Officer

FROM: Jane Kilburn

Director, Tourism Development

SUBJECT: AAPA Convention briefing

BACKGROUND:

The Port of Seattle was host to this year’s American Association of Port Authorities Convention,

the 100

convention for that organization. As such, it also was a highlight of the Port of

Seattle’s Centennial year.

We bid for this conference in 2006, and we have planned intensively for this event for the past

two years. The conference was held September 11 – 15, 2001 and was one of the most well-

attended AAPA conferences in the past few years. It was accomplished within the set budget.

The success of this event is largely due to a dedicated and hard-working employee committee

and a host of volunteers who helped during the week. Members of the AAPA Committee are:

Steph Nelson, Vicki Watts, Renu Patten, JoAnne Lee, Nancy Blanton, Linda Nelson, Rudy

Caluza, Chris Nardine, Peter McGraw and Melanie Skaggs.

The Port helped obtain high-level speakers for the program, including Governor Gregoire,

Secretary of State Sam Reed and Mayor McGinn. From the community we attracted speakers

from Microsoft, Boeing, Starbucks, BNSF, SSA Marine, APL and EPA. The Port welcome was

delivered by Commission President Bill Bryant and CEO Tay Yoshitani.

Evening and special tour events were planned to introduce our visitors to some of the main

attractions in the Seattle area, including the Space Needle, Pike Place Market, the Museum of

Flight, and our own Piers 69 and 66. Seattle’s Convention and Visitors Bureau estimates that a

group the size of this, staying in the city for this length of time, represents $3 million into our

economy in terms of visitor spending.

This briefing will show highlights of the convention and give a summary of the budget.