Possible return of Conventions to the City of Memphis...except Holy Convocation!

The Church of God in Christ could be bringing a convention back to Memphis next year, but it isn’t the church’s annual convocation that moved to St. Louis in 2010.
COGIC is in negotiations with the city to bring its women’s convention and Auxiliaries in Ministry convention to Memphis in 2014 and 2015, respectively. If a deal is reached, each event could bring 10,000 to 15,000 people to the city, said John Oros, vice president and COO of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“These are conventions they’ve always done,” Oros said. “It’s the wish of the presiding bishop to try to place one, if not several conventions, back in Memphis.”

While Oros wouldn’t confirm it, hotel industry sources said COGIC has committed to continuing to hold its annual November convocation in St. Louis for the next three years. The last time the convocation was held in Memphis, it attracted an estimated 45,000 people.
COGIC left Memphis in 2010 because the convocation effectively outgrew the city and received the favorable room rates it was looking for from St. Louis. Oros hasn’t ruled out the possibility of it eventually returning to Memphis, but it would be a challenge for hotels and the Cook Convention Center.
“The convocation is still under consideration, but they need the facilities a first-tier convention city can provide,” Oros said.
But landing the COGIC women’s and AIM conventions would give the city’s convention numbers a boost.
“If we’re lucky enough to secure them, they’d probably be as large as any convention we’ve hosted over the last four years,” Oros said.

Michael Sheffield 

Staff writer- Memphis Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/memphis/news/2013/04/12/cogic-conventions-could-return-to.html