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Bringing nerd-focused, entertainment-centered, trade shows to Boston is making an impact on the local business community, according to industry insiders. When PAX East came to town, for example, few local venues adjacent to the Hynes Convention Center were fully prepared for it — or, put another way, the sheer number of people PAX attracted took Ronnie Abbot, general manager of McGreevy’s Boston, by surprise, he said.
“We were aware of PAX coming in. I didn’t realize how big it actually was going to be,” he said. ”I think the number they said was going to be 60,000, and I didn’t think it was going to be anywhere near that.”
In fact, PAX East brought more than 52,000 geeks to the Hynes, which is located directly across the street from McGreevy’s. Abbot saw the benefit in a bump in his weekend crowds — particularly on Thursday, the evening before the show opened.
“Friday and Saturday, we’re definitely packed, but on this particular Thursday with PAX in town, I would say the increase in business we saw was as high as 10 percent,” he said. That and the weekend night bump kicked McGreevy’s entire week up by about 10 percent, Abbot said.
McGreevy’s wasn’t alone in winning bigger crowds on an otherwise slow Thursday night in March, he said. Apparently, a group of show attendees organized a “Pokecrawl,” or a Pokemon-themed bar crawl and scavenger hunt, for that night to raise funds for the Penny Arcade charity arm Child’s Play. On the list of bars to hit in addition to McGreevy’s were Lir, The Pour House, Daisy Buchanan’s and Kings.
The size of the economic impact was a bit of a surprise even to Pat Moscaritolo, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, who had handicapped a range of between $16 million and $19 million flooding into the Greater Boston economy that weekend.
“I think they hit the high end, although we haven’t seen the final numbers,” Moscaritolo said. “I also think that there was a lot more corporate activity and spending that went along with the show. Many of the companies that were exhibiting at the show were entertaining.”
If he does anything differently next year, Abbot says he will try to bring in some of that corporate spend.
“We are going to target them a little bit more and go after some of the corporate business,” he said.
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