WASHINGTON-For credit unions, it's the biggest event of the year. For the city of Washington, D.C., not so much.
CUNA will host its annual Governmental Affairs Conference here this week with a projected crowd of approximately 4,000. But that's just 0.0038% of the 1.049,847 people who came to Washington for meetings and conferences in 2011. It also reinforces just how difficult it is to be heard by Congress, which is besieged by visitors every week it is in session.
Moreover, that one million does not even represent the multitude of groups that meet informally in the nation's capital each year in smaller venues, such as hotel ballrooms, according to Elliott Ferguson, president and CEO of Destination DC (formerly the Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation).
Ferguson noted that the one-million figure represents all facets of professional groups, including business and trade associations, corporate communications, scientific and medical organizations, governmental, multicultural and more. Destination DC had more than 830 bookings for convention business in 2011, not including sporting events. Overall, approximately 17 million people visit DC every year.
Destination DC does not segment its bookings by industry, so Ferguson was unable to say what portion of the overall picture is represented by the financial services market. One of the largest annual meetings the District sees each year is the Association of the U.S. Army, which in 2011 brought more than 35,000 people to the capital and will likely bring a similar number this year.
With more than 20 years in the field, Ferguson pointed out that smaller groups-whether fringe political groups or organizations that might not qualify as "family friendly"-tend to eschew working with his organization, opting for the privacy of hotel ballrooms and the like. As such, those statistics are harder to come by. In 2010 (the most recent year for which statistics are available), 45% of domestic visits to Washington were for business travel.
The Orlando of Politics
While Washington's place as the seat of government is a natural draw for many professional groups-as well as the fact that many major organizations are headquartered in the region or at least have some level of representation there-Ferguson noted that in many ways DC's draw is similar to that of Orlando and Las Vegas. Both of those locales serve as major leisure destinations, and Washington is no slouch when it comes to museums, entertainment and other outside-the-conference-room activities, he observed.
But meeting with legislators and other government officials remains one of the region's biggest draws. For instance, Wisconsin Rep. Tammy Baldwin's office receives "thousands" of requests each year to meet with various constituent groups; in fact, so many, said Press Officer Jerilyn Goodman, that it's almost impossible to provide a specific figure.
Goodman said she suspects Baldwin's office receives more requests than many of her colleagues due to "an extremely active constituency," but said that the representative meets with as many groups as possible in both D.C. and Wisconsin, and meets regularly with groups representing local energy and agriculture co-ops, as well as CUs.
Credit Union Journal reached out to multiple members of Congress about how many constituents they meet with annually. Some said office policy prevented disclosing information on how the representatives decide with whom to meet, but all said that scheduling is among the foremost concerns when making that determination.
Baldwin's office added that Wisconsinites receive first priority, then as many other groups as her schedule will permit. If the congresswoman is not available, staffers often meet with constituents in her stead.
"Wisconsin has a long and rich history with cooperatives and credit unions and I have a long and personal connection to them," said Baldwin. "I am a longtime, and very satisfied, customer of my local food co-op and credit union. As I weigh legislation, I am very grateful for the thoughtful input I receive from Wisconsin co-op and credit union groups."
