Most Important Convention for Philly!

[city guy]

20,000 international biotech decision makers will call Philly

home for 4 days starting on June 19 - 22.

The business community and city is hoping for big things

from this event.

Read how important below.

Greater Philadelphia: The time is now

Jim Shannon

With BIO 2005 coming to Greater Philadelphia later this month, this region has an opportunity to create a critical first impression on thousands of people who have the ability to make a dynamic impact on our economy.

About 20,000 people are expected to attend BIO's 13th annual convention. According to the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau, that will pump $35 million into the region's economy. The arrival of the convention provides us with an opportunity to demonstrate for the movers and shakers in this dynamic industry that Greater Philadelphia is a world-class place to live, work and do business.

Full Biz Journal Story

Information on the Biotechnology Industry Organization:

BIO Website

[PghUSA]

That is a huge coup for Philly. I don't get much info on their biotech or bioengineering community over there, I know thats a hot issue here in Pittsburgh as far as trying to get a hub for biotech here. I know the commonwealth wants to foster hubs on both sides of the state that would be great.

[city guy]

Rendell should try to push two huge biotech centers

for the Burgh and Philly.

The bio convention here has every hotel room booked

solid all the way to King of Prussia.

Stories in the paper say all the time how important this

convention is for Philly.

Here is another story on the impact from today's paper.

Bio Impact on Philly

Now, that the Burgh has that incredible new convention center, you should

try to get BIO 2010. It is going to Chicago, Boston, San Diego and then Atlanta.

It took us years to put it together but from what all these stories says it is like getting

the superbowl 10 times over.

[PghUSA]

That is a great point, having Pennsylvania host two of the conferences in 5 years would be great.

I know that Pittsburgh has hosted some conferences such as these (if not at the Lawrence then at CMU or U of Pittsburgh) I don't think any have been as big or as important as BIO.

[city guy]

Maybe I spoke to soon. Pittsburgh might not want this BIO convention after reading

this. I remember the protests for the Republican Convention, I was a volunteer.

Will tell you how the convention goes.

Big Protests Expected in Philly

[Everest]

Maybe I spoke to soon.  Pittsburgh might not want this BIO convention after reading

this.  I remember the protests for the Republican Convention, I was a volunteer. 

Will tell you how the convention goes.

Big Protests Expected in Philly

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is one of the biggest conventions going and a costly one to attract. New Jersey , Delaware and Pennsylvania all equally pitched in to lure the convention here to Philly. I'm not sure if Pittsburgh alone is going to have the necessary investment to lure this convention against some very stiff competition. Not taking any shots at Pittsburgh, it's a great city, but it would be tough for Pitt to get this convention.

They are also expecting up to 3,000 to 4,000 skateboarders on the streets of Center City Tuesday. Should make for an interesting week.

[urbanophile]

This is one of the biggest conventions going and a costly one to attract. New Jersey , Delaware and Pennsylvania all equally pitched in to lure the convention here to Philly. I'm not sure if Pittsburgh alone is going to have the necessary investment to lure this convention against some very stiff competition. Not taking any shots at Pittsburgh, it's a great city, but it would be tough for Pitt to get this convention.

They are also expecting up to 3,000 to 4,000  skateboarders on the  streets of Center City Tuesday. Should make for an interesting week.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's an unsung advantage that true tri-state metro areas have over those that are contained in one state. NJ contributed to the RNC convention as well (not sure about DE).

If the convention were held in Pgh, I think its highly unlikely that Ohio or WV would contribute since they aren't truly part of the Pgh metro and few conventioneers will be staying in OH or WV or making side-trips there. Further, any marketing advantages of such a convention would be confined to PA (I don't see a company attracted to Pittsburgh locating their business in Steubenville or Wheeling). By contrast, a business lured to the Phila area may just as likely locate their business in the parts of the metro which reside in NJ or DE - thus the incentive for NJ and DE to support this convention.

[PghUSA]

^^ I agree not enough is done to include W.V. and Ohio in to what Pittsburgh is doing, it wouldn't work with every convention or event but I think Pittsburgh could on some of the larger events have partnerships with WV or Ohio. I recently saw ads touting Stuebenville, Ohio as the "commuters paradise" for Pittsburgh business people, strange though how you have to cross TWO state lines to get home every night. I really do feel if done right we can get Ohio and WV on board for "regional" conferences conventions etc.

I agree that Delaware is a bit of a stretch for Philly except if it is a very large event.

[urbanophile]

I agree that Delaware is a bit of a stretch for Philly except if it is a very large event.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The huge incentive for DE, however, isn't visitors from the convention but rather the opportunity to maket themselves to conventioneers. With their low taxes and business-freindly government, DE is often the place where business go when they desire to locate in the Philadelphia area but don't want to pay PA or NJ taxes. Hence, Astra Zeneca is down in DE. Basically, the more business Philadelphia can lure in, the more DE can nibble off.

The other thing with DE is that it is pretty much within the Phila sphere since they use the Philadelphia airport, they are contained in the Phila TV market, and SEPTA runs commuter trains several times a day not just to Wilmington but all the way to Newark (on the MD border). Thus they'll benefit from whatever benefits the region. In many ways, its like the New York area with NJ and CT. NJ is quite clearly the other half of NYC. CT is further away and more independent with its own commercial centers but is also very much so tied into NYC in that business that is lured into the NYC "area" may very well decide to set up shop in Stamford, CT (and, like DE with regard to Phila, CT is well connected to NYC via train, TV, etc.). Similarly, NJ is the other half of Phila and DE is kind of in the role of CT - a further away cousin but still very much in the family.

[PghUSA]

^^DuPont as well

[city guy]

urbanophile and everest are right...we did approach this Bio thing as a region and some of the other big conventions like Republican.

But pghUSA cooperation only goes so far. I don't know what others think but it was the State of Delaware that stole the AAA MidAtlantic Headquarters from Philly with 540 jobs just 5 months ago. And they were trying hard for other corporate city headquarters.

And the NJ governor was offering tons of money to get CIGNA to jump the river to Camden 6 months ago.

So we cooperate on some things but when it comes down to business, every man for himself.

So things are just as competitive here between the states, I think the advantage that Philly has is exactly what urbanophile said.

Philly controls the T.V. and Radio Markets of South Jersey and Northern Delaware and we also share the same sports teams and one airport, one giant convention center. We also are lucky that they don't compete with us on a cultural level. No rival art museums or orchestras or theatre, etc.

I am not knocking museums in Trenton or Princeton or the NJ and Delaware Symphony.

That is a big psycological thing that makes us view ourselves as more of a region. The region all shares the same icons.

Philadelphia is the central unifying symbol for the tri-state area.

Also, I think our biggest advantage is we don't have a big city rival so close to us like Cleveland is to you. When I read alot of the Burgh posts it talks about the rivalry in concerts, mindset, boundaries and such.

We are lucky that we don't have that.

Yes, Philly loves comparing itself to New York, but that is another issue.

Also, the number #1 reason in my opinion this region is starting to cooperate is...

drum role please...Philly is experiencing a renaissance. Let me explain. Tonight,

I will meet my cousins from Jersey out in Old City. When we were in college it was...

how can you live in Philly it stinks, do you get mugged on the streets, jokes galore.

I won't drive into the city, my car will be broken into.

Now, these same guys say...wow, we want to hang out in the city, I wish I could afford

to live in the city. Philly is cool. The same works for the region.

Now, don't get me wrong, Philly has lots of problems but I have lived in the city all

my life and there is a buz about this place that you can feel and see.

NJ and Delaware and our Western suburbs realize this and think o.k. we can cooperate

with them because it benefits us all and there is no stigma atatched to partnering with

Philly, it actually is a plus. Now, they hate our government (mayor and such) and I

can't blame them...another issue for another time.

But 10 years ago, any kind of parterning would have been a very different story.

I don't want to make them sound opportunistic because we all need each other

to compete globally, I am just saying that the timing is right.

[urbanophile]

^^DuPont as well

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

DuPont didn't move from PA though. AstraZeneca, in a way, did. I believe one of the companies, prior to their merger, was based in the western suburbs of Phila.

Its an ongoing theme - Philadelphia is the attractor and then DE steals the show.

[urbanophile]

In a way, when it comes to marketing the region, NJ and DE are strategic partners. A huge part of that is because NJ and DE don't have a major city to attract conventions and tourists on their own. Thus they must piggy back onto Philadelphia's efforts (NJ, of course, can and does also piggy back on NYC). In Pittsburgh, I think only WV may be willing to partner up. OH certainly won't since, if anything, they will compete with Pgh to hsot conventions in Cleveland or one of their other cities. Thus OH is in the position as a "strategic competitor".

That said, as pointed out above, once business is attracted to the region it becomes competition between PA, NJ, and DE to get the business. An encouraging sign for PA, however, is that of all the large companies that had their leases up in Center City Philadelphia, only AAA Mid-Atlantic used it as an opportunity to move out of the city. This despite Philadelphia's higher cost of doing business. So I guess that says something.

[Everest]

Also, the number #1 reason in my opinion this region is starting to cooperate is...

drum role please...Philly is experiencing a renaissance.  Let me explain.  Tonight,

I will meet my cousins from Jersey out in Old City.  When we were in college it was...

how can you live in Philly it stinks, do you get mugged on the streets, jokes galore.

I won't drive into the city, my car will be broken into.

Now, these same guys say...wow, we want to hang out in the city, I wish I could afford

to live in the city.  Philly is cool. The same works for the region. 

Now, don't get me wrong, Philly has lots of problems but I have lived in the city all

my life and there is a buz about this place that you can feel and see.

NJ and Delaware and our Western suburbs realize this and think o.k. we can cooperate

with them because it benefits us all and there is no stigma atatched to partnering with

Philly, it actually is a plus.  Now, they hate our government (mayor and such) and I

can't blame them...another issue for another time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yep, Center City is becoming the hip spot in the entire metro for the first time in a hundred or so years. The chic thing was to live and party on the Main Line or in King of Prussia or Cherry Hill, that is all changing. Rittenhouse Square and Soceity Hill have been anchors for the past 50 to 100 years, now Old City and a boomtown in its own right University City have joined the party. The Loft District ,Delaware and Schuylkill Riverfronts , Northern Liberties, and Bella Vista are exploding.

In 25 years is it out of the question that 250,000 people could be living in Center City/University City? They can't push condo proposals through city council fast enough. There are 3 dozen major projects set to go in Center City alone. How this all happened with backwater John Street as Mayor defies explanation but I for one am enjoying the hell out of it..

[urbanophile]

Yep, Center City is becoming the hip spot in the entire metro for the first time in a hundred or so years.  The chic thing was to live and party on  the Main Line or in King of Prussia or Cherry Hill, that is all changing.  Rittenhouse Square and Soceity Hill have been anchors for the past 50 to 100 years, now Old City and a boomtown in its own right University City have joined the party. The Loft District ,Delaware and Schuylkill Riverfronts , Northern Liberties, and Bella Vista  are exploding.

In 25 years is it out of the question that 250,000 people could be living in Center City/University City? They can't push condo proposals through city council fast enough. There are 3 dozen major projects set to go in Center City alone. How this all happened with backwater John Street as Mayor defies explanation but I for one am enjoying the hell out of it..

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If NYC and San Francisco - cities that were ahead of the curve when it came to urban revival - are taken as cues, it seems the Philadelphia renaissance is just in its opening act. These new projects will spark new interest in retailers, theater owners, restauranteurs, etc. to open new facilities in Philadelphia which will attract more residents, and so on and so on. There's much more of the party to be had.

By the way, I've stopped calling it the "Center City Rennaissance" a while ago since many of the new hot areas are outside Center City (Unviersity City, Northern Liberties, Fishtown, Kensington, Fairmount, Brewerytown, Bella Vista, Gray's Ferry etc.). Heck, 5 years ago who would have ever expected Gray's Ferry, Fishtown, Kensington, and Brewerytown to be happening? And now we're hearing about Germantown on the up and up as well???

What's also encouraging is the growth of immigrant communities of all stripes in the last 5 years. Certainly South Philly south of Washington is seeing a revival thanks to the Southeast Asian and Mexican immigrants (it seems that in 10 years the part of the "Italian Market" south of Washington will have to be renamed the "Mexican Market"). Then there are the Puerto Rican and Central American immigrants who are revitalizing North Philly, the African immigrants in West Philly, and the Asian, Eastern European, Russian, Middle Eastern, and Brazilian immigrants in NE Philly.

Eventually the two pronged attack of the urban rennaissance luring people back from the suburbs and attracting people from elsewhere in the US and increased immigration will reverse the population loss of the city. In fact, the latest estimates already show that the population loss has basically ended with the city's population in 2004 being insignificantly less than that of 2003 (and, if you count the number of possible illegal immigrants and other undocumented people in the city, it may be fair to say the population increased).

[Everest]

  In fact, the latest estimates already show that the population loss has basically ended with the city's population in 2004 being insignificantly less than that of 2003 (and, if you count the number of possible illegal immigrants and other undocumented people in the city, it may be fair to say the population increased).

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe at the 2010 census you will see Philadelphia have it's first gain in population since 1940. I spoke with someone in the city planning commission who says it's very likely that Philly will a net gain between 75,000 and 100,000 by the 2010 census.

[city guy]

Here are the protest stories.

Traffic was at a standstill around the convention

center, I walked out at lunch and the protests

seemed orderly, loud but orderly.

Unfortunately a policeman had a heart attack and died.

Daily News Story - Death of Officer

Inquirer Story

[urbanophile]

More coverage on the BIO conference from the Pittsburgh media.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05177/528318.stm