By Mary Tucker, Sr. PR/Communications Manager
Driven by a desire to spend more time with his children, in 2010 Brett C. Mitchell resigned his position as Vice President of Convention Center Operations & Regional Vice President for Global Spectrum (now OVG360) and returned as General Manager of the Overland Park Convention Center.
In the past three years, Exhibitor Magazine has twice named the Overland Park Convention Center the Best Small Convention Center in North America and once the Best Customer Service for Convention Centers of any size.
Brett earned a degree in Sports Business Management from Brigham Young University and later served on the Industry Advisory Council for the school’s Facility Management Program. He currently serves as Chair of IAVM’s Convention Center Committee, Co-Chair of ESCA’s Venue Council, and a member of the CEIR’s Research Council. In 2021, Brett was honored to receive ESCA’s Volunteer of the Year Award.
Brett is the son of a Marine Corps General, the husband of 26 years to Sheila Cook Mitchell of Vernal, Utah and most proud of being father of Georgia, Emma, Noah and Maia. Here, he shares how he and the Overland Park Convention Center apply CEIR research to help meet their business objectives.
CEIR: Do you collect data at/from your shows and, if so, how extensive is your process? What do you hope to gain from it and/or how do you use the data?
Brett: We love data. Maybe too much as we have to constantly remind ourselves to avoid rabbit holes. At the same time we stay in our lane as a venue and respect the relationships our clients have with their attendees, exhibitors, and vendors. You don’t always get the purest data with this approach, but we think it is the right thing to do. The data we collect and analyze is used to improve our operational processes. We want to eliminate pain points, expand areas of efficiency, reduce areas of inefficiency, and identify trends so we can be proactive in our response.
CEIR: Which CEIR reports have you used to support your organizer client needs? For which purposes and how have they been used?
Brett: We look at all of them. For us the magic isn’t in the data’s direct correlation to our clients or operation, but in gaining a sense of what the industry as a whole is communicating about a specific topic. Combining that data with our client’s feedback and our own intuition is the value.
CEIR: Do you use the CEIR Index Report in any way to guide your business development planning?
Brett: The CEIR Index Report is a such a great resource not only for our ability to forecast but it’s a must to have when discussing the industry with our owners.
CEIR: Where does the industry need to focus research efforts and/or to apply research available more effectively?
Brett: Wow. There are so many areas of need. In today’s world, maybe more important than what or where is when. Specifically, how fast can we research the hot topic of the day and turn around valid data. The world moves at such a different pace now, and that movement seems more and more dramatic. Our industry is certainly not immune and perhaps the pandemic proved we are even more susceptible than others.
CEIR provides industry-leading, objective research on the exhibitions and events industry. Find out more about its mission, past and current research, and how you can maximize your business goals and objectives through CEIR research here.
