Crafting Citywide Experiences with Michelle Moon from Visit San Antonio

Michelle Moon:

I think in order to do what we do and work in the hospitality industry, meetings, events, you have to have a servant's heart and you have to be willing to roll up your sleeves, stack chairs, sweep the floor, make a floral arrangement, that's where you start.

Alyssa Peltier:

Great events create great brands but pulling off an event that engages, excites and connects audiences, well, that takes a village and we're that village. My name is Alyssa.

Rachel Andrews:

I'm Rachel.

Felicia Asiedu:

And I'm Felicia.

Alyssa Peltier:

And you are listening to Great Events, the podcast for all event enthusiasts, creators and innovators in the world of events and marketing.

Rachel Andrews:

Hello, everyone. What is going on in this wide, wide world of events? My name is Rachel and I am your host for this week's episode of Great Events. We are back. This week, I am thrilled to have my friend Michelle Moon who's the vice president of partners experience and events at Visit San Antonio or, as her close friends likes to call her, the VP of everything. Hi, Michelle. Welcome.

Michelle Moon:

How are you, Rachel? It's so great to see you today.

Rachel Andrews:

You tool, you too. We're pumped for this podcast. We've been talking about doing this for quite some time, we had a fun prep call and Michelle and I have worked together now, this is our second year in a row working on CVENT Connect and all the things that go into planning citywide experiences specifically in San Antonio. But today, we're going to be talking about citywide planning and what that process looks like and, as you can tell by Michelle's title, she does a little bit of all the things at San Antonio and her team is amazing. We worked with them last year on just providing that experience and what that looks like. So, for this week's episode, if you are in the process of doing a citywide or you have questions on it, we're hoping to answer a lot of those and what that looks like.

So, before we start, Michelle, I feel like I like to level set for our listeners, we want to fill them in on what your background is, what your careers look like and what you do at San Antonio now. So, can you give us the very quick, I know there's a lot to list with all your accolades, but just the very quick background on you?

Michelle Moon:

Well, thank you for having me with you today, Rachel. So, again, Michelle Moon with Visit San Antonio and my role, really, is to help be a strategist and a thought leader for our incoming meeting professionals here in San Antonio. We are a connector to our partners, we are the most enthusiastic individuals about the city of San Antonio. I think, when you represent a city, you have to be. We are so passionate and I just love San Antonio. I'm a native of San Antonio and my background, growing up in the industry for over the last 20 years, I've served on the partner side extensively working on large meetings and events and offsite and it really prepared me for the role that I have now to be an advocate for our meeting professionals as well as our partners here in the city of San Antonio to ensure that there is a phenomenal success with every single meeting and convention that we touch.

Rachel Andrews:

What were you doing before that? Were you always just at Visit San Antonio just promoting the city?

Michelle Moon:

No, actually I have a very interesting background. My college degree is business management in performing arts and non-profit business sector. So, what that means is I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up. I loved the arts, I loved the culture and it really wasn't until I had an internship in college at the museum in Oklahoma City that I had my first taste of events and that was the hook that I needed to really set me on the path to where I am now. I worked in museums for 12 years on the special events side and helped plan and execute amazing galas, contracted private space and really helping align the mission of our clients to why they selected the venue they did.

And so, from there, after working in that space of the museum world for 12 years, I transitioned to help open our performing arts center here in San Antonio, the Tobin Center, and really connected everything back to those college days with the performance art. I love back theater, I love stage management and, when you think about the technical aspects of a performance event, management's very similar. The principles, the herding of the cats, so to speak, either it's costumes or floral vendors or entertainment for a private gathering or large convention.

And so, I really enjoyed working on that partner side with our Visit San Antonio team and then had an opportunity eight years ago to join Visit San Antonio overseeing the convention services division and working alongside an amazing mentor who taught me so much. And that's really how I ended up where I am now, I'm one of those go-getters, I want to keep learning about our city and how to better help our planners be successful so that there's that return business to the city of San Antonio. And so, I'm just really excited to be in the role I am now where I can help, not only the convention servicing aspect with our destination experience team, but I oversee our membership model and we are the stewards of the stakeholders to meetings and events and really that connector and liaison and so overseeing the River Walk. We have an amazing jewel in our own city is one of the most visited sites in Texas and so we actually get to activate and do events for all of the River Walk for our parades and annual celebrations. And so, it was just a lot of fun to still have that planner role but then also an advocate and a partner for friends like you, Rachel, who come into San Antonio and want to have that authentic experience in our city.

Rachel Andrews:

Okay. Well, that's awesome background and I actually didn't know the theater aspect of you. That makes so much sense, wow. I love it, I love it. I want to dig just a little bit deeper because I feel like some ... Because I like to level set because we do have some students that listen to this and, when you say that you work for a city or you work for a DMO or destination management organization and then you say that you manage partners, experiences and events, that's just so much. Can you just describe a little bit more about what a DMO does and then what a partner of a DMO would mean? Obviously, experience and events, that can make a lot of sense for the event planners that are on the call because they can understand that but I feel like your role is so much more than just helping people do, citywide is obviously a huge part of that, but the partner side of it, can you dive into that a little bit more?

Michelle Moon:

Absolutely. So, when you look at the bare bones foundation of who a DMO, what Visit San Antonio is, we are the sole entity that is responsible for promoting and marketing the city. And the city has some amazing facilities, hotels and assets but those service provider partners are really the bread and butter of what make the story of San Antonio come to life. And so, when we talk about partners, there's a lot of different partners that we bring to the table for our clients and for meetings and events and it's really a holistic approach. It's soups to nut, it's the venue, it's the floral, it's the entertainment vendors, it's the artists, the storytellers, the culinary arts. And so, all of these service providers, in addition to the hotels in our community, all play a vital and important role in setting the stage for a great meeting and event.

And so, being that liaison who can be the destination expert and really help align the right partners to our clients, it's a phenomenal role and it's something that I just love doing every single day because we are constantly learning about new restaurants that are opening up, what are some new experiences that are coming into the city of San Antonio but really being an advocate also for not just the downtown. Because meetings and conventions, you usually find that convention center in the heart of the downtown core but some of those phenomenal authentic experiences are outside of downtown. And so, it's being able to share those stories to ensure that, at the end of the day, it's not only about the meeting planner and the ease of planning business in our city, it's ensuring that the attendees are attracted to the destination that they want to come into San 

Antonio.

I always like to say that convention attendees, meeting attendees, besides coming to a phenomenal meeting with great education, networking and connections, they also have to be drawn to the appeal of the destination and, at the end of the day, they're a leisure traveler who may or may not come to a meeting based on the location. So, our job is to really champion those partners and to bring their stories up to the front of that marketing and collateral story that is being pushed out through your channels to really promote great, strong attendance for your meetings.

Rachel Andrews:

Yeah, makes a lot of sense. You want to make sure that people have other things to do also during their time there or that they come back after the event is over, you want to have lasting impact on that.

Michelle Moon:

And you have to think about those authentic stories, they're small businesses. I would say 75% of our partners are small businesses and so, to align yourself with a destination marketing organization, it gives you the marketing power to reach the CVENT Connects, to reach the large conventions and the citywides, to really have an impact to broaden your reach with a minimal impact of engagement with the DMO. So, we really love to tell the stories of our small business owners in San Antonio, whether they're artists or makers, to really help bring them business at the end of the day. A DMO doesn't own anything, we're just a connector and a steward of the community.

Rachel Andrews:

That's a great way to look at it, cool. Well, thank you for level setting for us and I want to fast forward to the actual planning and experience part because there's so much that goes on behind the scenes that I think that attendees that go to citywides don't really realize all the things that ... I feel like my eyes were even open a lot more last year than in the past just because I know the magic happens behind the scenes but it really does when you bring a citywide to life. So, let's dive into the citywide planning process. Obviously, the sourcing process is a whole different beast but I'm focused more on, once you're there, once you've decided to go to a city or a convention center and plan a large-scale event with a DMO, and maybe it's just a smaller event too, it doesn't have to be a citywide, what does that planning process look like from your end?

Michelle Moon:

Yeah, absolutely. So, there's an important process that happens. So, as you said, we are imagining the sales process has happened. Contract is signed, city is selected, there's a turnover that happens and, whether you're in a in-house meeting a hotel or a convention center, there is a service team. So, sales and service always work hand in hand and it's a life cycle. And so, on that convention services meeting side, the destination experience team is really going to be the value proposition to the destination. There are a lot of internal stakeholders that we are held accountable to but more importantly are those external stakeholders. Hotels, convention centers, they have amazing teams inside that building, our value is to bring the assets outside of the building either into it or to help connect those pieces outside with transportation, restaurant packages, special offers for attendees. Really it's that service provider and how they can enrich the meeting experience.

And one of my favorite sayings and my team hears me say this all the time, the nuts and bolts of a meeting can happen in any city so our job is to share what's special about our city and really bring those five senses, that whole immersive experience at the destination into the meeting to ensure that you have access to those authentic flavors, the sounds, the textiles, what's the vibrancy. Here in San Antonio we love Fiesta, Fiesta is a 10-day celebration in the spring but we fiesta all year long. And so, how can we impart that spirit of San Antonio into your event, again, to create an atmosphere and environment where your attendees have a great time, understand the destination and are encouraged to go out and explore it as well in their downtime.

Rachel Andrews:

That's awesome. So, when you get this come in, I don't know why I picture you guys ringing a gong or something in your office like, "We got another one." No, I just feel like the excitement is always there with your team like, "Let's go," you always rally the troops to deliver this experience. And I'm sure part of it is your standard process but part of it is how do I make it unique. What goes into the preparation for that?

Michelle Moon:

Yeah, absolutely. So, we do a lot of work with our team to ensure that they're educated on what offerings are currently available in our destination. The sales team does a phenomenal job of really setting the stage and getting things lined up and ready, giving you the idea, a taste of what the meeting could be, what those offsite opportunities are. But really, our job is to be your strategic partner and, really, I call it boots on the ground. We're going to be there as an extension of your team to ensure the success.

And that's not only bringing in the best partners to align to your mission, budget, goal but then also, really, our job is to educate the community to say we have these groups coming in and we need to prepare the destination. Because that arrival experience, it really starts at San Antonio International Airport, the airport arrival. Are there welcome messages, are the taxis and rideshare vendors scheduled and amply ready to supply transportation to downtown but then also it's preparing the restaurants to ensure that they are staffed up, that, if we can push any dining program with advanced reservations, prepare them for when they're going to see this large mass movements of people for the meeting around the destination, again, so that there's that ease and there's that ultimate best experience for your attendees.

And so, really, the destination experience team, they want to be good stewards of both the meeting planner's goals and objectives but then also aligning them to the right experience for San Antonio. We really spend a lot of time getting to know the demographic of your attendees, there is a very different paradigm of convention attendee behavior when you're looking at an oil and gas group versus a sustainable eco-friendly group. And so, we need to make sure that the assets are aligned so that, if there's a group who wants green initiatives, sustainable options, who are those vendors and partners who can support that story, we want to make sure that we can bring them to the forefront to, again, streamline and make your job just easier. Don't reinvent the wheel, we know what the wheel is, tell us which one you want.

Rachel Andrews:

I love the concept of an experience team too just like how your team just became an extension of my team when we were planning CVENT Connect. Shameless plug, we're back in San Antonio next year, in June again and we're excited to work with your experience team again and come up with ... Now the fun is coming up with all the new things that we want to share with them or different experiences. The same amazing five sense experience again but with some different surprises so that's going to be fun.

Michelle Moon:

It is. And when you look at any destination, there's many facets and there's different layers to a city and so, the experience that your attendees had last year, we want to ensure that they have the next experience. And so, we're not a single-trick pony city, we have a lot of ponies and so we're going to make sure we pull out the next version or the next story so that we continue to draw that appeal to the destination and ensure your success.

Rachel Andrews:

Some of my most favorite meetings that we had with your team were just the brainstorm ones, just seeing how everybody was all over the place with ideas in a good way, thinking outside the box. And we ended up doing a lot of different activations with your team on site from the entertainment that you brought, the local entertainment but also the petting zoo that you brought in that was also a local charity and I love that so much because you're really ingraining yourself in the community. Any other fun ideas or things that you've done or activations that people can learn from or your personal favorite?

Michelle Moon:

Yeah, absolutely. So, I always like to tell the team when I ... Sometimes I look through site itineraries or agendas and planning and I'm like, "Where's the fun? You got to have the fun." And so, we are constantly out there in the market researching, ideating and sometimes we see things in other cities and we're like, "How can I bring that to San Antonio and how can I make that ours so that it makes sense for our culture and for who we are as a destination? "So, some of the fun activations that we're working on right now, again, I'm about all of those five senses, the tactile, the whole immersion of an experience. We have big plans underway for a big activation we're doing in January in Houston and so we're taking a local perfumery and we said deliver for us a catalog of scents of San Antonio. But when you think of the smells of San Antonio, it's what comes to mind? Well, hopefully it's wildflowers because you can't put tacos in a bottle but what are the wildflowers, what are the scents, the yellow roses, those Indian paintbrush wildflowers that you see along the roadsides.

And so, we'll be doing a scent bar where you can actually build your own custom scent based on the floral and the profile of our Texas Hill Country here in South Texas and so that's a very immersive experience. The hat bars are always a big fan favorite. We used to do hat fittings where you would just get your custom straw hat fit to your head, the size, the fit, the color but it goes beyond that now. Now there's baubles and ribbons and feathers and picking through a plethora of colors and beads and really layering them onto your hat to make your personal identity show through with a South Texas twist. And then, as you mentioned with the little furry creatures and animals, I love our little beer burrows. And so, we have these little mini donkeys and you could put ice-cold beers in the side but you can also put ice water, Topo Chico, and have these little immersive animals greet your guest upon entry into a space or a welcome booth and it just sets the stage. Who doesn't love a cute little mini burrow and having that experience that you normally wouldn't get to have?

And so, we always try to think outside the box and what are those instagrammable moments that people can capture to build a memory and then, hopefully, go on social media and share that with their colleagues and friends and their network to get that brand exposure for the city of San Antonio out there. So, it's a win-win. We do these activations because they're fun but we also do them to tell the local story and to, hopefully, get that brand out there for the community at large.

Rachel Andrews:

I know you all put a lot of work into Fiesta too. Can you just explain what Fiesta is and also just ... Shameless plug on behalf of Michelle, if you haven't gone to Fiesta, it looks like an absolute epic event.

Michelle Moon:

Absolutely. It is over 125 years in the making, Fiesta San Antonio is a 10-day party with a purpose and it really brings together a lot of non-profit organizations who host mini fiestas and parties, exhibits, gallery showings, there are fashion shows. There's a hundred events or more over the span these 10 days and they raise millions of dollars and all of it goes back to youth programming, scholarships, funding for the arts and culture here in San Antonio. And so, we like to think of it as a family-friendly version of Mardi Gras There are three parades, two street parades and one river parade so it's just this whole community celebration every spring for 10 days. We joke the world stops in San Antonio. Seriously, offices close on parade days, school is closed for the Battle of Flowers, it's our own holiday here in San Antonio. So, definitely, Fiesta represents the spirit of the destination and its people and so we all love to come together and just share that with everyone around the world.

Rachel Andrews:

And that is really cool. I know there's a lot of questions in here about working with DMOs and all the different ways, I think we covered a lot of that. I think just one other thing I wanted to point out is just, I know we've talked a lot about the events side and the experience side, but there are so many other things that people can work through you, a DMO, booking invention center, et cetera, but there's other ways they can work with you. Can you highlight a couple of those?

Michelle Moon:

Absolutely. So, I've made it sound like it's a lot of fun and it is but, at the end of the day, there's also business that needs to get done. And so, outside of helping book the convention center, we're also helping source hotel rooms, making sure you have the best rates over your dates and a compressed package so that, if you need more than one convention center hotel, that you have the tightest walkable package. Or we can help with RFPs for service providers. Let's say you need a transportation to take you from your meeting venue out to the hill country to experience a dude ranch, let us connect you. We actually submit RFPs to our partners through our CRM and we collect those responses in real time and send them back to our clients.

So, we take the legwork out of some of that business for our clients to help streamline the processes. Additionally, we're going to really be the stewards of that hotel pickup and really watching carefully how you're pacing. We ask a lot of questions and sometimes there's an education that comes with that to meeting planners who aren't accustomed to having an experience manager or a service rep really ask questions about how are you doing, how's the health of your hotel rooms, are you going to hit attrition. And so, really helping to be strategic so that, if we can start to pare down the room package in advance, it opens up the rooms for other opportunities so the hotel partner isn't losing out but then also it's saving you on the bottom line if you don't think you're going to hit numbers.

So, we take on a strategic role as well when it comes to that hotel package and pick up to ensure the success and to ensure that you reach your concessions. And then probably most notably, it's the service providers and really that value proposition of what experience can we help put together on a microsite dedicated for your group to help with attendance building. At the end of the day, everyone achieves more with a successful and robust attendance. It's great for the meeting planner and their association, it's great for our hotel and our partners but also that is how a DMO is funded. In a traditional setting, it is that hotel occupancy tax that funds budgets for DMOs like those at San Antonio. And so, the success of those heads in beds is the saying you'll hear is paramount for everyone. So, it's a real win-win when we ensure the success of those sleeping rooms being at peak occupancy.

Rachel Andrews:

Very cool. There's so much, I don't know how you sleep. One final question for you is, I know you're helping a lot of customers produce their own events and then you also have your own events, right? You're also your own planner and that's why I make a joke about you not sleeping. I don't understand when you find the time to do all these things. But can you just rattle off some of the awesome things that your team also produces in addition to helping with other events?

Michelle Moon:

And that's the word, team. It takes a village to do what we do as a DMO. I have very energetic, professional and just phenomenal teams who are very passionate about what we do. We, in this past year, produced 150 events that marketed the city of San Antonio and that looked different to various divisions because, not only are we focused on meetings and conventions, there's also the leisure side of promoting the destination for families, couples, individuals, business travellers. And so, some of the fun events that we actually produced ourselves this past year, we created an 11-city sales road show where we took a vintage Piaggio margarita truck on the road across the continental US and served margaritas and a great story in a lot of key destinations. From San Francisco to Seattle, New Your, Chicago, Atlanta, we took this Piaggio on the road and we just had a lot of fun with her serving great margaritas and telling the good story of San Antonio.

We crossed those international borders, we went into Frankfurt, Germany and London and we shared the same story of San Antonio to international visitors. And so, we created these immersive environments where we actually video mapped the San Antonio River Walk onto the walls inside a London venue and captured the sounds in those scent machines with the yellow roses and really immersed people and they felt like they were sitting on a barge in the middle of the San Antonio River going down and they saw the people walking by. The restaurants, the vibrancy, the flowers, they heard those birds and just the vibrancy of everything and that heartbeat of the city right there on the River Walk. Additionally, we create all of the river parades for the city of San Antonio and so our team does an exceptional job of imparting that spirit, not only through the lens of a Fiesta, but really the cultural impact, that diversity of who we are as a destination.

We celebrated a parade with Diwali, we had Day of the Dead, we have the largest outside of Mexico City Day of the Dead Celebration in the world and that really speaks volumes to who we are as a community and people. We also celebrated our Dream Week with the story of all of the important strides of the African-American experience in San Antonio. We celebrate Military City USA with a patriotic parade in the summer and then one of our newest experiences is the Pride Parade. So, we took the Pride River Parade to new heights this year, expanded the experience and really activated parts of the river in new ways to celebrate that community. So, we use these events as an opportunity to share who we are as a city but then also celebrate all of the multicultural entities that call San Antonio home. That's just a snapshot of what we did, we did a lot more but those are kind of my favorites for the year.

Rachel Andrews:

Yeah. That sounds like a ton of work but a lot of fun and a lot ... It's very clear that you love the city and what you do and your team, it shines through on everything that you are talking about. Well, thanks for sharing with us, I feel like there's so much more we could dive into. But for our listeners, one, I know I didn't put this on your sheet but just, with your career journey, is there something that you would tell students or people coming up in this industry if they wanted to go in the route of a destination management organization or promoting a city or working closely with a city?

Michelle Moon:

Yeah, absolutely. I think in order to do what we do and work in the hospitality industry, meetings, events, you have to have a servant's heart and you have to be willing to roll up your sleeves, stack chairs, sweep the floor, make a floral arrangement, that's where you start. That's where my career started and so it's always take on more, learning as much as you can and absorbing everything. This is such a phenomenal industry to be a part of, it's rewarding and it's somewhere where you can continually reinvent yourself but have the strong foundation of where you've been support you. The biggest advice I can say is have that servant's heart, jump in there, ask how you can help and just see where it takes you.

Rachel Andrews:

That's great, I love that feedback. I love the roll up your sleeves comment because some people are like, "That's beneath me." I'm like, "I still pack boxes so nothing is beneath anybody." Any other takeaways for our listeners or where can our listeners find you if they want to follow and learn more about what you do?

Michelle Moon:

Yeah, absolutely. We would love to see everyone in San Antonio. When you're here, reach out, give us a call, send me an email. You can catch us online @VisitSanAntonio but then also our website is meetings@visitsanantonio.com. We have a whole page dedicated to successful meetings and events and we look forward to servicing you and providing you with great, exceptional, talented team members who want to be a part of your extended family.

Rachel Andrews:

And if you really, really want to find her, you can also come to CVENT Connect in June. June 9th through the 12th, 2025 so you can do that. And then we're working on some fun things pre and post event so that you can, hopefully, come early or stay late and explore more of their city. Well, thank you so much for joining today, Michelle. I really appreciate your time and I hope some of our listeners learned some fun things today and maybe you're flying to Connect or Fiesta or one of the other amazing events that Michelle talked about. But thanks again for joining.

Michelle Moon:

Yeah, thank you for having me, Rachel. We'll see you in San Antonio in June.

Rachel Andrews:

Yeah, can't wait. All right, thanks for joining us today, listeners. See you next time.

Alyssa Peltier:

Thanks for hanging out with us on Great Events, a podcast by CVENT. If you've been enjoying our podcast, make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode.

Rachel Andrews:

And you can help fellow event professionals and marketers just like you discover great events by leaving us a rating on Apple, Spotify or your preferred podcast platform.

Felicia Asiedu:

Stay connected with us on social media for behind-the-scenes content, updates and some extra doses of inspiration.

Rachel Andrews:

Got a great story or an event to share? We want to hear from you. Find us on LinkedIn, send us a DM or drop us a note at greatevents@cvent.com.

Felicia Asiedu:

Big thanks to our amazing listeners, our guest speakers and the incredible team behind the scenes. Remember, every great event begins with great people.

Alyssa Peltier:

And that's a wrap. Keep creating, keep innovating and keep joining us as we redefine how to make events great.