With the 2024 Republican National Convention in Downtown Milwaukee less than 100 days away, organizers say area businesses can soon expect to see increased interest in booking space.
A New York Times article noted some area venues and restaurants had concerns about a dearth of bookings so far for the July convention, while venues in Chicago for the Democratic National Convention are filling up fast.
Anne Hathaway, chair of the 2024 RNC Committee on Arrangements, told reporters during a media tour of Milwaukee facilities Monday that’s likely because Democrats have known who the nominee will be throughout the planning process. For Republicans, it’s only been clear for about a month that former President Donald Trump would secure the nomination.
She noted hotels have now just been set for delegates, while allied groups have yet to have hotels locked in. And media outlets in town this week for a convention preview will also likely use the opportunity to plan their events.
“We’re very confident that the restaurant owners, the venues are going to see the return on investment of having the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee,” Hathaway said.
She said organizers are working to provide as many opportunities for delegates, allied groups and media to see as much of Milwaukee as possible.
“Our commitment when we made the decision to come to Milwaukee, was to take Milwaukee to the world and bring the world to Milwaukee, and I think we will achieve that goal,” Hathaway said.
Convention activities will be centered around three venues, with the main program happening at the Fiserv Forum and large spaces for media at the Panther Arena and the Baird Center.
As a first for a Republican National Convention, a prominent space is being reserved for local media. The space is planned to be located on media row in the Panther Arena. Media row in the past has featured live broadcasts from talk show hosts, podcasters and others, and is a focal point for visits from campaign surrogates and delegates.
The impetus for the Wisconsin media space was Wisconsin Watch’s Matt DeFour, who reached out to Wisconsin outlets and convention planners with the idea and spearheaded planning efforts. So far, dozens of Wisconsin outlets have expressed interest in participating in the local media space.
See more on the upcoming convention at the WisPolitics Battleground Wisconsin page.
