“ I still continue to push Siena Heights to students around here . It ’ s the closest thing to family you ’ ll have outside of your real family . . . It set the tone for me to grow up and be a man and gave me the confidence to go out into the world .”
Alumni Feature
He got his chance by becoming president of the Greater Syracuse ( N . Y .) Convention and Visitors Bureau in 2003 . After three years , he decided he wanted to pursue an opportunity closer to his hometown of Defiance , Ohio . However , when a similar position opened up in Cincinnati , Ohio , he did not get it , and asked why .
“ I asked them where my shortcomings were , and they felt I had not worked in a city that did not have a large enough convention space ,” Small said of the Cincinnati interview process . “ Which was fair enough , because I had not .”
Using that feedback , he accepted a senior vice president position with the Denver ( Colo .) Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau . He said that experience prepared him well when he took on his current role in 2008 . During his time in Grand Rapids , he has led an organizational rebranding campaign while raising the tourism and business profile of the region .
Originally named the Grand Rapids / Kent County Convention and Visitors Bureau , Small said the name did not fit the brand he wanted to build . In 2010 , the organization was renamed Experience Grand Rapids .
“ I still continue to push Siena Heights to students around here . It ’ s the closest thing to family you ’ ll have outside of your real family . . . It set the tone for me to grow up and be a man and gave me the confidence to go out into the world .”
“ That name is long , bureaucratic and there ’ s no call to action ,” Small said . “ For those three reasons we needed to rebrand . … ( Experience Grand Rapids ) tells folks exactly what we want them to do . And because of that name , we came up with Chief Experience Officer because it says exactly what we are and what I should be doing .”
And just what does he do ?
“ I think the most important role that a president of a destination marketing organization should take on is to get out in the community ,” Small said . “ You ’ ve got to be out convincing these folks that what we are doing is helping build a tax base , helping create jobs , helping create revenues for small businesses . That ’ s my role .”
He sits on several different community boards and organization locally and statewide . “ As president and CEO , I have got to serve in the community for our organization , and be a convener and a collaborator ,” Small said .
He said the Grand Rapids brand is strong , and getting stronger . When he started , Grand Rapids hotels had a 48 percent occupancy rate ( the national average is 62 percent ). In 2015 , Grand Rapids had a rate of 67.5 percent .
“ What that ’ s done for me is put more stress on me ,” he said . “ The biggest challenge for me is , while we ’ ve grown revenue , we ’ ve also grown enormous expectations . … I ’ ve got to continue to make certain that I ’ m communicating and working closely with our largest stakeholders .”
He said Grand Rapids is building on the “ brand pillars ” of arts / culture , local natural resources and craft beer . In fact , the USA Today recently named Grand Rapids “ Best Beer Scene ” because of the nearly 40 breweries in the region . It even calls itself “ Beer City USA .”
“ We feel that we do those three things as well as anybody in the country ,” he said . “ That ’ s what we push out there and deliver to folks . And it works .”
He said increasing the convention business is also a top priority . Vying with cities such as Indianapolis , Columbus , Cincinnati , Milwaukee and Louisville , competition is fierce .
“ We still have a long way to go with brand recognition ,” he said of the convention market . “ The biggest challenge for us right now is convincing people to come and take a look at us . We ’ re not yet taken serious enough as a city that ’ s viewed as a great convention city . What ’ s remarkable , is once you get them here they sit there and say , ‘ Oh my gosh , I never knew .’”
He said he considers Grand Rapids his “ final career destination .”
“ This city is phenomenal ,” he said . “ It ’ s because private industry leads the charge , not public . In most cities , everybody expects the public trough to take care of everything , build the community . That ’ s just not going to happen . Here , we are very fortunate because there are some deep pockets in this community , and more importantly they are willing to invest in their hometown .”
Small calls the first stop on his career destination — Siena Heights — a “ great experience .”
“ I still continue to push Siena Heights to students around here . It ’ s the closest thing to family you ’ ll have outside of your real family ,” he said . “ The friends I made at Siena Heights , we still get together . It ’ s more than a degree for me . It set the tone for me to grow up and be a man and gave me the confidence to go out into the world .” u
Reflections Summer ’ 16 | 17