HOUSTON — Houston is just days away from finding out if it will beat out Milwaukee and Miami Beach to host the 2020 Democratic National Convention.
The event would draw tens of thousands of visitors to the Bayou City next July.
So how does the bid process work, and how is it different from trying to lure other big events? An interview on Thursday morning at his Greenway Plaza office marked a rare moment of downtime for David Mincberg.
“It’s been a little hectic,” said Mincberg, the Chair of Houston First, the city’s convention and tourism bureau. “I started this morning with emails on this topic. It’ll be the last thing that I do tonight.”
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That topic: landing the 2020 Democratic National Convention after a 9-month-long effort.
“We’re incredibly optimistic,” Mincberg said. “Fingers crossed, toes crossed, and everything else that we get the award.”
Houston First has led the bid effort since learning the DNC was interested in May 2018 and getting the green light from City Hall a short time later.
Step one: spend weeks putting together a roughly 700-page binder talking laying out logistics.
“(DNC members) want to know where are we going to put ‘em, how are we going to house ‘em, how are we going to feed ‘em, and then how are we going to transport them,” Mincberg said.
Next up: a trip to D.C. with the mayor over the summer, a presentation and about two hours of questions from DNC officials.
“It’s the entire gamut of everything that you can imagine from what I call the mundane of where we can get coffee and snacks to how are we going to protect some of the world’s most important citizens,” Mincberg said.
Mincberg said unlike the Super Bowl security planning, which mainly involves one stadium and a certain time frame, the DNC plan must map out how to protect top current -- and possibly future -- elected officials for several days.
The DNC bid, he said, also involves a few more site visits than usual. However, he said it is full of similarities to bids for the 2017 Super Bowl and 2020 World Petroleum Conference, including a decision that’s going down to the wire.
Like past events, there are outside concerns. In this case, heat, hurricanes, and political symbolism, according to some reports.
But in a 3-three-way race with no clear winner, Mincberg said his team is now focused on one thing: pushing Houston’s advantages to push it across the finish line.
“As recently as 30 minutes ago, (the DNC was) still asking questions,” said Mincberg around 11 a.m. Thursday. “We’re all making phone calls. We’re all contacting everybody we can find.”
Private fundraising is also part of the bid, and Mincberg said Houston First is following DNC guidelines.
He expects a decision by DNC Tom Perez on the host city the following week.
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