Why can't these organizations be made to pay up front?

Does that mean I can short Minneapolis on my next property taxes and get away with it? :-)

Nice misleading headline. The RV convention owes 4 times as much as the Jenna Jameson convention, but it's the "Sexpo" debt that MPLS is giving up on? No, it's the RV Debt, which is almost half of the entire bill. The "Sexpo" debt is the "other deadbeat." I know you want to write headlines that grab attention, but can't you do it without being dishonest or misleading? So while I agree with knuthansen that "these organizations" should be made to pay up front, I would go further and say ALL users of the convention center, or any publicly-owned venue should be made to pay up front.

Some events simply can't afford to pay up-front for convention space - the price of admission can only be collected when the event takes place, and by then - you'll have needed to sign the agreement for the space. A better solution is that the proceeds collected during the event go into an escrow account that is released to the event holder once all facility debts have been paid (out of that fun or in general). Organizer leaves town without paying? Keep the money, refund any amount left over after any substantial penalties.

I've worked in the industry for about 25 years. I know the MCC well, and also the stagehands' union.

I don't know what specific deals were made on these events, but usually most if not all the costs are paid up front. Certainly the Stagehands require 100% up front.

As these events progress, however, there are often, maybe even usually, unanticipated cost overages. Things take longer to get done than event organizers plan, or want, them to take. Actually, most event producers run things on the cheap and estimate accordingly. I try not to work for such operations.

After a while in the business, I know how long stuff takes to get done. Often the organizers want to pretend it won't take that long, so it won't cost that much. Going into the event, the estimates are unrealistic and it ends up costing far more.

Perhaps the MCC management, the Stagehands, and other local vendors took 100% up front for the estimated costs, but the actual shows took that much more time, labor, and equipment (which = money) to actually do the show. Then the production company, based out of town, took off and stuck the locals with the bill.

This is pretty standard behavior in rock'n'roll and the movie business. It's not unheard of at the lower end of the trade show and expo business. It's pretty rare in the high-end corporate event business, which is where I prefer to work. At the higher end, people hire people like me to manage their event comprehensively, and pre-plan things to avoid on-site overages and upcharges. Also, people willing to spend the money to hire me plan to stay in business for a while, and maybe even to return to Minneapolis, so they won't burn the locals.

Given the number and value of all the events that happen in this market, the MCC has done a very good job getting paid and looking out for the financial interests of the taxpayers who own the MCC.

Maybe the city could file a lawsuit and repossess some of their property... batteries not included.

John Doe great suggestion. I was also going to say something similar involving some sort of escrow payments by the 'show'. Darn, how did I miss that SexPo show...shame on me.

The convention business is highly competitive. If a city makes the terms too onerous for using its convention center the events go elsewhere. Most convention centers lose money, but cities claim that all the spending by convention attendees makes up for the losses on the convention center itself. The State Fairgrounds lost a recurring national event some years ago because another state offered the use of their fairgrounds for free and our fairgrounds can't do that. Attendees really liked our fairgrounds, but money won out.

I was actually working a small corporate event at the Mpls. Convention Center, in the ballroom, while the Sexpo was going on. The other event in the building was a Quilting expo. When we had breaks, my crew and I stood in the common areas and tried to guess which passerby was attending which event. It was not always as easy as you might think. Lots of punk chicks are into quilting, which isn't too surprising given the do-it-yourself, self-reliant nature of punk culture. And there were plenty of clean-cut young couples and sweet little old ladies heading for the Sexpo. It made for diverting people-watching.

Can you imagine the outcry from certain quarters if city employees, working for a city-owned facility, demanded full up-front payment, with contingencies, from private companies producing expos? Many of the local Twin Cities people who worked and didn't get paid are also middle-class wage earners who have uncommon skills, and are members of unions. I can picture the scowling about Union Thugs and Big Government Shakedowns.