{"id":36894,"date":"2022-12-07T01:09:24","date_gmt":"2022-12-07T08:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/businesses-and-organizations-share-the-importance-of-event-planning-in-durango\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:34:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T08:34:30","slug":"businesses-and-organizations-share-the-importance-of-event-planning-in-durango","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/businesses-and-organizations-share-the-importance-of-event-planning-in-durango\/","title":{"rendered":"Businesses and organizations share the importance of event planning in Durango"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Visit
Visit Durango Events and Marketing Coordinator James Flint hands out merchandise from local businesses during Tuesday's Gold Standard Event Planning Conference. (Tyler Brown\/Durango Herald)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Durango business owners and organization executives met at the La Plata County Fairgrounds on Tuesday for the Gold Standard Event Planner Conference.<\/p>\n

The premise of the conference was to share information on how businesses can plan events better. The event was hosted by the city of Durango, La Plata County, Ballantine Events and Durango Fire Protection District.<\/p>\n

Events play a large role in Durango\u2019s economy, providing a way to market local businesses and draw in visitors from other states.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the most direct ways to connect with the community, and it\u2019s a great way to show everyone what you do,\u201d said Visit Durango Events and Marketing Coordinator James Flint.<\/p>\n

Flint used the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic as an example. He said the event brings thousands of people to Durango each year and really kicks off the summer tourism season.<\/p>\n

During the Iron Horse Bicycle Classic this year, individual visitors spent an average of $831 during the three days they stayed for the event. Flint estimated that the event brought in about $4.5 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat shows when people come to town, they\u2019re infusing money back into our community. And that\u2019s why, you know, the events committee put an emphasis on events in the shoulder season. Already we have quite a lot of visitors and quite a lot of activity during the summer,\u201d Flint said.<\/p>\n

For some business owners, events can be about the culture of their business. Durango Harley-Davidson owner Trevor Bird, who plays a major role in planning the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally, said events allow visitors to experience Durango\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

Bird said he\u2019s known people who have moved to Durango after visiting for the motorcycle rally. The Labor Day weekend rally was estimated to have brought between 8,000 and 10,000 visitors to Durango and Ignacio. Rally visitors make it a point to shop at local stores and dine at local restaurants.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a nice economic shot in the arm before we head into the winter months, and being able to raise money for the local nonprofits as part of our event is a big part of our mission overall,\u201d Bird said.<\/p>\n

However, planning events are not without obstacles. For major events, some businesses must file for specific permits with the city like a temporary liquor permit.<\/p>\n

Much of the conference Tuesday discussed topics like crowd management, alcohol and food permits, and risk and liability insurance.<\/p>\n

Bird said the permit process can be strenuous for people new to event planning. For his events, he tries to file the proper paperwork 18 months in advance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t like waiting to the last minute and scrambling to get things started,\u201d he said. \u201cEspecially when dealing with the administrative side of the city or county.\u201c<\/p>\n

Flint agreed that the permit process can be daunting, but he said the conference should help people understand how to file for permitting.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you haven\u2019t done it once, it could seem harder than it is. So I think what\u2019s cool about this is it\u2019s going to expose people that maybe haven\u2019t gone down that path, what to expect and how to be prepared so that it won\u2019t be a stressful or painful process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

For other business owners, events supply them with the opportunity for work. Vanilla Moose, an ice cream catering business based in Aztec, frequently comes to Durango to set up shop at weddings.<\/p>\n

Owner Nicole Lane said attending the conference was important because she does business in two different states.<\/p>\n

For us, a big part was being able to talk about permitting for this area because we are in a separate state,\u201d Lane said.<\/p>\n

Vanilla Moose visits Durango about 20 times a year to cater weddings, parties or events like the wedding expo at River Bend Ranch. Lane said these events often involve filing for a general business license and a food service license.<\/p>\n

She said going through the process in another state can be stressful but being able to meet city and county official in charge of the permitting process make her feel more comfortable applying for licensing.<\/p>\n

Lane does not have plans to host events but said she likes weddings because there\u2019s a demand for her services.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally love the catering side because I don\u2019t have to sell individually,\u201d she said. \u201cThey\u2019ve already purchased the ice cream and I can just hand it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

tbrown@durangoherald.com<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

gatherings present positive outcomes for city\u2019s economy <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":36895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[431,950,568,28,475],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-36894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-business-general","tag-durango","tag-events","tag-headlines","tag-la-plata-county-colorado"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36894"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36894\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83491,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36894\/revisions\/83491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36894"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=36894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}