"Many of us belong to local chapters of national associations,whether it be the Public Relations Society of America or the Association of Game & Puzzle Collectors," Webb says. "If we each ask these groups to bring a meeting or convention to Denver, it could generate a tremendous economic windfall for our community."

To encourage response to this request, for the next three months,the city will hold monthly drawings for those who have submitted a qualified referral to their organization. Monthly winners will receive a gift basket that could include local restaurant gift certificates, overnight stays at a downtown hotel, Colorado's Ocean Journey passes, Denver Zoo family pass and/or tickets to Colorado Avalanche and Denver Nuggets games. At the end of the three months, everyone's name will be entered into a drawing for two tickets to Cancun or Mazatlan, Mexico on Frontier Airlines.

"We often overlook the economic impact of the convention industry,so this is a wonderful way for the people of Denver to see how one meeting of 20 to 200 people can help to stimulate the economy," says Eugene Dilbeck, president of the Denver Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau.

"Our job is to solicit the meeting and convention business, but itoften takes local support to convince a group to come to our city," Dilbeck continues. "Without the support of Mayor Wellington Webb, Denver would not have landed the U.S. Conference of Mayors - and without Gerry Whitman, we would not be hosting the Chief of Police convention in 2009 - and without Roderick Juniel, we would not be hosting the International Association of Fire Chiefs in 2005. These three conventions alone will generate approximately $53.7 million in spending."

In 2001, more than 121,000 people attended meetings at the Colorado Convention Center, generating more than $180.8 million in spending. When the Colorado Convention Center expansion is complete, it will generate anadditional $110 million in spending and an additional $10 million in annualtaxes. It will also support an additional 3,840 jobs. Currently, the center generates $14 million in taxes and supports 5,140 jobs.

"These figures don't represent the spending, taxes and jobs that aresupported by smaller, individual-hotel pieces of business," says Dilbeck. "We want to continue impacting the Denver economy in both large and small ways."

This joint promotion is seeking qualified leads to meetings of 25people or more that generally hold their meetings in hotels. It will runthrough April 30.To submit a convention or meeting lead, go to www.denver.org click on the Submit a Meeting icon. To receive a form in the mail, call (303) 892-1112.