All for the Love of Chicago: Rethinking the Destination Experience

In this episode of Associations NOW Presents: Industry Partner Edition, recorded live at ASAE’s Annual Meeting & Exposition in Indianapolis, host Sharon Pare of High Road Solutions welcomes Kristen Reynolds, president and CEO of Choose Chicago, for a conversation about the changing meetings and tourism landscape and what makes Chicago a compelling destination for associations. Reynolds shares her path to Chicago and discusses the city’s tourism momentum, from record-breaking convention attendance to major developments including the Obama Presidential Center, a revitalized Magnificent Mile, a new O’Hare terminal and new sports and entertainment projects. She also highlights Chicago’s accessibility, hospitality community and McCormick Place, as well as how Choose Chicago works with associations to create memorable experiences that extend beyond the convention center. The conversation explores the role of authentic storytelling in destination marketing, including the “Never Done, Never Outdone” campaign and the resident-driven “All for the Love of Chicago” initiative, which gives Chicagoans a platform to share their own stories about the city. Check out the video podcast here: https://youtu.be/Qo5DGBRhMuo This episode is sponsored by Choose Chicago.  Associations NOW Presents is produced by Association Briefings.   Transcript Sharon Pare: [00:00:00] Welcome to this episode of Associations NOW Presents: Industry Partners Series, an original podcast series from the American Society of Association Executives. I'm Sharon Pare, Partnerships Director at High Road Solutions, a HubSpot agency. We're recording live here from Indianapolis today for ASAE's Annual Meeting and Exposition, the Super Bowl of all association meetings. Today's episode is sponsored by Choose Chicago, and today we are excited to welcome Ms. Kristin Reynolds. She's the CEO and president of Choose Chicago, so I want to welcome you in.  Kristen Reynolds: Thank you so much. It's exciting to be here. This is my first ASAE Annual Convention, and it's awesome.  Sharon Pare: So now that it's your first time being here, how do you feel? What's the energy like? What are you hearing on the floor?  Kristen Reynolds: Well, we're very excited, and we're mostly excited because Chicago is actually hosting in 2028. Yep. So we're here soaking up all the information, what's working, what people [00:01:00] love, what we can bring more of, how we can wow them when they come to Chicago. But really, there's a lot of excitement. There's a lot of energy on the show floor, but it's a state of transition. Right. There's a lot of change in our industry and in the world, and, and that can be difficult sometimes, but it's exciting.  Sharon Pare: It's exciting, and talking about some of that change, is there something on the floor that maybe gives you a little bit of concern? Is there anything you're worried about?  Kristen Reynolds: Well, I think everything gives... When you're a CEO, everything gives you concern. I live in a constant state of fear, and I think that's how you stay sharp, actually. But yes, there's a lot of things, technology, how it's advancing. You don't know how that's gonna change. Right. Newer generations coming into the workforce, especially in association memberships with are they getting what we used to get from being part of associations? Are they feeling that community? And how do we continue to bring in younger generations? There- there's a lot of those conversations going on right now, but really [00:02:00] mostly positive. This is a resilient business. Nonprofits are resilient organizations. Yes, they are. And I feel good about it at Choose Chicago because I always say, "The best people to navigate times of disruption are disruptors."  Sharon Pare: That's  Kristen Reynolds: right. And that's what we're all about.  Sharon Pare: One thing I wanted to do before we really dig into everything is I know you've built your career in different states all around the United States. I know you started in Arizona maybe. That's right. That's right. And then at one point you were in-  Kristen Reynolds: New York ...  Sharon Pare: Long Island.  Kristen Reynolds: Yes.  Sharon Pare: And w- I don't know if you say Long Island or- Long Island ... how do you say it? Long  Kristen Reynolds: Island.  Sharon Pare: And then-  Kristen Reynolds: And now  Sharon Pare: Chicago. You chose Chicago. So tell us a little bit about Chi-Town ... Why did you choose Chicago?  Kristen Reynolds: Why did I choose Chicago? I grew up pretty much in Arizona. I went to Arizona State. Both my daughters are Sun Devils, and so my family lives there