About Meet Minneapolis

Mission

The mission of Meet Minneapolis™, Official Convention + Visitors Association, is to sell, market and internationally promote Minneapolis as a premier, year-round destination for convention, trade show, corporate meeting and leisure travel. We are committed to service and excellence for all of our clients. We do this for the economic benefit and vitality of the members, businesses and communities we serve.

Structure

Meet Minneapolis is a 501c6 organization that is contracted by the City of Minneapolis to sell the city and its surrounding areas as a convention site and visitor destination.

Board of Directors

We are served by a 40-member Board of Directors:

32 from the private sector, elected by members
6 City Council members
Mayor of Minneapolis
City Contract Administrator
6 Ex-officio and 8 Directors Emeritus

Officers

Chair: Jay Novak, MSP Communications
Vice Chair: Lynn Casey, Padilla Spear Beardsley
Treasurer: Peter Mihajlov, Parasole Restaurant Holdings
Secretary: Rob Moor, Minnesota Timberwolves
Past Chair: Dave Mona, Weber Shandwick

Executive Staff

Melvin Tennant, CEO and President
Madonna Carr, Vice President of Destination Services
Bill Deef, Vice President of Global Partnerships
Marido Huber, Director of Finance

Read bios and get photos of Meet Minneapolis spokespeople.

History

The organization was formed as the Greater Minneapolis Convention & Visitors Association in 1987 as an offshoot of the Minneapolis Convention & Tourism Commission. In August 2006, the organization officially changed its name to Meet Minneapolis™, Official Convention & Visitors Association, to better convey what the organization does. See the press release.

Funding

The efforts of Meet Minneapolis are the result of a public/private partnership. Of our $9 million annual budget, approximately 77% is funding from the City of Minneapolis. The rest comes from the downtown hotel tax, membership dues, sponsorship revenue, service fees and other misc. sources.

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