Mystic Aquarium Honored at White House Ceremony with National Medal

Mystic Aquarium has earned some high profile attention this month, recognized at a White House ceremony hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama. The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) honored Mystic Aquarium as the only aquarium or zoo nationwide to receive its National Medal for Museum and Library Service for 2014. Impressively, Mystic Aquarium was one of four Connecticut finalists considered for the National Medal, along with the Hartford Public Library, Mattatuck Museum in Waterbury and Otis Library in Norwich. A total of only 30 institutions across the country were finalists, from which ten winners were ultimately chosen.

The National Medal is the nation’s highest honor conferred on museums and libraries for service to their communities. The Institute of Museum and Library Services, an independent agency of the U.S. government with the mission to create strong libraries and museums that connect people with information and ideas, is celebrating its 20th year of saluting institutions that make a difference for individuals, families and communities.

Mystic Aquarium gives back to the community with a direct financial impact of $72.2 million annually. In addition, the aquarium buys $5 million in services and supplies from Connecticut businesses annually. The institution’s conservation efforts protect the vitality of Long Island Sound, an important revenue-generating natural resource for Connecticut. It is the largest informal science education provider in Connecticut and Southeastern New England, reaching 100,000 students annually.

The work of Mystic Aquarium was brought to the attention of Susan H. Hildreth, Director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services, by some of Connecticut’s most prominent cultural, education and government leaders. Rodney A. Butler, Mystic Aquarium Trustee and Chairman of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, nominated the Aquarium for the National Medal, noting the pivotal role the Aquarium plays with its education and cultural exchange program for Native American high school students from the village of Point Lay, Alaska, and the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in southeastern Connecticut.

A major criterion for the award is the institution’s impact on members of its local community. Dr. Stephen M. Coan, President and CEO of Sea Research Foundation, the parent of Mystic Aquarium, who accepted the National Medal from Mrs. Obama, said: “We are honored to receive this prestigious award. We are committed to our educational and public engagement programs that make Mystic Aquarium not only an enjoyable family destination, but also a research facility dedicated to protecting our oceans and its aquatic creatures.”

U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Christopher Murphy supported the nomination along with Stonington Public Schools, which cited the Aquarium’s exemplary work with young people with intellectual disabilities. Michael Cotela, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Stamford extolled the Aquarium’s critical educational programming for underserved communities.

Founded in 1973, Mystic Aquarium has a collection of 4,000 animals, including such species as beluga whales and the endangered African Penguin.

PHOTO (Left to right): Justin Richard, Stephen M. Coan, Mrs. Obama.

Connecticut's #1 Athlete Search: LeBron James

Which athlete is Connecticut most interested in?  Not Shabazz Napier, not Stefanie Dolson.  At least not according to Google, which analyzed the frequency of searches in each of the 50 states during the past 12 months.  Number one in Connecticut:  LeBron James. 

In fact, LeBron James dominates the competition, showing up as the most searched athlete in 23 of the 50 states. Next in line is Peyton Manning who claims seven states, then Adrian Peterson and Tom Brady who tie for 3rd with four states.

Andrew Wiggins (two states) and Johnny Manziel (one state) are the only athletes to win at least one state despite technically not having made the transition to professional sports yet. Tiger Woods (one state - Vermont) is the only athlete on the map who doesn’t play one of the “Big Four” North American sports.

Across New England, Tom Brady is number one in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine and New Hampshire.

The website Best Tickets also indicated that Google research shows that the NFL is far and away the most popular league in the United States. In almost every state, the NBA was the second-most popular league, but MLB and the NHL did make a few appearances in the number two spot.

New York is the only state in which the NBA is the most popular league. In Florida, Oklahoma and Oregon, the NBA and NFL tie for first.

New Branding, New Tagline, New Logo? Hartford Has It, with Burst of Consistency

If pictures are worth a thousand words, then the recently revealed  revised branding and accompanying taglines and logos  for some of the Capitol region’s leading organizations not only speak volumes, but to so in a remarkably consistent way, right down to the color palette.

Within the past month, the MetroHartford Alliance, the Region’s economic development leader and the Hartford’s Chamber of Commerce, and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, unveiled new logos and updated branding designed to signal the region’s new-found energy.

They follow by less than a year the new logo and tagline for Riverfront Recapture – the first logo redesign in the organization’s 33-year history – which came along with a new website and related materials.  The Hartford Public Library also launched in new logo and slogan within the past few years.

The MetroHartford Alliance logo, conceptualized by Avon-based Mintz + Hoke, an Alliance Strategic Partner, is representative of Hartford’s city skyline and is richly colored to reflect the vibrancy, diverse talent and economic vitality of the Region.

The new visual identity for the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving- the state’s largest community foundation serving the 29-town region in Greater Hartford - seeks to build on the strength and credibility of the foundation, while conveying a more dynamic, future-oriented image for the organization, officials explained.

The new logo features a colorful and visually striking “Nexus,” and the new tagline “Together for good” has a multi-tiered meaning that emphasizes the collaborative way the Hartford Foundation works and the permanence and stability that the 89-year old organization provides to the community.

Visually, one can't help but notice the reds, blues, greens, golds and purple that populate many of the logos, in various combinations, accompanying swirls, circles, stars and lines.  Not exactly a family of logos, but certainly not dissimilar either.  Had the city set out to bring consistency and vibrancy together in an updated, cohesive look, they couldn't have done much better.

The Hartford Foundation retained the services of one of the state’s leading branding consultants, Adams & Knight to engage in a collaborative effort between Hartford Foundation board members, staff and representatives from the community to develop a new logo and tagline for the organization. This work occurred over several months and involved community research, external peer reviews, employee activities, and an exploration of a variety of logo and tagline options.

Riverfront Recapture’s new logo, adopted in May 2013, “more accurately conveys the "essence of our Riverfront – a special place, shaped by nature, where a magnificent greenway meets the Connecticut River,” officials said.  The logo, designed by The Pita Group of Rocky Hill, uses abstract shapes to suggest the river and the greenway coming together as vibrant meeting places for outdoor recreation, entertainment, and cultural activities.  The logo change was part of a larger branding and messaging project that also produced a new tagline – “Different by Nature” – to describe the Riverfront parks in Hartford and East Hartford. “It’s what sets our Riverfront apart from other urban waterfronts.  And we want to celebrate that difference.”

Riverfront Recapture, a nonprofit organization, has taken the lead in overseeing design and construction of the Riverfront parks since 1981 and now manages the parks for the City of Hartford and the Town of East Hartford, which own the land where the parks are located. Riverfront Recapture is responsible for all of the programming in the parks, including free festivals and concerts as well as sporting events such as rowing classes and a regatta, and dragon boat races.

The Hartford Public Library’s new brand identity – launched in 2011 - defines it as a traditionally-rooted yet progressive organization that offers tools and inspiration for growth and development.

The staircase imagery in the logo and the A Place Like No Other tagline represent a pathway to discovery, a window to knowledge and understanding of the world. The brand identity embodies the library’s unique mix of enriching resources that are helping both its customers and the Greater Hartford region define a prosperous social, cultural, financial and educational future.

The Greater Hartford Arts Council logo, launched in 2007, was designed by Pita Communications.  It followed the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center and Connecticut Science Center logo designs, which may have unknowingly begun the movement to the colorful, dynamic logos a decade ago, setting the foundation for the current wave of rebranding.

The City of Hartford, in its rebranding, had initially sought design concepts from a number of out-of-state firms, but ultimately decided not to proceed with any of the finalists in the selection process.  Instead, just over a year ago, the city began using the “Hartford Has It” slogan on tourism and promotional materials.  The overarching concept behind the slogan permits the array of new logos and branding initiatives to fit nicely together, visually and thematically, to promote the city, the region, its leading organizations and residents.

Women Aren’t Leading Nation's Top Art Museums; Connecticut Fares Better

When the Wadsworth Atheneum, America’s oldest public art museum, hired Susan Lubowsky Talbott as Executive Director in 2008, she was described by the museum’s board chair as “the absolute best person on the face of this planet to lead the way.”

Talbott, who will be marking six years at the helm of the state’s leading art museum, came to the state after three years as the director of Smithsonian Arts at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.  Previously, she was director and C.E.O. of the Des Moines Art Center from 1998 to 2005, where she formed partnerships with more than 100 community organizations and is credited with doubling museum attendance during her first two years.

Having a woman at the helm of a leading art museum is more the exception than the rule, according to a report by the Association of Art Museums Directors, a professional organization, The New York Times reported recently.   The organization indicated that women run jut a quarter of the biggest art museums in the United States and Canada, and earn a third less than their male counterparts.

The report also noted that “strides made by women at small and midsize museums” (often university or contemporary art institutions) where women hold nearly half of the directorships and earn on a par with men.  Just five of the 33 most prominent art museums are led by women.

Amy Meyers is Director of the Yale Center for British Art.  The Yale Center for British Art is a public art museum and research institute for the study of British art and culture. Presented to Yale University by Paul Mellon (Yale College, Class of 1929), the Center houses the largest collection of British art outside the United Kingdom.  Meyers has served since 2002. A Yale alumna (she earned a Ph.D. in American studies in 1985), Meyers was previously curator of American art at the Henry E. Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.

As director of the Yale Center for British Art, Meyers has worked to strengthen the museum's role as a leading research and educational institute in the history of arts, while continuing its active exhibitions program. She has reached out to students, faculty and scholars to involve them in the life of the center and created a Preservation Committee to oversee conservation of the current museum site.

As for the other leading museums in the state, it’s reigning men.

The New Britain Museum of American Art, founded in 1903, was the first institution in this country devoted to collecting and exhibiting American art. The Museum’s collection comprises more than five thousand works and is constantly expanding in an effort to reflect our ever-evolving culture.  Leading the effort is director is Douglas Hyland.  Hyland arrived in 1999 from the San Antonio Museum, where he was director.  In a 2009 article, Connecticut magazine reported that “in the 10 years since his arrival, Hyland has doubled its collection to 10,000 objects. He has also doubled its full-time staff, from 12 to 24, doubled the number of docents, to 100, and more than doubled museum membership, from 1,200 to 3,500.”

The director of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, the home of American Impressionism, is Jeff Anderson. Peter C. Sutton is Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bruce Museum in Greenwich.  Bruce Museum offers a changing array of exhibitions and educational programs that promote the understanding and appreciation of art and science.  The Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London interim Director is James Eckerle. LAAM is the only museum in Southeastern Connecticut to offer a comprehensive collection of European art as well as American fine and decorative art: the permanent collection is comprised of over 10,000 objects.

Although not an art museum, prominent in Connecticut’s museum roster is the Mark Twain House & Museum, where Cindy Lovell, not yet a year into her position as Executive Director, has been characterized by a focus on Twain and education in her career.  After working for years as a university professor, she became director of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home in Hannibal, Mo. Her next stop was Hartford.

The Times reported that women leading art museum with budgets of over $20 million across the country are Kimerly Rorschach, who was hired in 2012 to lead the Seattle Art Museum, Janet Carding at the Royal Ontario Museum, Karol Wight at the Corning Museum of Glass, Nathalie Bondil at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Kaywin Feldman at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Photos:  Susan Lubowsky Talbott (left) and Amy Meyers; Wadsworth Atheneum.

Passenger Traffic Gaining Altitude At Bradley - Gradually

Flying high?  Well, sort of.  Bradley International Airport reports an increase of 1 percent in passenger counts for 2013, including four consecutive months of growth at the end of the year.

The Connecticut Airport Authority assumed oversight of Bradley in July from the state Department of Transportation.  That effectuating Gov. Malloy’s proposal, approved by the state legislature two years ago, for a new quasi-state agency that would be more responsive to market opportunities and less grounded in the state’s bureaucratic procedures.

The numbers increased 1 percent in September, 4 percent in October, 3 percent in November, and a lofty 20 percent in December, the Hartford Business Journal reported.  The overall count of passengers getting on and off planes at Bradley was 5,421,875 in 2013, compared to 5,381,860 in 2012.

Looking slightly farther back, in 2009 the total was 5,334,322.  The Bradley International Airport Strategic Plan for 2010-2013, prepared in 2009, anticipated 6,545,000 enplanements and deplanements in 2013 – about 125,000 more that the actual totals.  At that time, an annual average growth rate of 6.2 percent was projected.  The same report called for additional growth in passengers of 3.4 percent annually for 2013 – 2018.  The projections were provided in the InterVISTAS report, Bradley International Air Traffic Forecasts – Final Report, dated April 25, 2010.

So much for predictions.

Bradley continued its end-of-year growth pattern at the start of 2014, with passenger counts increasing 9 percent in January.  There is, however, a long way to go to achieve the numbers projected years ago, which are necessary to come within range of what’s needed to bring plans for a new terminal off the drawing boards and into construction.

Earlier this year, it was reported that if passenger counts increase as currently projected, and other conditions are realized, construction of a new Terminal B would tentatively begin in just under a decade, in 2022. The entire complex, with the additional new terminal, would be up and running by about 2024 at the earliest. 

Before that threshold is reached – which remains uncertain – plans are to proceed with roadway realignment, scheduled to start in late 2015 or early 2016, with completion in late 2017 or early 2018.  That would include a rotary to be built where the Route 20 connector, off Interstate 91 Exit 40, to the garage’s exit road, and a new access road to a newly constructed transportation center.

The elevated road in front of Terminal A just past the Sheraton would remain, then all upper level traffic would be diverted to the lower level. The elevated roadway in front of Terminal B will be demolished.

That would make space for a new ground transportation center, which is expected to have a rental car facility, about 800 public parking spaces and a transit center with curbside services for limousines, taxis, and buses.  Just about anyone driving past the old, rusting and vacant terminal eagerly anticipates its demolition, as much as the array of new services that are planned to replace it.

Frequent Gamblers Prefer Atlantic City; Connecticut Casino Customers Satisfied As Competition Grows

A new study shows that the Atlantic City casinos continue to lead the way in attracting the gamblers who visit casinos most often, but Connecticut’s casinos are not far behind.  The review of players club members at casinos throughout the mid-Atlantic region reflects an industry becoming more competitive as frequent gamblers have more choices.  The study found that

• the region’s biggest gamblers are playing in Atlantic City, NJ
• frequent gamblers at Connecticut's casinos bring more than $300 to gamble
• gamblers frequenting upstate New York casinos have the lowest daily gaming budget in the Mid-Atlantic region
• table gamblers generally have an average gambling budget of almost twice that of slots player,
• 35-44 year olds bring the most gambling money to the casinos.

The casino markets included in the survey were New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland and Massachusetts.  The survey, called Casino SCORES, conducted 3,000 interviews with individuals who live in one of the states, had made at least three visits to a casino in the region during the past year, and were members of at least one players club.

The study asked gamblers their average daily gaming budget when going to casinos in the  region. Of the 43 casinos evaluated in the study, the highest daily gaming budgets were among individuals that go to the Atlantic City casinos most often, followed by Foxwoods in Connecticut and Lady Luck Casino at Nemacolin Resort in Pennsylvania.

The top five average daily gaming budgets were:  Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa (Atlantic City), $478; Trump Taj Mahal (Atlantic City), $450; Golden Nugget (Atlantic City),  $444; Trump Plaza, (Atlantic City), $405; and Foxwoods Resort Casino (Connecticut), and Lady Luck Casino at Nemacolin (Pennsylvania), both at $388.  Mohegan Sun was further down the list at $324, but well above the majority of casinos.  The bottom five, all in New York, ranged from $205 down to $120 average daily individual gaming budgets.

The Average Daily Gaming Budget among those who said they play table games most often was $493, compared with $250 among those who responded that they play slots most often.

The survey also found that the 35-to-44 year old age bracket brings the most money with them to the casino they visit most often, compared with other age groups. 21 to 34 -  $334 35 to 44 - $359 45 to 64 - $308 65 and over - $288

Among those surveyed who had joined at least one casino's players club, 41 percent did so at an Atlantic City casino, 31 percent were members of Mohegan Players Club, and 25 percent joined Foxwoods Rewards.  Membership overlapped, as some individuals surveyed were members of more than one players program.

Competition To Retain, Attract Frequent Gamblers Intensifying

With Massachusetts moving forward with its  casino licensing process, the region will continue to see heightened competition in the coming years.  A new casino opened in Maryland last year, and two more are planned in the next three years.   The increasing competition is already having an impact on the revenue stream to the state in accordance with longstanding exclusivity agreements.  At the end of the fiscal year last summer, the two Connecticut casinos sent a total of $296.4 million to the state, a drop of almost $48 million from fiscal 2012.

Massachusetts’ regulators recently awarded a slot parlor license to Plainridge Racecourse which is just 20 miles from Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island.  The Massachusetts gambling commission expects to award the license  for Western Massachusetts in May, with an MGM proposal for Springfield the only project left in the running after a Mohegan Sun proposal was defeated in a  local referendum in nearby Palmer. In addition, two proposals are competing for the license in the greater Boston region, Mohegan Sun in Revere and Wynn Resorts in Everett.

“As competition heats up, keeping and growing loyalty is going to be key,” said John Antonello, Managing Director of Travel and Leisure Entertainment for  Phoenix Marketing International (PMI).  “The more perks that are provided, the better.”  The trend is for loyalty programs to get “more sophisticated, so they can extend their reach,”   Antonello added.

Both Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun players club members indicated a “good level of satisfaction,” with the benefit program currently offered,” Antonello said, reflecting program elements including restaurant dining and shopping discounts, complementary hotel rooms on-site, reserved parking, VIP check-in and special gaming events.  Mohegan Sun, for example, offers three levels of benefits to cub members, Foxwoods offers five.

The data offered in the survey also includes cross-tabulations that indicate to which loyalty programs in other industries the club members at specific casinos belong  – which can provide individual casinos a road map suggesting which perks might be most attractive to their existing customers.  For example, 37 percent of Foxwoods club members are also members of Marriott Rewards, and one-third are members of airline programs, such as Delta, American or JetBlue.  Those aspects of the survey are proprietary, and available to clients of Phoenix.

Antonello said that players club programs are rapidly evolving, and are reminiscent of the hotel loyalty programs of just over a decade ago, when they aggressively began adding new perks to retain customers amidst growing competition.  “Casinos are now looking for partnerships with other entertainment and travel companies as they go after a broader audience. The trend is to go beyond one industry,” he said.  Foxwoods Rewards partners program, for example, now includes discounts at businesses ranging from FTD Florist to Mystic Acquarium and the Connecticut Science Center.

Completed interviews were conducted in December 2013  in proportion to each state’s population and all counties within each state were represented.  Phoenix expects to repeat the survey later in the year.  Additional information is available at casinoscores@phoenixmi.com

Volleyball to Overrun CT Convention Center Twice in 2015; New Event Coming to Hartford

2015 is shaping up as a banner year for the Connecticut Convention Center.  For the second time in the span of a few weeks, the convention center  has announced a new event will be coming to town.  The New England Region Volleyball Association (NERVA) will bring its first-ever Northeast Junior Championships to Hartford over Memorial Day weekend in 2015.

The tournament, featuring junior teams from throughout the Northeast, is expected to bring over 2,000 players, 400 coaches, 75 officials and volunteer tournament staff, and 3,500 family members and fans downtown, from Friday, May 22 through Monday, May 25, 2015.

Better yet, NERVA has committed to holding the event at the venue for the next three years, through at least 2017, with over 3,000 overnight rooms and 1,100 rooms anticipated for the new annual event.

Tournament organizers are planning to fill the facility with 200 teams playing on 25 courts set up inside the Convention Center’s exhibit halls. They have experience in turning the space into an enormous multi-court facility, having held its annual Mizuno New England Winterfest at the facility in January over the long Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend, for each of the past five years.

Also on the docket at the Connecticut Convention Center in 2015 is the Museum Store Association national conference, to be held in Hartford for the first time next April.  It is the organization’s first conference in the Northeast in a decade.  They met in 2003 in Philadelphia, and will meet next month in Houston.

Other multi-year contracts continue.  ConnectiCon, which has been hosted at the Connecticut Convention Center since 2005, will return this year and next.  Mary Kay will return to the facility in 2015 and 2016.  And the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA), which has gathered at the Convention Center annually since 2007, will do so again this year and in 2015. The STITCHES-East regional knitting enthusiasts will be back every year through 2017.

“We have always valued our partnership with the Connecticut Convention Center and the Connecticut Convention and Sports Bureau,” states David Peixoto, NERVA Commissioner. “Our partnership has grown to develop Winterfest as the Premier Volleyball tournament in the Northeast. We look forward to making the Northeast Junior Championship just as successful.”

The new four-day event does not require teams to qualify to participate. While it will serve as a season-ending tournament for some, the event will allow for additional preparation to teams continuing on to nationals. Participants are 12-18 years old, as NERVA follows USA Volleyball age guidelines.

Winterfest, which is the largest volleyball tournament held in New England, is designed to showcase female high school volleyball players to college coaches and recruiters from throughout the Northeast.  The event brings in around 6,000 visitors to the area every year.

The New England Region is one of many Regions in the United States that aid in the governing of the sport of volleyball. Regional Volleyball Associations (RVAs) are member organizations of USA Volleyball (USAV). The RVAs serve as the grassroots function for the USAV and individually and collectively serve as a catalyst for USAV functions.

The Connecticut Convention Center is the state’s premier meeting venue and the largest full-service convention facility between New York and Boston. Overlooking the Connecticut River, it features 140,000 square feet of exhibition space, a 40,000-square-foot ballroom and 25,000 square feet of meeting space, as well as ample sheltered parking.

CT Historical Society Kicks off Community History Tour 2014

Connecticut residents with an opinion on how the state – and its local communities - can best celebrate Connecticut’s history are being given an opportunity to share their views by the Connecticut Historical Society (CHS), which has launched Community History Tour 2014 in an effort to build deeper relationships with local communities throughout the state.

CHS is conducting nine regional town hall-style discussions, hosted by local organizations, with the public and area organizations with an interest in history encouraged to participate. With an active heritage organization in nearly every one of the state's 169 towns, the CHS has aspirations to build stronger bridges with local Connecticut residents throughout the state.

The purpose of the listening tour is to engage local organizations and residents in a broad statewide conversation exploring how to celebrate the state’s history in ways that are relevant to today’s audiences.

The sessions kicked-off on February 11 at the Stanley-Whitman House in Farmington, and the next session will be on Monday, March 3 in Hartford at CHS.  It will be followed by open meetings in New Haven, Willimantic, Fairfield, Greenwich, Waterbury, Old Lyme and Litchfield over the next two months.

"Connecticut is a state rich in history," says Jody Blankenship, director at CHS, "and we know people like to experience history in different ways. We want to better understand how the state's communities feel about that. Do they want to see more or less of it? How do they want to see that happen, and how can we help? We're ready for a no-holds-barred conversation."

The Connecticut Historical Society is a private, not-for-profit museum, library, research and educational center. The organization’s mission is to inspire and foster a life-long interest in history through exhibitions, programs, and Connecticut-related collections.  The CHS website notes that “improving knowledge of the past enhances understanding of the present and the ability to meet the challenges of the future.”

Founded in 1825, the Connecticut Historical Society houses an extensive and comprehensive Connecticut-related collection of manuscripts, printed material, artifacts and images that document social, cultural, and family history.  It is located in Hartford.

"Our goal is to better understand what makes each community special and how the history of that town or area is integrated into the Connecticut fabric. The best way to do that is ask those who are passionate to tell us," Blankenship added.

Community History Tour 2014 Dates and Locations: (All meetings occur at 4:30pm, unless otherwise indicated.)

February 11: Stanley-Whitman House, Farmington March 3: Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford March 10: New Haven Museum, New Haven March 15: Windham Textile Museum, Willimantic, 11:00am March 31: Fairfield Museum, Fairfield April 7: Greenwich Historical Society, Greenwich April 8: Mattatuck Museum, Waterbury April 15: Florence Griswold Museum, Old Lyme April 21: Litchfield Historical Society, Litchfield

Museum Retailers Headed to Hartford for National Conference

What do Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Chicago and Hartford have in common?  Each has been selected to serve as host for the Museum Store Association’s annual Retail Conference & Expo.  Hartford will have the honors in 2015, having just been selected by the association’s site selection committee for their 60th Annual event.

The four-day conference, to be held at the Connecticut Convention Center April 17-20, 2015,  is expected to bring in 900 participants downtown, representing over 500 museums, other cultural institutions, and companies with products and services of interest to the museum store industry. Officials anticipate 1,130 room nights and 360 peak nights will be booked by attendees next spring.

It is the only conference and expo specifically created for retailers at museums, historic sites, botanic gardens, aquariums, zoos, libraries and more. The annual show provides a valuable opportunity for members of the association to network, learn and source vendors and products to complement their institutional collections.

Among the 11 institutions and nine vendors that are Hartford-area members of the association are the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Connecticut Historical Society Museum & Library, Harriet Beecher Stowe House, New Britain Museum of American Art and Friends of Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum.

The Museum Store Association (MSA) is bringing its annual conference to the Northeast for the first time in more than a decade.  They met in Philadelphia in 2003.  Given the number of members and vendor affiliates on the East Coast - and especially in the northeast - the organization’s  leadership determined it was time to head east. Within an 11-state region in the Northeast, there are more than 200 institutions and 100 industry vendors that are members of MSA.

Stacey Stachow, President of the Board of Directors of MSA and Manager of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum Shop, was especially pleased with the choice. “Connecticut has so much to offer with its rich cultural history, so many museums and things to do that relate to our members.”

It is expected that a Hartford-based committee will help plan activities that will involve the local members of MSA. Those plans will likely include educational sessions, networking events, tours to local museums, historical sites and other institutions of interest, and the organiation’s membership meeting and silent auction.

In selecting Hartford, MSA officials cited the convenience of travel, affordability, cultural institutions in and close to the city, and Hartford’s “pedestrian-friendly” layout as factors in the selection process.  Having a 4-star hotel interconnected with a modern Convention Center was also a plus.

MSA is a nonprofit, international association organized to advance the success of museum retail professionals. By encouraging high standards of professionalism, MSA helps cultural commerce professionals better serve their organizations. MSA also is focused on helping increase awareness about museum stores as unique shopping destinations for tourists and cultural travelers. The event features hundreds of booths showcasing the unique items for museum store and MSA-represented institutional buyers.

Jama Rice, MBA, CAE, Executive Director/CEO at MSA, reflected about the site-selection for the 2015 program: “I’d attended a conference in Hartford years back, and found it to be both charming and intimate.” Ms. Rice, who joined MSA in 2013, continued, “The area offers so many advantages from a rich museum culture to close proximity to both New York and Boston, a convenience for that concentration of institutional members and vendor affiliates across the Northeast. It’s also easily accessible to those traveling from across the country or coming in from overseas.” 

“We are excited to host the Museum Store Association for their 60th Annual Retail Conference & Expo next April,” stated Michael Costelli, General Manager for the Connecticut Convention Center. “The program will utilize much of the meeting and exhibit space at the Center and we are confident attendees will appreciate the countless cultural attractions located right here in Hartford.”

Although this year’s conference in Houston is still months away, the MSA has already begun to promote next year’s event, highlighting Hartford on the organization’s website: “As the fourth-largest city in Connecticut, Hartford is not only home to the state’s capital, but it is the birthplace of the Boys & Girls Club, the first FM station to begin broadcasting in the world and President Theodore Roosevelt’s first automobile ride. An 18-square-mile city, Hartford is home to 125,000 residents, world-class dining, international cultural attractions and award-winning entertainment venues.”

Number of Brewery Permits Nearly Doubles in CT in Past Five Years

The number of brewery permits in Connecticut has nearly doubled during the past five years, from 19 in 2008 to 36 in 2013, reflecting the rapid growth in the state – and nationwide – in the craft brewing industry.

Connecticut ranked #29 in the nation, between Georgia and New Jersey, in the state-by-state rankings, compiled by Bloomberg.com using data from the Beer Institute and the Alcohol and Tobacco tax and Trade Bureau.  There were 3,699 permitted breweries in the United States last year, about 34 percent more than the previous year.

California led the nation with 508 brewery permits, followed by Washington State with 251, Colorado with 217, Oregon with 208 and Michigan with 188.  Rounding out the top ten were Pennsylvania (176), New York (172), Wisconsin (147), Texas (117), North Carolina (114) and Illinois and Ohio, each with 112 permitted breweries.  Every state in the nation saw an increase from 2012 to 2013.

According to the data, Connecticut had 19 permitted breweries in 2008 and 22 in 2012.  That number jumped to 36 last year.  In comparison to other states, Connecticut’s ranking dropped from 19th in 2012 to 29th in 2013, even as the number of permitted breweries increased by more than 50 percent.

 With 19 breweries and 16 in planning, according to the Brewers Association, Connecticut's economy and craft brewing industry could see tens of thousands of dollars of reinvestment.  In the comparative survey, permitted breweries refer to manufacturers that have completed the appropriate paperwork and obtained the necessary permits to operate, though they may not be fully operational yet, according to Bloomberg.com .

Among our neighboring states, between 2008 and 2013, Massachusetts increased from 41 to 70 brewery permits, New York from 72 to 173, and Rhode Island, which ranked #48, from 5 to 10.   North Dakota, which had one permitted brewery in 2008, now has nine, moving from #50 to #49 in the nation.

The U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (www.atf.gov) requires retailers and manufacturers of alcohol (i.e. brew pubs) to register. The Bureau also regulates the operation of distilleries, wineries, and breweries as well as, importers and wholesalers in the industry. In addition, the Liquor Control Division of the  Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection requires a liquor permit.

The state’s tourism website, “Still Revolutionary,” suggests that “Whether you’re looking for a relaxing Sunday afternoon with friends or a longer vacation with a significant other, take a few days to explore the Connecticut Beer Trail.”

The site states unequivocally that “Connecticut is home to some of the best breweries in the country!  The Connecticut Beer Trail spotlights the high quality and creative diversity of fresh, hand-crafted, locally-brewed beer, linking together some of the best breweries in the nation.”

The Connecticut Beer Trail website, www.ctbeertrail.net, lists:

• Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
• Olde Burnside Brewing Company
• New England Brewing Company
• Cottrell Brewing Company
• Cavalry Brewing Company
• City Steam Brewery Cafe
• Back East Brewing Company
• Half Full Brewery
• Relic Brewing
• Two Roads Brewing Company
• Beer'd Brewing Co.
• Thimble Island Brewing Co.
• Southport Brewing Company Restaurant & Brewery
• Shebeen Brewing
• Top Shelf Brewing
• Broadbrook Brewing
• Firefly Hollow Brewing

Other local brands included are:

• Cambridge House Brewing Company
• Stony Creek Brewery
• Weed Brewing Company

Additionally, a number of breweries are in an early phase of development, according to the website:

• Overshores Brewing Co.
• Lost Elm Artisinal Ales
• Black Pond Brewing
• Stubborn Beauty Brewing

CTBeerTrail.net was launched in 2010 by Byron Turner, according to the website ctbeerwine.com, to create a local craft beer social media community that was well-timed with Connecticut’s legislative push for a “Connecticut Brewery Trail.”  Gov. Malloy signed Senate Bill No. 464 into law on July 13, 2011, establishing a Connecticut Beer Trail by allowing the Department of Transportation to permit directional and other official signs or notices about facilities where Connecticut beer is made or sold, including signs or notices containing the words “Connecticut Brewery Trail”.  The website reports that as of December 2013, such signs have yet to be posted.     (Chart: Washington Post)