A Labor Day dispatch | The Convention City Dispatch
Here in Seattle, we're all running on skeleton crews.
We're in one of the most expensive places to visit in the U.S., and it's equally expensive to live here. How many restaurants operate just one shift because it's impossible to staff up for more? How many tip screens push the limits of credulity because how else can front-line staff afford to show up to work? How many places have quietly replaced servers with QR codes?
How many hotels still operate a staffed concierge desk? How often can you find one at a Visit Seattle booth?
How many organizations have ceded their expertise to AI algorithms designed to deliver hyper-targeted pay-for-play advertising — putting quality-driven local businesses at a distinct disadvantage?
And yet our community keeps showing up, year after year, putting on a brave face and hoping for the best.
But a skeleton doesn't gain weight after one giant feast.
We need steady nourishment — day after day, week after week, month after month. We need our crews. Mentors and trainees, colleagues and friends, old-timers and newcomers. A deep bench of people able to actually support themselves working in Seattle's service industry.
This Labor Day, that's what we're missing.
This is my third year attending NWES, and what I see at the show is a careful balance between continuity and change — a genuine willingness to experiment with format and pace. Executive Director Lisa Schulteis brings a neuropsychology lens to event design: building in intentional space for reflection, choosing speakers who push attendees to connect with one another in meaningful ways. These are deliberate choices. They work. And this year I learned that Lisa and Stuart Butler pull off the entire show with a skeleton crew of six.
Does that sound familiar?
Get on the Bus
We need an event calendar so packed, so rich, and so compelling that any day of the week — not just gamedays or concerts or mega-events — there's a reason to visit. And to make that possible, we need a coordinated network of event spaces that stretches beyond Convention City into every corner of Seattle, the Puget Sound region, and the Pacific Northwest.
Which brings me to a modest suggestion for NWES 2027: take it on the road.
Butler Seattle has a fleet of vans and coaches. Why not use them?
Instead of a single expo hall, imagine a choose-your-own-adventure — a collection of circuits around the city and region, visiting actual venues. A loop through Seattle's luxury hotels. A cross-lake run from Mercer Island to Bellevue. A road trip out to Remlinger Farms. Your speakers present from the front of the bus. Same content, better view, intimate groups. Each stop would feature a small, curated collection of suppliers.
For those who'd prefer to stay anchored downtown, that's where you bring in NSA Northwest's own hybrid meetings expert, John Chen, to stream live feeds from every venue — and from the buses themselves.
As event professionals, we should experience the Pacific Northwest the way we want our visitors to experience it: starting at Convention City and fanning out into the whole region, the way a first-time visitor should.
You can't have hospitality without hosts. Our hosts need a living wage. A living wage needs businesses healthy enough to pay it. Healthy businesses need a steady flow of visitors. And visitors need steady reasons to show up. With places to go after they arrive.
All of it connects. All of it depends on the crew.
I'm on the bus. Are you?
Ivan Schneider (a skeleton crew of one) is the founding editor of The Convention City Dispatch.