A Midwestern motorcycle rally expecting some 5,000 Harley-riding revelers is certainly a cause for concern, especially if you’re one of the meeting planners charged with organizing and finding housing for the internal-combustion confab.
The 19th annual Wisconsin State Harley Owners Group is set to roar into The Dells June 12 for a three-day run, headquartered at Ho-Chunk Casino, Hotel and Convention Center in Baraboo (www.ho-chunk.com), about five miles from Wisconsin Dells proper. That means Brian Decorah, group sales manager at Ho-Chunk, is leader of the pack when it comes to planning.
“This is my baby,” Decorah says. “We expect 2,000 hotel rooms [to be booked for the event]. We’ve got condos, waterparks…we even went as far as to reserve campsites.”
The 315-room Ho-Chunk, of course, will be a prime beneficiary of the estimated $800,000 of business generated by the rally, as it will host the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as meetings, bike games and seminars covering topics such as motorcycle maintenance and safety, new bikes from Harley-Davidson, and a showcase of Wisconsin State Patrol motorcycles.
“The event really starts with a [Harley-Davidson] dealer party,” says Decorah, who sits on the Meetings and Conventions Committee for the Wisconsin Dells Visitor & Convention Bureau (VCB). “About 2,000 people come to town early and kick off the weekend. The actual H.O.G. Rally is on Friday and Saturday, and wraps up on Sunday morning.”
Opening night will feature Chicago blues legend Buddy Guy electrifying the crowd at Ho-Chunk, but the true highlight of the rally (www.wistatehogrally.com) is a biker parade that gets its motors running in Wisconsin Dells for a throaty crawl to Ho-Chunk.
“People line the streets to see all of these bikes go by, so it’s pretty impressive,” Decorah says.
Of course, one could assume that not all the citizenry would initially be enamored by thousands of growling Harleys descending on the family-friendly destination, so Decorah, the city of Wisconsin Dells and the Wisconsin Dells VCB performed their own brand of due diligence before bidding on the business.
“We went to the past two rallies and checked everything out, and found out how well-behaved the bikers were,” Decorah says. “We took a video of the parade, with everyone ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing.’
“We went in front of the Wisconsin Dells Board and got their blessing for this,” he continues. “It did win them over and we got the approval to proceed.”
In the end, Decorah and other local tourism partners know the massive feat of coordination between the hospitality industry, police departments, emergency medical technicians, local hospitals, and local mayors and other civic leaders will pay off at the till.
