After more than two decades, the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA) has selected a new leader to fill the role of president and CEO for the first time since the nonprofit's original president and CEO stepped into the role when MECA was established in 2000. Adam Straight—the successor to Roger Dixon, who retired at the end of 2025—started his new role on January 5.
Straight is only the second person to lead MECA in this executive role. In a conversation with Meetings Today, Straight shares how he is jumping right in, plus how his past experiences in New Orleans are paving the way for an exciting future for Omaha's meetings and events sector.
Meetings Today: What are your plans for promoting and marketing Omaha as a destination for meetings, conventions and tradeshows?
Adam Straight: I think it's about telling our story, and letting people know what we can offer, not only as a center or a venue, but as a destination and a city and really a region. I mean, there's a lot of things around Omaha that I personally wasn't an expert on, that I've noticed.
Meetings Today: You have four venues under your belt; how do you plan to drive revenue in each individual space?
Adam Straight: It's just taking a look at the book of business initially and understanding the calendar, understanding what we have from an annual perspective and how we can fill in those gaps. Capture some of that leisure travel in the hotels but also fill in with the business side and the organization side and the corporate business and everything else that larger markets do very well. And I say that for the reason of this is a smaller market, but it punches way above its weight. And I've just discovered that in the short time I've been here, people like to be entertained in Omaha, and I think that's one of our priorities, is to give the people what they want. It is a community asset, and it should be treated and garnered that way. Coming out of the pandemic, that wasn't the case, and sometimes that's not the case now, and to create those compelling guest experiences that makes them want to come back and say, “Hey, that was a great experience. I know my couch is warm and my beer is cold, but you know what? It's worth coming out and it's worth hanging out with a large group of people and just having a good time.”
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Meetings Today: What are some recent or upcoming developments that planners should know about Omaha's meetings, dining and/or entertainment scene?
Adam Straight: The airport that's under renovation that'll be done in ‘28. There's a streetcar line going through the city that connects east to west at this point, which would be in the downtown corridor, and that's scheduled for ‘28. Our expansion, our $200 million expansion and renovation of our center [CHI Health Center], is scheduled for ‘28, so I guess the tagline would be, “We're going to be great in ‘28.” If you're in town, then you'll see cranes in the sky. And that's beneficial anytime you see large-scale growth. It just screams that we're developing, we're expanding, we're innovating and we're cultivating that kind of growth mindset within the community.
Meetings Today: You’re only the second person to fill this executive role; how does that make you feel? It is absolutely an accomplishment, but is it daunting?
Adam Straight: No one wants to be the second guy, right? Everyone wants to see the second guy fail and then be the third guy or girl. But no, to me, I'm pretty competitive with myself. So, using that, not necessarily as a challenge, I use it as an opportunity, because what Roger created here over his 25 years, literally from dirt to what we have today, it's amazing. And, you know, he deserves all the credit to get us to this point. And it's not a matter of who does it better. It's just a matter of continuing the momentum and building on that momentum and getting us into the future. So really, the sky's the limit. And that's the approach that I took. It's not, “Oh man, what am I going to do that that the person in front of me hasn't already done?” I approach from the opportunity standpoint, and how to build on legacy and create new opportunities.
Meetings Today: What is an unforgettable event experience from your career that you always carry with you?
Adam Straight: The best event that I was able to remember and share was the ‘22 Final Four, because I got to take my son on the court, and he was able to run around on the court the night before the games and hang on the rim and dunk a basketball and everything. And I just think back to all the sweat and tears that I put into the business, and never really got to share that with someone as close as him. So that's probably the most memorable. I got a lot of stories about shooting basketball with Michael Jordan and hanging out with Lebron James and others and going to the Super Bowls, flying on private jets and all of that. But nothing compares to the smile on my son's face and just the fact that he'll never forget that in his life.
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