The Alaska Federation of Natives took its convention to Fairbanks last year and the Interior's largest city piled on the hospitality.
Fairbanks unfurled its warm and fuzzy atmosphere -- free shuttles running conventioneers around town, volunteer "greeters" waving and smiling, helpers smoothing out travel wrinkles.
Anchorage, unhappy at losing one of its most lucrative yearly events, took notes.
AFN returns to town today, with Anchorage adopting some of Fairbanks' strategies and creating some of its own.
Opening reception at the mayor's house? Check.
Free train rides to and from the airport? Done.
One local company is even offering free limo service to stores like Costco and Sam's Club. And starting today, free city bus rides with convention ID.
The return to Anchorage is a one-shot deal: AFN is committed to holding the 2007 convention in Fairbanks, and it's too soon to say if the warm-welcome efforts will entice them back to town for 2008 and the future. Mayor Mark Begich, who led a welcoming ceremony at the airport Wednesday, is hopeful.
"We'll make a pitch for '08 and beyond," Begich said. "And in 2008, we will have the new convention center. They could be the first and largest convention to be held in that facility. That's a great selling pitch."
Overseeing the city's wooing is Roy Agloinga, a man well-suited for the task. He didn't leave his tiny village of White Mountain until age 18. He understands why rural Alaskans sometimes feel lost and unwelcome here.
"In our smaller regions, people are very unified, despite the difficulties," said Agloinga, now 40. "Here, it was striking and scary."
Agloinga has lived in Fairbanks, so he gets why that town seems a kinder option to people from the state's smallest villages. Fairbanks very much remains a small town, he said. Natives there have a tighter, closer-knit community.
"Anchorage is a business community," said Agloinga, whose official job is city rural affairs coordinator. "It's a business hub for the state. So you get a little different flavor with that."
Anchorage can't just rely on its slew of restaurants, movie theaters, shopping malls and big-box stores to charm visitors, Agloinga said. It has to lay out an emotional welcome mat too.
When the AFN executive board voted to move the 2005 convention to Fairbanks, the official reason was that the shorter distance from Interior villages might encourage more Natives to attend. That didn't happen.
But the subtext was delegates and board members saying they didn't feel comfortable in Anchorage -- like the city wanted AFN money but not the Natives.
To prove otherwise, the city put out a call for 100 volunteers to serve as "greeters" during this year's event -- roving concierges who could help people find shops, hail cabs or select restaurants. More than 200 signed up, Begich said.
At the airport Wednesday, a voice over the speakers welcomed early convention arrivals in various Native languages. Anchorage's King Island Dancers -- in beads, fur and feathers -- danced in the bright mezzanine.
The drumming and singing drew a crowd of about 50 people, many just off planes from the Bush.
Others looked to be curious business travelers and off-duty pilots.
AFN expects more than 4,000 to show up for this year's convention, which starts today, and collectively pump more than $4 million into the city economy. Delegates spend money on everything from groceries and gifts to salon services, often with crisp Permanent Fund dividend checks in hand.
"Go Thursday or Friday to Sam's Club or Costco and see the Bush orders line up," Begich said. "It is important to recognize the economic impact to our community."
Conventioneers in town early weren't expressing strong opinions on Anchorage vs. Fairbanks. Sassa Peterson of Cordova was at the airport Wednesday. Going to the convention last year in Fairbanks was a long drive, she said.
But the drive was partly worth it. The smaller town had a friendlier tone, she said. Local churches offered extended services and invited visiting Natives to attend. "We felt really welcome when we went to Fairbanks," Pederson said.
Dorothy Cook, the first chief of Eklutna Native Village, one of the airport welcomers, said she prefers that AFN be held in Anchorage because it's easier for her and other tribe members to attend. But smaller Fairbanks was a great venue also, she said.
"It doesn't seem to matter where we are," Cook said. "People just want to have AFN."
Daily News reporter Katie Pesznecker can be reached at kpesznecker@adn.com.
