Jane Hooper, the communications manager for ROOST, the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) in the Lake Placid region, was helping set up for the New York State Child Passenger Safety Conference.

“It's always quite a production,” Hooper said of major conferences, “but it's really exciting to have a number of people here. I think this conference brings about another 400 or 500 people to the region.”

The conference center is located inside the Lake Placid Olympic Center, and it is part of New York's $500 million worth of upgrades to the region's Olympic venues. But it's also part of a bigger picture — in what the region’s history can do for the area today.

“We are on par with Las Vegas, Orlando, Boston, places that host conferences all the time,” Hooper said after renovations that upgraded now-40-year-old areas.

ROOST recently hired a new group sales coordinator, Hannah Ackerman, to help handle demand and attract even more.

“Yeah, I think that the area is the biggest sell,” Ackerman said. “And then afterwards, being able to go take advantage of the beautiful Main Street that we have that was recently redone and all the shops that are there, all of the restaurants in the area definitely, you know, provides a lot of opportunities for our local businesses.”

It also doesn't hurt to have Olympic venues as the backdrop for the newly refurbished venues.

“So many events that happen here. We have world-class events in almost every single discipline that was held at the Olympics, including here at the Olympic jumping complex, where we have the ski jumping World Cup venues,” said Brandee Reiley, marketing manager of the Olympic Jumping Complex.

Some of the Olympic venues are such a draw that some, like the ski jumps, have their own conference centers.

“Oh, you can come here and do your event and then really experience that Olympic thrill,” Reiley said of the various venues.

Tourism groups say the forward thinking of combining the conferences with an Olympic experience can be a main driver in beating out other, bigger cities for future events.