If Greater Victoria is serious about hosting the Juno Awards, organizers will need some serious players to step up and some serious coin in hand.

Having some of the industry’s big guns in their corner – people such as Bruce Allen, Sam Feldman and Nettwerk Records representatives – was hugely important to Vancouver’s successful bid for the 2009 Junos, said host committee chair Rob D’eith.

But so was having a solid financial plan in place with government support, and enthusiastic community support.

“I think it’s very important for Victoria to come up with a very well-respected bid committee –

people that can pull in favours and get the right endorsements,” D’eith said.

A group including Victoria Coun. Chris Coleman announced last week it is considering bidding on the 2013 Juno Awards. Some of the same people worked in 2005 on attracting the 2007 Junos, but were told early in the process that Saskatoon’s bid had won.

D’eith, also the executive director of Music B.C., estimated the cost of staging the four-day event – the Canadian Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) looks after the gala awards night – at roughly $1.5 million.

“The minimum is a million dollars,” he said. Such things as compensating for an arena that is perhaps too small (the 7,000-seat Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre), organizing Juno Fest and other music-related events, plus incidentals like transportation and airport greeting add on further expense.

“Then, you’re obviously competing against other cities, especially nowadays that’s a significant challenge given today’s economic climate.”

Saskatoon lobbied CARAS hard for the 2007 awards, D’eith said, with everyone from government ministers to musicians and other industry people working on it.

While 2013 may be a little soon after 2009 for the Junos to return to the West Coast, he said, Victoria hosting the Junos is “totally doable.”

“I think it’s just a matter of getting the CARAS board excited and showing the will,” he said. “You have to go in with a ‘this is going to happen attitude.’”

Hosting the events would be a way to develop the Island’s arts and culture economies and provide a shoulder-season stimulus for the tourism industry, Coleman said.

The Vancouver experience bears that out. Juno week accounted for 5,100 room nights and initial estimates for the economic impact to the region were somewhere between $10 million and $15 million, according to D’eith.

While the Save-On Centre would likely host the awards ceremony, the related activities leading up to the televised awards night would give communities around the region an opportunity to share in the celebration, Coleman said.

“I think it’s important that the region is seen as the winner in this,” he said. “It has to be seen throughout the whole community as a regional win.”

Music B.C. representatives will speak to the Victoria bid committee in August, after which a business proposal would be written and presented to regional and community representatives.

CARAS usually announces host cities two years ahead of the ceremonies.

editor@oakbaynews.com