NATCHEZ &8212; There are several ways to skin a cat. So, too, are there several ways to run a convention center.

Different Mississippi cities choose to run their convention centers in different ways.

And if the board of aldermen succeeds in privatizing the management of the convention center, it will join some other cities, including Vicksburg.

Larry Gawronski, executive director for Vicksburg&8217;s auditorium and convention center, and since his company, Compass Facility Management, has taken over operations, the facilities&8217; volume and revenue have jumped.

&8220;The biggest concern the public or city administration grapple with is, why would we pay a management company?&8217;&8221; Gawronski said.

The investment was well worth it for Vicksburg, he said. The city pays the company roughly $100,000 each year, minus utility costs, to reel in the big events.

This fiscal year had the highest number of &8220;event days,&8221; days the facilities were occupied, in 10 years, Gawronski said &8212; 252.

Vicksburg&8217;s convention center holds roughly the same volume of people as Natchez&8217;s center, he said.

&8220;(The Natchez Convention Center) and our convention center are strikingly similar,&8221; he said. &8220;They were built by the same architect and are almost exactly the same.&8221;

Oxford chose to operate its convention center a different way. Their center is run by a tourism council.

Originally, a city department managed the facility, but it merged with the tourism council, Executive Director Hugh Stump said.

The council has a contract with the city and the city helps fund operations for the convention center.

The tourism bureau gets the 2 percent sales tax and revenues from the convention center, which hosted 219 events last year, he said.

Stump said the bureau never really considered private management. The board of aldermen never interviewed any firms, and the option was never considered, he said.

The Natchez Convention Center is run in a similar way, Tourism Director Walter Tipton said.

A separate entity, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, or CVB, manages the convention center, visitors&8217; center, community center and city auditorium. The city has a contract with the CVB to manage the center.

CVB board members are appointed by the board of aldermen, Tipton said. Meanwhile, the city helps pay operation costs and, since they own the buildings, have a lot of say in how the facilities are run.

CVB members are paid with hotel and restaurant taxes, he said.

Tipton is the bridge between the two, as city tourism director and head of the CVB.

It costs roughly $400,000 a year to run the convention center, the auditorium and the community center, Tipton said. The convention center itself sees roughly 130 events each year.

If the city approves a contract with New Orleans Hotel Consultants to manage the three facilities, the city would pay the company $240,000 each year. The money would go into a &8220;suppressed account,&8221; which could only be used for managing them.

The goal, Tipton said, is that it would be cheaper for the city and bring in more tax dollars.

&8220;What we&8217;re looking for is for these people to bring in the conventions they have a relationship with,&8221; Tipton said. &8220;So we expect them to enhance our revenue (city-wide).&8221;