Attendees at IEDC Conference Watched in Disbelief - a Site Selection Online Insider Special Report

PHILADELPHIA -- Attendees at the 2001 International Economic Development Council (IEDC at www.iedc.org) Annual Conference watched in stunned disbelief last Tuesday as America's twin symbols of capitalism - the World Trade Towers - toppled to the ground following acts of terrorism.
The IEDC conference - which also served as the final gathering of the Council for Urban Economic Development - was just entering its third day of meetings at the Loews Hotel in downtown Philadelphia when word about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon began to spread.

In the wake of terrorist attacks, security in Philadelphia immediately tightened.
Historic landmarks like the Liberty Bell (pictured), which sat only five blocks from
the IEDC convention's hotel, were closed to the public and surrounded by armed guards.

Many IEDC attendees - myself included - were watching CNN's "Breaking News" alert on a big-screen television in the hotel lobby when the second commercial airliner crashed into the second New York tower. Immediately, IEDC members began scrambling to make phone calls to family, friends and co-workers in distant places.
Security in Philadelphia immediately tightened as, five blocks from the convention hotel, historical American landmarks such as the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall were closed to the public and surrounded by armed guards.

Attendees Had No Place to Go

Office buildings and other workplaces around Philadelphia began to empty as workers frantically tried to get home - not knowing whether Philadelphia was the next target on the terrorists' list.
IEDC members, however, had no place to go. Though the meetings went on, attendance was sparse and virtually no one could focus on the subject matter. A presentation forum scheduled for 42 people at 10 a.m. Tuesday drew a crowd of nine. Other events scheduled throughout the day suffered a similar fate as everyone's attention turned to things far more important than economic development.
All local tours of sites and businesses in the Philadelphia area were canceled. Schools dismissed early. Businesses and restaurants closed. Government buildings were evacuated. Phone lines were tied up.

Finding a Way Home

Later in the day, the attention of most IEDC attendees turned to a practical matter: how to get home. With the Philadelphia airport closed, most attendees had few other options for transportation.
Amtrak service to most cities quickly sold out. Rental cars and U-Haul trucks sold like hot cakes. Some IEDC members even called for people back home to drive up to Philadelphia and take them home.

One woman I spoke to was from Miami. Her co-workers at the Beacon Council drove her car all the way from South Florida to pick her up and take her back home.
My ticket home was a Greyhound Bus heading to Atlanta. During the 20-hour bus ride, I talked to literally scores of people affected by the attacks. One was a businessman who was on his way home from Canada to Atlanta. Two others were soldiers who had just taken leave and were heading home to Alabama and Texas for a few weeks before being sent off to Germany.
Business people, mothers, fathers, children, military personnel, athletes and others - all displaced by the week's events - shared one thing in common in the wake of the tragedies: They were all united as Americans.