Conventions like the ones PapaG are talking about wouldn't come to Portland regardless of anything. They just want to show off, and a city like Orlando or Vegas gives them the ability to waves their dicks and their bankrolls in everyone's faces. However, there are plenty of mid-level conventions that would love to come to Portland given the right lodging situation, ones that actually want their conventions to get something done rather than be a showcase for how awesome their company is.
Would it be enough to attract an ASG? I don't really know, nor care. I used to think that the NBA's lack of interest in holding an ASG in Portland was a slap in the face of the fans, but ASG's stopped being about the fans a couple of decades ago, now it's just a corporate handout to the NBA's main sponsors, and the locals are mostly shut out of the activities. Given the fact that it would be in February, which is some of the worst weather for the year in Portland, regardless of the brewpubs, Pearl District nightclubs, and local eateries, why would the NBA corporate machine and a pack of rich, entitled 20-something NBA millionaires want to come here? Not for the city. Not for the fans. It isn't about Portland, it's about the NBA. Took me a long time to accept that.