Convention Insider (Conventions.net)

Tradition – Webster’s tells us it is:

1 a : an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior (as a religious practice or a social custom) b : a belief or story or a body of beliefs or stories relating to the past that are commonly accepted as historical though not verifiable 2 : the handing down of information, beliefs, and customs by word of mouth or by example from one generation to another without written instruction 3 : cultural continuity in social attitudes, customs, and institutions.  It’s something we all look forward to and can count on.

This is exactly how you want people to look at your next trade show or convention.  You want people to count on it year after year so that they make their reservation early and make them every year.  Yours needs to be the first thing they tell their peers that they should attend.  These three tips should make it a convention that is a tradition every year.

• Location – The location of your event is crucial to it being a tradition.  If you have an event every year at a different location it cannot become the go to event everyone looks forward to attending.  I love to hear “I will see you this year in Vegas?” That means they are already thinking of your event and when they give the location where they will see you next it means they are locked in to attending.
• Timing – Having your event every year at the same time makes it a tradition that everyone will remember. I go every year to SXSW in Austin, Texas in the Spring.  I know it is in the Spring because they call it “Spring Break For Geeks”.  I also know that every year they have it in Austin and I can count on making arrangements a year in advance.  I know I will be doing that event in the springtime.
• Program – Having the same type of program year after year allows you to make it a tradition for your speakers and exhibitors and your sponsors.  They love things that they can plan on and love it even more when you make it easy for them to stay in a groove so they can see what works best for them.  Stay with a program of breakout sessions and other typical actions of your event.

These tips will allow your event to become a tradition in your industry.  Becoming a tradition is crucial to making your event a success both financially and in the eyes of attendees, exhibitors and sponsors.  In a sense that makes it cyclical which is also somewhat of a tradition.

[photo via acameronhuff]

Got a small or medium-sized conference?  The Dallas Convention Center can accommodate you, and easily.

Got a huge conference?  The Dallas Convention Center can accommodate you, too, and just as easily.

After all, this is the venue chosen for Super Bowl XLV.

Whatever the size or type of conference/convention/meeting/retreat you are planning, the Dallas Convention Center is the perfect venue.  Almost daily, this venue is host to pretty much any and every kind of gathering you could imagine: shows, plays, music, sports, art, and culture beyond description.  No matter what kind of gathering you have in mind, the Dallas Convention Center can handle it.  This is one of the largest convention centers in the nation.

The Dallas Convention Center has over a million square feet of exhibit space, after all. This includes an arena that seats over nine thousand people, a theater that accommodates almost two thousand people, and nearly a hundred meeting rooms of various types and sizes.

Did I mention that this venue also has the largest column-free exhibit hall in the United States?

There is plenty of easily-accessible parking here, too.  Free parking for the show management team.

The Dallas Convention Center was the first convention center in the world to offer wireless internet services.  It has also been recognized as “The Best-Run Convention Center in America.”

This April, the Dallas Convention Center was awarded the LEEDS EB Silver Certification for its efforts to “be green.”   Interim Director Al Rojas said that The LEED Certification exemplifies our commitment to providing the highest quality space for our customers and employees.  We understand the importance of these efforts which not only lower costs but improve the environment for generations to come.

Contact information for the Dallas Convention Center can be found by clicking HERE.

Dallas Convention Center

650 South Griffin Street

Dallas, TX 75202

(214)939-2700

Take the Dallas Convention Center 3-D Tour!

The beautiful Austin Convention Center is a busy place, and there’s a good reason for that.

The Austin Convention Center is a busy place because it has such awesome facilities for any kind of convention, conference, trade show, corporate retreat, reunion, reception, along with plenty of handy parking, more-than-enough electrical outlets, reliable internet access, and, and, and, well, what else could anyone need for a meetup?

In fact, RIGHT NOW, the Austin Convention Center is hosting the huge and diverse South by Southwest Conference (SXSW) and is being featured on Twitter, etc, possibly more than any other keyword this weekend.           

Just understanding the complexity of this particular conference will help you understand the diversity of the Austin Convention Center; it is quite capable of handling thousands of techies, musicians, bands, bloggers, podcasters, speakers, and hands-on “stuff” of every conceivable kind, without batting an eyelash.  I’ve heard, too, that “things” are going quite smoothly in Austin, which is also an excellent advertisement for the conference center.

If you are interested in having your next conference/convention/retreat/trade show, etc, in a beautiful city with an enviable climate, in a venue that will turn itself inside out to accommodate your any and every need, you might want to consider the Austin Convention Center.

Here’s how to contact the Austin Convention Center:

Austin Convention Center Department

Mark Tester, Director
Monica Hammond, Assistant Director – Convention Center Operations
Darin Upchurch, Assistant Director – Finance / Palmer Events Center
Paul Barnes, Assistant Director – Sales, Marketing and Event Services
Michele Gizelbach, Chief Financial Manager
Lisa Kidder, Director of Sales
Alycia Sparkman, Event and Exhibitor Services Manager
Joe Gonzalez, IT Services Manager
Terri McBride, Public Information Specialist / Media Relations
Van Jobe, Manager – Guest Services and Purchasing

Palmer Events Center

Darin Upchurch, Assistant Director
Rusty Nabors, Sales and Events Manager

Employment Opportunities

Physical Address

Austin Convention Center
500 East Cesar Chavez Street
Austin, TX 78701
Ph: 512.404.4000
FAX: 512.404.4416

Palmer Events Center
900 Barton Springs
Austin, TX 78704
Ph: 512.404.4500
FAX: 512.404.4422
www.palmereventscenter.com

Mailing Address Austin Convention Center, Palmer Events Center
P.O. Box 1088
Austin, TX 78767

I am headed to a couple of cities this week with Houston on the first stop and then rounding out the week with a presentation at an event in Los Angeles.  I have been used to the travel schedule and working my way in and out of airports.  To me it has become second nature to go through the security checkpoints and sitting on a flight taking notes, doing expense reports and in fact even typing blog posts.  My daughter on the other hand is not so used to the idea of "travel".

I had to first explain the idea of falling from the sky at 5,000 fee or 35,000 feet.  It doesn’t really matter once you hit earth from either elevation.  I think she is still wrapping her head around that concept.  So much for the laws of physics.  It is her birthday which is why she gets a chance to travel on a quick overnight and a short time with her grandmother in Houston. 

I love travel and I get a chance to see a number of different places.  It looks as tough my year will end somewhere like it began with a trip to Las Vegas.  I am also looking forward to getting back to Hawaii.  I will be headed there in November and this time I have no choice but to include my wife on the trip. I wonder if she too will grasp the idea of what happens when you careen into the earth from either 5,000 feet or 35,000 feet.  Let’s hope I never have to try the theory.

Tags: Travel, Houston, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Conferences, Conventions, Trade Shows

I had to share this all of you because it struck me as somewhat funny.  I do believe it to be a fun way to see the progress of construction on a convention center site and a great way to follow along.  The Irving Convention Center has a web cam that you can follow the progress of construction.  The convention center is in Irving Texas and this is their elevator pitch on the city and why you should hold your event there:

Located immediately adjacent to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and in between Dallas and Fort Worth, Irving, Texas, (www.irvingtexas.com) boasts more than 75 hotels and more than 11,000 rooms. Las Colinas is a 12,000-acre master-planned community within the city of Irving, and is known worldwide for its quality and uniqueness. The area has a total taxable base of more than $7 billion and is home to 8,000+ companies, 30 Fortune 500 companies, plus the world headquarters of four. In the next three years, the area will see more than $4 billion in hotel, retail, entertainment, office, residential and meeting facility development.

I think that is pretty impressive for a smaller town in Texas if there is such a thing.  I may wait until they actually paint to see the paint dry but nonetheless I intend to keep an eye on it and see how it progresses.

Tags: Irving, Texas, Conventions, Trade Shows, Convention Centers

While I was in Austin recently I was fortunate to have some great BBQ and some wonderful company.  I had a chance to sit down also and talk with some new friends about social media and the meeting industry. 

Stephen Nold, an organizer for the recent MTO Summit in Washington DC paid for my brisket and root beer and also gave me some points to ponder as it relates to the meeting industry. We discussed the future of meetings, the past of events, and what the industry is doing and how it is fairing in the current economy.

I want to interview Stephen here and hopefully will get a chance.  Not only is he an influential in the business of meetings and events, but he also happens to be a blogger at Trade Show Week.  Stephen, next time I get to buy the BBQ and you get to win the argument!  Perhaps it will be at your event in London and we can discuss things over a pint and some bangers and mash!

Tags: Trade Shows, Meetings, Events, Social Media, London, Austin, MTO Summit, Washington DC, Stephen Nold

I wish I had the cure for the common cold.  I would cure myself right now.  I have spent the better part of the last three days coughing hacking and sneezing into toilet paper and bathroom tissue.  The reason?  Besides the obvious that I have caught a cold, I was at a convention and trade show.

As some of you know I was at the "Spring Break For Geeks" conference and trade show more fully known as SXSW Interactive in Austin Texas last week. I have been exposed to what they are calling "SXSW SARS"  No before you get into a panic if you have been there, it is really not as bad as it sounds.  My theory is that the people come home from a sickness like that because it is the season for giving.  We parents see this all the time.  You get many people in a room for the first time of the year and they spread germs like the plague.  Shaking hands, coughing into them and shaking them again.  It’s like a backfield handoff of germs and virus’ and bacteria.

My advice?  Whenever you think of it, wash your hands.  Your hands can never be washed too many times.  Now before you look like a freak with OCD about your cleanliness, you can also do this little trick.  Keep a tiny bottle of hand sanitizer in your pocket.  Many of the brands have small travel sizes that can be put into your pocket and used.  This is not a catch-all cure, but it can eliminate the probabilities that you will be sitting in front of your computer reading this while sneezing and blowing your nose thinking of how many hands you shook at an event.  Wash up, keep your hands away from your face and wear a space suit with o2 being pumped into it. Okay, maybe the last part is a bit of a stretch.  Stay safe and happy glad handing!

Tags: SXSW Interactive, Austin, Texas, Conventions, Trade Shows, Tips and Tricks

I have been spending the last four days in a room full of technical types doing live radio from inside the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas,  In what is called the "Spring Break For Geeks" or the Super Bowl for the Tech World, I have immersed myself with the locals, the tourists and the strange but true here in Austin.

I will describe to you the scenes I experienced and the what I have done over the last few days.  I will have a couple of links to share of the shows I did and you can listen in on what it was like there.

I first wanted to thank the City of Austin for its hospitality and the way I am always leaving, wishing I could stay longer.  The people at SXSW are doing a great job with this conference and trade show and the panels and the way they run the event.  I have a couple of photos I will share and will let you know about the restaurants I ate at the parties I attended and perhaps about some of the people I met. Most of all the great music, the food, and the company is always great and since this is my third year I cannot wait until I start getting ready for next year.

Tags: SXSW, Austin, SXSW Interactive, Austin Convention Center

Powered by Qumana

I was thinking about traveling to different cities today and the places that I have been and the places I will be going.  I have thought about the restaurants I have been to and some stand out as a place I have to go to again.  I will be headed to Austin soon and when in Austin, I always have to go to the Salt Lick.  Why?  Because it is great BBQ.  Better than anywhere else?  Probably no the best in the world, but definitely a great place to go while in Austin.

That made me think of the idea of a girl in every port, and of course, the rest of the brainstorming I was doing on a post here went you know where in a hand basket.  It did get me thinking about asking you the readers, what is your favorite place to eat when attending your convention or trade show?  I like Charley’s while in Orlando, I had some good Sushi at places in Seattle, Seafood in Boston, and Vegas, well everything I go to in Vegas seems to be good.  What conference do you attend and also attend because of the must have eats?

Tags: Restaurants, Food, Conventions, Trade Shows, BBQ, Orlando, Austin, SXSW

Freeman created a new exhibit concept for eight Teas city and convention visitors bureaus that received a top award at the recent American Society of Association Executives

annual meeting in San Diego.  The exhibit was named “Best In Show – First Place” in the Island Booth category. 

The island booth had eight pods containing the eight visitor bureaus within the state of Texas, all surrounding off of a center island that had a stage for live musical performances.  This also supplemented by a bar that served refreshments Texas style to participants.  The cities of Arlington, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Grapevine, Houston, Irving, and San Antonio, were grouped together for the exhibit. Sounds like an elaborate exhibit booth but as they say everything is BIG in Texas–well at least elaborate in Texas.  Congratulations from all of us at Convention Insider and Conventions.net to the folks at Freeman on their award.