In between education sessions on a gorgeous Saturday in Houston, and here are some tidbits and musings from VenueConnect to share.
Good friend Peter Gruber, he of the unmistakable laugh, happened to be checking in to the hotel next to me the other day. The keeper of the Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria, appared as fresh as could be despite telling me he had just landed after flying from Frankfurt, Germany.
Bob Mayer seems to be making up some ground, but in eyeballing ribbons under their badges it appears that industry icon Ray Ward is still the leader for most ribbons that depict service to IAAM and the industry. If there is a committee or association leadership position these gentlemen have not held, will someone find it and tell us?
Grabbed a burger the other night at Lucky's Pub behind the fantastic George R. Brown Convention Center. Found out a number of diners were waiting for doors to open next door to see Ratt in concert. Yes, Ratt, one of the famous "hair bands" from the 1980s. A fellow patron told us to "see the guy in the ponytail" who was giving out free tickets for the show. The same fellow estimated the venue seats about 400 and that the benefactor was handing out about 200 freebies. Guess Ratt isn't the same as back in the day.
Speaking of the George R. Brown Convention Center, nothing but major thumbs up to the venue staff for making this a first-class conference. Even noticed during the University Venue Management Conference as waitstaff was serving lunch before the keynote speaker that they all wore ribbons welcoming IAAM. As we all know, it's the little touches that matter and add up and make you feel special.
And speaking of the UVMC keynote speaker, how about that Mike McGee? They don't come more eloquent and polished than Mr. McGee. He claims that he had his speech prepared before he was told that the topic needed to be about change. "So I changed my speech to talk about change," he said. He proceeded to nail the speech with some poignant commentary.
But if you want to know the story of the barbecue rib mailed third class mail (got to create that extra stale aroma, you know) by McGee to Russ Simons and how it detained Simons as it was in his luggage as he was going through airport security, you would have to have been at the luncheon. And that's all we are saying about that.
House of Blues kicked things off in grand Texas style with the Chairman's Reception. Plenty of music, lots of food, all kinds of space and of course the chance to connect with new and old friends.
Kim Bedier gives VenueNet a strong endorsement and was talking about IAAM's social networking meeting place like a veteran.
Sat in an interesting education session this morning entitled Intercultural Communication: Bridging Emerging Social and Participation Gaps. Todd Felts from the University of Nevada at Reno presented the session and among some of the interesting numbers he tossed out are these: we are bombarded with 5,000 advertising impressions a day versus 1,000 just 10 years ago. He also added that multicultural markets make up 34 percent of the population in the United States with a spending power of $2 trillion.
First time to be in Houston in about 10 years and the convention complex is incredibly impressive. The Hilton Americas-Houston Hotel links to the convention center by two skybridges on the second and third levels. Look ahead and you will see Minute Maid Park, home to the Houston Astros. Look behind and you will see the Toyota Center, home to the Houston Rockets. Talk about user-friendly for getting around.
The keynote session is coming up soon with Lt. General Russel Honore, (Ret.), Visionary Leader of the New Normal and Commander of Joint Task Force Katrina. This should be good and we are looking forward to it.
After that comes the industry's foremost trade show held in tandem with the National Association of Concessionaires. This is the place where business gets done in the industry.
There is plenty more to come after today and I know that this will end up as one of IAAM's best conferences as John Siehl prepares to take the Chairman's gavel from Shura Lindgren-Garnett.
Wish you were here ...