Plan Your Meetings

Names and Notes: August 2007

Names

Doug Barrow was appointed director of operations for the Orlando Sun Resort and Convention Center.

Steven Green was appointed director of sales and marketing for The Grosvenor Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

David Downing was named PR director of the St. Petersburg/Clearwater [Fla.] Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Jorge Pesquera was named the president and CEO for the Palm Beach County [Fla.] Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau hired six new sales managers: Kelly Buchler, Yves Roughelot Clark, Jennifer Franz, Jennifer McDonald, Michelle Minyard and Martha Martinez.

John Cychol was named vice president of meeting sales for Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Ann Garvey was named sales manager for both the Convention and Visitors Association of Baltimore and the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau, which have teamed up to cross-promote each other’s destinations.

Notes

International
The International Association of Conference Centers created a green task force to educate members about environmentally friendly practices for conference centers. More information is available at http://www.iacconline.org/

National
Hilton Hotels Corp. added E-Events portals to its property Web sites. The software targets meeting and event planners of small groups (60 percent of the chain’s meeting market is groups booking 25 rooms or less). Planners will be able to make group room reservations and select catering menus on-line.

Crown Plaza launched The Place to Meet Island in Second Life, an online social networking site. Customers can reserve one of the three online meetings venues: a lounge, a theater or one of its executive rooms. The online meeting facilities are equipped with virtual audio, video, presentation and image viewing equipment.

Alabama
Three Alabama spas were singled out for honors by “BestSpas USA: The Guidebook to Luxury Resort, Hotel and Destination Spas”: the spas at Marriott Shoals Hotel & Spa in Florence, the Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa in Hoover and the Grand Hotel Marriott Resort, Golf Club & Spa in Point Clear. All three award-winning spas are located on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail and are part of the Resort Collection. New Resort Collection spas scheduled to open in 2008 include the Battle House Spa in Mobile and the spa at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Montgomery Convention Center.

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach launched two new Web sites for travel planners: GulfShores.com and OrangeBeach.com.

Arkansas
Arkansas joined the Southeast Tourism Society, expanding the association’s membership to 12 states.

Arizona
A $14 million renovation is underway at Four Seasons Resort Scottsdale in Troon North. Improvements will include new guest room furnishings, soft goods and in-room technology; and upgraded lobby, lobby lounge and restaurant space.

The Heard Museum North Scottsdale opened with two exhibition galleries, an expanded gift shop, indoor and outdoor dining, and a 1,500-sq. ft. interpretive garden.

The Mondrian Scottsdale reopened after completing a $5 million renovation. Improvements include terraces for ground floor rooms, private balconies for upper floor rooms and new, in-room furnishings.

Royal Palms Resort and Spa in Scottsdale completed a $12 million renovation.

Hotel Indigo in Scottsdale is undergoing a $17 million renovation to be completed in January.

District of Columbia
Renaissance M Street Hotel completed a $25 million renovation of its 335 rooms and 12,030 square feet of meeting and event space.

A $100 million renovation is underway at the Marriott Wardman Park to be completed by the end of 2008. Scheduled improvements include refurbishment of the hotel’s 1,334 guest rooms and 173,000 square feet of meeting and public space, and the addition of a new ballroom, a signature restaurant and a fitness center.

Florida
The Beaches of South Walton will host the 27 Annual Florida Encounter tradeshow at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort Oct. 27-31.

The Orlando Sun Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee completed a $5 million renovation to its exhibit hall, 22 meeting rooms, ballroom and 922 guest rooms.

Quorum Hotel in Tampa completed a renovation of its pool area. Executive clubroom renovations will be complete by October.

The Sandpearl Resort opens this month in Clearwater Beach; it is the area’s first new waterfront resort in more than 25 years. The 700-acre, LEED-certified resort has 253 guest rooms and 25,000 square feet of meeting space for groups of up to 450 people.

InterContinental Hotel Group is planning a 122-room Hotel Indigo in Miami, to open in first quarter 2008.

The W Hotel in Forth Lauderdale has a new Wonder Woman program; women are redesigning guest bathrooms to make them more accessible for females. The new bathrooms will be available in 2008.

Georgia
Active Productions in Atlanta added High End System’s DL2 projectors to its product inventory. The DL2 system has an integrated server; can operate as a projector, mobile lights and a film camera; and can project three-dimensional images, borderless collages and project on three-dimensional objects.

Affairs to Remember Caterers opened a $5 million, 23,000-sq. ft. facility in Atlanta’s Midtown West industrial district. The new facility has a state-of-the-art catering kitchen, four dining rooms and 15 sales offices.

Holiday Inn Select Atlanta opened with 100 square feet of meeting space and 250 rooms.

Louisiana
The New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau launched 24NOLA.com, an interactive Web site and itinerary planning tool. The Web site provides access to day and night activities, and hotel and transportation providers.

Mississippi
The 318-room Hard Rock Hotel and Casino opened in Biloxi. Amenities include 26 Gulf-view suites, a top-floor lounge, an on-site Hard Rock Café and Ruth’s Chris Steak House, exhibits of music memorabilia, a live music venue, a casino, an Aveda concept spa and salon, a fitness center and a pool with underwater music features.

Hancock, Lauderdale and DeSoto Welcome Centers now offer Wi-Fi services for travelers.

The Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson is exhibiting art from the Vatican Museums through December. The exhibition, “God and Man: Angels in Italian Art,” has more than 150 works.

Nevada
In Las Vegas, Ceasars Palace is undergoing a $1 billion expansion that will add a 665-room hotel tower and 110,000 square feet of meeting space by 2009; a six-month, $83 million renovation of the hotel’s 512-room Forum Tower’s guest rooms also is underway.

North Carolina
The Marriott City Center in Raleigh opens next spring with 400 rooms, ballroom, meeting space, pool, fitness spa and on-site dinning.

South Carolina
The Charleston Marriott opens this month with 340 rooms, 15,00 square feet of meeting space and on-site dinning.

Texas
French Quarter Group purchased Del Lago Resort and Conference Center in Conroe, Texas, and is planning a $100 million renovation. Improvements will include a sushi bar, gourmet restaurant, meeting facilities, fitness center and spa, five pools and a “lazy river.”

The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas, is scheduled to open Aug. 15 in the Uptown district. Amenities in the 218-room hotel will include Fearing’s Restaurant, a 12,000-sq. ft. spa, club-level hospitality suites and a lounge. The property will have 14,000 square feet of meeting space, including board rooms, meeting rooms, pre-function areas and the largest luxury hotel ballroom in central Dallas (9,500 square feet).

The Doubletree Hotel Houston Intercontinental Airport completed a $6 million renovation of its guest rooms, 18,500 square feet of meeting and pre-function space, restaurants and public space.