Association Leadership - September/October 2008 - (Page 53)

in focus: Beaumont Beaumont: More than 30 hotels. More than 3,000 sleeping rooms. Two large convention centers. Three full-service convention hotels. Big options. Combine this variety of ﬂexible venues with unique offsite facilities such as museums and beautifully renovated theatres and you have more choices than you thought possible! Green meeting facilities and sustainable catering practices make Beaumont’s Ford Park Event Center an attractive facility for environmentconscious meeting planners. The Ford Park Event Center features an arena and exhibit hall with 83,000 square feet of space, nine meeting rooms and 11,000 square feet of pre-function space. In addition to spacious indoor options, Ford Park has incredible outdoor space including a pavilion with seating for 14,000, nineacre paved midway/fairgrounds, and 12 Softball/Baseball Fields. Not to mention 6,000 on-site parking spaces. The Beaumont Civic Center Complex is located in the heart of Beaumont’s thriving downtown cultural district. The ﬂowing Neches River is an elegant backdrop to the Civic Center, offering 42,000 square feet of exhibit space. Five breakouts provide an additional 6,000 square feet of meeting room space. This, coupled with experienced support staff has earned the Beaumont Civic Center thousands of smiles and repeat business from satisﬁed clients. Numerous venues and ﬂexible facilities are found throughout the city. The Montagne Center on the beautiful campus of Lamar University offers a 10,000-seat arena. The Holiday Inn Beaumont Plaza & Suites and the MCM Elegante Hotel & Conference Center each provide more than 22,000 square feet of meeting space with 250-280 sleeping rooms. In addition, both properties have recently undergone multimillion dollar renovations and offer guests big-city, fullservice amenities. Texas Meeting & Event Boomtown forms revealed an outstanding 100 percent conference satisfaction score! For fun, Beaumont offers a charming downtown entertainment and cultural district. The city boasts 19 museums and a sprawling shopping district along with fantastic dining options such as delicious Cajun dishes and famous Texas BBQ. Groups are raving about one of the newest hotspots for visitors – Shangri La Botanical Gardens & Nature Center. It’s earned a platinum-level LEED certiﬁcation and is just 15 miles east of Beaumont. Other fun outdoor activities include Gator Country Adventure Park, Cardinal River Boat Tours and relaxing canoe trips through Village Creek in the Big Thicket National Preserve. We offer accommodating facilities, unmatched accessibility and hey, Beaumont is down-right friendly. With so many exciting things happening in this Gulf Coast city, it’s no wonder why planners are gushing about Beaumont, the original Texas Boomtown! ◆ Located only 90 miles east of Houston on I-10 and within a four-hour drive of 80 percent of the population of Texas, Beaumont gets a gold star for accessibility! We’re on the TX/LA border – and just a short drive away from Louisiana casino gaming. Jet service is available from the Southeast Texas Regional Airport with service to Houston. Most of the 30-plus hotels are located on I-10 so it’s a breeze to get around within the city. Locals proudly boast that you can be anywhere in Beaumont in a matter of minutes! Beaumont is big on service. The city hosts more than 150 conventions and events annually and the CVB staff knows what it takes to ensure happy convention delegates. Whether it’s providing special personal touches or sending out local media to proﬁle a meeting, the small town hospitality and citywide gratitude consistently impress clients. This past spring, Beaumont played host to one of the most successful TXDOT Travel Counselors Annual Conference in years; evaluation September/October 2008 | Association LEADERSHIP 53

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Association Leadership - September/October 2008

Association Leadership - September/October 2008 Contents President’s Column Homepage 60-Second Solutions An Interview with TSAE’s New Chairperson TSAE’s Newest Board Members Vetting Volunteers Orientation of Volunteer Leaders Get on Board – Qualification Considerations Questions to Ask Before Saying Yes Liability Insurance for Volunteer Leaders Committee Planning TSAE’s Annual Golf Outing Congratulations to Our New CAEs Perspectives Association Case Study New Members Community Spotlight San Antonio Beaumont Index to Advertisers Advertiser.com The Lighter Side of Associations

Association Leadership - September/October 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.