Meeting News - October 20, 2008 - (Page 14)

Convention Centers After 22 months of construction, the Santa Fe Convention Center launched in late September with an active fall slate of multiday events, according to the Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau. The new building provides 40,000 sf of total event space, which is led by an 18,000-sf ballroom divisible by five and flanked by three kitchens: two large facilities and a smaller one that serves groups of less than 300 attendees. To ease move-ins and outs, loading docks are adjacent to the room. The Sweeney Ballroom is in the western-side “Convention Center” building, while the eastern-side “Community Building” features a 2,500-sf art gallery, four meeting rooms, and a terrace space. Of the four rooms, three can be combined into one large space; the other is a boardroom that seats 16. The Convention Center building has seven meeting rooms. Located downtown, the convention center is supported by about 1,500 sleeping rooms, anchored by several major properties like the Eldorado Hotel & Spa (219 rooms), Santa Fe’s grande dame La Fonda (167 rooms), La Posada (157 rooms), and a Holiday Inn (130 rooms). Reflecting Santa Fe’s arts scene and progressive eco-culture, the convention center will boast nearly By William Ng william.ng@nielsen.com Santa Fe Pulls the Wraps Off Brand-New Downtown Building a half-million dollars’ worth of original art across its two buildings when installation is completed, and it carries LEED Silver certification. To achieve the designation, light fixtures from the old Sweeney Convention Center were recovered and installed in the new building, non-volatile carpet and paint were used, and 75 percent of construction waste will be recycled, among other efforts. As such, the venue will be in play for green meetings and events. It has three on-site recycling centers, multiple water stations with compostable cups to discourage water bottle use, and motion-sensor lighting. Sweeney Ballroom leads the new Santa Fe Center’s event spaces. CVBs Hawaii Tourism Authority president and CEO Rex Johnson has resigned after coming under fire for the second time for sending pornographic, racist, and sexist e-mails. Just last month, the HTA announced that it was keeping Johnson aboard, shortly after the scandal first hit. Following a series of late-summer hearings and closed-door sessions, held after Johnson was caught by a state auditor for sending sexually explicit e-mails from his government computer, the HTA board decided to retain Johnson but 14 MeetingNews By William Ng william.ng@nielsen.com Rex Redux: Hawaii Tourism CEO Johnson Resigns in Scandal sanctioned him with a reduced salary and a shortened contract (Sept. 8 MN, p. 28), despite opposition from some local tourism and hospitality members and Hawaii governor Linda Lingle. But amid mounting public pressure, reignited when new information surfaced that Johnson also sent offensive jokes about senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, the HTA held another hearing and closed-door session on Oct. 8. HTA board members said they hadn’t seen Johnson’s actual e-mails prior to their initial decision to keep him, but after the new e-mail disclosure, Lingle, several local rights groups—including the NAACP, the Japanese American Citizens League of Hawaii, and the Hawaii Women’s Political Caucus—plus private citizens went on the offensive, demanding that Johnson resign or be fired. Several groups staged a protest march in Waikiki. “We cannot stand by and allow the Hawaii Tourism Authority to give credibility to what Mr. Johnson has been circulating,” NAACP Hawaii chapter president Alphonso Braggs told Pacific Business News. In response to calls for action, the HTA board announced a Sept. 29 meeting, but then rescheduled twice—for Oct. 2 and then Oct. 8—citing lack of quorum. According to local reports, in the Oct. 8 meeting, former Hawaii governor John Waihee and 13 others testified for Johnson, but four others argued for his termination. The tourism agency will name an interim CEO shortly, and it will form a search committee to find a new permanent chief. —with Matt Alderton www.meetingnews.com October 20, 2008 http://www.meetingnews.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Meeting News - October 20, 2008

Meeting News - October 20, 2008 Contents Letters to the Editor What's Up @ MeetingNews.com People Making News Transportation & Services Conference Centers Advertisers Index Live From the Forum

Meeting News - October 20, 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.