Successful Meetings - February 2009 - (Page 74)

BATON ROUGE Hank Aaron Museum & Learning Center, which will open this spring in Mobile. At the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, The Forge is a $40 million entertainment district due to open next year. And in the Southeast corner of the state, Dothan has broken ground for Country Crossing, a multi-use complex honoring the South’s country music heritage. Here, groups can enjoy new casinos, hotels, restaurants, meeting spaces, and, of course, great country music. Valuable and vibrant hospitality, and entertainment venues. Here you’ll find interactive entertainment centers such as the Debbie Reynolds Hollywood Motion Picture Museum and the Darrell Waltrip Racing Experience. “We’re now attracting major business interest not only from around the country, but from around the world,” says Susan Whitaker, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development. “Companies are telling us that we have state-of-theart meeting and convention facilities. And we’re getting tremendous feedback on our attractions, our cultural heritage—and, of course, our good, old Southern hospitality.” Virginia’s capital city of Richmond is about to usher in a brandnew era. Trolley lines, colorful new landscaping, entertainment, dining, and lodging are all parts of a plan that will totally change the face of downtown. And Alabama’s about to honor a native son—and one of the greatest baseball players in history—with the Bonnie Wallsh, president of Bonnie Wallsh Associates, LLC, in Charlotte, has a front-row seat in the transformation of the convention/meeting trade in the South. She’s a meeting management consultant who has held events all over the country. Yet, she’s finding that, increasingly, the South is offering better value—and better facilities. “Our costs tend to be lower than most other places,” says Wallsh. “Food and beverage, rooms, and parking are all much less expensive here in the South. And, because we’re so focused on growing our meeting/convention business—and we’re not averse to new approaches—I think we can offer much more flexibility than many traditional meeting destinations.” Wallsh says the South is generating a truly supportive infrastructure for meetings, not only because of its increasing experience in the field, but also because of the growth of hospitalitymanagement and other related programs at universities all over the region, such as Vanderbilt, Emory, William & Mary, Georgia Tech, the University of Virginia, the University of North Carolina, and Duke University. “And,” adds Wallsh, “it doesn’t hurt to have a region known, in the first place, for Southern hospitality.” ■ Forging ahead Its name evokes Birmingham’s past as an iron and steel-manufacturing center, but The Forge is definitely a step toward the future. Scheduled to open later this year, the $40 million development adjacent to the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Center will offer some 136,000 square feet of entertainment, dining, and retail options, including two courtyards for outdoor concerts. And it will be bookended by two 140-room hotels. American Idols—and Alabama natives—Taylor Hicks and Ruben Studdard each plan to open a club there, and plans call for other imaginative clubs and eateries with splashy names such as Rhythm & Brews, Iron City Saloon, Wet Willie’s, Sleep Out Louie’s, and Wow Cafe & Wingery. 74 http://www.kingandprince.com http://www.kingandprince.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Successful Meetings - February 2009

Successful Meetings - February 2009 Contents Editor's Letter News Update: Meetings Associations Band Together Education Planner Spotlight Technology Talk Food & Beverage Making Cents of It All Meanwhile, Back at Headquarters Seal of Approval Come Sail Away Making Tracks Places & Spaces Florida’s East Coast Aruba Maui 3 Days in Philadelphia

Successful Meetings - February 2009

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