Successful Meetings - July 2008 - (Page 14)

News & Analysis > Suppliers Nashville’s Convention Center Plan Moves Forward based convention center designer, will create the facility, tentatively named Music City Center. A 2006 study on the need for a new facility recommended a 375,000-sf exhibit hall, 75 to 100 meeting rooms, two ballrooms and a theater with 2,500 to 3,000 seats. The current center, which was built in 1987, is considered too small and outdated. This spring, it failed a food safety inspection following a roach —Christopher Hosford infestation. Now that construction Nashville awaits a of the $595-million new convention center and headNashville Convention quarters hotel Center has been approved, the city’s attention is turning toward securing a headquarters hotel of about 1,000 rooms. Candidates include Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Starwood, while 1.2 million sf—is slated for completion by Memphis-based Peabody Hotel Group is 2012, with the city targeting simultanea likely nominee, as well. ous completion of the center and hotel. The new convention center—set to Conventional Wisdom, an Orlandobreak ground next year and pegged at Vegas CityCenter Plans Fleshed Out Plans for the CityCenter development under way on the Strip are becoming clearer. Anchoring the $8-billion project, which is slated to open in late 2009, next to the Bellagio, will be Aria Resort & Casino. Set to compete with its neighboring iconic properties, the Aria will have 3,436 guest rooms and 568 suites, with both room types featuring “technologies never before used in the hospitality industry,” according to an announcement of the property. The hotel also will feature 300,000 sf of meeting space spread over seven ballrooms and 31 other function areas. “Aria will be demonstrably different than any resort that has preceded it,” says Bill McBeath, the resort’s president and COO. “Even in a city such as Las Vegas, with its extraordinary history of dynamic cutting-edge development, Aria will introduce a new generation of resort experiences.” Among those will be several entertainment options. Aria will house an Elvis Presley-themed Cirque du Soleil collection. Just outside of Aria’s lobby doors will sit the Crystals, a 500,000-sf retail and entertainment district, as well as CityCenter’s $40-million collection of fine art. Meanwhile, Vdara, one of three non-gaming hotels in the complex—a joint venture between MGM Mirage and Dubai World—has announced that it is accepting reservations for corporate events and incentives starting in 2010. The property, with 1,495 guest rooms and suites, will have 10,000 sf of meeting space, including a 4,000-sf ballroom for up to 400 guests (as well as space for smaller events), three breakout rooms of 800 to 850 sf each, a 3,500-sf prefunction area, a pool and lounge area that can host up to 1,500 attendees, and a private dining room and a boardroom, both of which host up to 14 people. —Rayna Katz mimegasite.com JULY 2008 SUCCESSFUL MEETINGS 14 http://mimegasite.com

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Successful Meetings - July 2008 Contents Editor's Note Industry Trends Suppliers Newsmakers On the Record Technology Newsmakers Calendar Planner Spotlight Management Matters Meetings Law Websites of the Month Mouth for Sale Pre-Event On Site Tools of the Trade Pre-Event Initial Success Strong Medicine Risky Business Places & Spaces Birmingham Kentucky Georgia & the Carolinas Hong Kong Melbourne Gurus

Successful Meetings - July 2008

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