John Mayer played the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on Friday, March 5th. Above, flanked by Mallory O'Neill, Event Coordinator and John Mayer, Assistant General Manager for the Ford Center, Mayer is holding a gift of a locally made spur specifically from the Ford Center Collection.
 

Jeff Dunham, ventriloquist and stand-up comedian brought his Indentity Crisis comedy Tour to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for a sold out performance at  the U.S. Cellular Center, a VenuWorks-managed facility. (Left to Right)  Scott Schoenike, Executive Director of the U.S. Cellular Center, Jeff Dunham and Robin Tate, a Promoter specializing in comedy acts. 
 

Saints quarterback Drew Brees reigns as King of Bacchus at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.(Drew Brees photo courtesy of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau.)

This time of year, New Orleans is famous for two things—Mardi Gras and the New Orleans Saints, who won their first Super Bowl victory on February 7, 2010. Of course, all year round, the Big Easy is also famous for the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, which features 1.1 million square feet flexible exhibit space, a 4,000-seat theater, and 140 meeting rooms. This month all three came into play—Several Mardi Gras Carnival groups, known as “krewes,” reflected the city’s euphoria over the Saints win by featuring Saints owners, coaches and players in their parades, and in Saints-themed Carnival balls at the Convention Center. Saints star quarterback Drew Brees reigned as King of Bacchus, which paraded 30 Mardi Gras floats through the vast halls of the Convention Center.The Bacchus and Orpheus parades, held on the Sunday and Monday nights before Mardi Gras, traditionally roll along a five-mile stretch of downtown New Orleans streets, delighting hundreds of thousands of onlookers, before concluding their route inside of the Convention Center for an ‘exclusive’ party for 10,000 of the krewes’ closest friends. During the two-week Mardi Gras season, the Convention Center hosted nine Carnival celebrations, which attracted approximately 36,000 local and out-of-state revelers. “The Saints’ outstanding performance this season and their subsequent Super Bowl victory was an inspiration the entire nation, as well as the ‘Who Dat Nation’ (as Saints fans are collectively named),” said Bob Johnson, President/General Manager of the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. “Their road to excellence reflects the rise of our city, and we couldn’t be prouder of our hometown team.”

New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center President/General Manager Bob Johnson and his wife, Kathy Johnson, with The Vince Lombardi Trophy, which is awarded each year to the winning Super Bowl team.

Allstream Centre—Toronto’s newest Conference Center—was awarded the “Best of the Best” award in the category of Project Achievement given by the Toronto Construction Association during its 142nd “Annual Meeting and “Best of the Best” Award presentation.. The award, which honored VANBOTS Construction, is considered the most prestigious award in the Canadian construction Industry. It recognizes both good construction practices and for strong partnership with the client. The “Best of the Best” award is now the second award won by Allstream Centre since its opening in October 2009—the Ontario Building Envelope Council – which focuses on building exteriors –presented Allstream Centre with its an Award of Distinction for Design. Allstream Centre is located at Exhibition Place and features 20 meeting rooms, and the largest divisible, column-free, ballroom in Toronto (43,900 square feet).Formerly the Automotive Building, an extensive renovation transformed the 1920's Art Deco building into a purpose-built, environmentally friendly and sustainable, state-of-the-art conference centre.

We received this email in response to the Who’s News Item on David Ross, Director of the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri being named as the Recipient of the Charles A. McElravy Award  by the International Association of Assembly Managers, and thought it merited reprinting in FacBlog.

I have had the pleasure of having David Ross serve on the Advisory Council of the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau for more than 7 years now.  David is an invaluable resource.  There are so many things that he quietly does behind the scenes that very few people are ever aware of.  He has been a strong supporter and great friend of the Cape Girardeau Storytelling Festival from its inception.  I was thrilled to see that David had been named as the recipient of this prestigious international award.  He and his outstanding team at the Show Me Center do great work and have and continue to elevate the quality and variety of entertainment that is afforded to people from throughout the southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, northwest Tennessee and northeast Arkansas area.  Congratulations David!  Well-deserved recognition for a commensurate professional!

With kind regards,

Chuck

Chuck Martin
Executive Director
Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau
(573) 335-1631
www.visitcape.com    
www.capestorytelling.com