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  

Luther Villagomez, General Manager of the George R. Brown Convention Center, along with other Houston officials, came to New York City to see the Houston Symphony Orchestra perform at Carnegie Hall tonight. Villagomez had lunch with Michael Caffin, Associate Publisher of the Facilities Media Group, when he photographed the G.M. reading the latest issue of Facilities & Destinations Planner Guide—with an advertisement by a certain Texas Convention Center on the back cover. Located in the heart of downtown Houston and across the street from the lush 12-acre Discovery Green park, the George R. Brown features 1,200,000 sq. ft. of exhibition, meeting and registration space, including 639,000 contiguous sq. ft. on five street-level exhibit halls. The George  R. Brown will host the International Association of Assembly Managers for the  85th IAAM Annual Conference & Trade Show, July 23-27.

Kristin Adderson, Marketing Manager for the Hilton Washington and Capital Hilton, two flagship Hilton properties in Washington D.C., came up to New York to meet with FacBlog and talk about the exciting hotel renovations affecting meetings in our nation’s capital.  The first renovation to come on line will be at the 1,070-room Hilton Washington, which is finishing a massive, $140-million renovation that improved existing meeting space, and created new meeting space, such as the new multi-purpose, Terrace-Level, 30,000-square-foot ballroom, Columbia Hall, whose perimeter is aligned with seven Terrace Meeting Suites that serve as quasi feeder rooms to the Columbia space. On the Lobby Level is the new Heights Executive Meeting Center, featuring nine, state-of-the-art, Executive Meeting Rooms. The meeting-centric makeover for the hotel will have a full unveiling in conjunction with the ASAE & the Center’s Springtime Expo in May, when the Hilton Washington will host the 2010 PCMA Foundation Annual Dinner. “The D.C. meetings market is not suffering from the downturn to the same extent as other regions,” said Adderson. “We redesigned so we could increase our flexibility accommodate more types of meetings and events. The difference is we listened to meeting planners. We invited their feedback and worked with them at the planning stage so we can have space that meets their needs.”



 

Lady Gaga brought her ‘Monster Ball’ to Joe Louis Arena for two sold-out Monster Shows Detroit shows in January. The Monster Ball Tour is the second concert tour by Lady Gaga to promote her second studio album, The Fame Monster.

Last year, Lady Gaga was nominated for a total of nine awards at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards , winning three, she received Billboard magazine's Rising Star of 2009 award, and has sold an estimated eight million albums and 35 million singles digitally worldwide. Although Lady Gaga has cancalled a few apperances folling the Detroit shows, Lady Gaga was still scheduled for gigs at Radio City Music Hall later in the month, before heading overseas to unleash the Monster Ball on Europe.

Lady Gaga kept her "Poker Face" when presented with a personalized Detroit Red Wings jersey. (left to right) Rick Franks with Live Nation, Gaga, Sarah Zawalski, Director of Booking, Olympia Entertainment, and Tim Padgett, Vice President and General Manager of Joe Louis Arena and Cobo Arena.

Photography by Olympia Entertainment (Trever Long).