Huntsville, Alabama recently met with Facilitiesonline and it was such a nice day we went to the park. Charles Winters, Executive Vice President, and Judy Ryals, President/CEO, Huntsville/Madison County Convention & Visitors Bureau, had a lot to promote, especially the Von Braun Center, a convention/ meeting/trade show & entertainment complex that features the state-of-the-art South Hall, with more than 100,000 square feet of continuous space and 82,000 feet of column-free exhibit space, and a 20,000+ -square-foot lobby and pre function area. The venue’s North Hall and East/West Hall provide an additional 50,000+ of flexible exhibit, meeting, and banquet space. In addition, the Von Braun Center is a multi-purpose entertainment venue with a 10,000-seat Arena, 2,153-seat Concert Hall and a 502-seat Playhouse Theatre. There are more than 6,000 hotel rooms city-wide, with 2,000 within close proximity to the Von Braun center. The Huntsville International Airport has annual passenger boardings in excess of 1,000,000, has direct flights to 10 American cities daily, is only 12 miles from the Von Braun and its Downtown Huntsville dining and entertainment district. Most Huntsville area hotels offer complimentary shuttle van service and the CVB itself offers a wide range of services complimentary with meeting bookings. “We’re trying to make the best kept secret in the South not so secret,” said Ryals. “We’re approximately 25 percent less expensive than comparable destinations, have a state of the art convention center and world class hotels with more coming online very soon.”