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Hurricane Ike, the third most destructive hurricane to ever hit the United States caused an estimated $31 Billion in damages, with Texas carrying the brunt of the storm. Although the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston was used as an American Red Cross evacuee transfer center for 10 days after the Hurricane—which touched down in Texas on September 13th—by early October, the venue was up and running and hosting a major event sponsored by the Geological Society of America.

Melissa Cummiskey, Director of Meetings, Geological Society of America, made the unusual decision to visit the George R. Brown a week before the October meeting, “We came down to Houston a week before our show to see everything,” said Cummiskey. “I wouldn’t normally do that, make a site visit so late, but I wanted to make sure that our hotels and the center were OK.

Cummiskey was impressed with the city’s recovery and the show went on as planned. Approximately 10,000 scientists attended the event, held during the first week of October, in what was called the first-ever Joint Annual Meeting of seven scientific societies— Geological Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy,Crop Science Society of America,  Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies,  Gulf Coast Section of the Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, and the Houston Geological Society, the host association for the event. 

“We were really reassured to see how well Houston recovered from the storm and how the city team pulled together to work on our event,” said Cummiskey.

“The GRB and all of downtown Houston are fully operational and we are experiencing no glitches whatsoever,” said Luther Villagomez, General Manager, of the George R. Brown. 

Although the Ike was a severe weather event, the city’s meetings and conventions business is now back in strength through October and beyond. “We are excited that we have two more big shows: the Society of Naval Engineers and the Society of American Travel Writers,” Villagomez added. “Plus, our biggest show, the granddaddy of them all, the International Quilts Market and Festival, will be here later this month.”

Coinciding with those conventions, Villagomez noted, is the long-anticipated opening of the first phase of the Houston Pavilions Complex , a new retail, dining and entertainment district that includes House of Blues and McCormick & Schmick’s Seafood Restaurant,  further enhancing the Texas city’s destination appeal.  “Houston Pavilions is just four blocks from the GRB,” Villagomez said. “This is an exciting new attraction for Houston.”