Texas Conventions

The state of Texas has some of the most prestigious and accommodating conventions.

Texas is the constituent state of the United States of America, lying in the southcentral United States. It is bounded on the north by Oklahoma, on the east by Arkansas and Louisiana, on the southeast by the Gulf of Mexico, on the southwest by Mexico, and on the west by New Mexico. Texas is the largest of the U.S. states besides Alaska. It is both diverse in population and rich in natural resources.

Being the capital of Texas, Austin has one of the nicest convention centers. "There's a freedom you begin to feel the closer you get to Austin...it's a great place to live." -Willie Nelson. The Austin Convention Center has a convention and meeting planning team.

The planning team will:

* Assist you with the invitation or bidding process to bring your professional organization to Austin for a meeting.

* Relay your detailed meeting information within 24 hours to the hotel community requesting them to submit rates, dates and other meeting information directly to you by your deadline; this 'one-stop shopping' saves you from tracking down the right salesperson at all hotels and repeating the same detailed information over and over again.

* Inform you of availability of the hotel rooms in the city for any given dates by consulting our convention and meeting calendar.

* Provide you with the convention services, such as brochures and visitor guides for your attendees.

* Help with housing and registration.

* Help you access suppliers for a number of meeting-related services.

* Attendance boosters.

(www.askjeeves.com "conventions")

The current Austin Convention Center should double in size from 411,000 to 881,400 total square feet. During the first seven years, from 1992 to 1999, over 2.4 million people attended over 1,220 events, including 135

public consumer shows, 256 conventions, 514 conferences, meetings, and seminars, 57 business trade shows, and 209 food and beverage-only events. Over 50% of the events have represented repeat business since the second full year of operation which shows that people like the convention center. The Austin Convention Center received near-perfect marks in the 1998-1999 Fiscal Year Client Evaluation Surveys. It scored an overall rating of 4.52 when the highest to be received is 5 points. 97% of clients said they would definitely reschedule another event at the Austin Convention Center. During the last fiscal year (1997-1998), 36 conventions had a direct dollar impact of over $95 million to the city of Austin. (Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau).

The Bayfront Plaza Convention Center & Selena Auditorium on Shoreline Blvd. in Corpus Christi, Texas is another major convention center. It has 200,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space. The exhibit hall can accommodate 385 10'x10' booths. It also has a beautiful 27,000 square foot ballroom and acoustically superior 2,526 seat auditorium with a built-in sound system. It has plenty of free parking, although covered parking is

available for a charge. The convention center also has eight loading docks, three freight elevators, and excellent kitchen facilities.

Galveston Island offers meeting planners a variety of meeting space, a wonderful selection of top resort hotels, and unique event locations and plenty of activities to keep busy. Galveston's size offers meeting planners the convenience of a small town, with nothing further than fifteen minutes away, and wonderful dining and entertainment. The Galveston Island Convention Center on Hope Blvd. At Moody Gardens offers functional and adaptable meeting spaces for any size group Botanical dйcor with views of the waterfront, gardens, fountains and the pyramids of Moody Gardens set the mood for a memorable meeting or event. The convention center is designed to accommodate any gathering from conferences to trade shows. It has eleven fully equipped meeting rooms with movable acoustic walls in 9,500 square feet of flexible space. It also has a pre-function area ideal for receptions and before-or-after meeting functions. The 37,500 square foot exhibit hall offers stadium

seating which can accommodate up to 4,100 guests.

Another major convention center in Texas is the Arlington Convention Center located on North 1st in Abilene. It is designed to meet the needs of conventions and trade shows in addition to meetings and special events. The center currently has 48,600 square feet of column-free exhibit space that can be divided into four halls complete with utilities. Another 8,500 square feet is available and can be divided into 12 rooms for smaller meetings. The public areas have concession stands and a built-in box office to allow even more flexibility and convenience. It also has an in-house caterer professionally staffed to serve up to 2,800 people. A new 66,000 square foot expansion has been added to the convention center. Opened in June of 1999 the new multi-purpose Grand Hall features 30,000 square feet of formal, divisible banquet space, 7000 square feet of pre-function space, a full service kitchen, and 6,000 square feet of outdoor terrace overlooking The Ballpark in Arlington.

Another meeting facility in Abilene is The Civic Center. It features a large auditorium with 2,200 plush continental seats, complete with stage and lighting

facilities. The 9,000 square foot foyer can serve as a reception or registration center, a 400 seat banquet hall, or an exhibit hall. The 20,000 square foot exhibit hall accommodates up to 2,000 people for meetings or banquets. The Conference Center seats 1,000 for a banquet, or it can be divided into four smaller meeting rooms. There are eight additional meeting rooms and a VIP room complementing this complete meeting and cultural complex.

A different kind of meeting facility, the Taylor County Exposition Center, is also located in Abilene. The Expo Center's coliseum has a 27,000 square foot exhibit area and 5,100 permanent seats giving the center 7,500 total seats possible. The horse barn has a 24,000 square foot arena and 1,800 seats making the arena one of the finest in the United States. Surrounding the horse barn are 800 covered horse stalls containing wash rack areas. Other exhibit buildings offer a combined seating for only up to