Peer Review

Not only does Houston have a great convention center, including plenty of exhibit space, ballroom space, but the general assembly theater which can hold over 3,000 people, but Houston is a very diverse city with different cultures. We also like the easy access to Bush Intercontinental Airport.

In addition to the George Brown Convention Center, we hosted an event at The Galleria, but took 900 youth to the Astrodome for a day's outing.

I recommend that attendees visit The Galleria, Astrodome, the Children's Museum of Houston, the Holocaust Museum and to go see an Astros' game.

Convention Services Houston rates a 9 on a scale of 1 – 10.

One of my favorite places to eat is Pappadeaux or one of the many Mexican restaurants, What surprised me about Houston was the misconception that Houston was so large in size that it would not be manageable for us if we held our convention there. We hosted our convention in Houston and I found that getting our attendees around was not difficult, even using Galleria properties for our youth. We shuttled them in with no problem.

I also found that Houston has a wealth of vendors that would work with us such things as putting a rodeo on for our attendees at one of the hotels, to having a BBQ for our staff upon arrival, to having great musicians we which also utilized.

Houston is the fourth largest city in the United States but has a small foot print downtown so getting around the restaurants is very fast/easy and cost effective with the public light rail transportation.

Texas has a high number of potential attendees so accessibility to Houston aids in maintaining lower travel costs to attend our event. Our event is in February/March so the climate in Houston provided us with ideal opportunities to spend some time outside. Our members were able to conduct business during the day and enjoy the city in the evening. NACS is continuously looking for ways to provide the best meeting place and value for our members.

We used the GRB convention center for our tradeshow and conference because the space is convenient to our entire hotel room block. It was easy and safe for our attendees to walk to the convention center only a few short blocks away from any of the hotels in our block.

The Hilton Americas is attached to the GRB. It's a beautiful property with plenty of meeting room space on the same level as the meeting room space we utilized in the George R. Brown.

The last time Houston hosted CAMEX we enjoyed the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo. The concert, special events, shopping, and carnival provided a great deal and variety of entertainment at one venue. Other attractions that were interesting were the Downtown Aquarium, Minute Maid Park and the Toyota Center. Our exhibitors enjoyed entertaining our attendees at many fine restaurants with private dinners and receptions.

The customer service in Houston was great! The staff at the CVB, George R. Brown Convention Center, Hilton, Hyatt, Four Seasons, Courtyard, Residence Inn, and Doubletree was very responsive, friendly, accommodating, and pleasant. All of our requests were handled promptly and in a friendly manner.

There are numerous great places to dine in Houston. There was a good variety of types of food from fabulous steaks, seafood, Italian to spicy Mexican food. We enjoyed Vic and Anthony's, Zula, Massa's Seafood, Mingalone as well as Irma's Restaurant while we were there.

Houston has a "new" look, there's lots of construction - out with the old and in with the new. I am There are numerous museums and cultural attractions for attendees.

The city was well received by my meeting and everyone from the CVB and the George R. Brown were extremely cooperative, helpful and friendly. Additionally, there is a large variety of restaurants and venues for attendees and exhibitors to host events. Our experience was terrific!

My favorite places to hold a meeting in Houston are The GRB, The Corinthian and the Hilton Americas-Houston.

I recommend that our attendees visit The Downtown Aquarium, The Galleria, Minute Maid Park, the Mid-Town area which is right next to downtown.

My favorite places to eat are Vic & Anthony's, Goode Co. BBQ, Spencer's, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse, Cyclone Anaya's, Original Ninfa's.

ISA has enjoyed a long a successful partnership with Houston and the Reliant Center. The Reliant Park complex provides the perfect venue for the society's annual conference and exhibition, ISA EXPO.

The straightforward layout, abundant and flexible exhibition and meeting space, functional loading and unloading facilities, and acres of parking accommodate our entire program in one easy to access location.

The Reliant Park staff is professional and provides exceptional service to event management, exhibitors, and attendees alike. Houston offers a variety of entertainment, sporting and dining options that are enjoyed by ISA EXPO attendees and exhibitors.

Even though it's one of the world's largest cities, many of Houston's neighborhoods feel cozy and intimate, with interesting boutique hotels, shops and coffee shops. Our 7,000-plus member librarians and exhibitors love coming to Houston!

Texas librarians and exhibitors love Houston because of the vast array of hotels, restaurants and fun activities within walking distance of the convention center.

The George R. Brown Convention Center is one of the finest facilities of its kind in the nation. The Hilton Americas, Hyatt Regency, and other downtown hotel properties are attractive, modern venues with great meeting space and enthusiastic customer service.

When hosting our meeting, the Houston Public Library is always high on our list! Our members also enjoy the Houston Aquarium, The Galleria, and the fabulous art and science museums.

Texas Library Association staff members have great respect for Houston's hospitality industry. I've been holding meetings in Houston for 20 years, and every one has been distinguished by professional service. It's a pleasure doing business in Houston!

I love the new Discovery Green downtown park and can't wait to experience it again when we host the TLA convention in Houston this May. Our members and exhibitors appreciate the diverse dining opportunities, great food, and quality service that is typical of restaurants and nightclubs in Houston.

If you are a meeting planner and haven't been to Houston in a while, you owe it to both yourself and your attendees to visit there. It is a first-class venue that just keeps getting better. With its superb convention center, great hotels, and myriad of networking-friendly entertainment options, Houston is custom-made for conducting business.

We picked Houston because it is the perfect blend of two things our exhibitors and attendees asked for. First, they wanted a place where they could see new product and place orders early, without having to worry about winter-time travel problems.

Because of its warm climate, traveling to and from Houston in January is a breeze. Second, while the city has numerous first-class restaurants and entertainment venues, it is not burdened with the unnecessary distractions that lead to poor show attendance and slow business.

Of course, having the right city is only half the battle; the convention center has to be right, too. The GRB is a great place to have an event. When you walk in, it doesn't feel institutional or like a warehouse, and that helps keep the exhibitors and attendees in a positive state of mind. And the location, near hotels and restaurants, is hard to beat. We have also had great luck with the GRB's staff− they are always on the ball.

One of the best features of the center's show floor is that it is long across the front and relatively shallow, rather than being short across the front and deep. That means no exhibitor will feel like they are crammed in the back. It's really a great, modern, beautiful venue.

Having Discovery Green, which is an amazing park and entertainment district, directly across the street is also a big plus. Moreover, the nearby hotels, including the adjoining Hilton Americas, provide yet another layer of meeting space, dining options, and networking zones for us to work with.

While our meeting does have some educational aspects, it primary purpose is to provide an opportunity for manufacturers to show and sell their product to buyers. It is very much a “working” show. Accordingly, it has very specific requirements in terms of its timing. Our attendees are Halloween product, costume, and party-supplies buyers from retail stores across the country, from the biggest chains, down to the smallest Mom-and-Pops. Because so many of our exhibitors are manufacturing or sourcing their products in Asia, it is critical that they take orders early in the year−preferably in January− so that they can get everything made, loaded on ships, and in the stores by the Halloween season (early September at the latest). So we need a venue that is:

Because of the working nature of our meeting, we like to direct our attendees and exhibitors to restaurants and entertainment in the downtown area as much as possible. Thankfully, that just keeps getting easier and easier as more places open in the convention-center district. But we also provide them with plenty of information about other shopping and attractions. The museums, The Galleria, and NASA are certainly popular.

Last year was the first time we held our event, and Houston was willing to take a chance on us. Our meeting was an overwhelming success; but it never would have gotten off the ground without Houston's faith, support, and open-mindedness. We couldn't ask for more than that.

As one of the meeting's organizers, I was inside the GRB most all day everyday. But when I did leave, I enjoyed walking around Discovery Green. The drinks at the Four Seasons' weren't bad, either.

I grew up in Texas, still live here, and have a lot of friends in Houston. So I wasn't surprised by what I found; instead, I was proud to see what a nice job the city has done with the convention-center area specifically, and with downtown in general.

Anyone who has not been to Houston and the GRB in the last five years needs to plan a trip. Downtown Houston has taken on new life and the GRB sparkles like it was brand new. The building works well for the meeting participants and the meeting planner. The people of Houston obviously take pride in their city and work to make it a great destination. The downtown area provides a safe environment for exploring the city. The taxi deals were fantastic.

My favorite part of the GRB is the staff. Anyone can create a beautiful, well constructed building. It is the people who make the difference. The emphasis on service and excellence. The line between the center and the vendors is non-existent. You never realize that Aramark and Freeman AV/Decorators are not GRB staff until you pay the bills.

Shannon Vrba is an outstanding sales person. She represents the facility beautifully BUT most important she doesn't disappear after the contract is signed. She maintains contact from start to finish. John Gonzales is one of the best if not the best event manager that I have ever had the opportunity to work with. He not only responded to our stated needs, he anticipated things we didn't. The staff takes great pride in the facility and the city. They make you want to come back.

Our meeting is very scheduled and participants have very little time to do extra things. It is critical that they have all of their needs met in or close to the facilities we are using. We also have at some who have mobility issues and must have ease in navigating the area. The GRB and the surrounding area were perfect for our participants.

Houston is a great place for a meeting. The Convention and Visitors Bureau has done a beautiful job of developing resources so that visitors know everything that is offered for their entertainment and education. The sales staff does an excellent job of presenting the city to prospective meetings. The services division is visible and helpful throughout the meeting - we never felt deserted. Houston offers not only a superb convention center but also a good mix of activities both cultural and recreational for any group.

As far as dining, we had a great sampling of restaurants in the area and enjoyed each of them. So many great choices and so little time. We went to the Toyota Center, it was phenomenal.

The development around the convention center and the ease in getting around the city was great. We were all surprised by the cultural offerings. Houston for years just seemed like a big, personality-less oil city - it has transformed itself into a great destination.

Even though Houston is considered a large market city, you truly feel that you are the only customer on the planet. Their attention to you as a client is bar none. They always make you feel welcome. As a show organizer, if you are assessing launching a show in the South/southwest region Houston NEEDS to be considered...

Houston is a perfect location for our event because of its proximity to a large network of primary care physicians. It has one of the largest representations of physicians within a 250-mile radius in the southwest region. Since the inception of the program in 2005, we have experienced favorable growth patterns on a year over year (YOY) basis.

The George R. Brown is a perfect facility to host this type of event because of its breadth of convertible and scalable meeting room space. The support team in place at the GRB is top notch. The downtown area that the facility is situated in has gone through a tremendous urban redevelopment, leaving the facility within walking distance of major sporting venues, an overabundance of dining options (both upscale and casual) and just steps to some of the finest parks and recreation we have ever witnessed with a city at Houston's size. In fact, our overall experience with Houston and the GRB has led us to expand our programs in Houston to three!

I truly believe that a show and show organizer is only as good as the vendors and partners you surround yourself with. The GRB's service levels from Sales – Account Services – Site Services is consistently one of the best we work with among our seven large events. The team in place at the GRB has little to no turnover which says a lot about the facility. The account executive (Veronica McClelland) and our sales contact (Beverly Peterson) have been with us since the start of the program in 2005 and are by far our favorites to work with.

Our program is very unique because it takes up so much meeting space. We have four major tracks with 500-3000 attendees that are held concurrently. The amount of available CME at the show that we are able to provide is made possible because of the size and scalability the facility has to offer.

I recommend our attendees visit Minute Maid Park, The Galleria and a number of local restaurants that have traditional Mexican cuisine.

From a convention services standpoint among large market cities, I would rate Houston the best host city by far.

My favorite places to visit in Houston are Minute Maid Park, The Galleria and The Original Mama Ninfa's.

As marathon RD, I don't put on a meeting; I oversee a meet -- or rather, a day of road races. I have been to many, many other road races around the country, and I must say that Houston stands above the crowd in large part because of the GRB.

No one -- I repeat, no one -- has a facility like the GRB. Our runners can warm up inside the GRB before they step out to run the streets of Houston in whatever conditions may be out there -- from 70-degree heat to 28-degree ice storms -- and then step foot back inside immediately after crossing the finish line.

Most road races are completely outdoors, and the runners are at the mercy of the weather from the moment they arrive until the moment they leave. Furthermore, the GRB personnel have been great to work with. It really helps to have someone who understands just what we runners need. Joey and Anita are terrific!