The New dmo

Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau

Expect big things

AT A GLANCE Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau services • Assistance with hotel and venue selection, RFP distribution, site tours, public relations, pre- promotion, discount programs, spouse and youth programs, and more

Convention facilities • The 2.1-million-square-foot Dallas Convention Center

Hotel rooms • 30,191 within Dallas and 76,094 in the Dallas–Plano–Irving metropolitan area

Finely tuned facility The Dallas Convention Center, which has been recognized as “The Best-Run Convention Center in America,” is now connected via skybridge to the new Omni Dallas Hotel and offers more than 2 million square feet of meeting space.

Cultural crux Dallas has an artsy side, too. The city is home to the largest urban arts district in the United States, as well as many highly rated museums, such as the new Perot Museum of Nature and Science.

The talented team at the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau makes meeting in the “Big D” a seamless and successful experience — for both planners and attendees. The bureau’s convention-services department assigns every planner a personal meeting concierge, who will be the key contact throughout the planning process. Before their meeting or event, planners can take advantage of site inspections and an RFP-distribution service offered by the bureau to help narrow down options; and during the event, attendees can take advantage of discount programs and spouse/youth programs to get the most out of their time in Dallas.

88 PCMA CONVENE APRIL 2013 Another way the bureau sets itself apart

is by offering customizable microsites as part of a citywide convention’s welcome package. Besides containing helpful information about the destination and convention for attendees, the microsites hide links to outside accom- modations, eliminating the temptation for attendees to book outside the room block. Planners also receive a discount coupon pro- gram for convention attendees and exhibi- tors. In addition, the Dallas CVB has recently partnered with bXb Online, a digital-event marketing agency, to accelerate the reach of physical events to online attendees all over the world.

With $15 billion in new developments, Dal-

las is where optimism meets opportunity. The city is already one of the most-visited destina- tions in Texas, which is no surprise consider- ing it’s home to the largest urban arts district in the country and the best shopping in the Southwest. Throw in more than 76,000 hotel rooms, a cutting-edge culinary scene, and 27 Fortune 500 companies based in the area, and planners have every destination asset checked off their list.

For more information: Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau — (214) 571-1000 or (800) 232-5527; dallasmeetings.com

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