Previous Page
plenary George W. Bush Institute + Slow Ideas
CONVENE ON SITE Powering Up at the Bush Center in Dallas W
hen PCMA held its first-ever Empowered Professionals: Leadership Efficacy Think
Tank this past May, it was at the ulti- mate power spot — the just-opened George W. Bush Institute at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dal- las. One week earlier, the center was dedicated at events attended by five living U.S. presidents — Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, and Jimmy Carter — along with First Ladies Michelle Obama, Laura Bush, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, and Rosalynn Carter, and heads of state from eight countries. The institute rolled out the red
carpet for the more than two dozen meeting professionals who attended PCMA’s think tank — its Hall of State ballroom features eye-popping scarlet- colored carpet. During two days of sessions, consultant Joanne L. Smikle
32 PCMA CONVENE SEPTEMBER 2013
guided a deep dive into strategies that support career development. Seeing yourself as a leader is important to advancement, Smikle told partici- pants, and that mindset was aided by the institute’s comfortably dignified environment, where networking breakfasts and lunches were served in a foyer adorned with portraits of power brokers. Additional space includes a 360-seat auditorium, smaller meet- ing rooms, an outdoor courtyard, and Freedom Hall, which features a 20-foot-high, 360-degree, LED-video wall. Private receptions and events can also be held at the center’s airy Café 43, where Laura Bush oversaw the creation of the menus. Situated on a corner of Southern
Methodist University’s campus, the facility was built to achieve LEED Platinum certification, and has received praise as much for its landscape design
as for its architecture. French doors line one side of the ballroom, and open onto a limestone terrace overlooking a 15-acre prairie park, filled with wild- flowers and native grasses and trees, including some transplanted from the Bush ranch in Crawford, Texas. Workshop participants shuttled
from the Bush Center to the unstuffy luxury of the 196-room Hotel Palomar Dallas nearby. After an outdoor recep- tion at the Palomar, participants dined at downtown’s Meso Mayo, where the menu fuses Mexican and Mayan dishes, and features adventurous cocktails such as avocado margaritas and mango sangria. It’s a quick drive from the SMU cam-
pus to downtown, and our route took us by Klyde Warren Park, a five-acre park built over an eight-lane freeway. Klyde Warren links the city’s Uptown district, filled with restaurants and