"Attendees to meetings, conventions and sports events in Connecticut generate millions of dollars in revenue annually for our local economy by staying at hotels, dining in restaurants, visiting leisure attractions, shopping at retail establishments, and their meeting planners contract for a variety of local services necessary to running a successful event," explains Michael Van Parys, President of the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau. "We place tremendous value on the initiative and support of area business and organizational leaders who contact their colleagues and association members within their industries, societies and professions to promote Connecticut as a future meeting destination."
The Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau invites its members and friends to nominate a Connecticut resident to be considered as an honoree. Qualified nominees must: 1) reside in Connecticut; and 2) have played a significant role in bringing an event to a Connecticut venue. All nominated events must have taken place between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2013. Past honorees are not eligible to win.
The 2014 "Bring It Home Award" honorees will be recognized by the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau at the Connecticut Tourism Conference on April 24 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford.
The deadline to submit nominations is Saturday, March 15, 2014. Nominations must be emailed Susan Henrique at susanh@ctcsb.org and include the following information: • Nominee's full name and title; • Nominee's mailing address, city and state; • Name of the organization, association, or corporation hosting the meeting/event; • Official name of the meeting/event that the nominee helped to secure in Connecticut; • Date(s) of meeting/event (must have occurred January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013); • Number of attendees at the event; • Primary meeting venue for the event; • Primary host hotel for the event; • Supporting information regarding the nomination (can include names of unique venues or attractions also used, group history, unique information about the booking process, and any other details which will strengthen the nomination); • Name of person submitting the nomination; • Business of person submitting the nomination; • Phone number of person submitting the nomination; and • Email address of person submitting the nomination.
The Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau's 2013 "Bring It Home Award" honorees were:
• East Hartford resident Rosalind Coltherst-Smallhorne, for bringing the Southern New England Church of God's "Annual Women's Conference" to the Stamford Marriott Hotel & Spa since 2009;
• New London resident Kenneth Edwards, Jr., for bringing the upcoming 8th annual Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) International Conference to the Connecticut Convention Center in October 2013;
• Shelton resident David Kelly, for bringing Spectrum Plastics Group's National Sales Meetings and Leadership Meetings to the Holiday Inn Bridgeport since 2011;
• Cheshire resident Harold Kramer, for bringing the upcoming American Radio Relay League's Centennial Convention to the Connecticut Convention Center in July 2014;
• East Hartford resident Gladys Rivera, for bringing the 2012 the Fuel Cell Seminar & Energy Exposition to Mohegan Sun in November 2012; and
• South Windsor resident John Shemo, for bringing the Northeastern Economic Developers Association's 56th Annual Conference to the Marriott Hartford Downtown in October 2012.
The Connecticut Convention & Visitors Bureau (CTCSB) works in partnership with the state's businesses, institutions, nonprofit organizations, and surrounding communities to market all of Connecticut - all convention and meeting venues, hotels and attractions, and sporting venues - as a premier destination for international, national, regional and statewide conventions. The Connecticut Sports Convention Advisory Board, a division of the CTCSB, focuses its efforts on attracting and serving international, national and regional sporting events. For more information, visit www.ctmeetings.org or call 860-728-6789.