PICTURED (left to right):

-H. Scott Phelps, President of the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau;

-Paul O. Robertson, Chair of the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau;

-Dee Rowe, retired Men’s Basketball Head Coach at the University of Connecticut;

-Howie Dickenman, Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau’s Thomas J. Shortell Award recipient, and retired Men’s Basketball Head Coach at Central Connecticut State University;

-Roger Wierbicki of DATTCO, the event’s Chair and the Secretary of the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau; and

-David Polk, President and Executive Director of The First Tee of Connecticut.

    (Photo credit: Ben Jordan, Photo Images Co.)

 

At its 2016 Hospitality Industry Night, the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau (CTCSB) bestowed its Thomas J. Shortell Award to Howie Dickenman, the recently retired Men’s Basketball Head Coach at Central Connecticut State University. The CTCSB’s award is given to a Connecticut resident who has had a long-term successful sports career. The Thomas J. Shortell Award was presented to Dickenman by another Connecticut sports great, retired UConn Men’s Basketball Head Coach Dee Rowe.

 

More than 100 Connecticut hospitality industry (tourism, meetings & sports events) professionals from across the state gathered at The First Tee of Connecticut in Cromwell for the CTCSB’s annual networking event that showcases the value of the tourism, and convention and sports events business on the State’s economy. Attendees participated in putting and virtual long drive competitions, and a variety of Silent Auctions. They enjoyed tastings from Back East Brewing Company and Brockmans Gin, and refreshments from Ted’s Montana Grill – Hartford.

 

“Howie Dickenman has spent 40 years as one of our state’s greatest basketball coaches,” noted CTCSB President H. Scott Phelps. “He began his coaching career at New Britain High School, later worked at the University of Connecticut for many years, and spent the past two decades at Central Connecticut State University where he retired as Head Coach at the end of last season.”

 

Working in partnership with the state’s businesses, institutions, nonprofit organizations, and their surrounding communities, the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau (CTCSB) markets all of the state – convention and meeting venues, hotels and attractions, and sporting venues – as a premier destination for international, national, regional and statewide conferences, conventions and major sports events. In the last fiscal year alone, CTCSB business resulted in more than $61.6 million spent by convention, meeting and sports events attendees during their visits to the state, generating more than $4.7 million in Connecticut taxes. Over 22,500 Connecticut jobs in the hospitality industry were supported by these events as a result of these bookings.*

 

For more information about the Connecticut Convention & Sports Bureau, visit www.CTmeetings.org or call 860-728-6789.

 

*DMAI economic calculator FY 2015-2016.