In your company, are you responsible for booking venues, facilities, restaurants and organizing transportation for meetings and events?
Take a Break
Leisure and Entertainment
Houston’s kaleidoscope of diversity reveals itself in the city’s vast leisure options. The city’s vibrant character generates a full calendar of events and activities designed to celebrate the cultural differences of visitors from around the world. Houston truly is an international city with all the expected entertainment options.

Houston athletics
Houston is well-known for mixing business with pleasure. Three modern venues make watching Houston sports more comfortable than ever.

For football fans, Reliant Stadium raises the bar as the first NFL stadium equipped with a retractable roof. Home to the Houston Texans, who played their first season in 2002, Reliant Stadium can seat 72,000 fans. The state-of-art facility was a huge factor in bringing Super Bowl XXXVIII to Houston in 2004.

Equally impressive is Minute Maid Park, home to the Houston Astros. The Astros’ 2005 ad campaign rallied locals to “root for the good guys,” which was an easy task as the Astros made their first trip the World Series in franchise history. Minute Maid Park, home to the Houston Astros baseball team since 2000, is one of Houston’s stadiums that combines the high technology of a retractable roof with the history of the railroad’s importance to Houston. Fans enter Minute Maid Park through Union Station, which features a replica of a 19th-century train (circa 1860) running along the low roof track on the ballpark’s west side.

The Toyota Center is Houston’s newest sports arena. This state-of-the-art facility in downtown Houston is home to the National Basketball Association Houston Rockets, the Women’s National Basketball Association Houston Comets and the 2003 American Hockey League champion Houston Aeros.

The newest team to call Houston home has achieved enormous success. Major League Soccer’s (MLS) Houston Dynamo signed a three-year contract with the University of Houston to play in Robertson Stadium, and the season began in April 2006. In November 2006 and again in 2007, the Houston Dynamo celebrated its’ success by winning the Major League Soccer title, beating the New England Revolution for the MLS cup.

Performing Arts
Houston is one of a handful of cities in the United States boasting major symphony, ballet, opera and theater companies that enjoy worldwide acclaim. Houston’s performing arts companies and venues provide hours of entertainment and business opportunities as well. Consider the company that served as host to a “Phantom of the Opera” pre-theater party held at the Wortham Theater. The company designed custom invitations for clients, created a welcome banner to match the theme, and at the pre-production cocktail party, cast members circulated through the audience performing and signing autographs. For those who enjoy the theater, that is a night they will never forget.

A sampling of theater opportunities includes Houston Grand Opera, the only opera in the country to win two Grammy awards, a Tony and two Emmy awards and the Tony Award-winning Alley Theatre, which produces original works. In the summer, the Houston Symphony may be found at its summer home in The Woodlands. The Hobby Center is the home of Theater Under the Stars and the Broadway In Houston Series. The Grand 1894 Opera House in Galveston is a dynamite place to hold an evening event with dinner on the stage. A bevy of other performing arts groups provide year-round entertainment.

Museums
A feast for the eyes, art lovers can take advantage of a full complement of art museums and critically acclaimed galleries within the Houston Museum District, which draws almost 6 million visitors annually. The District, which lies on the new METRORail line between Reliant Park and downtown, is home to a range of museums, galleries, and art and cultural institutions, including the city’s major museums.

From Houston’s funky Art Car Museum to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the city offers just about every kind of exhibit – serious and fun – for the local or visiting sight-seer. Attractions such as Moody Gardens in Galveston, Space Center Houston and Gulf Greyhound Park also provide excellent networking opportunities for co-workers and business acquaintances. And don’t forget the city’s tree-lined parks, nature centers, lakes and sports facilities for soccer, skating, swimming and virtually every other kind of activity.

Shopping
For those who love to shop, Houston offers some of the best choices in the world. Malls, shopping centers, resort-centered retail properties and outlets grace almost every street corner. The selection of specialty items and accessories is unbeatable. There are also swap meets and farmer’s markets located throughout the city to visit.

Outdoor Recreation
Ideal outdoor temperatures make taking advantage of the outdoors easy. From a leisurely walk to adventure sports, Houston has the facilities to accommodate any recreational desire. Traditional activities such as fishing, golfing, swimming, camping and sightseeing tours can be found at varies locations throughout the area. The region boasts more than 135 golf courses and visitors and locals alike can be seen practicing their best Tiger Woods impression every day.

1
2
Submit an Article
If you have expertise in a particular area relevant to planning meetings and or events, you may submit a 400 to 750 word "how-to" article for possible inclusion in any of our magazines and/or our websites.

If accepted, your submission will be edited for length and clarity. There is no monetary payment if your item is used; instead, you can publicize yourself through a five-line biography with your contact information that will appear at the end of the article.

Send submissions to
editorial@MeetingPlannerResources.org. We will contact you if your submission is chosen.