|
For the second time, Carol Wallace, President and CEO of the San Diego
Convention Center Corporation, has been named to Tradeshow Week
Magazine’s "Power Pack 100," honoring 100 of America's most influential
leaders in the convention and tradeshow industry. Ms. Wallace is just
one of four public facility executives to make the list and is the only
female executive honored that manages a public facility, and the only
African-American. Tradeshow Week Magazine is the most respected
publication in the industry and included her on this prestigious list in
2002.
"Our city is fortunate to have Carol Wallace at the helm of its
world-class facility. She is an outstanding leader who is a credit to
her industry and our great city," said San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders.
As the first publicly managed convention center to be responsible for
its own sales and marketing efforts, her leadership and innovative
thinking garnered outstanding results for the City of San Diego. On
September 25, 2006, Tradeshow Week also named the San Diego Convention
Center the "busiest facility" in the region; hosting more shows than San
Francisco, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Jose and Portland.
During the fiscal year ending June 30, 2006, the San Diego Convention
Center booked a record-breaking 88 future conventions representing
1,066,297 hotel room nights. This is the highest number of future
events booked in a single year since the expansion opened in 2001. The
conventions are booked through 2020 and will attract a record number
632,160 out-of-town delegates. More importantly, the future business
translates into a projected $1.9 billion in regional economic impact and
$40.6 million in tax revenues for the city.
"Carol’s leadership, vision, integrity and expertise has helped make San
Diego, and the San Diego Convention Center, a top destination for
meetings and conventions and she continues to help shape the future of
this industry," said Kevin Tilden, San Diego Convention Center Board
Chair.
Ms. Wallace entered the convention industry in 1980 as an event
coordinator at the Dallas Convention Center and rose through the ranks
to become the facility's assistant general manager. In 1989, she became
executive director of the Colorado Convention Center which was then
under construction. She joined the construction team, developed a
management program and hired the staff in preparation of the opening of
this 960,000 sf facility in 1990. In December of 1991, she came to San
Diego and became president and CEO of the San Diego Convention Center
Corporation in 1996.
Ms. Wallace currently serves on the board of directors of the
International Association for Exhibition Management (IAEM). She is the
past president of the International Association of Assembly Managers
(IAAM), the world’s largest public assembly facility management
association. In 2004, the Charles A. McElravy Award, the highest honor
bestowed by IAAM, recognized Ms. Wallace for her exceptional leadership
and extraordinary career-long accomplishments. Her other professional
affiliations include Professional Convention Management Association
(PCMA), American Society of Association Executives (ASAE), and the
International Convention Center Association (ICCA), International
Association of Congress Centres (AIPC) and International Association for
Exhibition Management (IAEM).
|
