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Beaumont CVB Meeting Planners
The Beaumont Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) hosted its 31st Annual Hall of Fame Reception at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Suites Beaumont Plaza on Feb. 7. The event recognizes and honors the meeting planners who chose Beaumont as their host city for conferences, sporting events, and reunions during the previous year.
Also each year, the Beaumont CVB presents their Service Award, which goes to an individual in the community who has shown extreme dedication to enhancing tourism in Beaumont. Two winners were honored - Athena Mathews and Issacc Mouton.
Mathews is the catering sales manager at the MCM Eleganté and received the award for her dedication to meeting and convention sales and her continuous support of the Beaumont CVB. Mathews has been with the MCM Eleganté for over 12 years and has contributed to the Beaumont CVB by assisting with site visits to her facility for meeting planners and constantly doing whatever she can to support efforts to make Beaumont a desirable destination for both the convention and leisure market.
“Athena goes above and beyond,” said Beaumont CVB Director of Sales, Freddie Willard. “Every site visit, every request, Athena makes sure that each group has the best possible experience when meeting in Beaumont.”
Mouton received his award for his dedication to tourism in Beaumont. Founder of Spindletop Cruisers, a member of the Beaumont CVB Localist Program, and a dedicated volunteer and community member, Mouton represents the City of Beaumont and its community outreach initiatives.
“We are so lucky to have Issacc Mouton as a member of our community,” said Beaumont CVB Director of Marketing, Christina Lokey. “He continuously supports Beaumont CVB programming efforts and events and is constantly working to make Beaumont a better place to live and visit.”
In addition to the Service Award, the Beaumont CVB presented Morgan Walker, president of the Southeast Texas Baseball Academy, with the Meeting Planner of the Year Award, for bringing over 25 tournaments to Beaumont and thousands of teams in 2022.
Brenda White received the Volunteer of the Year Award for her dedication to volunteerism with the Beaumont CVB.
The new Leadership Award was given to both Ryan Smith and Troy Gray for their dedication to the tourism industry. Ryan, the former director of the Texas Energy Museum, and Troy, former director of the Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, have both done so much for the industry in our community.
This year’s event was attended by over 200 individuals including meeting planners, partners in the community, and city officials. The Beaumont CVB switches venues each year allowing those in attendance to not only mingle with other planners and friends in the community but also get a chance to see what each location can do for their upcoming meetings.
“We enjoy hosting this event each year because it gives us the opportunity to give our appreciation to those meeting planners who do so much for the community but also show off the meeting spaces that Beaumont has to offer,” said Beaumont CVB Executive Director, Dean Conwell.
In 2022, Beaumont hosted 116 events and welcomed 73 organizations and 53,710 convention delegates. The direct economic impact on Beaumont's economy from convention business is estimated to be more than $10.8 million* for 2022.
Events drawing the largest number of overnight stays include the following:
American College Dance Association
Grand Chapter of Texas Order of the Eastern Star
National Beep Baseball Association
Southeast Texas Baseball Academy/Perfect Game
State Fireman and Fire Marshals’ Association of Texas
Texas Crime Stoppers Advisory Council
Texas Rural Letter Carriers Association and Auxiliary