CONVENE ON SITE
Phoenix Rising 
Saguro cacti dot the landscape, as do towering and awe-inspiring mountains. The Phoenix air seems a bit clearer, the sun a bit brighter, and you can almost hear the city humming as meeting facilities and museums expand, and brand new transportation options, hotel and entertainment venues come on the scene.

"The Grand Canyon isn't the only canyon in Arizona now. What I'm referring to is our new convention center and the second addition yet to come," said Steve Moore, president and CEO of the Greater Phoenix Convention & Visitors Bureau. "We call it the perfect sunrise; our downtown revitalization."

The $2.3 billion renovation plan includes Phase One of the Phoenix Convention Center's expansion, which was unveiled this summer. When finished in 2009, this $600 million project will triple the center's size by 900,000 square feet. New downtown hotels coming online include a 1,000-room Sheraton and a hip W Hotel.

A light rail service in the works will transport attendees from the airport to the convention center in December of 2008. In the meantime, downtown is already hopping with First Friday gallery walks and unique restaurants and bars. The Phoenix Art Museum recently unveiled a $41.2 expansion that includes a new four-level gallery wing, glass-enclosed lobby, and sculpture garden.

The fifth largest city in the country, Phoenix also boasts the largest municipal park in the country. At more than 16,000 acres, South Mountain Park offers 51 miles of trails for horseback riding, hiking, and mountain biking.

The Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, owned by the Gila River Indian Community and located on a 372,000-acre reservation, offers horseback riding; 500 culturally themed rooms; a 17,500 square-foot Native American Aji Spa, and 36 holes of golf, or guests can try their luck at the Gila River Casino. Diners at Kai restaurant, greeted by staff speaking the traditional Pima language, select Native American cuisine offerings from one-of-a-kind menus featuring watercolor paintings by Tribal artists.

Awarded the hospitality industry's highest rating with the AAA Five Diamond Award, Kai is in good company. Nearby are the 16-time honoree Marquesa housed at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess and eight-time honoree Mary Elaine's located in The Phoenician. Another award-winning feature of the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess is the 44,000-square-foot WillowStream - The Spa at Fairmont, designed to echo elements of the Grand Canyon.
By Andrea Doyle  

INDUSTRY UPDATE
The Power of PCMA
To date, 10 groups have booked their annual meeting in Philadelphia as the result of visiting the City of Brotherly Love during PCMA's 2006 Annual Meeting:

• International Association of Fire Chiefs 2010 & 2013
• Narcotics Anonymous 2013
• Infectious Diseases Society of America 2009 
• American Association of Blood Banks 2014
• True Value Hardware 2011 & 2015 
• WorldatWorks 2008 & 2013 
• Society for Microbiology 2009 According to Jack Ferguson, executive vice president convention division for the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau, this translates into $118.5 million in delegate spending and $225.5 million in economic impact.

APPLYING APEX
What Next for APEX? This year APEX (Accepted Practices Exchange) will take on new meaning within the industry as APEX's Technology Advisory Council works on mapping fields of data used within the industry for automatic transfer between business partners. This means that data entered by one organization will seamlessly transfer into its business partner's forms, without the need for re-keying data, renaming fields, or e-mailing attachments back and forth. Several companies are already working toward integrating APEX data standards into their products to be completed in 2007. For more information, visit the Convention Industry Council's Web site at www.conventionindustry.org.