For the first time in its 11-year history, the TEAMS Conference & Expo-the world's largest gathering of sports-event organizers-will return to a previous host city when TEAMS 2009 is held in New Orleans, October 13-17.
The schedule for TEAMS 2009 has been shifted one day earlier than in previous years to allow for a special day of community service on Friday, October 16.
The agenda for Philanthropic Friday will include the Fifth Annual TEAMS Golf Tournament, with entry fees supporting the nonprofit SportsTravel Foundation (which provides grants to amateur athletes in need of assistance with their travel expenses) and the St. Michael Special School in New Orleans.
Non-golfers are encouraged to spend the day volunteering on a project coordinated in conjunction with the nonprofit Sports for a Cause.
"We made an immediate commitment to return to New Orleans-site of TEAMS 2003-after Hurricane Katrina struck," said Timothy Schneider, publisher of SportsTravel magazine, which produces the conference.
"Given our planning cycle and the availability of convention center space in New Orleans, this year was our first opportunity to return to the Crescent City. Our hope is to showcase all that New Orleans has to offer to event organizers from amateur and youth sports all the way up to the professional leagues."
"New Orleans is one of those special cities where we combine an incredible passion for sports with a level of hospitality and personal attention when welcoming and hosting visitors to sporting events, conventions, meetings and gatherings of all kinds and sizes. That is why we are most excited to welcome back our friends from TEAMS," said J. Stephen Perry, president & CEO of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau.
"Sports is more than a passion; it's a religion, and we take sporting events-from the smallest of tournaments to international events such as the Super Bowl-very seriously," said Perry.
"The attendees at TEAMS 2009 will experience that passion. And hosting such events is simply what New Orleans does best."
"When Hurricane Katrina struck, our hearts went out to the people of New Orleans and all of our friends in the city's hospitality community who had worked so hard to make TEAMS 2003 such an incredible success," said Schneider.
"We immediately committed to returning to New Orleans with the TEAMS Conference & Expo so that all of the event organizers and sports-tourism leaders who attend TEAMS could experience for themselves the incredible resurgence of New Orleans as a global destination for meetings, conventions and sporting events," continued Schneider.
"Attendees at TEAMS 2003 ranked New Orleans as one of our all-time favorite host cities, and based on the early registration levels for TEAMS 2009, I think we'll set some new records again this year."
TEAMS has been named one of the 50 fastest-growing trade shows in North America four times by Tradeshow Week magazine.
According to Lisa Furfine, associate publisher of SportsTravel and manager of TEAMS, "This year's conference will offer our attendees even more opportunities for face-to-face interaction and the opportunity to book business while they're in New Orleans.
"One of the most gratifying aspects of organizing the TEAMS Conference is to hear the stories from exhibitors and sponsors about the amount of business they've contracted as a result of their involvement with TEAMS," continued Furfine.
"Their ongoing support of TEAMS as exhibitors and sponsors is particularly noteworthy, given the state of the global economy in general and the travel industry in particular. We look forward to welcoming everyone who is interested in experiencing the power of sports to TEAMS 2009 in New Orleans."
For more information, visit TEAMS 2009
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