Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center Is Honored With ConventionSouth’s Annual Readers’ Choice Award
GULF SHORES, Ala. (Oct. 12, 2020)— It is with honor that the publishers and editors of ConventionSouth, the national multimedia resource for planning events in the South, present Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center with a 2020 Readers’ Choice Award.
“ConventionSouth readers and fans have voted to decide the best meeting sites in the South, and it is no surprise to us that Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center has been selected to receive our annual Readers’ Choice Award,” said ConventionSouth Associate Publisher Ashleigh Osborne. “The value in receiving this prestigious recognition is that it comes from the United States’ top meeting professionals who hold events in the South. These planners demand the highest level of customer service and quality facilities, and they have contributed in determining that Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center indeed displays the commitment to professionalism, creativity and service that they require.”
Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center is among 380 convention and visitor bureaus (CVBs), meeting facilities and hotels located across the South to receive this year’s Readers’ Choice Award. Throughout the year, meeting professionals nominated the meeting sites they believe provide exemplary service for group events. The nominated sites are then compiled onto an online ballot where meeting professionals and fans are asked to vote for the best of the best.
With over 8,000 voters participating in the selection process and the highest social media interaction to date, this has been the most successful and engaging year yet!
Since creation in 2001, this is the fourth time that Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center has received the award making it an even greater honor to present it with a 2020 Readers’ Choice Award.
Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center will be featured as an award recipient in the December 2020 Awards Issue of ConventionSouth magazine. This exciting issue will also showcase some of the most talented meeting professionals in the nation as ConventionSouth also presents planners with its annual “Meeting Professionals To Watch” designation.
“Featuring peer advice and trade secrets from our Meeting Professionals to Watch in 2021, our Awards Issue is one of the most popular must-read resources within the meetings industry,” Osborne said.
Celebrating almost 40 years as a leading meeting planning resource, ConventionSouth magazine is based in Gulf Shores, Ala., and is distributed to more than 18,000 meeting professionals located across the country who book meetings held within the South, according to Osborne.
A complete list of award winners can be found online at:
WV Living magazine is highlighting the best people, places, and things the state has to offer. The Charleston area is well represented with nominees in all categories: Travel, Food, Drink, Shopping, Culture and Towns. Please take a few moments to support local businesses by voting for your favorite #CWV establishments and events. You can vote once per day per category through Oct. 11, 2020. Winners will be announced in the winter issue of WV Living magazine.
Mushroom grow kits to Canada. Post-mastectomy pillows to South Korea. These are just two products produced by local businesses that were recently honored for exporting their products to new countries.
Billow Global, Inc. in Charleston exported post mastectomy pillows for breast cancer survivors to South Korea for the first time.
DRK Studios in Saint Albans is a Specialty FX studio producing props, masks and prosthetics, and Escape Room Development. DRK exported product to Germany for the first time.
Hernshaw Farms, LLC, a gourmet mushroom farm, exported its mushroom grow kits to Canada.
Belle Chemicalexported chemicals to Japan for the first time.
Industrial Bolting Technologies, Inc. in Charleston, manufactures the TorsionX product line. TorsionX tools were exported to Chile, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Australia, Canada, South Korea, and South Africa.
Discover #CWV safely: Wear a face covering in public. Charleston, and the rest of Kanawha County, is under a governor-mandated mask order. That means face coverings should be worn in all businesses and enclosed public spaces where social distancing (at least six feet apart) cannot be maintained. It’s the safest way to connect with your community – your mask protects others; their masks protect you.
Team Charleston is doing its part by wearing masks and encouraging others to do so. #MaskUpCWV with us for a chance to win a gift card to an area restaurant. Here’s how:
Wear a mask around #CWV and Kanawha County.
Snap a photo in your favorite #CWV spot – a park, outdoor dining, local attraction, etc. – showing yourself wearing the mask properly.
Share it with us by tagging @charlestonwv and #MaskUpCWV on social media.
“When you see a mural, you know something is happening in the city,” Jody, Folklore Music Exchange, Elk City.
The City of Charleston’s Office of Public Art recently released a virtual map showcasing hundreds of pieces of public art and where to find them. The map is broken down by neighborhoods, including Downtown, the East End, South of the River and the West Side. We’ve singled out one from each area to give you an idea of what you can discover along Charleston’s Public Art Tours.
The “Untitled Mural” on Dickinson Street in Downtown is so realistic, you’ll do a double take to see if the colorful buildings are real. Created in 1985 by Bart Davies, this paint-on-brick creation fits perfectly into Charleston’s cityscape.
“IN PLACE – Bob Ross” is a tribute to the man who won our hearts with catchphrases like “happy little trees.” Located at 1429 Washington Street East on Charleston’s East End, this paint-on-metal piece was installed in 2019 by artist Jeff Pierson.
Outside Building 1 on the State Capitol Complex is a bronze statue celebrating the life of Booker T. Washington. Erected in 1979, this tribute was created by W.D. Hopen and sits on the north side of the building.
Street Works is a mile-long outdoor gallery on the city’s East End. The signs, which are printed vinyl on metal, feature the work of artists like Devin Fields and Don Brogan who created “Gentleman/Riverfront,” located on the north side of Washington Street East between Maxwell and Nancy streets.
South of the River you’ll find a variety of murals and sculptures, including “New Life.” Created by Johnathan Cox, this stainless steel and marble piece was installed in 2015 at CAMC Cancer Center in Kanawha City.
“Let the Good Times Roll” is one of several colorful murals on Charleston’s West Side. This paint-on-concrete creation by Kayleigh Phillips can be discovered in the Washington Street Alley in the Elk City Historic District.
Gallery 64 is one of the city’s most unique and overlooked art hotspots. Colorful artwork is painted directly on concrete piers beneath the I-64 bridge. Among the piers, you’ll find tributes to the legendary steel-driving man, John Henry (by Reaford Walker), and longtime local educator Mary C. Snow (by Rebecca Recco).
Explore Charleston’s public art tour first online, and when the time is right, explore it in person – following all social distancing guidelines, of course!
The City of Charleston has launched a vlog series called SEE 33, which showcases the capital city’s arts, history and people. The name, SEE 33, refers to the city being 33 square miles.
“We live in an amazing city with amazing people who create amazing things. I’m excited to be able to share just a small part of this with you,” Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said when launching the series in May 2020.
At the end of the series, and when it is safe to do so, the first 33 vlogs will be transformed into a scavenger hunt so that people can explore Charleston and see these places firsthand.
Episodes feature:
SEE 33 Episode 12 highlights the West Virginia Veterans Memorial and our State’s rich history of service.
SEE 33 Episode 11 highlights Power Mural by Rebecca Recco and Isaac Emrick.
Episode 10 highlights Lincoln Walks at Midnight, a rare depiction of Lincoln in a contemplative pose without the iconic hat or formal attire.
Episode 9 highlights Cabriole, a sculpture depicting an advanced ballet jump–not three men diving into water like many think.
Episode 8 highlights Bike Man, a piece of functional art that is a bike rack.
SEE 33 Episode 7 highlights the river industry and the Sternwheelers that kept the Kanawha River moving.
SEE 33 Episode 6 highlights the large scale wind driven kinetic sculpture, Deep Roots Long Reach, the first of its kind in Charleston.
SEE 33 Episode 5 highlights the monument honoring astronaut Christa McAuliffe, the first American civilian to go into space and who died aboard the Challenger space shuttle in 1986.
SEE 33 Episode 4 highlights the Henry Gassaway Davis sculpture, located in Davis Park.
SEE 33 Episode 3 highlights the Wonder Mural, located near the intersection of Washington Street, West and Tennessee Avenue.
SEE 33 Episode 2 highlights Charleston’s historic Spring Hill Cemetery Park
SEE 33 Episode 1 highlights Charleston’s smallest piece of public art–Mortar Man.
Masks, or face coverings, are set to be the most fashionable item of 2020. Thanks to Gusserbees Boutique in Hurricane, you can learn to create your own. You will probably need one for every outfit.
If you aren’t crafty, reach out to the boutique about custom orders.
Hear it ALL from home! Our friends at FestivALL curated a 7+ hour Spotify Playlist with music from some of West Virginia’s best.
We hope that you will join us in supporting them by listening, following them on socials, and maybe purchasing your next favorite album or band t-shirt!
As Mister Rogers famously said, always look for the helpers. We can all be helpers in this time of uncertainty. Our local businesses need our help more than ever. Here are some tips on how you can help from your home, and most of them will only cost you a little time.
Review your favorite business online. You can do this in many places: Google, TripAdvisor, Yelp, etc. Sharing your experience will give businesses a boost online.
Follow the business on social media.
Engage with business on social media. Comment, share, like as many posts as you can.
Review their products that you already own. Just make sure to tag them.
Subscribe to their mailing list. You will be kept up to date on the changes in products and sales.
Purchase something online, if possible.
Helping others is in the DNA of all West Virginians. While staying home, take a few minutes to brighten a business owners’ day.
As a cultural hub of West Virginia, public art is a pillar of the Charleston community. Viewing it is a perfect social distancing activity, and you don’t even have to leave your car if you decide on a driving tour. But if you do want to freshen up your social media feed for spring, a striking mural makes the perfect inspirational backdrop (just be sure to wait your turn and maintain distance if others are already there enjoying).
This public art map of Charleston will guide you to nearly all the locations in the city. You’ll find the “West Side Wonder Mural” by artist Charly Jupiter Hamilton, which weaves historical figures, famous Charlestonian faces, and cheeky nods to the city’s history throughout the work. And if you’ve never taken the time to admire it, be sure to check out “Deep Roots, Long Reach,” the kinetic sculpture in front of the Coliseum & Convention Center by artist Harry McDaniel. It moves beautifully in the wind!
Note that the map doesn’t include some recent projects like “The Dreamer” mural on the West Side, an awe-inspiring piece that unveiled this past fall. See how many on the list you can check off: bonus points if you hunt down more.
