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B M & T ••• January/February 2016 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 18 More famously known as the birthplace of American independ- ence, Philadelphia is the destination to experience American history. From the Liberty Bell, a symbol of freedom that predates our nation's birth, to the President's House, where both George Washington and John Adams spent most of their presidencies before the White House was built in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia is steeped in history. And on January 1, 2016, Philadelphia will make history again. On that date, Julie Coker Graham will become the incoming president and CEO of the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau (PHLCVB). As the executive vice president of PHLCVB, Ms. Graham will become not only the first woman CEO of the PHLCVB, but one of the first African-American woman to preside over any major convention and visitor's bureau in the U.S. A graduate of Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI, Coker Graham joined the PHLCVB after serving as general manager of the Hyatt Regency Philadelphia at Penn's Landing. A 21-year Hyatt veteran, she began her career there in 1989 as a corporate management trainee at the Hyatt Regency Columbus and held various positions at the hotel until 1992. She went on to become general manager of the Hyatt on Printer's Row in downtown Chicago, general manger at The Lodge in Oak Brook, IL, and was a nominee for general manager of the year for Hyatt Hotels Corporation in 2004 and 2006. JULIE COKER GRAHAM About 40 million people from around the world visit the City of Brotherly Love every year. Many of those travel there because they're attending a meeting, conference or convention in Philadelphia. And why not? Philly is an outstanding place for conventions and other busi- ness gatherings. Cvent, Inc., a software-as-a-service (SaaS) company that specializes in meetings management technology, has given the city top honors for several years in a row. In 2013, 2014 and 2015 they named Philadelphia as one of the top 50 U.S. meeting destinations. Among those who have chosen the city as a destination in recent months: Pope Francis in the summer of 2015, and major conventions such as the 2016 Democratic National Convention, LIGHTFAIR International in 2017 and the American Heart Association in 2019, just to name a few. In order to know why so many are choosing Philadelphia as a meeting place, con- sider the following. The city boasts a state-of-the-art, LEED-certified convention center centrally located in the heart of the city. Not only does the Pennsylvania Convention Center offer more than 1.3 million sq. ft. (and growing) of saleable space, it has 528,000 sq. ft. of contiguous exhibit space, 23 additional meeting rooms and three additional exhi- bition halls, a spectacular main entrance and atrium lobby, and a nearly 56,000-sq. ft. ballroom – the largest on the East Coast. Convention-goers have more than 8,000 hotel rooms within a short, 15-minute walk of the center, and more than 16,000 rooms through- out the entire Center City area. Many of the larger hotels in the area offer meeting space of their own as well, for those whose needs are not as expansive or great. "Most conventions and meetings that are held in Philadelphia will see one of their top three attendance numbers of all-time in Philly, or often times we break records," explained Coker Graham. P H I L A D E L P H I A M A K E S H I S T O R Y , A G A I N BY MATTHEW THOMAS Copyright: Jon Bilous