Concerned Citizens

I’m in Houston this weekend enjoying my annual MLB weekend. Unfortunately my friend couldn’t join me due to work issues. But I’m still going to make the most of it. The weekend started with a presentation to the Texas Festivals and Events Association (TFEA) Conference on Fiesta Verde. After that, we’re at the Inn at the Ballpark (great deal through Priceline) which puts me literally across the street from the park. I’ll have to say the highlight was presenting what we learned during Fiesta Verde to about 15 people in the session.

The session today was a perfect opportunity for both TFEA and Fiesta San Antonio. When I first submitted the idea for the session to the director of TFEA she was looking for session on greening events. Amazing how those things work out sometimes. To give you some background, TFEA is the state organization of all the organizers of events throughout Texas. Fiesta SA and its PMOs are big participants in TFEA. But it covers everything from Buc Days in Corpus Christi to Main Street Art Festival in Fort Worth.

My intent was to help educate those that attended the session with what we learned from Fiesta and what we are planning for the future. You can check the slides out at Slideshare if you’re interested. What was really encouraging was hearing what other events had done to start turning their events green. A quick show of hands had about half the room working on greening their events. I even picked up a good idea for our long-term plan with Fiesta Verde. It’s a journey and every good idea helps get us their sooner.

Of course the rest of the weekend is going to be focused on just enjoying Houston and watching baseball. Of course the Stros just didn’t pull it together tonight. I left after the 7th inning stretch with the Astros down 2-0. When I got to the room St. Louis had already scored 3 more runs and scored another while here. Not a good night but it’s always fun. I especially love the stretch because it has a Texas twist ending with Deep in the Heart of Texas. Oh, and while typing this paragraph, Albert Pujols finally banged out a homer beyond the Crawford Boxes with one on base. We were waiting to see if he’d bang one out tonight.

Tomorrow usually is a trip to the Museum of Fine Art of Houston which always has some incredible exhibits. I finally get a chance to try out Houston’s light rail to see how good the system is. Since San Antonio is considering something it’s worth exploring other cities’ systems to see what’s good and bad.

I’m not sure if I’ll be blogging a lot but if the urge hits or something cool happens here in Houston, be sure I’ll let you know.