Food-beverage, audio-visual, telecommunication services given new attention

HOUSTON, Texas – Pushing into the post-expansion era with aggressive new service programs, the George R. Brown Convention Center (GRBCC) has announced four management changes made by its contractors in recent weeks.

Lee Ward and Edward De La Garza have been named general manager and executive chef, respectively, by Aramark, the exclusive food-and-beverage provider for the GRBCC.

Sallynda Montz has been named general manager of the Houston branch of AVW-TELAV Audio Visual Solutions, which bases its operations on the third floor of the convention center.

Jim Snook has been named general manager for Smart City, which provides telecommunications and utility services at the GRBCC.

“One of the many assets of the George R. Brown Convention Center,” said GRBCC director Dawn Ullrich, “is the strength of our service contractors. Aramark, AVW-TELAV and Smart City each is an industry leader and they understand the convention business from top-to-bottom.”

Ullrich said the recent expansion of the GRBCC requires an increasingly aggressive position in the marketplace.

“This is a tough business, but we have great people on board and we’re ready to meet the challenges,” she said. “Our clients will experience the difference.”

Lee Ward, 44, comes to Houston from the Tampa Convention Center, where he oversaw food and beverage operations. Prior convention center stints were in Tulsa, Milwaukee and Albuquerque. He has also worked in major hotels, full-service restaurants and fine dining steakhouses in his 20 years in the food-service industry.

Ward and executive chef Edward De La Garza will also oversee food and beverage operations at Jones Hall and Wortham Center, which, like the Brown Convention Center, are managed by the City of Houston’s Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department.

De La Garza, 38, comes to Houston from Florida, where he held a similar post at the Miami Beach Convention Center and Jackie Gleason Theater for four years. Previous stints included chef positions at convention centers and hotels in San Antonio, Albuquerque, Washington D.C., Fort Lauderdale and Del Ray Beach, Fla. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.

Appointed to his post in December, De La Garza directs a team capable of serving seated meals for up to 2,000 people at the convention center.

Sallynda Montz, 40, is an audio-visual industry veteran with more than 17 years of experience in sales and management. For the past five years, she was director of sales and marketing at the GRBCC where, among other duties, she represented the facility at industry shows for meeting and convention professionals. A native Houstonian, Montz worked for AVW-TELAV for 10 years during a previous stint.

AVW-TELAV offers audio-visual and presentation technology services throughout North America.

Jim Snook, 39, comes to Houston with 18 years of experience in information technology and customer service. Previous career stops included Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle, Denver, Abilene and Lubbock.

Smart City is the nation’s largest provider of event technology in the convention industry, and provides voice and data networks, security and monitoring, as well as utility services to show exhibitors.

At 1.85 million gross square feet, the GRBCC ranks among the largest convention centers in America. The building features 1.2 million square feet of exhibition, meeting and registration space, seven exhibit halls and 117 meetings rooms. For more information, please call 1-800-427-4697 or visit www.houstonconventionctr.com.

Contact:

Peter Radowick
713-853-8077
Cell Phone 713-376-0664
peter.radowick@cityofhouston.net

Anna Hawley
713-853-8287
Cell Phone 713-705-5572
anna.hawley@cityofhouston.net