Business View Magazine | May 2019

41 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2019 In a competitive industry, Gonzalez believes that the GRB has several advantages, not the least of which is its high level of customer service. “I believe our service levels are unmatched,” he states. “Our philosophy is that we’re a building that doesn’t say ‘No.’ We want to make sure that not only is the event successful, we’re going to find a way to exceed your needs and expectations. We have an employee customer service program, the Five-Set Standard Program. Every one of our employees goes through training to learn our five-step process for delivering excellent customer service, and it’s embedded in our service team. So, with our can-do attitude and our southern hospitality, we’re seeing results in retaining clients and attracting new ones. And that isn’t just within the four walls of the building – that extends to all of our city services in the Houston area. We’ve put on three Super Bowls; we’ve put on two Final Fours, and as a community, everybody, from the top down, gets involved.” “We also rank amongst the top in technology,” Gonzalez adds. “Smart City has been our partner since 1988, and we offer free Wi-Fi services in all the public areas of the building and meeting rooms. Every client has different requirements, so we sit down with them from day one and say, ‘What are your immediate needs?’ We get down to the exact details of what they need here in the building. As a host of the Super Bowl, we had to upgrade our Cisco-powered network. So, we’ve been able to provide wireless service for 18,000 users at one time.” In addition, the Convention Center is a LEED Silver building. “All of our cleaning products are green,” Gonzalez states. “Last year, we composted 52.25 tons of recycling, which is equivalent to about 104,000 pounds of food, and we work with the Houston Food Bank, Second Servings, and other local food recovery organizations to donate any uneaten food to local shelters at the conclusion of every event. We have a single stream recycling system in the building, so anything that goes into a bag, we send offsite to be sorted and processed. We’ve retrofitted our meeting rooms to all LED lighting. We did a GEORGE R . BROWN CONVENT ION CENTER