sept-2017

126 127 THE ALBUQUERQUE CONVENTION CENTER UNIQUELY NEWMEXICAN THE CONVENTION CENTER I n the heart of the American southwest, in the upper edges of the high Chihuahuan Desert, between the Rio Grande River and the Sandia Mountains, sits the City of Albuquerque,New Mexico. In the “Land of Enchantment,” it’s a particular place of stark and colorful beauty,where the sun can shine up to 300 days a year. It’s also a place rich in Native American, and Spanish American, history and culture. In the center of Albuquerque, a city of some 560,000 souls, sits the Albuquerque Convention Center (ACC),which, according to its General Manager, Jose Garcia, architecturally and culturally, represents the best of the southwest– its people and its surroundings.“When you’re in the Albuquerque Convention Center, you knowyou’re in Albuquerque,” he asserts.“If you take a look at conven- tion centers across the board, they can be in Anytown,USA.We carry the theme, the culture of being in the southwest, of being in NewMexico.” AT A GLANCE THE ALBUQUERQUE CONVENTION CENTER WHAT: A convention and exhibition facility WHERE: Albuquerque, New Mexico WEBSITE: www.albuquerquecc.com