I’ve written many times in this blog about how Houston is an international city and how the future of business is being a player in the global community. Here’s the perfect opportunity for you and your business to reach out to the international community in Houston, the Greater Houston Partnership’s World Trade Soiree. This year’s theme is Houston Scores! Connecting Global Champions, and will be held on August 29th at Hotel ZaZa.
Tad Brown, CEO of the Houston Rockets and the Toyota Center is the 2009 Honorary Chairman and PKF Texas’ own Karen Love is the 2009 Working Chairwoman of the Soiree.
With the Rockets in the playoffs (Go Rockets!), it’s worth noting that some of their biggest name players, Yao Ming, Luis Scola, and Dikembe Mutombo (recently retired), aren’t from the U.S. These guys will be doing some promos for the Soiree, so be on the lookout in the coming months.
Seliece Caldwell Fulweber, Rockets VP, Ticket Sales & Business Communications, was kind enough to send over some cool statistics about the Rocket’s International presence:
• Over 95% of the Houston Rocket’s regular season games were broadcast internationally this year
• Rockets games are seen in the following international telecast markets: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, France, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iceland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Spain, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey and Ukraine
• Over 80% were directly broadcast in China
• Specific to just China, the Houston Rockets averaged over 11 million viewers per game this season for a projected total of approximately 400 million viewers for the 2008-09 regular season
• The Yao-Yi match-up in 2007-08 drew a reported television audience of over 200 million people worldwide
I’m really looking forward to this event! The annual Soirée showcases the Houston region’s star power as an international business center. The region’s global business leaders, government representatives, economic development allies, and our valued Consular Corps take part in this world-class tribute to international business and the world marketplace. This year’s event will include ethnically diverse dinner stations, dancing, a silent auction, and entertainment highlighting the cultures of our regional trade partners. Stay tuned for more details!