A skyline view of Clayton, home of St. Louis County government, from above.

Hometown Heroes

“Meet me in St. Louis” means exactly that.

Sometimes all it takes to sell this community is a five-minute conversation during a happy hour with a client, a phone call to a colleague at the trade association you belong to, or a discussion during an outing at an industry convention you are attending. Just a few minutes to tout the tremendous assets St. Louis has going for it — James Beard award-winning chefs, insanely fun and imaginative family attractions, a vibrant arts scene, NHL and MLB hometown heroes, river ways and greenways to navigate and explore, and billions in new tourism assets including the $175 million expansion and enhancement of America’s Center. What’s not to love? And, even better — what’s not to do?

Be a difference maker. Take a few minutes while you’re at the bar, on the phone, or out of town at a convention to encourage conference leaders to look more closely at St. Louis as a vibrant host city.

Be STL Proud. Be a Hometown Hero.

St. Louis Hometown Heroes logo.
Denise Wallhermfechtel St. Louis Hometown Hero.

Denise Wallhermfechtel
Nestled in the Soulard neighborhood for more than 160 years, it was only fitting that Denise Wallhermfechtel and her team decided to showcase Anheuser-Busch’s historic headquarters and its hometown to the company’s wholesalers at the Summer Spectacular. More than 3,000 attendees were feted for their efforts in serving as an integral part of the foundation and success of the company. Working closely with Explore St. Louis and area hotels, Wallhermfechtel, helped lay out the welcome mat to provide the necessary space and experiences to make it all happen. Read More

Dale Shuter St. Louis Hometown Hero.

Dale Shuter
With more than 30 years of meeting and planning expertise, Dale Shuter is the Electrical Apparatus Service Association’s (EASA) meetings and expositions manager. She handles the organization, communication, on-site details, offsite event logistics and financial oversight of EASA’s international conventions that rotate annually throughout the United States and Canada. This year, she brought the international company’s convention home to St. Louis, where attendees converged to learn, grow and network. Read More

Molly Hackett St. Louis Hometown Hero.

Molly Hackett
Molly Hackett manages her St Louis meetings, conferences and events down to the smallest most minute detail. And that’s after she entices them to St. Louis in the first place. Yes, it’s the people, its central location, lack of traffic, the wide variety of hotels, greenspace, authentic dining options, and the iconic Arch that this fair city has to offer, to name a few highlights. But sometimes, the ‘AHA moment’ comes down to the price of a gallon of coffee. Or, hot water for those who prefer tea. Read More

Asim Raza St. Louis Hometown Hero.

Asim Raza
All it took was one person having a 10-minute conversation with a decision-maker at a happy hour in San Diego. “During my brief conversation with the event planner, I discovered that St. Louis wasn’t even on the radar in terms of serving as a convention host city,” said Asim Raza, Chief Legal Officer, Director of Corporate Affairs for the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis for the past 10 years. The sales pitch over appetizers certainly worked its magic. Read More

Josh Carson St. Louis Hometown Hero.

Josh Carson
For Josh Carson, who oversees the NAYC youth ministries program, a division of United Pentecostal Church International, St. Louis fit the bill perfectly. As a result, nearly 37,000 teens and young adults participating in the bi-annual convention descended on this fair city in July for spiritual growth and camaraderie. As Carson said, it was a wonderful opportunity to show off the city’s Midwestern friendliness, accessibility, and newly renovated attractions. And, of course, all that hometown space. Read More

Renee Brauns
The American Optometric Association (AOA) unveiled St. Louis to 4,900 Optometry’s Meeting convention attendees. As associate executive director – and perennial Blues fan – Renee Brauns not only wanted attendees to see the newly renovated AOA headquarters in Creve Coeur, but wanted them to experience the city’s inherently striking attributes from her perspective – as a St. Louis resident. To build on the excitement AOA coordinated a two-day tour experience for 250 AOA volunteers prior to the June 2019 con­vention to enable them to become ambassadors for the annual meeting. Read More

For more information on booking your meeting in St. Louis, call Stephanie Monroe at (314) 992-0657 or email at smonroe@explorestlouis.com.