The Athens Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and The Classic Center were both named as 2018 Readers’ Choice Award winners for top meeting sites in the December 2018 issue of ConventionSouth magazine.

“We received a record level of input from ConventionSouth readers and fans in determining this year’s top meeting sites and meeting organizations in the South,” said ConventionSouth Publisher J.Talty O’ Connor. “The prestigious recognition is all the more valuable because it comes from top meeting professionals from throughout the United States who hold events in the South.”

Each year, ConventionSouth ask meeting professionals to nominate those meeting sites they believe have provided exemplary service for meetings and events held during the current year. The nominated sites are compiled and placed on an online ballot; meeting professionals and those associated with the meetings industry are given the opportunity to vote for the best of the best.

“We are so honored to be recognized for a fourth time by ConventionSouth magazine,” says Athens CVB Director Chuck Jones. “The Athens CVB always strives to provide the best experience. We’ve even added new services, registration and an online housing bureau, to better serve the meeting and convention groups that convene in Athens.”

Since this award’s creation in 2001, this is the fourth time that the Athens Convention & Visitors Bureau has received the award and the eighth time The Classic Center has been an award recipient.  

“It’s such an honor to receive this recognition from ConventionSouth for the eighth time,” says The Classic Center’s Executive Director Paul Cramer. “Our team at The Classic Center pride itself in providing top-notch hospitality and a venue that can offer planners with everything their events and guests will need.”

Celebrating over 30 years as a leading meeting planning resource, ConventionSouth magazine is based in Gulf Shores, Ala., and is distributed to more than 18,000 meeting professionals located across the country who book meetings held within the South, according to O'Connor.