b'CALGARYOngoing growth marks the city as a mature and cosmopolitan destination for event plannersby Kelly ParkerAerial shot of downtown Calgary during the Calgary Folk Fest.C be counted as a top-notch host fordecades has come a lengthening Calgary was always about more than the Calgary Stampede andcorporate meetings and events. menu of venue, accommodation and the Cowtown moniker the cityThats not to say that Calgary isrecreational options for the corporate carried for so many years. While thedistancing itself from the Cowtownplanner to consider.Stampede remains one of Northidentity. In fact, engage in aThe reaction I get from planners Americas premier events, hostingconversation with a rep from Tourismand delegates is that they are really the 1988 Winter Olympics markedCalgary, and youre likely to hearpleasantly surprised at the diversity Calgarys emergence as a multi- more than once what sounds likeof offerings, enthuses Fraser Abbott, dimensional, cosmopolitan cityan unofficial city slogan: Theres noDirector of Business Development and destination. Since then, it hasdust on our boots. With the citysfor the Calgary Champions Program, continued to mature, and can nowongoing growth over the last severala collective of leaders whose mission 18 CORPORATE MEETINGS & EVENTS corporatemeetingsnetwork.ca'