The Lighter Side by Dean Conwell
Summer 2009

Keep traveling!

Dean Conwell is the executive director of the Beaumont Convention & Visitors Bureau and serves as the 2009-2010 chair of the Texas Association of Convention & Visitors Bureaus

WHY IS IT THAT whenever we travel internationally, we feel that it’s okay to act differently? That we are spending play money instead of our hard-earned cash? That staying out until the sun comes up is a right of passage? Well, that was quite often the case when traveling to Mexico on business.

When I was tourism director for the Irving CVB, we often participated in sales missions and trade shows to Mexico. One annual show that we always attended was Expo Vacaciones in Mexico City. The trade show hours were incredibly long and most of the time we worked in split shifts that gave us time to explore and discover some of Mexico City’s rich culture.

While walking to our dinner appointment, my good friend, Javier and I noticed a large mercado that looked a lot like the markets we visited hundreds of times while growing up along the Texas–Mexico border--the shiny silver and glassware in the well lit front of the store, and the leather goods, switchblades, velvet Elvis pictures, and other really “great” merchandise in the dingy back of the house. The well-trained, pushy salesman followed us to the back, and I was shocked when I saw a wooden barrel full of shrunken heads. The sales guy lifted up one of the heads by its long black hair and proclaimed, “This is the head of the famous Pancho Villa.”  I was shocked and asked the guy why it was so small.  “Oh Señor,” he said, “this was Pancho Villa’s head when he was just a leetle boy!” Of course, we both immediately purchased two of the unusual, but way overpriced souvenirs.

The next morning I took the early shift at the trade show and returned to the hotel about 2:30 p.m. for a short siesta.  I got off on the 22nd floor, walked down the hallway and then realized I didn’t have my key.  The maids were cleaning the rooms so instead of going all the way down to get another key, one of the maids unlocked the door and let me into my room. I am not much of a napper but a few z’s before the closing evening event seemed wonderful so I hopped out of my clothes and jumped under the covers.  Nature called and when I got up and walked into the bathroom I felt that something was wrong. Maybe things were just out of place. I looked at the toiletries and thought, I wear Right Guard not Arrid, I use Crest not Aquafresh.  Hell, I haven’t worn Brut since the seventh grade. Needless to say, I’ve never moved so fast to leave someone else’s room in my entire life!

Keep traveling! 

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