The 2003 event featured not just a big celebration in the headquarters city of Orlando, but a series of eight other events for which the company rented out NASCAR racetracks and NFL football stadiums in major markets around the country. But it was the Orlando celebration last Nov. 2-5, labeled “Hughes Expo” (although there was no trade show), that really caused the eyebrows to unfurl.
The company - helped in no small measure by its vendors - rented out the entire Renaissance Resort at Sea World in Orlando for a three-day period. More than 1,300 people attended, representing customers, vendors, Hughes personnel and other guests from the company's 460 branches across the country. Roger Dow, senior vice president for Marriott Resorts, which owns the Renaissance Resort, said in his keynote address that it was the first time anyone had rented out the entire hotel.