Executive Director of the Convention & Sports Facilities Department
By Lainey Berkus | Photography by David Teran
Readers, I have so much to share with you about the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, the Alamodome, and the remarkable woman behind these two iconic venues. In the mix, I will also shine a light on the ever-popular and versatile Tote Bag!
Let’s begin with some background. Our convention center, which covers 1.6 million square feet, is the central component of the city’s successful tourism industry. In 2025, the facility will host close to 300 events with nearly 770,000 attendees.
The Alamodome opened its doors in 1993. Envisioned as a community gathering place for SA and visitors, the facility has hosted local, regional, and international events that entertain patrons and bolster the area’s economy. Since opening day, the Alamodome has welcomed more than 35 million attendees, and in the past 32 years, it has generated more than $4 billion for the city’s economy.
The Alamodome is projected to host 117 event days in 2025, including the Men’s Final Four from April 5 to 7. Attendance at the Dome is expected to be nearly 1.4 million for the year. The San Antonio Local Organizing Committee oversees the Final Four and forecasts it will generate more than $250 million in direct economic impact for SA.
Now, let me introduce you to the leading lady who oversees these two major venues (and more) in Alamo City. Meet the delightful, upbeat, and always calm Patricia Muzquiz Cantor. Patricia has been the Executive Director of the Convention & Sports Facilities Department for five years, overseeing the Convention Center, Alamodome, Lila Cockrell Theater, and Carver Community Cultural Center. She is unique in this role —no other woman in the country oversees a multi-venue complex of this size.
During her tenure, Patricia has overseen the impressive transformation of the convention center into one of the country’s most celebrated and popular meeting complexes, thanks to its innovative, column-free design, flexible space, and advanced technology throughout. She helped manage a major expansion in 2016 that almost doubled the facility’s size. The result is a public space that accommodates the whole family and includes impressive architecture and hundreds of local and regional art pieces, including paintings, sculptures, site-specific installations, and murals.
Patricia has also overseen powerful events at the Alamodome, including several NCAA Men’s Final Fours, with the next one in the building this April 2025. The Alamodome has also hosted the NCAA Women’s Final Four over the years and is scheduled to do so again in 2029. Patricia and her team have accommodated appearances by global superstar acts such as Elton John, Bad Bunny, Sting, Pink, and Guns and Roses in the past three years. International superstar Shakira is in the Dome in June.
As part of the countdown to the 2025 Men’s Final Four, the Alamodome is currently adding 18 more suites, elevators and escalators have been replaced, and new finishes are being worked for the upper-concourse concession and eating areas.
Hosting major events in all these facilities is an enormous task and Patricia oversees all of it. From the nearly 400 staffers who work in the department to the hundreds of workers employed by vendors and partners, her focus is always on excellence. Patricia never misses a chance to praise her team, who works endless hours with her in advance of events to plan for clients’ needs, including security, audio/visual, sales, and cleaning. She is definitely a female superpower in our community. She is to be admired for her extraordinary attention to detail, nonstop happy energy, organizational skills, and her winning smile. This dynamo is ready to welcome everyone to The Alamo City.
Patricia tells me that the one common denominator within all the conventions is the Tote Bag. Picture this —thousands of attendees roaming the convention center, looking for new and exciting ways to grow their businesses and connect with potential buyers and various target audiences. Providers often give away handy branded tote bags to carry the free swag offered during trade shows. If it’s a really cool bag, the attendees become a walking advertisement for a company in the moment and months after. The keepers are often waterproof, durable, stylized backpacks and computer cases with pockets, sturdy handles, and straps. Collector totes are usually fashionable and have memorable slogans and creative designs. The most popular show bags come in all sizes, colors, shapes, languages, and materials. Some totes offer zippers, insulation, loops for keys, and tags. All showcase their brand with logos and various images that attract the eye.
Patricia enjoys collecting tote bags, too. She has 2000 stored away in city storage. These bags are repurposed and used to hand out gifts, like turkeys, to her staff during the holiday season. She keeps a smaller vintage collection at home. Her private keepsakes are bags from the Association for Professionals in Infection and Epidemiology, the Breast Cancer Symposium, the NCAA Men’s Final Four, Ulta Beauty, and the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons.
Patricia’s Repurposing Tote Tips:
- Totes are great for holding books, groceries, and gym clothes.
- Totes are perfect for heading to the beach or packing up for a picnic.
- Totes are a fun way to pass out materials at team-building meetings.
