Omni Hotel

BALTIMOREFor more Baltimore convention information, call the Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association at (410) 659-7300 within Maryland or (800) 343-3468 outside Maryland.* Oct. 3-Oct 4 ServiceStar Corp. trade show, Convention Center. Contact: Jan Schofield. Expected attendance: 8,000* Oct. 3-5 International Test and Evaluation Association technical symposium, Omni Hotel. Contact: Carolyn Green. Expected attendance: 400* Oct. 6-8 American Society of Corporate Secretaries, Mid-Atlantic chapter, Harbor Court.

Four years ago, Veronica Whitaker went from being a fairly well-off forklift operator to a divorced mother on welfare, struggling to support her three children. While on welfare, she realized that finding jobs was hard, but staying employed was even harder.With FUTURE, an employment program for Baltimore welfare recipients that officially was launched yesterday, Whitaker finally has a shot at not just a temporary job, but a new career in the hotel industry that she hopes could help put her teen-agers through college.

If you've found it difficult to get tickets to the Cezanne exhibition, the Philadelphia Museum of Art has extended the hours -- 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week -- to accept reservations. Best time to call: evenings after 7 and on weekends; (215) 235-SHOW.There's a service charge of $2.75 per ticket with phone orders. Admission is $12.50 for adults, Wednesday through Sunday, $10.50 on Tuesday. Seniors, students and children 5-18 pay $9.50, $8 on Tuesday.Tickets can also be purchased at the museum during regular hours.

Dinner's half an hour late and over in the "asparagus room," Tim Barger is pacing the floor. "Come on, guys," he says to some unknown forces out in the dining room holding up the meal, "we've got to go. The asparagus is dropping."He's staring out over the cause for his anxiety: a huge table packed with 180 plates rim to rim. And on each one sits a tiny crown of asparagus, held together, somewhat tenuously, by chilled asparagus mousse in the middle.It is the first course of a gala dinner, one unprecedented in Baltimore because it brings together the talents of some of the area's top chefs for a single, eye-popping, 10-course meal, being held in an elegant banquet room at the Harbor Court Hotel.

Baltimore's Omni Inner Harbor Hotel has gained two new restaurants, a multilevel bar, an expanded ballroom, a centralized gift shop and other revamped public spaces as part of a $10 million renovation that is nearing completion this fall.The work has resulted in the creation of 80 to 90 jobs at the Omni, which has more than 500 employees in all.But the greatest change may be that it has enabled the 702-room hotel at 101 W. Fayette St., the largest in the state, "to look and act like the largest hotel in the state," said general manager Joseph R. Kane.

A Houston company is negotiating to buy the 703-room Omni Inner Harbor Hotel for roughly $24 million, a move that could result in the second sale of the city's largest hotel in as many years.If the sale to the Gencom Group reaches fruition, it would cap a year of frenzied activity provoked by improved occupancy and room rates at hotel properties in the area.Analysts also attributed the renewed interest in local hotels to planned or nearly completed expansions of tourist attractions. These are expected to greatly enhance the city's $1 billion annual tourism industry.

The Omni Inner Harbor Hotel, owned by Wyndham International, will operate under the Wyndham flag next week. "We as a corporation have long thought that Baltimore was a critical market for Wyndham," said Fred H. Stern, vice president of communications for Wyndham International Inc., based in Dallas. "We've always wanted to be part of the downtown hotels." The flag change at the 707-room hotel, which is the largest in the state, coincides with a $6 million upgrade to the West Fayette Street property.

Baltimore June 5-7 National Retail Federation, loss prevention conference, Omni Hotel, 110 W. Fayette St. Estimated attendance: 700. Contact: Barbara Hill. June 12-18 The Herb Society of America educational conference and membership meeting, BWI Marriott, Linthicum. Estimated attendance: 250. Contact: Michelle Milks, 440-256-0514 June 14-17 National Association of Credit Management annual congress and exposition, Hyatt Regency, 300 Light St. Estimated attendance: 2,500. Contact: Lynne Valentic, 410-740-5560

Baltimore June 1-2 Society for Scholarly Publishing annual meeting, Hyatt Regency, 300 Light St. Estimated attendance: 350. Contact: Kate Holland, 303-422-2615 June 4-7 National Retail Federation, loss prevention conference, Omni Hotel, 110 W. Fayette St. Estimated attendance: 700. Contact: Barbara Hill, 770-751-1461 June 12-18 The Herb Society of America educational conference and membership meeting, BWI Marriott, Linthicum. Estimated attendance: 250. Contact: Michelle Milks, 440-256-0514

Information For Washington-area convention information, call the Washington, D.C. Convention and Visitors Association at 202-789-7000.Aug. 10-16 UNICO national convention, Omni International Hotel, Fayette and Hanover streets. Contact: Angelo Sita, 314-781-9341. Expected attendance: 600Aug. 16-18 Rite-Aid Corp. trade show, Baltimore Convention Center. Contact: Jayne Katz Ayers, 703-803-7717. Expected attendance: 5,000Sept. 4-9 National Association of Meal Programs training conference and exhibit, Omni International Hotel.