City Of Fort Worth: Claude Humphrey Honored With Visit Fort Worth's Beyond Award

Press release from City of Fort Worth:

February 24, 2022

Claude Humphrey, senior field operations supervisor at Will Rogers Memorial Center, was honored with Visit Fort Worth’s Beyond Award at their annual meeting Feb. 17.

The Beyond Award, presented by Bank of Texas, was created to recognize excellence in hospitality service, and is awarded to workers on the front lines of hotels, restaurants and attractions who are heroes in the industry.

Humphrey has been with the City of Fort Worth since 1998. Before that, he worked for Tarrant County at what was then the Tarrant County Convention Center for 11 years. He joined the Public Events Department with the city’s purchase of the Convention Center from Tarrant County.

“Every Public Events Department team member is honored along with Claude at this recognition by the Visit Fort Worth Board and hospitality community,” said Mike Crum, director of public events. “We deeply appreciate Claude’s many years of service, but more importantly, we’re grateful for his leadership by example.”

Humphrey was chosen from many nominees for his incredible service and commitment. Humphrey leads three field operations supervisors and their teams, overseeing all of the day-to-day event operations on the first shift. He manages the “people” and the “animal” sides of the 120-acre campus operations. The “people” side is the setup of tables, chairs and staging along with custodial duties inside the facilities. The “animal” side includes all of the barn work, arena dirt work and stall/pen setup and cleanup for equestrian and livestock events, which happen year round.

While struggling with COVID-19 related staffing shortages, Humphrey has been instrumental in equestrian show recovery by going above and beyond his normal job duties, including shoveling, pre-bedding, unloading trucks and anything else required to ensure that Will Rogers’ clients are taken care of with the utmost respect and service.

His nominator, Chris Roden, program coordinator at WRMC, said: “Claude’s value is not only in the quality work he produces, but also in the high expectations for his staff and others around him, as well as the grace he exhibits when a team member may be struggling. He pushes people to be the best they can. When people are stressed, down or in trouble they ask Claude for guidance. He is always there to listen and give advice, whatever the situation may be.”

Photo: Claude Humphrey

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This press release was produced by City of Fort Worth. The views expressed here are the author’s own.