Eavesdropping on two women at the invite-only dinner at The Nickel: “Do you have kids?”

“No, I have a 12-year-old husband.”

Denver is on its way to posting its best convention year ever with increased convention attendance and record numbers for hotels, according to statistics released last week by Visit Denver, The Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Denver has already hosted 319,445 convention delegates in the first three-quarters of 2014, a two percent increase over the 312,536 delegates who attended conventions here in the same time period last year. With a strong fourth quarter of meetings coming up, Visit Denver is estimating that 2014 should finish with a minimum of 422,000 delegates, significantly up over the previous best year of 2013, in which Denver had 385,292 delegates, and better than 2008, when the Democratic National Convention helped attract 378,863 delegates.

“We have a number of factors coming together to make this our best year ever,” said Richard Scharf, president and CEO of Visit Denver. “First, we have an extremely strong convention calendar of meetings. We always knew 2014 would be a good convention year with large groups like SIA SnowSports, American Academy of Dermatology and Risk Insurance Management Society. Not only did we have a large number of meetings booked for Denver in 2014, but the conventions we had are all in industries that are seeing increases in convention attendance.

“We book conventions anywhere from five to 12 years out, so our sales team targets segments of the meetings industry that we feel are likely to see huge growth in attendance in the future, such as medical, bioscience, energy and technology/engineering related,” Scharf said.

He added that, consistent with other top tier cities, the business travel market has come back to Denver in 2014, which creates strong demand, primarily from Tuesday to Thursday. Denver is also experiencing a strong tourism year with shows like the record-setting Chihuly glass exhibition at Denver Botanic Gardens.

“Denver does best when all three mixes are performing well – the convention market, leisure travelers and the business traveler,” Scharf said. He added that two unscheduled Broncos playoff games in early 2014 leading to the Super Bowl, and having the National Education Association group in town with 12,000 delegates over the traditionally slow Fourth of July Weekend, have also added to the year-over-year growth.

Scharf noted that other indicators of just how strong this year is for tourism are the growth in occupancy and average room rate. For the first three quarters of the year, Denver’s hotel room occupancy climbed to 78.2 percent versus 73 percent for the same time period last year, while average daily rate reached $124.44 for 2014, up from $115.40 in 2013.

This performance has made Denver one of the national leaders for RevPAR growth, according to Smith Travel Research, a group that studies hotel occupancies in the top 25 cities of the country. RevPAR (revenue per available room) is a performance metric in the hotel industry that uses total guestroom revenue and the room count.

Denver’s increases in occupancy and revenue came in spite of new hotel inventory coming into the market such as the 221-room Renaissance Denver Downtown City Center and the 119-room Crawford Hotel this year, and the 302-room Hampton Inn and Homewood Suites that opened last year.

“Usually, when you add rooms to a city, you will see an overall drop in occupancy and average room rate unless you also increase demand,” Scharf said. “However, this year, the demand is so significant, that we have been able to absorb more than 600 new hotel rooms and still see an increase in occupancy and rate.”

Denver lodger’s tax collection for the first three-quarters of 2014 was also up, climbing 14 percent.

He is a man, but he’s also Devo.

MCA Denver, 1485 Delgany St., is hosting an exhibit of the art of Mark Mothersbaugh, co-founder of the ’70s New Wave band Devo, through April 12. Mark Mothersbaugh: Myopia is the first retrospective of the artist’s work from the beginning of his career in the early 1970s through present day.

This body of work presents a combination of cultural criticism and personal expression through drawings, films, paintings, sculpture and music

At once an artist, musician and tinkerer, Mothersbaugh offers his understanding of the current state of art with its fluid boundaries. Almost all of Mothersbaugh’s visual art originates with drawings on postcards, which he has been producing daily since the ’70s. His postcards, which now exceed 30,000, provide the basic imagery for his paintings, prints, rugs, videos and sculptures.

For more information, go to www.mcadenver.org/markmothersbaugh.php.

Aurora wants to pump you up!

Visit Aurora will host the Men’s and Women’s World Powerlifting Championships Nov. 3 through 8. This International Powerlifting Federation  sanctioned competition will be held at the Radisson Hotel Denver Southeast, 3155 S. Vaughn Way, Aurora. The opening ceremonies begin at noon on Nov. 3 and will feature entertainment by the Seven Falls Indian Dancers.

Officials are expecting world records to be shattered over the six-day event. The co-ed World Championships will highlight international athletes going head-to-head in bench press, dead lift and squat categories. Athletes from the following countries will compete:

• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Bulgaria
• Canada
• Chinese Taipei
• Costa Rica
• Denmark
• Ecuador
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Great Britain
• Guatemala
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Indonesia
• Japan
• Kazakhstan
• Mexico
• Mongolia
• Netherlands
• Norway
• Peru
• Poland
• Russia
• Slovakia
• Sweden
• Ukraine
• United States and Puerto Rico

“Aurora is thrilled to again host a very prestigious powerlifting championship,” said Gary Wheat, president of Visit Aurora. “We are looking forward to furthering our reputation as a great sports town, and the co-ed IPF World Championships will be a treat for all sports fans.”

Individuals or teams interested in participating in the competitions can find additional information at www.powerlifting-ipf.com.

The International Powerlifting Federation is the governing body of Powerlifting internationally. The IPF is comprised of member federations from 90 countries on six continents and is responsible for fostering international competition by sanctioning regional and world championship events.

For more information on Aurora, upcoming events or meeting facilities, visit www.VisitAurora.com or call 303-326-8698.

This year’s strolling event features appetizers, desserts and drinks from some of Denver’s best eateries. Attendees will also have the opportunity to bid on silent auction items like a Vail Valley Food Tour, a weeklong vacation in Puerto Vallasra, Mexico, or a private trapeze workshop.

Participating restaurants are Annie’s Café and Bar, Beast + Bottle, Beatrice & Woodsley, Biker Jim’s Gourmet Dogs, Black Pearl, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, City O’ City, The Corner Office, Gozo, Grateful Bread, Hunt & Gather, Jonesy’s EatBar, Lower48 Kitchen, Milk & Cake, Novo Coffee, Pinche Tacos, Project Angel Heart, Root Down, Linger, Shells & Sauce, Sugarmill, Sweet as Pie, The Palm, Work & Class and Zink Kitchen + Bar.

For tickets, go to www.projectangelheart.org/events/a-taste-for-life/purchase-tickets-atfl/. All proceeds benefit Project Angel Heart’s home-delivered meal program.

Kachina Southwestern Grill, 10600 Westminster Blvd., will celebrate Dia de los Muertos, a Mexican holiday celebrating the souls of the departed, from 5 to 10 p.m. Nov. 1 with a complimentary face painting and sugar skull decorating for kids and adults.

Banquet chef Darin Sturgill, a Southwestern style artist in his free time, will provide all décor and artwork, including a traditional Mexican alter.

Dia de los Muertos specials include grilled bison strip steak with candied pumpkin, roasted baby squash ($26); bison machaca tamales with cowboy bean puree, red chile sauce, white cheddar and pico de gallo ($9); and mini skeleton cookies and Mexican hot chocolate ($7).

Contact Kachina Southwestern Grill at 303-410-5813 or go to www.kachinagrill.com.

MaxFund, Denver’s no-kill animal shelter and adoption center, will host its 26th annual Puttin’ on the Max on Nov. 8 at the Brown Palace Hotel & Spa. With a theme of “A Fetching Affair: Jazz Age at The Brown,” the evening will play homage to the Roaring ’20s, and related attire is encouraged.

The evening begins at 5:30 p.m. with cocktails and a silent auction. Dinner follows at 7 p.m. Entertainment includes music by the CCJA Moonglowers and Elite DJ; a performance by canine entertainers, the Dogettes; a live auction; a pet parade, featuring the adoptable animals of MaxFund and more.

CBS4’s weather whiz Ed Greene will serve as master of ceremonies, and Denver restaurateur Jimmy Lambatos, who founded Quiznos and starred in the sandwich shops’ Super Bowl commercials, will be the night’s auctioneer.

“Puttin’ on the Max is MaxFund’s largest fundraiser of the year,” said Nanci Suro, MaxFund co-founder and director. “It’s a chance for us to connect with Denver-area animal lovers for an evening of entertainment and fun, all for a wonderful cause. The donations raised by the incredible participants allow us to care for hundreds of animals, as well as find them loving forever homes.”

Tickets are available for $125 each, $200 per couple and $1,000 for a table. Corporate sponsorships are also available. To purchase tickets, visit www.Blacktie-Colorado.com/rsvp and enter event code POTM1108. For more information, visit www.MaxFund.org.

Eavesdropping on a customer to a counter clerk Friday night at BurgerFi on 12th and Broadway moments after Game 3 of the World Series started: “Could you turn one of the TVs on to the game?”

“What game?”

Trillium restaurant owner Ryan Leinonen was enjoying his day off when his cell phone interrupted his day at home.

“I almost didn’t answer the phone but I saw the call was from New York and thought I’d better answer it,” Leinonen said Wednesday. That was a good move.

“She said this is so and so from the James Beard House. Would you…” The chef-owner with Scandinavian culinary roots barely remembers the rest of the conversation. In the end, he was invited to cook at the ionic home on Nov. 11. To practice for the coveted appearance, Leinonen and his team replicated the five-course dinner they will serve for tony New Yorkers Wednesday night at the Ballpark restaurant.

Attendees were treated to a veritable smorgasbord of how Leinonen interprets what Scandinavia has to offer paired with wine selected by Trent Shaoul of B Town Wine & Spirits.

Stand-outs included the cauliflower soup with dill pistou paired with San Lorenzo Gavi 2013; beets and burrata with roasted red beets, pickled yellow beets and raw slivered two-tone beets paired with Domaine Cheysson Chiroubles 2012, the pan-seared Muscovy duck breast with a to-die-for root vegetable and horseradish gratin paired with Domaine le Sang des Cailloux Cuvee de Lopy Vacqueyras 2008 and the spiced cheesecake with gingersnap crumble paired with bodegas Dios Baco Baco de Elite Oloroso N/V.

Leinonen and his team fly into New York several days before the Nov. 11 dinner when the chef will treat his team to dinner at the legendary Le Bernardin. Leinonen made the reservation four months in advance and was required to pay for the entire prix fixe meal prior to dining there.

This is not Leinonen’s first Beard House rodeo. As sous chef at The Kitchen in Boulder, he accompanied chef Hugo Matheson.