players. These are usually the highlights of the afternoons. There is a talent competition during the week as well. In addition to the events for the fans, industry members routinely schedule meetings and even recording sessions to coincide with the convention. Groups needing to replace a member make new contacts at NQC and sometimes conduct auditions during the week. Various business deals are made or renegotiated. Hoping to gain exposure, up and coming artists schedule showcases at nearby hotels. Record labels court radio and media by feeding them meals, taking them on riverboat cruises and facilitating access for interviews with the artists. In the late 1990s, the convention added three additional events designed to take the Southern Gospel convention experience to regions distant from Louisville. These new events were the Great Western Convention in Fresno, California; the Canadian Quartet Convention in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada; and the Central Canada Gospel Quartet Convention in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Within a few years, though, they had sold or abandoned those events in favor of focusing on the main event in Louisville. Noteworthy events at National Quartet Conventions 1999: Glen Payne made his final public performance via telephone from his hospital room at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He performed "I Won't Have to Cross Jordan Alone" at the request of George Younce, his singing partner from The Cathedral Quartet. Glen died one month later. 2005: Lauren Talley, Jason Crabb, and several other young Southern Gospel vocalists joined together to record an album called "The Torch". "The Race", a song from the album, was voted #1 on some local charts in late 2005. 2007: Ivan Parker became the first soloist to take the Convention stage in 25 years. 2013: Tracy Stuffle of The Perrys joined his wife Libbi Perry-Stuffle on stage via FaceTime on her iPhone. Tracey had been unable to attend in person following a stroke suffered January 21, 2013. In a pre-recorded video message he stated he planned to attend the 2014 NQC in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. 2013: Brazilian Christian group Quarteto Gileade, based in Rio Verde, Goiás, sang Handel's Hallelujah Chorus in Portuguese, becoming the first non-American group to perform at the main stage of the NQC. Many foreign groups have attended the convention over the years, some also sang in the showcase afternoons, but none had made it to the main stage until then. In the following year, they performed