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A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English)^[1] is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees. Very large venues, suitable for major trade shows, are sometimes known as exhibition halls. Convention centers typically have at least one auditorium and may also contain concert halls, lecture halls, meeting rooms, and conference rooms. Some large resort area hotels include a convention center.

In Francophone countries, the term is palais des congrès (such as the Palais des Congrès de Paris) or centre des congrès (such as the Centre des congrès de Quebec).^[2]

Types

A southern entrance of the Helsinki Fair Centre in Pasila, Helsinki, Finland

Meeting facilities with lodging: hotels that include their own convention space in addition to accommodation and other related facilities, known as convention hotels.
Meeting facilities without lodging: are convention centers that do not include accommodation; usually located adjacent to or near a hotel(s).^[3]
Other: any convention and meeting facilities designed to hold large numbers of people. Can exist alone (e.g., stadiums, arenas, parks, etc.) or within other structures (e.g., university lecture halls, museums, theaters). Usually do not include accommodation.^[4]

History

The original convention centers or halls were in castles and palaces. Originally a hall in a castle would be designed to allow a large group of lords, knights and government officials to attend important meetings with the king. A more ancient tradition would have the king or lord decide disputes among his people. These administrative actions would be done in the great hall and would exhibit the wisdom of the king as judge to the general populace.

One of the most famous convention center debacles happened in France on June 20, 1789. King Louis XVI locked a group known as the Third Estate out of the meeting hall in Versailles. This led to the revolutionary group holding their meeting in an indoor tennis court. This was the first modern democratic conference center and lead to the Tennis Court Oath^[5] and the French Revolution.

Some historic centers

19th-century exhibition halls

1850 Bingley Hall (destroyed by fire in 1984), Birmingham, England^[6]
1851 The Crystal Palace (destroyed by fire in 1936), London, England
1855 Palais de l'Industrie (dismantled in 1897), Paris, France
1873 Alexandra Palace, London, England^[7]
1876 Memorial Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1878 Exhibition Place, Toronto
1878 La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina^[8]
1878 Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio
1879 Garden Palace (destroyed by fire in 1882), Sydney, Australia
1880 Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Australia
1898 Aberdeen Pavilion, Ottawa, Ontario
1898–1903 Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, Netherlands

20th-century exhibition halls

1900 Grand Palais, Paris, France
1909 Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
1955 McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois
1958 Centre of New Industries and Technologies, Paris, France
1959 Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
1974 Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi, Kenya
1975 Helsinki Fair Centre, Helsinki, Finland
1976 Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia
1979 Internationales Congress Centrum, Berlin, Germany
1981 Moscone Center, San Francisco, California
1983 Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
1985 Tampere Fair Centre, Tampere, Finland^[9]
1988 Seattle Convention Center, Seattle, Washington
1989 Taipei International Convention Center, Taipei, Taiwan
1990 Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colorado
1993 Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1995 Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore
1997 Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan

21st-century exhibition halls

2001 Bethlehem Convention Palace, Bethlehem
2003 Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C.
2008 BT Convention Centre, Liverpool, England
2008 Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, North Carolina
2008 Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei, Taiwan
2012 Convention Center Poet Ronaldo Cunha Lima, João Pessoa, Brazil
2014 Kaohsiung Exhibition Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
2017 AU Convention Center, Visakhapatnam, India
2021 Rudraksha Convention Center, Varanasi, India
2021 Bangabandhu Bangladesh–China Friendship Exhibition Center, Dhaka, Bangladesh
2024 Taoyuan Convention and Exhibition Center, Taoyuan City, Taiwan

Image gallery

San Diego Convention Center, one of the largest in North America and home to the annual San Diego Comic-Con
Pragati Maidan International Exhibition-cum-Convention Centre(IECC) in New Delhi, India
Exhibition Hall of the Makaryev Fair
Kongresshalle Berlin – House of the Cultures of the World
Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Siglo XXI Convention Centre in Mérida, Mexico
McCormick Place in Chicago, the largest Convention center in North America
The back entrance of the PBH convention center in Zuidlaren, Netherlands
The entrance to the Pirkkahalli sports arena at the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre in Tampere, Finland
Jerusalem International Convention Center
Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the first LEED-certified convention center in North America
Corferias Exposition Center in Bogotá, Colombia
Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon
Beurs van Berlage convention center Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Arusha International Conference Centre Arusha, Tanzania
Birchwood Conference Centre, Johannesburg
Convention Center Poet Ronaldo Cunha Lima in João Pessoa
The Terminal Auditorium, an early 20th century convention center in Toledo, Ohio
Congress center (Palais des Congrès) in Liège, Belgium

References

^ "English definition of "convention centre"". Cambridge Dictionaries Online. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
^ "Accueil". Centre des congrès de Québec (in French). 28 February 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
^ Wood, Roy C.; Brotherton, Bob (2008). The SAGE Handbook of Hospitality Management. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. pp. 413–414. ISBN 978-1-4129-0025-6.
^ Convention Industry Council (February 2011). The Economic Significance of Meeting to the U.S. Economy (Report). PwC.
^ "Tennis Court Oath | Summary & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
^ "The History of Conference Centers". Lane End Conference Center. 26 January 2015. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
^ "Alexandra Palace, Muswell Hill and Wood Green, North London". The Victorian Web. Archived from the original on 23 July 2008. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
^ "La Rural | Predio Ferial de Buenos Aires - Centro de Exposiciones, Congresos, Convenciones y Eventos". www.larural.com.ar (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2015-07-27. Retrieved 2016-11-10.
^ The story of Tampere Trade Fairs