Druids Glen Golf Club

Network and share experiences with colleagues during these highly interactive round table discussions.

Large size facility (larger than 500,000 sqft. of gross exhibit space)

Moderator: Fred Peterson, Director of Facilities Operations, Massachussetts Convention Center Authority

Medium size facility (100,000 to 500,000 sqft. of gross exhibit space)

Moderator: Stephanie Curan, Assistant General Manager, Spokane Convention Center

Small size facility (smaller than 100,000 sqft. of gross exhibit space)

Moderator: Ryan Coate, General Manager, Conference and Event Center Niagara Falls

The event and meeting industry is being transformed by new technology and major economic shifts; the way organizations manage marketing, communications, education and events is changing rapidly. This presentation will highlight the latest research in the industry, covering how corporations and organizations view events and meetings, how attendees are changing, current venue requirements for meetings and events as well as the implications for convention centers.

The Washington State Convention Center's award-winning culinary team will exceed your expectations by creating uniquely regional dishes with the freshest seasonal ingredients from local growers. Whenever possible, the Center's chefs source local and sustainable food products. Providing you with the freshest products, while supporting local producers. In-season fruits and vegetables come from Washington state or other Northwest growers. The culinary team is all Pro-Chef Certified.

Location: The Conference Center (TCC) located at the Washington State Convention Center (WSCC)

Walking Directions From the Sheraton Seattle Hotel: From Level 1 Lobby Lounge exit at Pike Street doors and walk up Pike Street crossing 7th Avenue to the WSCC and continue 1 block to 8th Avenue and cross diagonally to TCC entry on corner.

Hear from a panel of experts about the recently published APEX sustainability standards and how they may impact your venue. Lawrence Leonard of the Convention Industry Council (CIC) will cover how and why these standards were developed and their goals for this project.

Vicki Hawarden, President and CEO, IAVM, will describe how show managers may utilize these standards when issuing RFP's, conducting site selections, selecting service providers and producing "green" events.

Jeff Blosser, CEO, Washington State Convention Center, will give an overview of how he sees these standards affecting convention centers and how he plans to address these challenges in his venue.

Moderator: Brad Gessner, San Diego Convention Center

Join us in honoring the recipient of the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Understanding the obstacles event planners face and the opportunities they are pursuing provides a valuable insight that will enable us better serve clients, secure their business and exceed their expectations. The panel will share their perspective on what they look for during site selection, expectations working with a convention center and what amenities and services set a venue apart. Don't miss this chance to get your questions answered from planners representing Associations, Trade Shows, Corporations, Consumer Shows and Third Party Planning Companies.

Moderator: Johanna Boxley, Spokane Convention Center

Enjoy refreshing drinks, delicious bites and great conversation with colleagues at the Sheraton Hotel; the perfect checkpoint to a memorable conference in the Emerald City!

Information technologies double every year and will dramatically change how venue, exhibit and event professionals do business. This freshly updated session will cover the hot, new trends and how you can use them effectively to save cost and time to increase your productivity.

Moderator: Ryan Cross

Four architects will present creative ideas and case studies involving the enhancement of convention centers - without expansion. Design strategies for repositioning and reprogramming centers to improve market capture and revenue enhancement will be addressed to demonstrate that large capital expenditures for expansions are not the only solutions for successful facility development.

Moderator: Donald Grinberg, FAIA

Now that you're loading information into VenueDataSource … how do you get a useful report out of it? Watch some early adopters go live into VenueDataSource and pull their benchmarking reports. You'll see how to access standard reports as well as build your own custom reports, how to define and redefine your queries in order to get the information you really want, and how to download information to your desktop to use with other programs. If you've been wondering "How do I …", come to this session and find out.

Titans of the Industry discussing key industry initiatives they represent Carol Wallace, Jessie Allen (Destination 2020)