handle one department, now I have to ask them to do multiple things that are not necessarily part of their responsibility.” Laura Purdy, general manager at Enercare Centre and Beanfi eld Centre in Toronto, says, “Changes from March to June show the evolution of how planners are looking at their fl oor and conference. In March, space was a factor: Planners wanted more aisle space and to space out delegate seating and show booths. In June, when masking eased, people were moving back into normal convention and exhibition set-ups." Meanwhile, Nina Kressler, CEO of Shaw Centre in Ottawa, says, “the biggest challenge is our ability to receive details in ample time. Planners are struggling to get commitments from delegates and they’re fi nding that people won’t commit. We’re all struggling to get details as expeditiously as possible. The other challenge is the labour force—a lot of people have left our industry for less vulnerable occupations and we’re all trying to hire staff.” Another wrinkle in going from a standstill to all-out is dealing with client confi dence and the fl uctuations in delegate attendance. “We are encourag- ing our clients to plan for the unpredictable,” says Kurby Court, president and CEO at the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre. “When you have the injection of an extra 400 delegates four days out, that takes a lot of accom- modation. We’re all in the same boat, as planners, I’m sure, have had their phones light up all at the same time too. Everyone is starved to reconvene, but you can’t be everything to everyone. As a responsible facility, we need to deliver a fi rst-class event.” Windows of Opportunity While convention centres may have looked quiet on the outside during the pandemic, there was plenty happening behind closed doors. Keeping up with basic renovations and maintenance is a constant routine, so quiet halls were the perfect window of opportunity to effect larger installations, such as install new carpets or lighting, upgrade air fi ltration systems, and for a number of centres, create hybrid meeting rooms or boost Wi-Fi capa- bilities. Purdy says, “We felt that we had time, so we invested in our Wi-Fi with the most robust 10-Gig Wi-Fi band. Wi-Fi 6 gives us better connectivity in a dense space. The demand for bandwidth is high with multiple devices within a very small space.” And what is sure to be music to planners’ ears, Purdy continues, “We have declared our Wi-Fi will be free throughout the buildings and trade show fl oor. We really felt that this was the right time to provide this service on a complimentary basis. We are all so dependent on Wi-Fi, we should be doing this as a venue to service our clients and delegates.” 2022 CONVENTION CENTRE REPORT Best in the Wo ld A shout out to the Shaw Centre in Ottawa for winning the APEX award for World’s Best Convention Centre in 2020. Presented every two years by the International Association of Conference Centres, it recognizes the highest rating on client surveys for a centre’s facilities, catering, technical capacity and project management. An independent audit evaluation is also done by Ipsos, a recognized international market research company, to ensure an objective analysis of the data. Shaw Centre took home the top award out of 18 competitors from around the world.
