A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) 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).

Types

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). 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.

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 led to the Tennis Court Oath and the French Revolution.

Some historic centers

19th-century exhibition halls

1850 Bingley Hall (destroyed by fire in 1984), Birmingham, England 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 1876 Memorial Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States 1878 Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 1878 La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina 1878 Music Hall, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States 1879 Garden Palace (destroyed by fire in 1882), Sydney, Australia 1880 Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Australia 1898 Aberdeen Pavilion, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada 1898–1903 Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, Netherlands

20th-century exhibition halls 1900 Grand Palais, Paris, France 1909 Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany 1923 Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, Paris, France 1935 Brussels Expo, Brussels, Belgium 1958 Square – Brussels Convention Centre, Brussels, Belgium 1958 Centre of New Industries and Technologies, Paris, France 1959 Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States 1960 McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois, United States 1967 Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California, United States 1971 Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, California, United States 1974 Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi, Kenya 1975 Helsinki Fair Centre, Helsinki, Finland 1976 Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia, United States 1976 Philippine International Convention Center, Pasay, Philippines 1977 Riocentro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1979 Internationales Congress Centrum, Berlin, Germany 1981 BMO Centre, Calgary, Alberta, Canada 1981 Moscone Center, San Francisco, California, United States 1984 Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada 1983 Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Wan Chai, Hong Kong 1986 Vancouver Convention Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 1988 Seattle Convention Center, Seattle, Washington, United States 1989 Taipei International Convention Center, Taipei, Taiwan 1990 Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colorado, United States 1990 Oregon Convention Center, Portland, Oregon, United States 1991 Pacifico Yokohama, Yokohama, Japan 1993 Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States 1995 Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Brisbane, Australia 1995 Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, Singapore 1996 Salt Palace, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States 1996 World Trade Center Metro Manila, Pasay, Philippines 1997 Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan 1998 Hawaii Convention Center, Hinolulu, Hawaii 1999 Singapore Expo, Singapore

21st-century exhibition halls 2000 Excel London, London, England 2001 Bethlehem Convention Palace, Bethlehem 2001 Busan Exhibition and Convention Center, Busan, South Korea 2003 Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C., United States 2004 Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre, Gold Coast, Australia 2007 SMX Convention Center Manila, Pasay, Philippines 2008 China National Convention Center, Beijing, China 2008 BT Convention Centre, Liverpool, England 2008 Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States 2008 Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, Taipei, Taiwan 2009 Vancouver Convention Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada 2010 Convention Centre Dublin, Dublin, Ireland 2012 Convention Center Poet Ronaldo Cunha Lima, João Pessoa, Brazil 2014 Kaohsiung Exhibition Center, Kaohsiung, Taiwan 2015 Iloilo Convention Center, Iloilo, Philippines 2016 International Convention Centre Sydney, Sydney, Australia 2017 AU Convention Center, Visakhapatnam, India 2017 SPICE Convention Centre, Malaysia 2021 Rudraksha Convention Center, Varanasi, India 2021 Bangabandhu Bangladesh–China Friendship Exhibition Center, Dhaka, Bangladesh 2023 Bharat Mandapam, Delhi, India 2023 Yashobhoomi, Delhi, India 2024 Taoyuan Convention and Exhibition Center, Taoyuan City, Taiwan

Image gallery

See also Palais des Congrès (disambiguation) Stadium List of convention and exhibition centers List of convention centers named after people

References

External links

Historic Conference Centres of Europe