What do you do with 45,000 pounds of old carpet? That question was top of mind for our Capital Projects Team as the Vancouver Convention Centre’s iconic West Ballroom recently received its first carpet refresh since the building first opened in 2009.

Throughout the course of the pandemic, COVID-19 had an incredible impact on events and gatherings - of all types and sizes. And while many events could reschedule, or even adapt to different models of delivery such as virtual or hybrid, the reality of that impact hit especially hard for those planning to host special celebrations like weddings.

For the third entry of our #WeWillMeetAgain vlog series, we connected with Sherrif Karamat, President and CEO of Professional Convention Management Association (PCMA), the world’s largest platform for business events strategists, to talk about the path forward for meetings and events professionals and businesses.

In our series #WeWillMeetAgain, we want to explore how meetings and events will evolve as a result of the incredible impact of COVID-19. Of course, as with so many other industries, one of the most critical areas will be implementing stronger measures around cleaning and sanitization.

Our new video blog series, #WeWillMeetAgain, aims to capture the ideas and perspectives that are now paving the way for how our industry will evolve as a result of the pandemic. Kicking off our series, Tahira Endean discusses how events can adapt to maintain the value of face-to-face interaction while incorporating new measures to help create experiences that are safer for those in attendance.

When you have thousands of passionate individuals come together made up of world leaders, influencers, journalists, youth, academics and advocates, it’s safe to bet that change for good is imminent.

It might be cliché to say, but art can bring us together. For Art Vancouver taking place at the Vancouver Convention Centre starting today, their goal is to make that connection on a larger scale.

In honour of International Women’s Day, we want to celebrate all of the strong, talented women in our fast-paced, complex events industry. To put perspective on the current landscape for women in our industry, we have invited several female leaders from across the Vancouver Convention Centre and our wider organization of B.C. Pavilion Corporation (PavCo) and sister-facility BC Place for a timely roundtable discussion.

A colourful parade led by First Nations performers, followed by masses of people flapping and squawking in bird costumes? Not your usual conference kickoff – but perhaps more meeting planners should take note.

To complement our trends predictions for 2018, we wanted to dive deeper into what planners and delegates are looking for in food and beverage this year.

At the Vancouver Convention Centre we welcome all kinds of guests with all types of culinary tastes and preferences. Chef Blair Rasmussen, executive chef at the Vancouver Convention Centre spent a few minutes with us, giving us his insights on what he thinks are the top five food trends for the year ahead.

In this digital age, we have a plethora of ways to extend the reach of our events. Here are a few ideas to consider for your next event.