Vancouver Convention Centre Welcomes New Assistant General Manager

Vancouver, BC – The Vancouver Convention Centre is pleased to announce the appointment of Craig Lehto as their new Assistant General Manager (AGM) who will be responsible for overall event operations and service management as well as supplier operations.

Selected from among candidates across North America, Lehto brings with him over 25 years of experience in high performance facility management. This includes the planning and execution of three of North America’s largest Olympic Winter Games venues as well as post-Games high performance sport and revenue programs.

Most recently, Lehto served as Director of Sliding Sports and Venue General Manager of the Whistler Sliding Centre, the official competition venue for luge, skeleton and bobsleigh at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

“We are very pleased to have Craig join our leadership team,” said Ken Cretney, General Manager, Vancouver Convention Centre. “His extensive background and leadership in managing complex facilities while delivering exceptional event experiences are important assets to our organization, as we continue to build our reputation as a global convention destination.”

“My family and I fell in love with this beautiful city and province when the Vancouver 2010 Olympics brought us here, and I am very excited to be able to permanently call Vancouver our home,” said Lehto. “I’m proud to join this world-class convention centre, working with an incredible team committed to service excellence and environmental sustainability.”

The AGM position replaces the role of Vice President, Operations, a position held by Catherine Wong who recently retired after 25 years of service.

The only two-time winner of the International Association of Congress Centres’ APEX award for “World’s Best Convention Centre,” the Vancouver Convention Centre opened in July 1987 after originally serving as the Canada Pavilion at the World’s Fair in 1986. Since inception, the facility has demonstrated a constant commitment to service, technical and culinary excellence, as well as environmental sustainability. In fact, the Centre’s West building has received LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification, and is the only convention centre in the world awarded the highest level of LEED designation. The Centre’s two connected buildings offer a combined total of 466,500 square feet of pre-function, meeting, exhibition and ballroom space.

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