Planning an Event in Vancouver

The sleek, modern Vancouver Convention Centre is British Columbia's flagship convention facility and the most prestigious of Vancouver meeting facilities. Located on the waterfront in downtown Vancouver, it is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Association of Congress Centre's (AIPC) award for World's Best Convention Centre, for which it is the first-ever repeat recipient.Thanks to the completion of a facility expansion in 2009, the Vancouver Convention Centre encompasses 115,000 square meters of space, or four city blocks. The East Building has 8,500 square meters of exhibit space and 2,300 square meters of meeting space spread among 20 meeting rooms. Meanwhile, the new West Building has 20,700 square meters of exhibit space and 5,600 square meters of meeting space spread across 52 meeting rooms. A 60-meter-long, glass-enclosed connecting walkway links the two buildings, which together offer nearly 14,000 square meters of pre-function space.Planners can also take their events outside of the boardroom or off the tradeshow floor thanks to 6,700 square meters of ballroom space. In fact, the Vancouver Convention Centre is home to Canada's largest convention center waterfront ballroom at 5,100 square meters. It also has outdoor terrace and plaza areas.In addition to adding space, the West Building expansion is a masterpiece of green design. Constructed to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification standards, it boasts unique features such as a marine habitat, seawater heating and cooling system, and advanced drainage and water recovery system. It also has a six-acre "living roof," the largest green roof in Canada, where over 400,000 indigenous plants and four beehives thrive.Beyond its green building, the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre has an award-winning environmental policy covering recycling, food and beverage management and energy conservation. It recycles nearly half of the total volume of waste generated and donates leftover food to local charities.This Vancouver meeting facility's services and amenities are just far-reaching and convenient as its spaces. World-class catering crafted with local, fresh ingredients; a remarkably sophisticated fiber optic network, making all areas capable of high-speed Internet access; and global broadcasting, webcasting, video conferencing and real-time video transmission are all available. Also at the facility are an on-site warehouse of audio-visual inventory, full-service specialty lighting and rigging, specialized customs brokerage and goods transportation services, and expert security capabilities.Situated only 20 miles from Vancouver International Airport, the Vancouver Convention Centre is within Vancouver's extensive public transportation network and walking distance of more than 13,000 hotel rooms. It has hosted such high-profile events as the World Buddhist Convention, World Culinary Arts Festival, 1993 Clinton-Yeltsin Summit and the XI International Conference on AIDS. The Vancouver Convention Centre will also serve as the broadcast and media center for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.