After decades of planning and three years of construction, the landmark BMO Centre at Stampede Park in Calgary has opened its doors. The expansion adds 565,000 square feet, pushing the total building footprint to more than 1 million square feet. The venue is now the largest conference facility in Western Canada, offering more than 100,000 square feet of new exhibition space, 38 new meeting rooms, and two new ballrooms – the largest in the province. The Tier 1 world-class…
Calgary’s BMO Centre will welcome visitors to the new building in 2024 with the project on time and on budget. The $500-million expansion will add 500,000 sq. ft. of convention space to the BMO Centre, making it the largest convention centre in Western Canada, with more than one-million square feet. The new space will feature three floors of tradeshow and convention space, with a more than 100,000 sq. ft. exhibition hall, 38 additional meeting rooms, and two new ballrooms…
Historically major events have spiked huge investment by the hosts and bring about the construction of new venues and infrastructure, and while in recent times efforts have been made to limit the environmental impact, construction always has some impact. After all, the most sustainable event is the one that doesn’t build anything. Hosting a major sporting event, such as the Olympics or FIFA World Cup is notoriously controversial, whereby the hosting prestige can, and often is, outweighed by substantial…
The $500 million BMO Centre Expansion project is on track to open in 2024, providing Calgary with an event venue that will attract large international and national conventions and conferences. Work on the 560,000-square-foot expansion project marked a key milestone with the first piece of structural steel installed on site in December. “The start of the steel is a significant milestone as it means that the project is tracking on schedule, despite the challenges we’ve had over the last two…
As the events and meeting industry gradually moves back into in-person meetings (and the when really depends on the province and state and how fast people get vaccinated), event safety measures will become part of normal conversation and habit—as it should be. Even though vaccination rates are climbing, there are still variants to deal with, so event safety measures and protocols need to be kept in place and finessed as we move along into the new normal. Below are a…
Calgary’s iconic yet ailing Scotiabank Saddledome is one step closer to meeting its demise with the naming of the team that will design and build a new event centre in one of the city’s oldest districts. Following a robust request for proposal process that began early this year, Calgary Municipal Land Corp. (CMLC), in conjunction with the City of Calgary and Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. (CSEC), has selected local multi-disciplinary design firm, DIALOG, and global design, architecture, engineering and…
Why Sales and Marketing Can’t Go Back to Business As Usual The dramatic events of the first three months of 2020 have taught CEOs, CROs and CMOs that a digital strategy for Sales and Marketing is no longer a “nice-to-have” for global corporations. When the unthinkable happens, and the traditional modes of personal communication literally shut down, the very survival of the company could be at stake. Why is this? Why is it so critical to re-think everything about the…
Planning an event can be hectic and often leave the best event managers feeling overwhelmed. There’s always last-minute changes, cancellations, or requests. Here are some tips to make the event planning journey a bit easier. Know what your client wants Before event planning starts, a client should fill out a form with their ideas, budget, the estimated number of attendees and potential dates. This will give an initial picture of what the event goals are. If the team ever goes…
As an event planner it is your responsibility to host a safe, enjoyable conference. Planning for any possible health and safety occurrence is just as important as booking the right vendors, food and entertainment. Large conferences, such as Mobile World Congress and Facebook’s F8, have been cancelled due to concerns over Coronavirus (COVID-19). Event planners should consider these health risks when organization an occasion. There are some methods to make guests experience as comfortable as possible. How events are organized…
“No interference,” also known as “quiet enjoyment,” is a concept that exists in real estate and in tenant law that means an occupant has the right to be free from significant interference in the use and enjoyment of the occupied property. This means free of noise, distractions, disturbances and interruptions. Now you may be thinking, how does this concept relate to the events industry? The answer is simple — events are temporary tenants in venues! Therefore, the concept of no…
