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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.

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 lead 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, 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, Canada
* 1898–1903 Beurs van Berlage, Amsterdam, Netherlands

20th-century exhibition halls

* 1900 Grand Palais, Paris, France
* 1909 Festhalle, Frankfurt, Germany
* 1955 McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois, USA
* 1958 Centre of New Industries and Technologies, Paris, France
* 1959 Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
* 1974 Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi, Kenya
* 1975 Helsinki Fair Centre, Helsinki, Finland
* 1976 Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
* 1979 Internationales Congress Centrum, Berlin, Germany
* 1981 Moscone Center, San Francisco, California, USA
* 1983 Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong, China
* 1985 Tampere Fair Centre, Tampere, FinlandThe story of Tampere Trade Fairs
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* 1988 Washington State Convention Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
* 1989 Taipei International Convention Center, Taipei, Taiwan
* 1990 Colorado Convention Center, Denver, Colorado, USA
* 1993 Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
* 1997 Tokyo International Forum, Tokyo, Japan

21st-century exhibition halls

* 2001 Bethlehem Convention Palace, Bethlehem
* 2008 BT Convention Centre, Liverpool, UK
* 2008 Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
* 2012 Centro de Convenções Poeta Ronaldo Cunha Lima, Convention Center Poet Ronaldo Cunha Lima, João Pessoa, Paraíba, João Pessoa, Brazil
* 2014 Kaohsiung Exhibition Center, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan
* 2017 AU Convention Center, Visakhapatnam, India
* 2021 Rudraksha Convention Center, Varanasi, India

Image gallery

Image:Yarmarka.jpg, Exhibition Hall of the Makaryev Fair
File:Berlin Kongresshalle „Schwangere Auster“.jpg, Kongresshalle Berlin – Haus der Kulturen der Welt, House of the Cultures of the World
Image:Nm toronto metro toronto convention centre.jpg, Metro Toronto Convention Centre
Image:Salon Chichen Itza in Siglo XXI Convention Centre, Mérida, Mexico.JPG, Siglo XXI Convention Centre in Mérida, Yucatán, Mérida, Mexico
Image:20070110 McCormick Place (2).JPG, McCormick Place in Chicago, the largest Convention center in North America
Image:Prins Bernhard Hoeve - 2nd entrance.jpg, The back entrance of the Prins Bernhardhoeve, PBH convention center in Zuidlaren, Netherlands
Image:Pirkkahalli entrance.jpg, The entrance to the Pirkkahalli sports arena at the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre in Tampere, Finland
Image:Binyanei-HaUmah.JPG, International Convention Center (Jerusalem), Jerusalem International Convention Center
Image:Sandiegoconventioncenterfront.jpg, View of the west portion of the San Diego Convention Center from West Harbor Drive. The San Diego Convention Center is one of the largest in North America and is home to Comic-Con International
Image:Pragati_Maidan,_Hall_6.JPG, Hall #6 in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India
Image:David_L._Lawrence_Convention_Center,_Pittsburgh,_from_a_bridge_2006.jpg, Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Center, the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED-certified convention center in North America
Image:High view of corferias.jpg, Corferias Exposition Center in Bogota, Colombia
Image:Oregon_Convention_Center_Dusk_1_(edit).jpg, Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon, Portland, Oregon
Image:Beurs_van_Berlage,_Amsterdam,_2012.jpg, Beurs van Berlage convention center Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Image:AICC Arusha.jpg, Arusha International Conference Centre Arusha, Tanzania
Image:Birchwood-hotel-and-conference-centre-exterior-590x390.jpg, Birchwood Conference Centre, Johannesburg
Image:GL events Riocentro - aérea 2014.jpg, Riocentro convention center in Rio de Janeiro, the largest in Latin America, and also a Venues of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, 2016 Olympic venue
Image:Pavilhao_de_congresso_e_convencoes,_centro_de_convenções_de_joao_pessoa.jpg, Centro de Convenções Poeta Ronaldo Cunha Lima, Convention Center Poet Ronaldo Cunha Lima in João Pessoa, Paraíba, João Pessoa
File:Bramble's views Toledo, Ohio - diamond anniversary 1837-1912 - DPLA - a4b983d79cfcfaaf7368d108fe048f73 (page 19) (cropped).jpg, The Terminal Auditorium, an early 20th century convention center in Toledo, Ohio
File:Liege_Palais_des_Congres_R01.jpg, Congress center (''Palais des Congrès'') in Liège (city), Liège, Belgium

See also

* Stadium
* List of convention and exhibition centers
* List of convention centers named after people

References

External links

Historic Conference Centres of Europe

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Convention centers,