EXHIBITOR Magazine Honors Best Convention Centers with 2025 Centers of Excellence Awards

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Awards, Venues & Destinations, EXHIBITOR News
EXHIBITOR Magazine Honors Best Convention Centers with 2025 Centers of Excellence Awards

10/23/2024
ROCHESTER MN. – Exhibitor Group is proud to announce the following 25 convention centers as winners of its sixth annual Centers of Excellence Awards. Exhibitor Group, which produces both EXHIBITOR magazine and Find It Marketplace, the buyer’s guide to trade show products and services, launched this initiative to identify and recognize the best convention centers for trade shows and events.

“The Centers of Excellence Awards allows exhibit managers to identify exhibitor-friendly venues that make their experiences at trade shows and events smooth and successful,” said Emily Olson, editor of EXHIBITOR magazine, noting that everything from health and safety protocols to the cost and quality of Wi-Fi access can have a significant impact on exhibiting companies’ experiences at events. “The facilities on this list have proven their ability to host trade shows and events of all sizes while providing world-class service and state-of-the-art accommodations.”

The 25 venues that qualified for EXHIBITOR Magazine’s 2025 Centers of Excellence include:

Anaheim Convention Center
Atlanta Convention Center at AmericasMart
Baird Center
Baltimore Convention Center
Charlotte Convention Center
Colorado Convention Center
Edmonton EXPO Centre
Greater Columbus Convention Center
Greater Tacoma Convention Center
Hawaii Convention Center
Huntington Place
Indiana Convention Center and Lucas Oil Stadium
Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas
Kentucky Exposition Center
Kentucky International Convention Center
Los Angeles Convention Center
Miami Beach Convention Center
The New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center
Overland Park Convention Center
Owensboro Convention Center
Raleigh Convention Center
Renasant Convention Center
San Diego Convention Center
Seattle Convention Center
Walter E. Washington Convention Center

Special Awards Finalists
In addition to naming the world’s 25 best convention centers for trade shows and events, EXHIBITOR Magazine’s Centers of Excellence program will present five special awards. The finalists for those awards are listed below, and the winners will be announced on November 13, 2024, at 1 p.m. CDT during a special EXHIBITORInsight session.

Best Convention Center (Over 1 Million sq. ft. of Exhibit Space)

Anaheim Convention Center
Kentucky Exposition Center

Best Convention Center (500,000 – 1 Million sq. ft. of Exhibit Space)

Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center
Los Angeles Convention Center
Walter E. Washington Convention Center

Best Convention Center (100,000 – 500,000 sq. ft. of Exhibit Space)

Baird Center
Colorado Convention Center
Seattle Convention Center

Best Convention Center (Less Than 100,000 sq. ft. of Exhibit space)

Greater Tacoma Convention Center
Overland Park Convention Center
Owensboro Convention Center

Best Customer Service & On-Site Support

Huntington Place
Los Angeles Convention Center
Walter E. Washington Convention Center

Small, medium, and large convention centers located anywhere in North America are invited to apply annually, with entrants evaluated using an objective algorithm weighted to reflect how EXHIBITOR magazine readers value a variety of variables. The myriad criteria considered were categorized into five primary areas:

Facility & Functionality
Location & Accommodations
Service & Execution
Upgrades & Expansions
Sustainability

The evaluation process also includes a survey of event planners, show organizers, and exhibit managers who have recently hosted (or exhibited at) events within each facility, as well as a review of entrants’ event spaces, selling points, and innovations, conducted by a panel of corporate exhibit managers.

The highest-scoring venues were then named among EXHIBITOR Magazine’s 2025 Centers of Excellence, and they will be featured in a special supplement in October/November issue of EXHIBITOR, as well as via the online portal where readers can learn more about each of the facilities that qualified for this honor. The portal enables face-to-face marketers to quickly and easily research potential event venues and learn more about the convention centers that are hosting the trade shows and exhibitions on their annual calendars.

For more information on the Centers of Excellence competition, visit www.ExhibitorOnline.com/Awards/CoE.

For more information on all of the 2025 Centers of Excellence recipients, visit www.ExhibitorOnline.com/FindIt/CoE.asp.

About Exhibitor Group
The leader in trade show and corporate event marketing education, Exhibitor Group publishes EXHIBITOR magazine, an award-winning publication featuring best practices in trade show marketing. EXHIBITOR's learning events include: EXHIBITORLIVE, The Conference and Exhibition for Trade Show and Corporate Event Marketing; EXHIBITOR Education Week, the Professional Learning Conference for Exhibit and Corporate Event Marketers; and EXHIBITOR eTrak, professional online learning. Exhibitor Group is also the founder of CTSM (Certified Trade Show Marketer), the industry's only university-affiliated professional certification program, and the EXHIBITORNOW podcast, your source for the latest news and interviews with thought leaders in trade shows and events. Learn more at www.ExhibitorOnline.com.

EXHIBITOR is a registered trademark, and EXHIBITORLIVE, EXHIBITOR Education Week, and EXHIBITOR eTrak, are trademarks of Exhibitor Media, LLC, in the USA and other countries. All company and/or product names may be trade names, trademarks and/or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated.

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