February 2006
Advertorial
City insider: Detroit

Cobo Center
Exhibit space: 700,000 square feet of prime space; 600,000 square feet of that space is on one level. The space is divided into five halls ranging from 100,000 square feet to 200,000 square feet.
Meeting space: 178,446 square feet of space in 80 meeting rooms off the exhibit floor. The Riverview ballroom offers 27,400 square feet of space, and the Ambassador dining room offers 21,600 square feet.
Arenas: Cobo has two arenas, one seating 12,191 and one seating 20,525.
Key features:   The Cobo Center is linked to all downtown Detroit hotels and entertainment districts by the Detroit People Mover, an elevated railway system.

Rock Financial Showplace
This facility recently opened in Novi, MI.
Exhibit space:  Three halls totaling 214,000 square feet of multipurpose exposition space
Meeting space:  Five meeting rooms located off the exhibit floor
Pre-function space:  A 25,000-square-foot Grand Atrium

Visitor attractions
Detroit has undergone extensive redevelopment in recent years. Among the improvements visitors will enjoy:
1. Major streetscapes in the downtown area around the Cobo Center are complete. Washington Boulevard has been returned to a boulevard with a landscaped median. Woodward Avenue and Broadway have wider sidewalks, and the Cobo Center has a new entrance.

2. The Detroit International Riverfront is in the midst of a $500 million redevelopment project that’s expected to be complete by the end of 2006. The project includes Tri-Centennial Park, which opened in 2004, as well as two other parks that will be connected by a network of bike and jogging trials. There will also be a new harbor for cruise ships.

3. Campus Martius Park is a 1.6-acre park in downtown Detroit that opened in 2004. Visitors can enjoy ice skating in the winter and beautiful flowers and landscaping in the summer. The surrounding area is home to Compuware’s 4,000 employees, as well as 62 new clubs, restaurants and local businesses.

Detroit is a four-hour drive or less from many major population centers, such as Toronto, Chicago, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.

Making it easy to do business
The Detroit Metro CVB offers a variety of services to show organizers, including:
• Welcome programs
• Housing services
• On-site registration services
• Attendance building tools
• Outreach tools to use with exhibitors such as an exhibitor service flyer and service lead program

Event history
The Detroit Metro CVB has experience hosting the most challenging of events. Among the events hosted in Detroit:
• Society of Automotive Engineers, average attendance: 50,000
• North American International Auto Show, average attendance: 800,000
• National Baptist Convention, average attendance: 50,000

Detroit also has vast experience with major sporting events, including:
• 2006 NFL Super Bowl
• 2005 MLB All Star Game
• 2004 Ryder Cup

And coming…
• 2009 NCAA Men’s Final Four
• 2010 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four

Exhibitors will love…
Detroit’s flexible labor rules allow exhibitors to plug in their own electricity and plug in their own computers and technical equipment. The rules also allow for flexible labor crew size depending on the job. Exhibitors may assemble their own booths at the discretion of the contractor, unpack their own product and carry in any items needed as long as materials handling equipment isn’t needed.