May 2006
Hot convention center technologies
7 hi-tech features you gotta have and where you’ll find them

By Patricia D. Sherman


“Technology, especially data capacity, is moving up on the list of requirements show organizers consider when they select facilities,” says David Langford, Vice President, Technology, Las Vegas-based Smart City Networks (www.smartcity.com), an on-site technology provider for 13 convention centers that installs infrastructure for 2,000 events every year. “We’re being asked into the site selection process earlier.”

Exhibitors and attendees expect to be able to quickly receive and display data when and where they need it in multiple forms using a variety of platforms and configurations. When show organizers consider convention centers, they look for the technology to meet these expectations. As fast as convention center budgets allow, facilities are upgrading their technology infrastructures and other technology options that enhance meetings and events.

So what’s hot in convention center technology? EXPO identified eight key areas, based on what show organizers and their exhibitors and attendees value most now, and asked facilities across North America to share their best applications. Here we highlight some of the centers that are delivering innovative technology solutions.

1. Total Wi-Fi Coverage
“Everybody is using wireless now. We’ve crossed the bridge from early adopters,” says Langford. “We’ve seen demand double every year since 2004, and consumers have higher expectations.”
The newest wireless trend, he says, is facility-wide buyouts. “Show organizers want to buy the entire network in a building. They’re selling sponsorships and advertising and giving access to their attendees free.”

Wireless hot spots are giving way to 100 percent facility coverage, with Wi-Fi that meets 802.11g standards, as well 802.11a and 802.11b. Among the centers with total Wi-Fi access and the advanced infrastructure to ensure reliability are those in Austin, San Diego, Washington, DC, and Las Vegas.

The Austin Convention Center (ACC, www.austinconventioncenter.com) offers 1 million square feet of Wi-Fi coverage powered by a Cisco Centralized System. It has redundant controllers and 85 access points. Limited complimentary wireless Internet access is offered to all clients and, in January and February, more than 2,000 clients used the service.

The San Diego Convention Center (SDCC, www.sdccc.org) and the Washington Convention Center (WCC, www.dcconvention.com) use Cisco Airnet 1200 series access points. At both centers, monitoring systems increase network performance and reliability and allow for complex and flexible network designs. SDCC uses AirMagnet, which allows for constant monitoring of performance and channel planning for each event and wireless local area network.

The Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC, www.lvcva.com) is one of the largest registered Wi-Fi zones in the country. Public and private wireless networks are available for show managers and exhibitors.

Despite the demand for wireless access, experts caution that consumers may have unrealistic expectations. “Wi-Fi was never designed for large facilities made of metal and concrete filled with thousands of human beings who are made of water, which absorbs radio waves. We’re pushing the capacity of Wi-Fi. If customers expect it to behave like a LAN (local area network) in a crowded environment, they’re often disappointed,” says Ben Tally, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Priority Networks (www.prioritynetworks.net), which provides network-based services and telecommunications for convention centers and hospitality venues.

2. Flexible Network Design
Convention centers are expected to support high-speed Internet access and provide network services. The technology that enables this has been around for a long time, says Tally, and claiming fast Internet access hardly sets one center apart from another. “They all have fast service,” he says. Centers now distinguish themselves by promoting the power and variety of their network design and availability of new technologies, such as Internet2 and, to a limited degree, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol).

For instance, the ACC network supported more than 2,000 wired computing devices and 400 wireless devices, as well as 15 computer labs and three e-mail centers with 20 computers each during the February convention of the Texas Computer Education Association.

The Kansas City Convention Center (KCCC, www.visitkc.com) promotes its two-layer network. The Exhibitor Network provides Internet and LAN access to exhibitors and attendees. The Technology Network provides integrated communications for the building systems, such as audio and video systems, building automation, security, closed-circuit TV (CCTV) and lighting system.

The LVCC offers Internet access over both shared and private networks. Access is achieved on shared networks with either public or private IP addresses. Private and custom networks are designed to specifications with or without Internet access at bandwidth the customer chooses.

The ACC, McCormick Place (www.mccormickplace.com) in Chicago, and the Boston Convention and Exposition Center (www.bostonconventioncenter.com) are among only a few centers that have access to Internet2, the ultra high-speed advanced broadband network that ties into the nationwide network of higher learning infrastructures. Internet2 can be used to display the most advanced applications.

“There’s a lot of buzz about VoIP now, and there’s some call for technology providers to support it,” says Langford. “It’s being used for internal communications to replace two-way radios, and some customers are bringing their own devices. But I don’t know if there are a lot of practical applications beyond that. I don’t know if there’s a great market for it in the show industry.”

3. 24/7 Tech Support
“The demand for 24-hour tech support has increased in the past 18 months,” says Langford. “Now customers want particular applications supported rather than just the company Web site. Support has become part of the delivery of a successful display.”

The Los Angeles Convention Center (LACC, www.lacclink.com) has a 24-hour Network Operating Center. The LACC and SDCC have round-the-clock on-site support for show managers, registration companies and exhibitors. Attendee support is available as needed during the day and by 24-hour hotlines.

4. System-wide Security
Site security is a top-of-mind concern across the hospitality and meeting industry these days. Convention centers are installing sophisticated systems to control access and ensure rapid emergency response. Biometric readers, card key access and camera surveillance for perimeter and even meeting room doors are not uncommon. System-wide control and redundancy are now key selling points for high-tech facilities.

The access control system in Austin features proximity card readers and runs over the installed ethernet fabric. Redundant databases are stored on each controller. In the event of communication failure between the server and the controller, each controller can operate independently. The center’s 138 security cameras record 24 hours a day, and 15 days of real-time video is stored on the digital-video recording (DVR) servers.

Tight access control is not limited to facilities in large cities. At the Overland Park Convention Center (www.opconventioncenter.com) in Kansas, every door has a proximity card reader. The computer assigns individual card access levels and reports access to every door in the facility. A 36-camera CCTV system records to DVR, providing for faster review than tape storage. The security department is staffed around the clock.

The Visually Enhanced Crisis Management system at the LACC enables emergency responders to rapidly review detailed site information and to see through doors and walls and around corners. The images displayed are embedded with tactical information.

5. Futuristic Boardrooms
Boardrooms have become the status spaces in convention centers — the more lavish the appointments and plentiful the technology the better. Of course, they’re expected to be wired for telephones and have wired and wireless Internet access, cable television and remote control lighting. But the technology being packed into these spaces goes far beyond that.

For example, the Jarvis Executive Boardroom at the WCC is equipped with a built-in 82-inch video display screen, host computer with standard Microsoft Office software and T3 Internet access, basic cable channels, in-house video channels, DVD/VHS/ Betacam SP prerecorded video and two super video graphics adapter (SVGA) feeds patched through the main table. There are also wireless PC keyboards and mice. 

A16-by-4 audio mix feeds to house sound. Audio can be fed into the room from anywhere in the complex. The podium and eight sites are equipped with wireless microphones, which can be sent to house sound or any audio system or patch point in the complex. The sound system allows for conference calls with clean audio feed direct to output mix.

A wireless liquid crystal display (LCD) touch panel controls the audiovisual system, including the dedicated VCR, DVD player, audio system and computer. The panel also controls the drop-down screen and the blackout screen for the window.

The triangular boardroom at the Virginia Beach Convention Center (VBCC, www.vbgov.com) features a 35-foot ceiling and full glass on two sides. The centerpiece of the room is a triangular table with cold cathode tabletop lighting. The table is equipped with multiple recessed boxes with data, telecommunications and audio-visual connections. Microphones are spaced around the table for conference calls. The room has an overhang data projector, a dropdown screen and DVD player. All components are controlled through a wireless touch-screen remote.

6. Wired Meeting Rooms
Meeting rooms don’t match boardrooms in the quantity of technology, but they aren’t far behind.

For example, each of the 66 meeting rooms at the WCC offers Internet accessibility, telecommunications connections and wireless microphones and is served by 100, 200 or 400 amp three-phase electrical services for lighting and sound. The audio system includes built-in assistive listening. Hearing-impaired attendees can use a standard headset and pass from meeting to meeting without the need for additional equipment.

Each meeting room has a touch panel that allows technicians to program audio outputs without going to a central control site. Five-scene lighting can be locally programmed. Preset programming can be touch activated. Infrared controllers can change lighting presets by remote control.

Meeting rooms at the ACC can be set as computer labs, as well as classrooms. Fiber-optic and Cat5 network communication ports on every fixed wall provide ample bandwidth. Wireless VPN access to the center’s HVAC and lighting control systems allows staff to make immediate environmental adjustments. The virtual private network (VPN) access provides house sound in all meeting rooms.

7. Hi-def Programmable Displays
Availability and placement of such point-of-contact displays as signage, high-definition TV (HDTV), plasma screens and lighting make a big impression on attendees and enhance overall meeting logistics.

A good example of this is the technology upgrade of signage at the Metro Toronto Convention Center (www.mtccc.com). Bill McDonald, Director of Technical Services, says, “In 2005, we installed 19 networked LCD panels throughout the facility, concentrating on key entry points, such as street-level parking and service desks. The signs show events for the day and are updated every 10 minutes. At every sign, we have a backlit floor schematic of the building. We can provide specific images on videos to selected signs. The feedback has been so positive that we’re planning to add more.”

At the VBCC, four 90-foot video walls in the pre-function space allow organizers and exhibitors to communicate with attendees as soon as they enter the building. The screens can show multiple images or one continuous image.

Early this year, the KCCC completed a $22 million renovation and technology upgrade that added the energy efficient Digital Addressable Lighting Interface system. Each light/ballast has its own IP address allowing for individual client programming. The system even detects burned-out bulbs and sends work orders to have them changed.