Jamaica's motto, "Out of Many, One People," would be a fitting slogan for its prime meeting site as well. The Jamaica Conference Centre, located in the capital city of Kingston, is one of the Caribbean's leading facilities for meetings that require simultaneous translation services.

The center's need for simultaneous translation is due to its role as headquarters for the International Seabed Authority, an arm of the United Nations. Built to UN specifications, the center is equipped with simultaneous translation facilities for six languages: English, Spanish, French, Chinese, Russian, and Arabic.

Located on the waterfront in downtown Kingston, around-the-clock security protects the center, which includes a print shop, press area to accommodate up to 40 journalists, health clinic, business services office, delegate lounges, and a cafeteria with seating for up to 250 attendees. Adjacent to the cafeteria is a 2,400-square-foot Exhibition Hall with track lighting. Downstairs, a reception foyer offers a document distribution center, travel agency, Air Jamaica desk, limited postal services, and commercial banking services.

When it's time to get down to business, the facility includes five conference rooms as well as smaller caucus rooms. Conference Room 1 accommodates 1,200 attendees in fixed, semi-circular seating and has a built-in audience-polling system; arrangement for videoconferencing to this room or the other conference rooms can be made in collaboration with Cable and Wireless Jamaica Ltd. ISDN circuits are available for videoconferencing. Seven smaller conference rooms accommodate from 120 to 400 people.

Although the center was constructed in 1982, Internet access is, in true Jamaica fashion, "no problem." Throughout the center, Internet access is provided by Cable and Wireless Jamaica Limited. High-speed access using ISDN, T1, and European standard E1 high-capacity lines is available, with transmission speeds of up to 2.048 Mbps on an E1 circuit. The facility does not offer an in-house AV services, although this can be sourced from suppliers.