• In May, the CONNECTICUT CONVENTION CENTER, Hartford, celebrated its first anniversary. In its first year, the center, which offers 140,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 40,000-square-foot ballroom, and 16 meeting rooms with a total of 25,000 square feet, hosted 380 events, generating approximately $60 million for the region. As a result, a number of new hotels are being planned or are under construction. In June, a new Hampton Inn & Suites broke ground in East Hartford.

• The KUALA LUMPUR CONVENTION CENTRE celebrated its first anniversary in June. The center's plenary hall seats 3,000 people. The center's goal was to make Malaysia a leading destination for meetings and exhibitions, and since its opening, the center has hosted 291 events, with an economic benefit of $103 million to the region.

• A pedestrian skybridge from the TAMPA CONVENTION CENTER to the new EMBASSY SUITES HOTEL TAMPA-DOWNTOWN CONVENTION CENTER is the only walkway of its kind in Tampa. The 600,000-square-foot Tampa Convention Center offers a 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall; 36,000-square-foot ballroom; 36 breakout rooms; and more than 80,000 square feet of pre-function space. The open-air skybridge, which weighs 31 tons and is 8 feet wide and 158 feet long, towers 20 feet above Franklin Street. It is complete, and awaits the opening of the hotel, expected late this summer. The hotel will have 360 two-room suites, all with high-speed Internet access.

• With approximately $60 million in restorations and several million more in renovations, the majority of the ERNEST N. MORIAL CONVENTION CENTER, New Orleans, re-opened in late June, including 741,257 square feet of exhibit space, 99 meeting rooms, the 4,000-seat auditorium, and a 36,000-square-foot ballroom. The remaining portions of the building are expected to open by early November. The MCC is the sixth largest convention center in the nation, with 1.1 million square feet of exhibit space in 12 exhibit halls, 140 meeting rooms, a 4,000-seat auditorium, and two ballrooms.

• The new CINCINNATI CINERGY CONVENTION CENTER debuted in May after a multimillion-dollar upgrade. The expanded MILLENNIUM HOTEL CINCINNATI, linked to the center by a covered walkway, recently unified its two towers into one property. (Formerly one tower was the Four Points by Sheraton Downtown.) By operating the 422-room tower and the 450-room tower as one property, Millennium became the largest hotel in the tri-state area. Cinergy Center, in downtown Cincinnati, has 750,000 square feet, including 196,800 square feet of exhibit space; the Midwest's largest ballroom, with 38,962 square feet; and a 17,472-square-foot junior ballroom.

• The new RALEIGH (N.C.) CONVENTION CENTER is expected to open in 2008. It will include more than 500,000 total square feet of space; 19 meeting rooms with a total of 30,000 square feet; a 150,000-square-foot exhibit hall; a 32,000-square-foot ballroom; and access to a four-star Marriott hotel with 15,000 square feet of meeting space.

• The GREATER PITTSBURGH CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU is becoming VISITPITTSBURGH. The name relates directly to the CVB's Web site, www.visitpittsburgh.com. VisitPittsburgh will be rolled out gradually.

• A 1,000-room hotel is being built one block from the PHOENIX CONVENTION CENTER, and is scheduled to open in fall 2008. Starwood Hotels will manage it under its Sheraton brand. The new Sheraton will have more than 80,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 28,665-square-foot ballroom, a 15,000-square-foot junior ballroom, six meeting rooms, and two boardrooms. The $350 million project is considered critical to the success of the convention center expansion. Scheduled for a 2009 completion, the $600 million expansion will triple the center's function space to about 900,000 square feet.

• PERTH CONVENTION EXHIBITION CENTRE won the Golden Service Award for cleanliness. Sponsored by Kimberly-Clark Professional, the awards are the building services industry's top award. The Perth Centre concluded its first year of operation in August 2005. The three-level center can host up to 5,000 delegates. It has a 2,500-seat auditorium, 19 meeting rooms, six exhibition pavilions, and a 1,700-seat ballroom. The center offers satellite links, and is the only convention center in Australia with a permanent, accredited wireless service. n Courtesy of MGM Mirage Tampa Convention Center is linked by a pedestrian walkway featuring nature-themed tile (left) to a new Embassy Suites.

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