Although it’s not scheduled to open until June, the new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center landed a whopper when Microsoft announced its decision to hold its annual TechEd Convention at the new facility in 2006.
TechEd is a customer training convention and is one of Microsoft’s largest annual shows. The six-day event, scheduled for June 11to 16, 2006, will bring 10,000 attendees to Boston and fill more than 34,000 room nights. The convention will draw about 200 exhibitors and will include approximately 50 demo stations. The 2006 show, held in San Diego this year, will mark its first visit to New England.
It’s welcome news for the 1.6-million-square foot BCEC, whose definite bookings through 2010 have grown from 11 to 40 in the last 18 months. According to a report in the Boston Globe, the center has eight other conventions with contracts pending, including TechEd, and 88 that officials label as tentative. IDG World of Framingham, Mass. is moving its Macworld Conference & Expo and LinuxWorld Conference & Expo from the Jacob Javits Center in New York to the new BCEC this year. In addition, SAP Worldwide’s mid-year corporate meeting, and the Democratic National Convention’s media party, are scheduled for July.
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority has also announced that funding has been approved for the 790-room Westin Hotel located adjacent to the BCEC. Construction is expected to start this spring on the hotel tower and is expected to be complete by spring 2006. An additional 330 rooms are planned as part of a second phase of construction.
In other booking announcements, the Ecological Society of America has selected San Jose as the site for its 2007 annual meeting. The annual meeting, which is scheduled for August 2 to 10, 2007, is estimated to generate $5.4 million in economic impact for the city. Between 2,800 to 3,200 delegates are expected to congregate in San Jose for the meeting, representing 5,300 room nights.
The SJCVB has logged several wins this fiscal year, says Marie Rothhauser, bureau spokeswoman, including the annual meetings of the following groups: American Public Transportation Association (2006); California Association for Bilingual Education (2006 and 2008); California Association for the Education of Young Children (2007); California Association of School Business Officials' (2007); Religious Conference Management Association (2006); Presbyterian Church USA (2008); and National Association of Hispanic Journalists (2007).