Calgary
Stampede for $500m expansion
as Calgary picks up the congress pace
Other notable
upcoming events
being held in
Calgary are:
• The Institute
of Electrical
and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE)
Photovoltaic
Specialists
Conference – June
2020
Team Builder’ exercises involve game
design challenges.
Historical sites are another option and
Fort Calgary has the Interpretive
Centre (a reconstruction of the city’s
original barracks) and Hunt House (an
original trading post building from the
days of fur trappers) where you can rent
dining halls.
The city’s hotel inventory offers
14,000 guest rooms, and that number is
expanding.
• International
Federation of
Social Workers
Conference – July
2020
• International
Pediatric
algary, a past Winter
Olympics (1988) host, is
fast gaining a reputation
for conferencing and other
big events – and not just in its strong
suit sector of oil and gas.
The city has two major venues to
consider for large convention-style
events – the BMO Centre at Stampede
Park - currently undergoing a
CAD$500m expansion - and the
Calgary TELUS Convention Centre.
Both are located downtown, close to
restaurants, hotels, theatres and
shopping.
Calgary Stampede Park is a
multi-purpose group of facilities, with
46,451sqm of flexible function space. Its
expansion project is due to be completed
by 2024, turning the facility into the
second largest convention centre in
Canada.
Calgary TELUS Convention Centre
(CTCC), meanwhile, is directly
connected to the Marriott Downtown
Calgary, Fairmont Palliser and Hyatt
58 /
CONFERENCE & MEETINGS WORLD
Regency Calgary hotels. CTCC has
11,334sqm of flexible convention space
and offsite venues include Calgary’s new
Central Library.
If those are the two big beasts in the
venue market, then Calgary’s unique
character throws up many other special
venues for consideration. Music halls,
like the city’s libraries, are hubs of
cultural activity, bringing both visual
appeal and acoustic quality. Calgary’s
Studio Bell (National Music Centre) is
able to accommodate large events and
gatherings and offers an interior clad in
226,000 glazed terracotta tiles, as well
as the backdrop of Canada’s Music Hall
of Fame.
The city’s various science centres can
add temporary exhibits to coincide with
a special event, and guided tours of labs
and studios can include hands-on
training or group activities.
Calgary’s TELUS Spark features an
array of museum exhibitions, and offers
interactive studios in coding, animation,
and computer graphics. Its ‘Innovative
/
ISSUE 102
Nephrology
Association – 2022
• Rotary
International – 2025
Below: Sampling the
White Hat Welcome
in Calgary.
Calgary collaboration
Calgary has a strong team of
stakeholders keen to collaborate and
bid for international conferences. This
was exemplified in the recent
successful bid for the 2023 World
Petroleum Congress. Meetings +
Conventions Calgary worked with the
local organising committee, WPC
Canada, as well as the two venues,
Calgary TELUS Convention Centre
and the BMO Centre, and the Calgary
Hotel Association and the City of
Calgary were also involved in the bid.
For the WPC bid Calgary was up
against Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan,
United Arab Emirates and Argentina.
Over 5,000 global delegates are
expected for a congress that will create
an estimated CAD$65m in direct
economic impact.
Calgary is proud of its delegate
welcome, which can start at Calgary
International Airport, where White
Hat Volunteers are often brought in,
exemplifying the Western welcoming
spirit. Planners hosting in Calgary can
incorporate a White Hat Ceremony
into an opening event, with their
delegates able to become “honorary
Calgarians”. The White Hat Ceremony
is a tradition that dates back to 1950.