Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center

A Hub Bringing People – and Prosperity – to the Capital City

In South Carolina’s capital city sits the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center, a venue with an impact that stretches far beyond its walls. It serves as a gathering place for conferences, galas, educational programs, and national events that attract visitors from across the country. In doing so, it supports local businesses, strengthens the regional economy, and helps to showcase Columbia as a vibrant and convenient destination.

An Ideal Location

Cheryl Swanson, Vice President and General Manager, explained, “We are a downtown facility, walkable to many restaurants and hotels. It’s a great location.” She notes that the building has been beautifully maintained throughout its 21 years and continues to operate in excellent condition – both aesthetically and functionally.

“We take great pride in that. We offer wonderful amenities to our clients, attendees and the events that take place here, and that translates to significant economic impact and puts Columbia, South Carolina, on the map.

The convention center attracts groups seeking a vibrant district with nearby dining, entertainment, and lodging. With more than 2,000 hotel rooms located within a mile, the area offers a variety of options for every budget and preference. “We are a jewel in our downtown area,” Swanson added.

“We have wonderful attractions in our community—our zoo, our museums, and so many other things,” she said. “We serve as an anchor that draws people to Columbia, and from there they’re able to enjoy all the city has to offer. Often, visitors come for business and then return a second time for leisure with their families.”

The Perfect Fit

Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center’s versatile space combines an exhibit hall, ballroom, and breakout rooms in ratios that work well for corporate meetings, associations, and regional conferences. Sarah Britt, Director of Sales, explains, “Our perfect size for a group is going to be between 300 and 1,000 depending on their breakout footprint, their meal functions, their general session. We have an ideal size here in Columbia.”

Britt and her team work closely with Experience Columbia SC, the city’s convention, and visitors bureau, and with the center’s marketing partners to identify the right audiences. “What works really well here is going to be those mid-sized corporations,” she said. “There’s been a lot of growth in South Carolina from a business perspective. Many businesses are headquartered here or have a large employment base here, so we are targeting those businesses for their sales meetings, for their product launches. There are also several national associations and regional associations that work well in this size city.”

While the convention center cannot currently expand physically, the goal is to grow strategically. “We are working on filling it with more impactful events,” emphasizes Britt.

“We have community events, and we want to continue to have those, but there’s more impact that comes from a five or six day national or regional event that’s going to have several hundred room nights. So, we are looking at filling the space with as many of those as possible to grow our impact in the same footprint.”

Best Practices and Continuous Improvement

Running a premier convention center requires constant attention to detail, and the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center is committed to ongoing maintenance and improvements. Over the years the center has added new furniture, refreshed the carpet, and created two additional meeting rooms on the upper level.

“From an aesthetic standpoint, we’ve done an excellent job,” Swanson said. “But there’s also the functional side. As a 21-year-old facility, our infrastructure is continually being upgraded and maintained—not only to meet our clients’ needs, but to ensure the highest level of safety as well.”

With this in mind, investments have been made in new roofs, escalator upgrades, ovens, dishwashers, and other essentials that ensure the building runs smoothly. Keeping up with technology is another priority. “We’ve invested a great deal into our fiber network to ensure that our internet connectivity for our clients is excellent,” she said.

“We’ve invested in cameras and monitors to support our clients’ remote conferencing needs, as well as upgraded security technology,” she explains. “We take safety very seriously and work to ensure that all of our clients, attendees, and staff are protected at all times.”

The center has also been outfitted with LED boards and digital signage to enhance the client experience. “We constantly assess what our clients need, benchmark ourselves against comparable facilities, and invest in technology to ensure we remain competitive,” Swanson said.

Flexible and Efficient

Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center’s ability to support an impressive range of events while delivering an excellent experience for every group is part of its identity. This versatility is supported by quick and efficient room transformations. Director of Events Meredith Merritt highlights how rapidly the spaces can shift from one function to the next.

“We have an excellent housekeeping, operations team, engineering team, those support teams really get that work done. They will flip it to go into a trade show, and then they’ll flip that again to go into a corporate meeting, and then we’ll flip that one more time to go back into a gala.”

This care and consideration also extends to event budgets and client goals. “We’re always very good stewards of the clients’ budget, whether it is a large community event or a private fundraising gala or a national event,” Merritt conveys.

“They’re all successful in our eyes, as long as the client’s budget is met, the needs of that event are met, and every guest comes out of here feeling like they were welcomed warmly with that good Southern hospitality.”

Even innovation comes in the form of practical, client-focused solutions. Swanson shared an example involving the exhibit hall’s flooring. “That is a 24,000-square-foot space with a cement floor,” she explained.

“If clients planned an upscale event, they had to rent carpet, which was very expensive, labor-intensive, and didn’t always deliver the look they wanted. We invested in a heavy-duty tile with a blue-gray slate finish. We did that not only to save our facility time and increase efficiency, but to save our clients’ money as well.”

The Power of Branding and Collaboration

Strong partnerships are another contributor to the CMCC’s success, and the organization’s marketing team works not only with the center, but also with Experience Columbia and the Sports Council to stay up to date on market research and align branding efforts.

“We have one shared marketing team, so that our efforts can really be supporting one another. That’s really been a benefit,” says Britt. “To even get the opportunity to host an event, we’ve got to promote the destination first, and so aligning all those together is really, really important.”

Guided by the tagline, ‘The Heart of SC,’ the marketing team provides visitors with content about restaurants, late night dining, attractions, and itineraries that planners can use for apps, websites, or conference guides.

“Having a unified authority – where the CVB and the Convention Center operate under one marketing department – is a tremendous advantage,” said Kelly Barbrey, VP of Marketing & Communications.

“Our marketing team creates customized blogs, itineraries, and off-site options that the Convention Center can share with meeting planners and event attendees. We work hard to showcase that we’re not only the geographic heart of South Carolina, but also the heart and soul of the state – full of activity, energy, and a wide variety of things to experience.”

Another significant partner is OVG Hospitality, the facility’s national food service provider. “Their excellent food service helps our reputation, and our chef customizes many of the meals that they serve, and he tries to source locally as much as he can,” Swanson says. “I think that partnership is number one for the convention center. We would not be as successful if we didn’t have such a good team with OVG here.”

Britt adds “The food piece is so important because that is what people remember after an event. They remember how it looked, they remember the connections with people, and they remember if the food was good or not.”

A Standout Destination

As for what sets the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center apart, its walkable downtown location is a major advantage. Britt remarks, “A lot of convention centers are 20 minutes outside of town, and people do not get to come and really experience the destination.”

Expansion is something Swanson believes to be possible in the coming years. “The top priority for us is more space,” she recounts. “Our clients need it. We need it. There are initiatives and there’s discussion about the potential for an attached hotel to this facility, and we hope that those plans will be able to go forward, which would provide us some additional space and partnership.”

The team’s collaborative approach, high service standards, and attention to detail have earned the facility a strong reputation for excellence. Paired with quality branding and an exceptional culinary experience, the convention center is well-positioned to continue its path of excellence.

AT A GLANCE

Who: Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center

What: South Carolina’s only downtown convention center

Where: Columbia, South Carolina

Website: www.columbiaconventioncenter.com