conferences to Department of Justice events. We are a very busy convention center with no real offseason.” RESILIENCE AMID THE PANDEMIC When the pandemic struck, many convention centers across the nation saw their operations grind to a halt. However, under the proactive leadership of its executives, the Gatlinburg Convention Center approached these unprecedented times with remarkable foresight and adaptability. “We were very fortunate during Covid,” says Dave Esslinger, VP of Sales and Marketing, “but at the same time, we created our own fortune by being proactive.”As soon as the pandemic began, Esslinger and Murphy initiated stringent safety protocols. “We started putting in place the safety measures we envisioned long before the broader public discussions on sanitizing,” Esslinger explains. This proactive approach paid off. “By June of that year, we were already hosting events,” Esslinger notes. Attendance numbers were reduced, but the fact that they managed to hold 88 events in 2020 was a significant achievement compared to other convention centers nationwide. Murphy highlights another critical step they took: obtaining certification from the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC). “Dave discovered this organization, which was the leading authority on cleanliness and biorisk,” he recalls. The certification process was rigorous, involving extensive documentation and adherence to strict safety standards. “We were among the top ten convention centers in the U.S. to receive this certification on our first submission,” Murphy states proudly. The GBAC certification and other measures reassured event organizers and attendees. “We had pods of chairs for groups who traveled together, maintained masking, and conducted temperature checks,”Murphy elaborates.Their meticulous planning and adherence to safety protocols allowed them to host events that other convention centers couldn’t during the height of the pandemic. Despite these successes, the pandemic inevitably 150 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 11, ISSUE 07
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