Business View Magazine | July 2022

171 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 7 COLUMB I A METROPOL I TAN CONVENT ION CENTER Swanson. “It’s a vibrant district and within a mile there are more than 2000 hotel rooms.” The Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center boasts a 16,700 square-foot ballroom, a 23,700 square-foot, column-less exhibition hall, and more than 18,000 square feet of meeting space that can be broken up into 19 individual rooms. It plays host to happenings that run the gamut from sporting events to educational conferences, religious events, and non-profit galas. “Part of why it’s fun is the diversity in clients,” says Sarah Britt, Director of Sales for the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. “Our largest markets are typically corporate, association and education, but we have seen huge growth in the sports market during COVID. We’ve done a lot of dance and cheer over the past two years, in addition to grappling, taekwondo, jujitsu, bodybuilding, all of those things.” In addition to its prime location, CMCC stands out in the world of event centers for a few reasons. One, being technology. “We are able to accommodate the rising technology demands for clients,” Britt explains. “We have the ability to upgrade Wi-Fi as needed, which is useful especially now that everybody is wanting to live stream or have a virtual component. Our ability to offer those needs for clients is not found everywhere. It makes us competitive and allows us to keep things new and relevant.” CMCC has retrofitted former payphone areas to become charging stations, added fiber internet to the building, and have upgraded to digital signage on all meeting rooms. Clients can also rent out an LED wall that was added to the concourse area to share content such as video and sponsors. In addition to technology, CMCC has made partnerships with trusted vendors to provide clients with full service events. Clients can General Manager, Cheryl Swanson