Business View Magazine June 2023

TAMPA CONVENT ION CENTER the back, it’s been other people, and that helps us to draw lots of conventions, events, meetings, and leisure travelers to the destination.” Currently, the convention center is nearing the end of a renovation which will add 18,000 square feet of transformable space split between two levels. Ingram depicts, “Our third level is connected to our exhibit space, so that gives us an additional opportunity to expand about 9000 square feet. It can be broken down into individual meeting rooms, for a total of nine. On the fourth floor, which is our top level, there are another 9000 square feet or another nine rooms. So, that gives us about 18 breakout rooms that we can use, should we need to, otherwise it can go into our exhibit space on the third floor.” The renovation was ideally timed, as it began during the pandemic, allowing for the opportunity to accommodate emerging health and safety requests and integrate them moving forward. On the safety side, Ingram remarks, “As far as our security piece, we’ve looked at how we can integrate it within the city. We’ve actually tied into the Tampa Police Department as well as the city IT has access to our facility. So, we’re well covered in that piece.” According to Ingram, in terms of new technology, the only required upgrade for the traditional convention center was the lighting, as all other audiovisual (AV) components are typically provided by the client. “We do have a phenomenal in-house AV company called Encore that we use to handle all our technology needs. The center is upgrading our lighting package in the meeting rooms.” Other valued partnerships that are critical to Tampa Convention Center’s success include food and beverage provider Aramark, and Smart City, who manage technology and communications for the facility. “Without them, no matter what we did, we wouldn’t be as successful as we are. It truly takes a team effort to succeed in this industry,” Ingram conveys. The achievements of the Tampa Convention Center can also be attributed to the wide array of impressive events hosted at the venue. Notable David Ingram