Business View Magazine - June 2016 41
halls. This is airport row, where a lot of aviation his-
tory started back in the 1940s and 50s. And so, when
our owners bought the property in 1972 – that’s when
they started converting, hall by hall, to event and trade
show space.”
In 2008, TIC expanded by adding a new, larger Confer-
ence Centre facility. “So we grew from just doing tradi-
tionally trade and consumer shows to everything from
galas, to association business, to corporate meetings,”
says Lui. “We do the whole gamut - the entire spec-
trum of what you would traditionally have in a large
convention-style venue.”
So, what else makes The International Centre the pre-
ferred choice of many business-event planners in the
Toronto area? “I think a really big differentiator,” says
Lui, “and you’ll hear a lot of this from our customers
who have made the decision to move to us from other
venues - is we’re not just a landlord, here. Our goal,
here, is to drive a bottom line experience for every-
one’s event. We’re driven to find ways and methods
to help your already successful event to be more suc-
cessful. So, if that means finding a way of driving at-
tendance, to driving down your expenses of producing
an event – these are things that we look at very closely,
as opposed to just renting functional space and being
a landlord. And it’s also about the overall experience. If
we can present tools and partnerships to enhance all
facets of an event experience, that’s our goal”
Karen Wren, Director of Marketing, agrees. “Our brand
is our people,” she says. “So it goes back to customer
service and the dedication of our team. That’s number
one.” The Centre has a full-time staff of 100, growing
to over 300 during peak season with added casuals
and part-timers. According to Wren, additional advan-
tages of the Centre include its location outside the city
core, allowing it to offer 5,000 complimentary parking
spaces, its easy access to major highways and pub-
lic transit, its advanced audio-visual and presentation
technologies, its versatile room configurations, and
its culinary excellence. In fact, for two years running,
TIC received M+IT Magazine’s Readers’ Choice Award,
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
The International Centre
WHAT:
The leading multi-purpose convention
venue in Central Canada
WHERE:
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada
WEBSITE
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