Nov-2017

132 133 RBC CONVENTION CENTREWINNIPEG provincial, and municipal governments all participated in funding the expansion, the City of Winnipeg owns the Centre and con- tributed the lion’s share to the project. Approximately 800 full-time, part-time, and casual employees work at the Conven- tion Centre. Lahr says, “We’re a big employer in the city, hosting over 900 events per year. It’s a very busy place. I’ve been here since June 1, 1993, and I’ve seen a lot of change in the industry in those 25 years. I came from the hotel industry, and the convention centre industry was really lagging behind the hotel sector, technology-wise. In the ‘90s, convention centres were thin on IT. WiFi was unheard of, the internet was un- known. Imagine, in this day and age, oper- ating without WiFi and a website, and not doing business online. In that area, humon- gous changes have happened.” As part of the expansion, the Centre im- plemented state-of-the-art, high-speed in- ternet and WiFi accessibility to all its clients free of charge which, for a short while, made them somewhat of an industry leader. Telus, a major telecom provider in Canada, is the Centre’s partner in that endeavor. “We’re in a face-to-face industry,” says Lahr, “where you know the people you’re doing business with. You prospect the as- sociations and connect with them, one on one. We have a very high return client base. We survey every client, and between 68 to 78 percent are return clients. Canadians make up 80 percent of our customers. The rest are international, or American organizations that are part of an inter- national body.” The impressive RBC Convention Centre structure is divided at ground level by a city street, but the third floor is a contiguous floor, and the second floor is a skywalk that connects the two buildings. A small, facility-based eatery serves delegates and meeting attendees onsite, and a plethora of neighborhood restaurants promises to satisfy every appetite. Accommodations are also plentiful. Lahr reports, “Within walking distance, we have 1,500 hotel rooms. There’s a Delta Hotel connect- ed to our Centre by the skywalk, and an additional 300-room hotel is being built. We occupy two city blocks right downtown. We’re a 12-minute cab ride from the airport, and easily accessible by highway for cars and freight. Winni- peg is not a huge, congested metropoli- tan city, it’s very well laid out with good traffic flow.” Winnipeg is in the midst of a building spree and the RBC Convention Centre expansion is a big part of downtown rejuvenation. A new hotel is going up a block to the north, along with a new True North Square featuring a 23-story office and residential tower, as well as a public square. According to Billboard Magazine, the Bell MTS Place (to the northeast) is one of North America’s busiest entertainment venues. There is also a new outlet shopping mall, and the nearby, newly-built, Canadian Mu- seum for Human Rights. The Centre’s business year is similar to a school year. It starts to get busy the