A PLACE for ALL Part 1 of an interview with Marcia Lyons, General Manager of the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre (CTCC).
Marcia, I think we should begin the
to communicate instantly around the
interview with a recap of 2012. Can you
world, so we ensure we meet their needs.
tell us how the Calgary TELUS Convention
Convention organizers focus on the
Centre (CTCC) fared during 2012?
educational needs of the attendees and
2012 was a good year. Like all sectors, we did feel the impact of the global recession,
we must ensure they have all the resources they require within our facility.
but we did well in 2010 and 2011, and
Key decision parameters for meeting
even better in 2012.
planners and convention organizers
Statistics from the major international industry associations show that most of the convention facilities worldwide believe that they have now climbed
are having convenient access to hotels, restaurants, and transportation. Do you think the CTCC’s downtown location provides you with an advantage for
out of the recession or forecast moving
attracting meetings to Calgary?
back above 2008 levels in 2013. Do you
Yes, our location is definitely an advantage.
see 2013 as a return to 2008 usage and revenue levels for the CTCC? Our forecast for 2013 looks good and we
We are located in the middle of Calgary’s vibrant downtown core and this gives us a distinct advantage over many other
have strong bookings for the next few
convention facilities. We want to continue
years. Our focus as a management team is
to be a hub for economic development
now on maintaining our momentum and
in Calgary, and we want to ensure that
ensuring we manage growth effectively.
Calgarians use the facility.
There is a lot of discussion amongst the
Your vision for the CTCC seems broad
business community around virtual
in scope!
meetings, teleconferencing, and using social media to connect with customers. Has this affected the number of meetings held at the CTCC or affected your forecasts for future years?
It is. We want to attract business leaders and scholars from around the world, but we also recognize the role we can play in bringing all of the Calgary community together. We believe in the importance of
No, people still want to meet face to
creating a public and private space that is
face to learn, to build relationships, and
a meeting hub for all Calgarians and not
to create trust. These trends have more
just members of the business community.
impact on the services and infrastructure
We want to highlight the role that the
we provide to our customers. Our clients
CTCC can play in both the economic and
need wireless access and to be able
social growth of our city.
Thanks Marcia. I think we would all like to hear more about the vision for the CTCC so we will continue this interview in next month’s issue. Calgary-convention.com