San Diego Convention Center

San Diego Convention Center
Photo: Pranav

The San Diego Convention Center is located in the Marina district of downtown San Diego. Nothing gets better than a location surrounded by more than 11,000 hotel rooms, shops and restaurants of downtown, the beautiful San Diego Bay, and of course, San Diego’s amazing weather. Described by Visit San Diego website itself as “Abundant, flexible space and five-star service make the San Diego Convention Center the meeting planner’s choice for hosting major conventions, trade shows, meetings and special events.” The convention center’s facilities include:

– Exhibit Hall – 525,701 sq ft
– Sails Pavilion – 90,000 sq ft
– Meeting/Ballrooms – 204,114 sq ft (including 72 meeting rooms)
– Lobby/Pre-function – 284,494 sq ft
– Outdoor Terraces – 184,514 sq ft

It is also near the historic Gaslamp Quarter, Seaport Village, Horton Plaza, the USS Midway Museum and Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres.

The San Diego Convention Center gives huge importance its mission:

“to generate significant economic benefits for the greater San Diego region by hosting international and national conventions and trade shows in our world-class facility.”

by generating economic benefits through hosting major events such as the Comic Con and The Esri Users Conference.

Comic Con

According to the 2014 San Diego Comic Con statistics, about 130,000+ people attended the event, summing up to about 1.8 Million Attendees since it first began in 1970. About 11 acres of floor space was used by hundreds of thousands of people wearing costumes. Comic Con includes exhibitors, workshops hosted by celebrities and industry professionals, and world-renowned panel.

Experience Comic Con International 2015 through HyperLapse!

This GIS Professional conference has been hosting their events at the San Diego Convention Center since 1997, with an estimated 16,000 people from all over the world attending in a year. It is the largest gathering of GIS professionals anywhere in the world. Learn more about them on http://visitsandiego.com/2015/07/fun-facts-esri-uc-puts-san-diego-map

San Diego Convention Center Hotel
Photo: Bill Brooks

If you are hosting or attending an event in the San Diego Convention Center, figure out where to stay in the recommended list below!

– Hard Rock Hotel San Diego – 207 5th Ave. San Diego, CA 92101 / (866) 710-7245 LOCATION: Gaslamp Quarter, Only 0.1 Miles from San Diego Convention Center
– Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel – 1 Park Blvd. San Diego, CA 92101 / (619) 564-3333 LOCATION: Downtown, 0.3 Miles from San Diego Convention Center
– Hotel Z: “A Piece of Pineapple Hospitality” – 521 6th Ave. San Diego, CA 92101 / (800) 688-0889 LOCATION: Gaslamp Quarter, 0.3 Miles from San Diego Convention Center
– Omni San Diego Hotel – 675 L St. San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 231-6664 LOCATION:
Downtown, 0.2 Miles from San Diego Convention Center
– San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter – 660 K St. San Diego, CA 92101 / (619) 696-0234 LOCATION: Downtown, 0.2 Miles from San Diego Convention Center

Sources:

http://nerdist.com/san-diego-comic-con-by-the-numbers/
http://www.ign.com/wikis/sdcc-comic-con
http://visitsandiego.com/facility
http://www.sandiego.org/meetings/convention-center.aspx