The OC Register reports Anaheim came in 6th on Expo magazine’s Top 10 list of places to host a trade show:
Anaheim may rank as the sixth-best city to host trade shows in the country now. But 10 years ago, the city wouldn’t have even made the top 10 list.
Expo Magazine ranked the top 10 cities for its April edition by surveying 126 trade show managers about their preferred destinations. Anaheim tied for sixth place, alongside Philadelphia. Las Vegas ranked first, while Phoenix was second.
But the magazine went a step further by taking a look back, asking how those managers would have responded in 2004. Anaheim wasn’t listed. Still, Las Vegas was on top, even a decade ago.
A lot has happened in 10 years around the Anaheim Convention Center, which is the largest on the West Coast with about 1 million square feet. While Disney California Adventure opened across the street in 2001, the theme park didn’t really take off until a $1 billion makeover was completed in 2012 with the debut of Cars Land.
In January 2013, the Convention Center stretched its gathering space outdoors with the Grand Plaza, where concerts are held and attendants hang out.
Next up is a 200,000-square-foot expansion, which the City Council approved in March. Also, at least 14 new hotel projects are underway in the area.
You can read the rest here.
As one can glean from the article, Anaheim is in 6th place thanks to civic leadership with vision, the ability to think big and forge public-private partnerships in which the perfect was not allowed to be the enemy of the very, very good. That sort of leadership is still present in the city and on the council – leadership working to move forward with economic development projects like the Convention Center expansion that is now being delayed and possibly jeopardized by the blockhead thinking of the three members of CATER, which is trying to compensate for its political impotence through litigation.
I think the real question to ask here is why Anaheim is not #2 or #3.
The bigger the show, the better Vegas is….New York is terrible because while’s it’s easy to get to the Javitts center, its almost impossible to get a cab from Javitts. Boston has small space. Atlanta isn’t bad. Dallas is OK. LA and San Diego are great due to lots of hotels/restaurants nearby. Anaheim is certainly up there. The WonderCon show was well attended and there were improved services. There is a definite need for some sort of light rail near the convention center.