posted
I would like for the first two scene's worth of action of my new novel to take place in an actual existing downtown convention center that is owned by an actual American city.
Don't ask me to explain why I'm being so cryptic about where it is.
What kind of experiences has anyone here had with such a setup?
posted
I seem to recall reading somewhere that Pittsburgh's convention center was built in part to help with their urban regeneration program. The hope was that it would attract visitors from industry to conventions and exhibitions and that some would look around Pittsburgh and decide to set up their next new office or factory in the area. All I remember is that it attracted traffic jams.
I once visited a technology exhibition at Orlando's Orange County Convention Center and remember feeling vertgo! The place was so huge it wasn't on a human scale; it seemed designed for giants and the spaces were so vast that when I looked across an empty floor I got dizzy, like a horizontal kind of vertigo.
Many of the buildings survived for decades and as a kid I used to cycle around the roads connecting them at night, when they were deserted (and there was no traffic because there was nowhere to go), pretending the fantastic city was mine, or owned by aliens, or on a strange planet ...
I think there's a strking contrast at places like these between being packed with visitors to a convention, and deserted at other times. When they're empty they can feel either forbidding, or full of potential.
posted
Most large events I attend are held in hotels or resorts. The only experience I remember in a government convention center was when I was a kid. I went with my parents to a landscapers exhibition in Portland and ran around picking up candy and samples, watching product demonstrations, and eavesdropping on conversations. The center is owned by a joint commission, which includes city representatives.
Posts: 1139 | Registered: May 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
The lights in convention centers almost always give me a headache (i've been in at least a dozen, maybe more but I'd have to dial the way way back machine more than 10 years and the results are often fuzzy...)
The lights buzz a little bit and are that harsh industrial light, makes the colors of everything look a bit funny.
I always preferred attending convention-type events where most of the surfaces were carpeted, e.g., the auto show or a professional IT event. I have attended baby fairs and marathon race expos where they don't bother to carpet and the whole place seems much more like a garage/temporary spot than anything permanent.
For that matter, at IT conventions and the auto shows I've attended, I'm always astounded at the constructions at the things. There was a technology one I did once where we literally had desks - like a dozen in the "booth" (that was maybe 30x30 or larger? Can't recall) that we were working. I've done similar things where we're at one 8 foot table with some folding chairs, and only a few hundred conference attendees (versus the several thousands that attended the first one I mentioned.)
Your legs always ache at a convention center, or at least mine do - as someone else mentioned, it's because the scale is so great, you think you'll just dash off to the bathroom but it's more than a 5 minute walk at a pretty good clip.
posted
Picking a convention center to base the action in (at or around) will probably rely on what you want the action to accomplish or how it will flow. I would suggest San Diego's convention center, it is a decent size and has a unique design. However, it is on the waterfront, so if you wanted something surrounded by buildings on all sides then it would probably not work. If location of the center in relation to the rest of downtown is important to the action then that could help you decide on what center to go with. Alternatively, the personality or location of the city might be important as well. Hope that helps.
Posts: 99 | Registered: Feb 2009
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
