Fort Wayne & NE Indiana News

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Business

Grand Wayne Marks Year Of Accomplishments

Fort Wayne’s Grand Wayne Convention Center is proud to share with the community some 2016 sales highlights, along with a peek at what’s to come in 2017. Highlights of the last year included:

· 12 new conventions to Grand Wayne Center and Fort Wayne, including North American SCRABBLE Players Association, Automobile License Plate Collectors and H.T. Hackney Co. Food Service Show

· 41 returning conventions, including Indiana Music Education Association, Fort Wayne Dance For All and Tri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference

· 53 conventions booked

· 316 total events hosted

· 23,000 estimated convention overnight room generation

In 2016 the new position of Guest Experience Manager was created, whose purpose is to engage guests beyond their meeting and to help create unique and memorable experiences during their time in Fort Wayne and at the Grand Wayne. This allows guests to become connected with Fort Wayne at a level beyond what is expected or experienced at other venues. For example, during the SCRABBLE convention, pillows spelling out various words were added to the seating area, and an oversize 12-foot-square SCRABBLE floor board encouraged attendees to play, add messages or use their word skills to use all the tiles in a game.

The SCRABBLE championship director said, “Because of the beauty and accessibility of your facility and the engagement of your staff with our group, Fort Wayne was a delight for our membership, and this year’s event has earned rave reviews from our participants.”

The year 2017 promises to be another great year hosting conventions, with 32 already booked, 12 pending and 50 total conventions estimated for the year. In addition, Grand Wayne sales staff will exhibit at six convention industry trade shows covering religious, genealogy, corporate and association markets at a state, regional and national level.