AT A GLANCE Convention facilities • The Greater Fort Lauderdale/ Broward County Convention Center offers 600,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space.
Hotel rooms • In addition to 33,000 hotel rooms in the area, Fort Lauderdale offers the Lauderdale Convention Collection — six upscale meeting hotels with a total of 2,700 rooms in close proximity to the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center.
Attractions • The Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Bonnet House Museum & Gardens, Design Center of the Americas, Las Olas Boulevard, designer outlets at Sawgrass Mills, 23 miles of Blue Wave beaches, 40-plus golf courses, yacht charters, Vegas- style casinos, Water Taxi, waterfront group dining, and more
Industry LEEDer The LEED Gold–certified Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center is committed to energy eficiency and eco-friendliness. Planners can take pride in knowing that their meeting or event is being hosted in a carbon-neutral convention center that is one of the most innovative and forward-thinking in the country.
“SAVOR,” the team contributed to the center’s LEED Gold certification by procuring fresh and local ingredients whenever possible and installing a state-of-the-art commer- cial decomposition machine, dubbed “the Digester,” which turns all organic kitchen waste into water. The water is recycled at a nearby water-treatment plant and returned as potable water. In addition to the convention center’s suc-
cess in setting the pace for sustainably focused convention centers everywhere, the GFLCVB has added new programs and services that make planning a meeting in Fort Lauderdale even easier. The GFLCVB’s “SUNsational Ser- vice” team has partnered with six upscale area hotels to form the Lauderdale Convention Col- lection, which includes the Hilton Fort Lauder-
dale Marina, the Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six, the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel, the Sheraton Fort Lauderdale Beach Hotel, and Embassy Suites Fort Lauderdale — 17th Street. All of the collection’s 2,700 total hotel rooms are within a mile and a half of the convention center and overlook either the beach or the Intracoastal Waterway. All of the properties are also close to Fort Lauderdale’s most popular venues, restaurants, nightlife, and cultural and sports attractions. The Lauderdale Convention Collection
also simplifies the planning process for meet- ing professionals by offering a convenient, one-stop planning source. The GFLCVB team assists planners with their meeting or event from start to finish, including site visits, RFPs,
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For more information: Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau — (954) 765-4466 or (800) 356-1662; sunny.org/meetings
accommodations, transportation, marketing, attendance building, and more. Planners are also assigned one point of contact to make the planning process as seamless as possible. By booking the Lauderdale Convention Col- lection on select dates, groups can receive perks and bonuses, including commemora- tive gifts, advance marketing assistance at the previous year’s event, complimentary receptions and rental space at the convention center, as well as discounts on food-and-bev- erage, electricity, security, telecommunica- tions, and audiovisual services.