Orlando helped MAGIC Pop-Up Orlando, OFFPRICE Orlando Market and WWIN Orlando Showcase produce a trio of healthy, successful, simultaneous events at the Orange County Convention Center (pictured), and we’re ready to do the same for your group.
With each passing month, more conventions, meetings and other shows are finding a safe home in Orlando as the destination continues to pave the way for healthy events. In March, Informa Markets, Clarion Events and Tarsus Group became the latest organizations to benefit from Orlando’s expertise by taking a “stronger together” approach for their MAGIC Pop-Up Orlando, OFFPRICE Orlando Marketplace and Women’s Wear in Nevada (WWIN) Orlando Showcase, respectively.
Learn more: Orlando Set to Become No. 1 Destination for Healthy Meetings
These distinct shows were held simultaneously at the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) for three days of face-to-face fashion buying and selling, which would pose logistical challenges in even the best of years. Regardless, organizers found it to be an unqualified success — not just in terms of connecting vendors with the buying public, but even more importantly in terms of ensuring that everyone who participated had a safe experience. Per Kelly Helfman of Informa Markets Fashion, “Everybody’s just really grateful to be at an event in person in a very safe environment.”
See how Visit Orlando and OCCC staff helped show organizers bring their mammoth vision to life in a safe, healthy manner, and start thinking of how we can do the same for you when your organization is ready to return to Cvent’s No. 1 meeting destination in the country.
Please note: Depending on the timing of your visit, some experiences may be temporarily modified. Learn more about healthy business travel and safety information in Orlando, and check with your favorite businesses for their current status.
Fashion-Forward Safety Measures at Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center
As 2021 marked the first time that Informa Markets, Clarion Events and Tarsus Group had hosted versions of their legendary fashion shows in Orlando, it was important to organizers that their shared event go off without a hitch — particularly when it came to the health and safety of vendors and attendees.
Accordingly, they created a more interactive model of live events that included precautions such as appointment-based exhibit booths. Free, pre-event COVID testing was also required, inviting attendees to network and socialize without worry.
The Orange County Convention Center and its team of seasoned professionals was there to assist every step of the way, including pre-show planning that ensured all health and safety codes were up to local and national standards. The OCCC also continued its established precautions, including mandatory face-mask policies and ample sanitizing stations. Additionally, show organizers required temperature checks — not just when attendees arrived, but each time they reentered the convention center throughout the three-day event.
“[The OCCC was] just an incredible partner to work with,” said Helfman. “We’ve been working very closely with their operations teams as well as their marketing teams to be able to deliver a safe event very effectively.”
“Working with the OCCC has been amazing,” echoed Desiree Hanson of WWIN Orlando Showcase. “They’ve been really flexible and forthcoming with all the information and health and safety measures that they’ve put forward to open safely.”
“As soon as we arrived they had us take the temperature, [and] they gave us wristbands to ensure that people coming in again have their temperatures taken,” added Jasmine Kang of Mod Ref. “Everything felt clean. I felt very safe and comfortable.”
Also contributing to attendees’ sense of ease is the fact that the Orange County Convention Center was one of the first in the nation to receive the Global Biorisk Advisory Council’s STAR accreditation, which is recognized as the gold standard for safe venues. As Tricia Barglof of OFFPRICE put it, “The health and safety [and] cleanliness of the venue has been outstanding.”
With so many precautions in place, attendees were free to focus on the business at hand.
“It’s been amazing to be able to plan a live event,” said Hanson. Barglof had a similar take, saying, “It’s just great to be back in person, seeing all of our clients and suppliers and vendors, and just great to be back helping the community get together again.”
Orlando: No. 1 Destination for Healthy Meetings
It’s a brand-new world for events — and the entire Orlando destination is working together to be the No. 1 healthiest meeting destination.
Our hotels, restaurants, transportation providers, theme parks, attractions and other businesses are prioritizing guest safety with enhanced health measures, including reduced capacity, face-mask and social-distancing requirements, increased sanitization, and more. Several additional Orlando venues have also received GBAC STAR accreditation, including Orlando International Airport (MCO), its onsite Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport, downtown Orlando’s Amway Center, and all three of Rosen Hotels’ convention properties: Rosen Shingle Creek, Rosen Plaza and Rosen Centre.
These efforts are all part of Orlando’s commitment to meeting safely today for a stronger tomorrow — and part of the reason why MAGIC Pop-Up Orlando attendee Brandon Flag said, “I would definitely come back here.” And it’s not just our meeting venues that are healthy. After attending Surf Expo at the OCCC in February, exhibitor Juliana Barbere said, “We went to [Universal’s Islands of Adventure] and everything was very clean,” with Don Dyer of J-SEA adding, “I felt extremely safe.”
Orlando’s expertise in hosting healthy meetings is also why we’ve hosted more than 50 in-person events since the start of the pandemic, including large-scale shows such as Surf Expo, the AKC National Championship Presented by Royal Canin and 2021 Model Year Central Florida International Auto Show, and others. That’s just a sampling of events have all enjoyed healthy, successful editions in Orlando since June 2020, and more are on the way. We hope to host your organization again soon!
Ready to learn more about hosting healthy meetings in Orlando? Submit your RFP, and subscribe to our newsletter for updates from Cvent’s No. 1 meeting destination in the country.