The Los Angeles City Council has voted to allow Anschutz Entertainment Group to run the city's convention center, the first time in its 42 years of operation that it will be managed by a private company, according to the Los Angeles Times. The vote came amid concerns from local hoteliers that AEG would have an unfair advantage in filling its hotel rooms while booking conventions (it owns the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotel complex near the convention center). However, according to AEG officials, hotel bookings would primarily be handled by the Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board, a nonprofit organization that operates separately from AEG. In June, Pennsylvania-based SMG challenged the pending appointment of AEG, claiming the company didn't have enough experience to run the facility. That challenge was dismissed by the city council. The management company will be paid $250,000 as an annual management fee and can qualify for another $250,000 if it meets certain performance measures.
On January 6, IEI president, Robb Thornsberry produced the opening night event for 1200 attendees of The Special Event Conference & Tradeshow. Although this is a typical event for many Anaheim conventions, these were not your typical convention attendees and this was not your typical welcome reception. Attendees of this event were other event professionals from around the world who have seen it all, so impressing them would not be an easy task. This would require a venue that no one has ever seen before. Since building a new venue would not be an option, Robb approached The Anaheim Garden Walk, a nearby outdoor shopping mall that had plenty of space and was within walking distance of the convention center or a brief 2 minute shuttle ride. The challenge was to create an event that had to impress in a venue that has never been used as an event venue before. Utilizing two levels, in the back portion of the shopping center that sees very little foot traffic was transformed