by Kerstan Szczepanski
Opened in 2004, the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (415 Summer Street, Boston, MA) is a relatively new facility in the exhibition world. The largest convention center in the Northeastern United States, the BCEC has 2.1 million square feet of space, with an exhibit hall floor of 500,000 square feet. The hall can be used as one space or separated into three isolated areas. The Grand Ballroom is just over 40,000 square feet and has a view of the Boston Seaport. With 82 meeting rooms, and the 2.7 acre Lawn On D outdoor space right outside, there’s plenty of indoor and outdoor space to meet and greet, and to show and tell.
Just under three miles from Boston Logan Airport, the BCEC boasts the country’s shortest travel time from airport to convention center. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Silver Line is complimentary running from the airport—you read that right. Though it does cost $2.75 to go back to the airport. If you drive in from I-90, I-93, or I-95 instead, $25 gets you self-parking.
Airport distance is not the only thing the BCEC boasts. Being somewhat new, the convention center has some of the most advanced IT to offer exhibitors and attendees. A fully staffed Guest Operation Network Center provides support like few centers can claim. With a WiFi network that can accommodate tens of thousands of attendees at one time, and ethernet drops that carry at least a gigabit of bandwidth, you can take full advantage of Boston’s 10 gigabit dark-fiber ring.
Visible at nearly half a mile, the center’s 80-foot tall marquee has 3,000 square feet of display space. Inside the north lobby, a 160-foot wide video wall allows for 2,000 square feet of video content. Additionally, the 31 different video displays measuring 65-inch video each, appear throughout the facility, and can be integrated with the video wall and marquee for non-stop across-the-board messaging.
The Boston Convention and Exhibition Center hosts Seafood Expo North America, the New England Autoshow, the New England Boat Show, FanExpo Boston, and PAX East annually.
This story originally appeared in the Q1 2024 issue of Exhibit City News, p. 78. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/ecn_q1_2024.
