May 30, 2018
OTTAWA, ON — The Shaw Centre has now been confirmed as one of 17 finalists in the 2018 edition of the prestigious AIPC Apex Award competition for “Best Client Rated Convention Centre.” This Award, which has been maintained by the International Association of Convention Centre (AIPC) for over 20 years, has achieved international recognition and respect due to the fact that competitors are rated entirely on the basis of a comprehensive set of ratings from centre clients tabulated by the global market research company Ipsos.
The Shaw Centre currently holds the title of runner-up for this prestigious award from 2014. This was a remarkable accomplishment at the time as the Centre had only experienced three years of operation since re-opening in 2011.
“The AIPC Apex Award has a long and highly respected history in the meetings market which means the winner gains a great deal of respect from peers and leverage in the market, said AIPC President Aloysius Arlando. “This of course translates into better business prospects – but experience has shown that it doesn’t end there. It is also a source of pride amongst staff and a boost in community appreciation, both of which are also of great benefit to a centre, and that’s why being a finalist is in itself a real accomplishment.”
Arlando noted that for 2018 Ipsos has surveyed over 1843 client references put forward by participating centres – a significant sample that illustrates the comprehensive nature of client polling. “This means that we are talking about a very strong basis for the evaluation of competitors, and again, the reason for the credibility of this award.”
The final determination of the Apex Award winner will be made in advance of its presentation at the 2018 AIPC Annual Conference in London UK in early July. “The Apex Award is a crowning achievement, which is why it is so intensely contested and comprehensively judged,” said Arlando.
AIPC is an association comprising over 185 international convention centres in some 60 countries world-wide. Its mission is to encourage, support and recognize excellence in convention centre management and to maintain a range of programming that addresses this mission.
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ABOUT THE SHAW CENTRE
The Shaw Centre was founded as the Ottawa Congress Centre in 1983. With project funding from the Province of Ontario, the City of Ottawa and the Government of Canada, the Ottawa Congress Centre was redeveloped into a new larger facility, which opened in April 2011 as the Ottawa Convention Centre (OCC). In October 2014, the OCC and Shaw Communications entered into a 10 year naming rights partnership, rebranding the facility as the Shaw Centre. The Shaw Centre is a state-of-the-art convention centre that generates economic impact by hosting conventions, trade shows, meetings, consumer shows and events. The Shaw Centre was recently named runner-up as the world’s best convention centre by the International Association of Convention Centres (AIPC). Since re-opening its doors in 2011, the Centre has hosted over 3000 events and has added approximately $503M to the Ottawa-Gatineau area and Province of Ontario. The Shaw Centre is governed by a board of directors, managed by an expert team of professionals and operationally driven by inspired colleagues and selected suppliers whose main goal is to create extraordinary events.
The Ottawa Convention Centre® Corporation is an agency of the Government of Ontario.
ABOUT AIPC
AIPC is an association comprising over 185 international convention centres in some 60 countries world-wide. Its mission is to encourage, support and recognize excellence in convention centre management and to maintain a range of programming that addresses this mission.
