Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1194291
B M & T ••• September/October 2019 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com 25 Time spent in Philadelphia is purposeful and productive. The city's accessibility has made it easy to arrive (by car, plane, or train) and to navigate by foot. The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage site, are heirlooms passed on to visitors through stories of how the country was founded. The Pennsylvania Convention Center has 1 million square feet of saleable space, 82 meeting rooms, and one of the largest ball- rooms on the East Coast. The city knows what it's like to play host to hundreds, thousands or even 1 million people like when they hosted the World Meeting of Families and Pope Francis' in 2015. So, your meeting? Philadelphia's ready for it. Bringing it all together is the bread you break together. Yes, that includes cheesesteaks, but the city's restaurant scene has been pro- pelled to new heights. Recognized in 2019 by Travel & Leisure as the "best food city on the East Coast right now", the hype is backed by substance. Earlier this year, James Beard announced that the best restaurant in the country was in Philadelphia and Bloomberg Businessweek told the world that the city's food scene is 'outpacing' New York City. Who wants a traditional meeting, when you can exceed expectations in Philadelphia? i STATS Total Exhibit Space: 679,000 sq. ft. Largest Hall: 528,000 sq. ft. Number of Meeting Rooms: 82 Telephone: (800) 428-9000 Website: www.paconvention.com TFC CENTER Owned by the Detroit Regional Convention and Facility Authority and operated by SMG, the 2.4 million-sq. ft. complex, located on the bank of the Detroit River, is the centerpiece of downtown Detroit's Civic Center. TFC Center offers convenience, comfort, service reliability and fine food. Overlooking the Detroit River and Detroit's internation- al neighbor, Windsor Canada, the facility's elegant banquet rooms and over 100 meeting rooms totaling 200,000 sq. ft., as well as one of the largest contiguous exhibit floor spaces in North America, equip TCF Center to accommodate capacities from 30 to 10,000. The center's 40,000-sq. ft. Grand Riverview Ballroom is divisible with a retractable wall and complemented by glass-enclosed, pre-function space and an open-air terrace. TFC also offers the 5,368-sq. ft. Portside ballroom and the 6,139-sq. ft. Ambassador Ballroom for smaller gatherings. TFC Center boasts 723,000 sq. ft. of exhibit hall space, 623,000 sq. ft. contiguous. i STATS Total Exhibit Space: 723,000.sq. ft. Largest Ballroom: 40,000 sq. ft. Number of Meeting Rooms: 100 Telephone: (313) 877-8214 Website: http://www.cobocenter.com Continued on page 27