EVENT REVIEW

On July 14th, 2010, sixty Members of the MBA Association of Ireland & their Guests had a preview of The Convention Centre Dublin (CCD), Spencer Dock, Dublin 1.

After a presentation by the Chairman of The CCD, Mr. Dermod Dwyer, the attendance was treated to a guided tour of the main features of the new building as follows:

• The auditorium which can seat 2000 people
• The theatre-space with capacity for 3000 delegates
• The 4500 square metres of exhibition space.

During his presentation, Mr. Dwyer told the audience that The CCD can accommodate conventions of as small as 8 delegates and as large as 8000 delegates in 22 purpose-built meeting rooms and that it has banqueting facilities for 2000 guests.

He added that The CCD is modelled on Birmingham International Convention Centre in the UK, but, because of its more recent construction, it is more state-of-the-art than Birmingham.

He then outlined The CCDs main competitors which are the convention centres in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Vienna & Paris.

Mr. Dwyer then paid tribute to The CCDs Architect, Kevin Roche, who is arguably Ireland's most internationally-reknowned Architect & he said that this is Mr. Roche's only Irish project of his long & distinguished career.

On the architecture, Dermod commented that the iconic glass drum-shaped atrium at the front of The CCD consists of more than 400 curved panes. This atrium is the focal point of the building as it contains the escalators & lifts that run between The CCDs four main levels.

Regarding access to The CCD, he stated that it is enhanced by the Luas station nearby, while the newly-opened Samuel Beckett bridge makes it more easily accessible from the south side of the city. The journey from Dublin Airport is only 20 minutes via the Port Tunnel & there is space for over 300 cars in its underground carpark.

He added that a 250-bed hotel is planned for a site to the back of The CCD.

Remarkably, the speaker then told the audience that The CCD is the only carbon-neutral Convention Centre in the world.

Dermod then mentioned that the Convention Centre project is a public-private partnership between the OPW & Treasury Holdings, who won the tender. Treasury in turn employed Sisks Contractors to build the Centre.

He went on to say that the financial institutions involved initially only provided around €20m for excavation works, such was the risk of archaeological finds in the excavations delaying or halting the project. However, the excavation works, which began in the Summer of 2006 & were up to 20 metres in depth, did not yield any items of archaeological significance & so the funds were then put in place to build The CCD.

Dermod then told us that The CCD is bucking current employment trends. The construction of the Centre employed more than 900 people at its peak and currently there are 60 staff employed there & this will rise to 250 in time.

Even at this early stage, The CCD boasts large amounts of bookings and has already had such events as the recording of the 7th series of the UK hit TV programme "The X Factor" last month.

The CCD officially opens in September of this year.

EVENT DETAILS

Date : Wednesday July 14th, 2010
Time : 6.30pm

Developed by Treasury Holdings, The Convention Centre Dublin is situated at Spencer Dock on the banks of the River Liffey. Ireland's first purpose-built international convention and event venue is positioned to become the leading premium mid-sized convention centre in Europe.  Recognised as the first carbon neutral international convention centre, the venue is configured to accommodate conferences from 8 to 8,000 participants in 22 purpose-built meeting rooms. It includes a 2,000-seat auditorium, 4,500 square metres of exhibition space and banqueting facilities for up to 2,000 guests.

The centre combines flexible and elegant conference halls and meeting spaces with an experienced management team and an extensive range of support services. Offering the latest technology, this sophisticated venue will include advanced audio-visual equipment and lighting systems as well as Wi-Fi enabled halls and meeting rooms.

Join us at 6.30pm Wednesday July 14th at the Convention Centre Dublin, Spenser Dock, North Wall Quay, Dublin 1.

This event is free for MBA Association members and a guest, €20 for non-members.  For more information and to register please follow the link: https://www.eventelephant.com/dublinconventioncentre