Category: Press Releases

Utah Valley Convention Center Named Business of the Month by Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce

PROVO, Utah. (Jan. 13, 2022) –

The Utah Valley Convention Center, operated by Spectra Venue Management, has been named the January 2022 Business of the Month by the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce.

Curtis Blair, President and CEO of the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce, presented the award to Danny Wheeler, Spectra’s General Manager of the Utah Valley Convention Center, at a small event at the Convention Center on Thursday afternoon. Several Utah Valley Chamber Ambassadors as well as Spectra and Chamber staff were present.

Blair made several remarks about the process of awarding the honor and about the relationship between the Chamber of Commerce and the Spectra team at the Convention Center. “Without partners like the Utah Valley Convention Center, I’m not sure what trajectory we (the Chamber) would be on now,” Blair said. Of receiving the award, Wheeler said, “We are honored to receive this award and value our relationship with Curtis, his staff, and all of the local businesses associated with the Chamber. We look forward to many more years of serving the wonderful Utah Valley community by providing premier meeting space not only for people to create memorable events but to further drive economic impact.”

Utah Valley Convention Center Undergoes Facility Renovation

[PROVO, Utah] – October 26, 2022 – This summer the Utah Valley Convention Center underwent significant renovations focusing on its aesthetic and lighting. Considering the traffic from hosting over 2,000 different events and approximately 1.2 million visitors since opening in May 2012, the Convention Center’s OVG360 management team deemed it necessary to update much of the facility.

OVG360’s Danny Wheeler, who serves as General Manager of the Utah Valley Convention Center, is grateful to those who aided on the renovations in the Convention Center and extremely proud of the venue and what it has accomplished. “How fortunate we are that Utah County shares the same vision as our OVG360 team here in Provo and is continually willing to invest the necessary capital funding to maintain our reputation and image as the premier meeting venue in the Western United States.”

The renovations included:

• Foam-backed Tarkett carpet tiles installed in the 20,000 sq.ft. Exhibit Hall.
• Custom-designed Brinton’s Axminster carpet installed throughout the remainder of the convention center.
• Fresh paint in all pre-function and meeting spaces.
• Repoured areas of exterior concrete around venue entrances.
• LED lighting upgrades in pre-function and meeting rooms.
• Upgraded large digital advertising signage throughout the venue.
• Larger entrance mats with the UVCC logo printed on them.
• State-of-the-art technology upgrade in our Donald Nay Executive Boardroom.
• Safety bollards installed around perimeter of venue.Wheeler states, “These renovations were just the facelift we needed to maintain the look and feel of a brand-new convention center.” With these upgrades and the recently opened 654-stall Freedom Commons parking garage one block north of the venue, the Utah Valley Convention Center is now even better equipped as Utah’s premiere meeting facility.

Utah Valley Convention Center Celebrates 10-Year Anniversary

[PROVO, Utah] – May 5, 2022 – This month the Utah Valley Convention Center celebrates the 10-year anniversary of opening its doors to the public for the first time. Proudly managed since opening by OVG360 (formerly Spectra Venue Management), the Convention Center continues to exceed expectations as the premier full-service convention venue in Utah.

The Utah Valley Convention Center was built as a collaboration between Utah County and Provo City with the goal to bring visitors and economic impact to Utah County. Since its doors opened on May 12, 2012, the Convention Center has welcomed approximately 1.1 million guests through its doors for just over 2,000 different events. Its opening date preceded and served as a catalyst for the construction and completion of Hyatt Place Provo, renovation of the Provo Marriott Hotel, expansion of the Provo Airport, and completion of both the UTA Frontrunner Provo Station and the UVX Bus Rapid Transit system.

“The Utah Valley Convention Center is an integral part of the economic viability of downtown Provo and Utah County as a whole,” comments Richard Nielson, Utah County Public Works Director. “With the many great conventions, trade shows, corporate, and other events that are held there on a regular basis, the UVCC provides the opportunity for groups to come to Utah County. This in turn brings added economic benefit to the local businesses and the local economy.”

OVG360’s Danny Wheeler, who serves as General Manager of the Utah Valley Convention Center, is grateful to those who had the foresight to invest in the convention center and extremely proud of his team and all they have accomplished over the past 10 years. “How thrilled I am to be here, 10 years later, and see the vision come to fruition that Utah County had when they built the convention center. The team that we have been able to build here, with local talent, is truly second to none in the hospitality industry and is the undisputed, number one reason we have seen the unprecedented success in our first ten years.”

Utah Valley Convention Center Achieves GBAC STAR™ Facility Accreditation

PROVO, Utah – (Apr. 1, 2021) – Utah Valley Convention Center, operated by Spectra Venue Management, announces it has achieved Global Biorisk Advisory Council® (GBAC) STAR™ accreditation, the gold standard for prepared facilities. Under the guidance of GBAC, a Division of ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, Utah Valley Convention Center has implemented the most stringent protocols for cleaning, disinfection and infectious disease prevention in its facility.

As the cleaning industry’s only outbreak prevention, response and recovery accreditation, GBAC STAR™ helps organizations establish protocols and procedures, offers expert-led training and assesses a facility’s readiness for biorisk situations. The program verifies that Utah Valley Convention Center implements best practices to prepare for, respond to and recover from outbreaks and pandemics.

“GBAC STAR accreditation empowers facility owners and managers to assure workers, customers and key stakeholders that they have proven systems in place to maintain clean and healthy environments,” said GBAC Executive Director Patricia Olinger. “By taking this important step to pursue GBAC STAR, Utah Valley Convention Center has received third-party validation that it follows strict protocols for biorisk situations, thereby demonstrating its preparedness and commitment to operating safely.”

To achieve GBAC STAR™ accreditation, Utah Valley Convention Center was required to demonstrate compliance with the program’s 20 core elements, which range from standard operating procedures and risk assessment strategies to personal protective equipment and emergency preparedness and response measures. Learn more about GBAC STAR accreditation at www.gbac.org.

ABOUT SPECTRA VENUE MANAGEMENT
Spectra’s Venue Management division is the industry leader across a full range of services that impact the bottom-line success of public assembly venues, including marketing and sales, corporate partnerships, event booking, ticket services and box office management, customer service, operations and engineering and finance and administration.

ABOUT UTAH VALLEY CONVENTION CENTER
Built in 2012, the Utah Valley Convention Center is the premiere meeting place in Utah County. The eco-friendly LEED Silver Certified building offers 83,578 sq.ft. of flexible exhibit and meeting space, a first class grand ballroom, rooftop garden with breathtaking views of the Wasatch Mountains, and an abundance of natural light. The Utah Valley Convention Center provides complete in-house services that include food & beverage, audio visual, internet, electrical, and tradeshow decorating services making ease and convenience for any meeting or industry planner.

ABOUT GBAC, A DIVISION OF ISSA
Composed of international leaders in the field of microbial-pathogenic threat analysis, mitigation, response and recovery, the Global Biorisk Advisory Council (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, provides training, guidance, accreditation, certification, crisis management assistance and leadership to government, commercial and private entities looking to mitigate, quickly address and/or recover from biological threats and real-time crises. The organization’s services include biorisk management program assessment and training, Forensic Restoration® response and remediation, the GBAC STAR™ facility accreditation program, training and certification of individuals and consulting for building owners and facility managers. For more information, visit www.gbac.org.

ABOUT ISSA
With more than 9,300 members—including distributors, manufacturers, manufacturer representatives, wholesalers, building service contractors, in-house service providers, residential cleaners and associated service members—ISSA is the world’s leading trade association for the cleaning industry. The association is committed to changing the way the world views cleaning by providing its members with the business tools they need to promote cleaning as an investment in human health, the environment and an improved bottom line. Headquartered in Northbrook, Ill., USA, the association has regional offices in Mainz, Germany; Whitby, Canada; Parramatta, Australia; Seoul, South Korea; and Shanghai, China. For more information about ISSA, visit www.issa.com or call 800-225-4772 (North America) or 847-982-0800.

Utah Valley Convention Center Honored with Facilities and Destinations Prime Site Award for the Fourth Time

Utah Valley Convention Center has received the award annually since 2017

PROVO, Utah. (Aug. 05, 2020) – The Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, Utah was presented the Facilities & Destinations Prime Site Award for the fourth year in a row. Selected by meeting industry executives, the award is given to convention facilities across the United States, Caribbean, and Canada that are considered to be some of the best environments for learning, engagement, and networking.

Managed by Spectra Venue Management, the Utah Valley Convention Center is one of 13 Spectra venues to make the Facilities and Destinations’ Prime Site Awards list for 2020. Sites chosen display a variety of factors including: convenient air accessibility, state-of-the-art amenities, and diverse and convenient hotel packages.

“We are honored to receive this prestigious award for the fourth year in a row,” says Danny Wheeler, Convention Center General Manager. “To be recognized as one of the premier convention centers in the western United States speaks to the passion, dedication, and commitment that our team has in transforming events into experiences for our clients and guests.”

For almost 30 years, Facilities Media Group has been a leading news source for professional planners of conventions, meetings, entertainment and special events. Their premiere publications, Facilities & Destinations and Facilities & Event Management provide useful information and insightful interviews with key industry personnel.

ABOUT SPECTRA VENUE MANAGEMENT
spectra’s Venue Management division is the industry leader across a full range of services that impact the bottom-line success of public assembly venues, including marketing and sales, corporate partnerships, event booking, ticket services and box office management, customer service, operations and engineering and finance and administration.

ABOUT THE VENUE
Built in 2012, the Utah Valley Convention Center is the premiere meeting place in Utah County. The eco-friendly LEED Silver Certified building offers 83,578 sq.ft. of flexible exhibit and meeting space, a first class grand ballroom, rooftop garden with breathtaking views of the Wasatch Mountains, and an abundance of natural light. The Utah Valley Convention Center provides complete in-house services that include food & beverage, audio visual, internet, electrical, and tradeshow decorating services making ease and convenience for any meeting or industry planner.

Spectra Installs Wi-Fi System at Utah Valley Convention Center Worthy of the Silicon Slopes

With newly upgraded Wi-Fi systems completed by ConvergeOne, Spectra Venue Management leads the industry with a robust telecommunications infrastructure at the Utah Valley Convention Center.

Provo, UT (May 14, 2019)—Unlike most other convention facilities, the Utah Valley Convention Center has from the beginning offered free public Wi-Fi for event attendees as a perk for event organizers of hosting events in the facility. This service has been further enhanced by a major facility Wi-Fi upgrade in late 2018 to create an event venue worthy of being a part of the tech-heavy Utah County corporate landscape.

The Wi-Fi upgrade included increasing the number of installed access points by 219%, exponentially increasing the capacity of event attendees’ connected devices at any given time. The change to a high density design allows users a faster, smoother, and overall better Wi-Fi experience. A critical component of the wireless network design was the use of external antennas working with access points specifically designed to boost and focus the Wi-Fi signal toward a specific area, reducing interference, and increasing the network capacity.

“With today’s current technological necessities, we believe Wi-Fi is now as integral to any event experience as lights, restrooms, and HVAC,” Danny Wheeler, General Manager of the Utah Valley Convention Center, said. “It only makes sense that it should be offered as a part of the overall facility rental rather than an additional expense that attendees or event organizers need to supplement. This is particularly crucial in our tech-heavy local industry.”

The ConvergeOne team brought years of experience to all facets of the project. Engineers collected the necessary data from site visits and wireless surveys to determine the business demands and intended goals of the new wireless network. The Project Management team ran weekly status calls to resolve ongoing issues and concerns. ConvergeOne’s team also provided post-project implementation support to tune and validate the implemented design for performance and efficiency.

Brad Martin, Regional Solutions Architect with ConvergeOne said, “ConvergeOne was excited to be a part of this project at the Convention Center. We understand the demand of the wireless network for events and were able to plan, design, and implement a high client-density environment to deliver a quality experience for the end user.”

To learn more about the Utah Valley Convention Center, visit utahvalleycc.com or call 801.851.2200.

ABOUT SPECTRA

Spectra is the expert in hosting and entertainment, partnering with over 300 clients at 400 global properties to create memorable experiences for millions of visitors every year. Spectra’s expertise is embodied within three divisions: Venue Management (formerly Global Spectrum), Food Services & Hospitality (formerly Ovations Food Services) and Ticketing & Fan Engagement (formerly Paciolan). Learn more at SpectraExperiences.com.

Spectra’s Venue Management division is the industry leader across a full range of services that impact the bottom-line success of public assembly venues, including marketing and sales, corporate partnerships, event booking, ticket services and box office management, customer service, operations and engineering and finance and administration.

ABOUT CONVERGEONE

Founded in 1993, ConvergeOne is a leading global IT services provider of collaboration and technology solutions for large and medium enterprises with decades of experience assisting customers to transform their digital infrastructure and realize a return on investment. Over 11,000 enterprise and mid-market customers trust ConvergeOne with collaboration, enterprise networking, data center, cloud and cybersecurity solutions to achieve business outcomes. Our investments in cloud infrastructure and managed services provide transformational opportunities for customers to achieve financial and operational benefits with leading technologies. ConvergeOne has partnerships with more than 300 global industry leaders, including Avaya, Cisco, IBM, Genesys and Microsoft to customize specific business outcomes. We deliver solutions with a full lifecycle approach including strategy, design and implementation with professional, managed and support services. ConvergeOne holds more than 6,300 technical certifications across hundreds of engineers throughout North America including three Customer Success Centers. More information is available at convergeone.com.