Convention Center

[catcherinthewry]

I am very excited to see the Van Gough exhibit here in December: https://www.vangoghoklahoma.com/

That looks awesome!

[onthestrip]

I am very excited to see the Van Gough exhibit here in December: https://www.vangoghoklahoma.com/

Ive heard this is a pretty big disappointment. Expensive ticket and then its literally just one room. Weird thing is a see it on advertised on social media all the time.

[soonerguru]

Not to be a wet blanket, but it was in Chicago when we were there a year ago and a lot of the reviews were that it was mostly hype. But, it generated huge response there and I suspect it will here, too.

[BoulderSooner]

Not to be a wet blanket, but it was in Chicago when we were there a year ago and a lot of the reviews were that it was mostly hype. But, it generated huge response there and I suspect it will here, too.

it was on a segment of Hard Knocks last night as well .. as it is currently in Detroit ..

[Pete]

[Rover]

Ive heard this is a pretty big disappointment. Expensive ticket and then its literally just one room. Weird thing is a see it on advertised on social media all the time.

Haven't seen the one here, but went in Dallas and it was a great experience. Being in one room doesn't change the show. In Dallas it was in multiple rooms, but was the same video experience.... just more people could experience it. It wasn't like you go from room to room seeing different video. This isn't a Van Gough art show and not a gallery. People need to see it before criticizing it. And, it won't be for everyone because people value and like different things. If you go expecting it to be a disappointment, it likely will be.

It has been a great success virtually everywhere as has been this whole genre of visual experience.

[king183]

Haven't seen the one here, but went in Dallas and it was a great experience. Being in one room doesn't change the show. In Dallas it was in multiple rooms, but was the same video experience.... just more people could experience it. It wasn't like you go from room to room seeing different video. This isn't a Van Gough art show and not a gallery. People need to see it before criticizing it. And, it won't be for everyone because people value and like different things. If you go expecting it to be a disappointment, it likely will be.

It has been a great success virtually everywhere as has been this whole genre of visual experience.

Yeah, I went to it in Milwaukee and thought it was awesome, so I'll be going to the show here too. It is multiple rooms. There is a "holding room" that is dark and streams variations of themes of his paintings on the ceilings, walls, and floor; there is a history room that has dozens of of paintings and talks about Van Gogh's life/biography; and then there is the main exhibit, which is a large room. In that room, it's a ~30 minute show with "live" paintings projected on the wall, rotating between various times and themes, and accompanied by music.

It's not for everyone, just like an art museum is not for everyone, but I thought it was definitely worth it.

[BridgeBurner]

I had pretty well written it off based on comments I saw here, but one of my friends went last night and said it was a must-see so I don't know who to believe now haha.

[chssooner]

I had pretty well written it off based on comments I saw here, but one of my friends went last night and said it was a must-see so I don't know who to believe now haha.

Definitely the person you know with first-hand experience, as compared to people you may never meet on a message board (as great as the board info is).

[BridgeBurner]

Definitely the person you know with first-hand experience, as compared to people you may never meet on a message board (as great as the board info is).

Mainly I just want an excuse to see the convention center, work in the O&G industry and have been disappointed that our major conferences have still been at the fairgrounds.

[Jersey Boss]

I still haven't seen what out of state conventions were held here, that did not formerly use the Myriad.

[Anonymous.]

Holt posted that visitors to the new CC was up 76% in 2022 from previous year. Noting that the building was in use 317 days.

[Just the facts]

I still haven't seen what out of state conventions were held here, that did not formerly use the Myriad.

I started to write a long rant but instead I'm just going to "Like" your comment.

[soonerguru]

I haven't either, but I know of at least a couple that came from out of state. The bigger question is, why does that matter?

If there is a convention here, and people come from other parts of the state, that helps OKC. If a convention is held here that brings people from OKC only (not likely), that means our convention center is providing a venue for events in our city.

Seriously, though, we just had a pandemic, man. Conventions are only now coming back. And if you can't understand why having something other than an addition to a former arena that is actually dedicated to events like this is better, you are being pedantic.

This reminds me of arguments suggesting that rail transit has to make a profit to be valuable.

[chssooner]

I haven't either, but I know of at least a couple that came from out of state. The bigger question is, why does that matter?

If there is a convention here, and people come from other parts of the state, that helps OKC. If a convention is held here that brings people from OKC only (not likely), that means our convention center is providing a venue for events in our city.

Seriously, though, we just had a pandemic, man. Conventions are only now coming back. And if you can't understand why having something other than an addition to a former arena that is actually dedicated to events like this is better, you are being pedantic.

This reminds me of arguments suggesting that rail transit has to make a profit to be valuable.

Agreed. The Cox Convention Center was outdated. Even if the new Convention Center only gets events that were held there (which is definitely not the case) then it keeps them from going to Tulsa or someplace out of state by being more modern and have more area for expansion or growth of events.

The Myriad could not be expanded in its current state, so it is a win for OKC either way.

[Laramie]

It's going to take time b/c so many conventions were put on hold during the early stages of the pandemic. The new
Oklahoma City convention center is having an opportunity to test the mechanics associated with its operations.

If the new NBA arena is constructed on the Prairie Surf Media Studios' site, the exterior will complement that
of the new convention center and items like underground parking and the 100,000 square feet of exhibit space can be salvaged and used for spillover for the new convention center.

[Just the facts]

Why does it matter? The simple answer is honesty and integrity. At some point we have to move beyond the lies of "economic benefit" and "job creation". No amount of convention growth would ever cover the cost of construction and construction jobs are only temporary.

It should have been enough to just say that the people of OKC should have a nice facility to attend functions in, and leave it at that. Why does someone need to be lied to before they will support something?

[chssooner]

Why does it matter? The simple answer is honesty and integrity. At some point we have to move beyond the lies of "economic benefit" and "job creation". No amount of convention growth would ever cover the cost of construction and construction jobs are only temporary.

It should have been enough to just say that the people of OKC should have a nice facility to attend functions in, and leave it at that. Why does someone need to be lied to before they will support something?

But it is also asinine to judge a CC that opened during a pandemic by the first year of activity. I mean, I know education in Oklahoma is deplorable, but most people on here should be smart enough to know this. If they don't, then this state does not need them making up our populace. In what world should the ROI be insanely high after not even 1 post-Covid year?

[BoulderSooner]

Why does it matter? The simple answer is honesty and integrity. At some point we have to move beyond the lies of "economic benefit" and "job creation". No amount of convention growth would ever cover the cost of construction and construction jobs are only temporary.

It should have been enough to just say that the people of OKC should have a nice facility to attend functions in, and leave it at that. Why does someone need to be lied to before they will support something?

if OKC didn't build a new CC they would have starting losing existing conventions ...

and your point is not actually relevant at all ... OKC built this tax free for the betterment on the city ..

[shavethewhales]

^Absolutely. I haven't looked into the numbers myself, but I would be shocked if convention business has made it back up to pre-pandemic levels yet. Some of the yearly conventions I attended have folded and others are still on a smaller scale than 2019. Hard to get momentum back up again, but I'm sure it'll get there for most. As much as I appreciate the advances in digital access to things brought by the covid years, I also appreciate in-person functions even more now.

As others are noting, it's also true that convention centers are an arms race and you have to keep investing just to keep what you have. Tulsa has taken a softer approach by renovating and expanding our exiting convention center and our events pale in comparison to OKC's. Our center is mostly booked with local galas and fundraisers with few major public events and almost no trade shows. The big events and trade shows are what bring people to town and contribute to the local economy. Hosting local galas and events is important for the community, but doesn't directly affect our city's bottom line unless a few people are buying hotel rooms downtown for the night.

I really think OKC's convention center will pay dividends going forward. It's already making an impact for sure.

[BoulderSooner]

OKC is hosting the AZA mid year conf later this year i believe for the first time .

[Just the facts]

if OKC didn't build a new CC they would have starting losing existing conventions ...

and your point is not actually relevant at all ... OKC built this tax free for the betterment on the city ..

The Convention Center was built debt-free not tax-free. It was 100% paid for by taxes. Let me know when the City collects $240 million in taxes from out-of-town visitors.

Intersting that when CNU held their national convention in OKC last year they had it at the Sheraton and not the Convention Center. Of course, that could have been a Covid hold-over issue.

[chssooner]

The Convention Center was built debt-free not tax-free. It was 100% paid for by taxes. Let me know when the City collects $240 million in taxes from out-of-town visitors.

Intersting that when CNU held their national convention in OKC last year they had it at the Sheraton and not the Convention Center. Of course, that could have been a Covid hold-over issue.

Your last line is why it's silly to complain about the project so early. Like, this is a porridge where ROI won't be determined for a decade or longer yet here we are, a year or so after opening with people moaning and crying about it possibly maybe not making money after 1 year in a Covid world.

[jdross1982]

The Convention Center was built debt-free not tax-free. It was 100% paid for by taxes. Let me know when the City collects $240 million in taxes from out-of-town visitors.

Intersting that when CNU held their national convention in OKC last year they had it at the Sheraton and not the Convention Center. Of course, that could have been a Covid hold-over issue.

Are you going to be happy if we show you that OKC has collected and continues to collect 240 million from out-of-town visitors or are you wanting all 240 million to be directly from the convention center since hotels, restaurants, shopping can and is also attributed to many other things other than just the CC.

The thing is this. The CC is an economic engine that is simply 1 piece of the pie. Just like both myraid gardens and scissortail park, bricktown, and OKC Thunder are all large contributors to the pie as well but none simply account for most of it. They all work together to drive that engine and its pretty short sighted of you to throw out such blatantly false assumptions against the CC just bc you don't like the investment.

[Just the facts]

Let me be clear. I was, am, and will be 100% in favor of the convention center. It is okay to have nice things and I don't need a financial impact statement to sell me on it.

My issue is that the financial impact analysis are all fraudulent and if you are relying on them to sway your own opinion then you need to realize you are being lied to in order to gain your support. That's it...that is my only point. If you are fine with being lied to then so be it. I'm not fine with it, even if it is a project I support.