I have been to many convention centers over the years. Some have one large building. Some are far removed from local restaurants and entertainment. Others have minimal parking or ground transportation nearby. When it comes to the Phoenix Convention Center, it has all of this and more. It provides flexible event facilities, up-to-date technology, top notch hotel accommodations, and a location that is accessible by plane, train, and automobile. There are also many activities from sporting events, live music, performing arts, and dining options all within a short walk. I have attended and volunteered at national conferences hosted at the Phoenix Convention Center, visited the Food and Wedding Expos, geeked out at Fan Fusion, and most recently, the Tourney Town free event for the community as a part of the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four hosted in Downtown Phoenix. The local arrangements committee did a fantastic job coordinating the map of their event, how to get around the building from the outside, how to get around the building from the inside, and the layout of the convention center in the first place. There are three buildings in the convention center (North, West, and South). The North and West Buildings are con​​nected in the lower level exhibit hall and via a sky bridge on the upper level. The combined space contains 2 large ballrooms, 81 meeting rooms and 502,500 sq. ft. of exhibit space. The stand-alone South Building contains 18 meeting rooms, a 28,000 sq. ft. ballroom and two exhibit halls equaling 82,000 sq. ft. All of the meeting rooms, exhibit halls and ballroom can combine to equal a large 143,400 sq. ft. event space. You can learn more about the Phoenix Convention Center by going to https://www.phoenixconventioncenter.com. On this website, you can find resources for planning an event, attending an event, exhibiting at an event, events hosted at the convention center, news, and a place to submit a RFP. There is also information for nearby parking and local transportation. You can also find a virtual tour, details about the outdoor event space, sustainability initiatives, the best of Phoenix (hotels, dining, nightlife, culture, sports, and entertainment), and more. If you'll be in Downtown Phoenix at a conference or special event that is based in the Phoenix Convention Center, you're in for a treat! read more

This is regarding the Great Food Expo hosted in this location. Posting for other small businesses to NEVER hand them over your hard-earned cash. As a vendor? One of the worst experiences I've ever had. This company will extort you for exorbitant amounts of money: in my case $600, and in the case of a truly unlucky vendor $1300 without an endcap or electrical citing they were a "last minute" addition. attendees are charged $10, and essentially promised free food wherever they go. I can't speak on behalf of other vendors, but since I make a very specialty item, it took me 16 hours of work Monday through Friday just to pretend I had enough inventory for what I was promised. This event was sold to me as a foodie event, with 18,000 attendees. There was certainly not 18,000 people, and the attendees that arrived treated us less than Costco. The amount of money I spent to attend, in tandem with hiring someone given the expectation that it was supposed to be overwhelming, is outright cruel. I'm a small business, amongst other small businesses, that gave up a day at a farmers market where I would've made at least three times the amount of money I did wasting my Saturday and Sunday. To top it all off? My rep Tina Matteri when called on a Monday morning to discuss the event, hung up on me mid conversation. Did I curse? No. Did I accost her? No. Did I speak sternly, venting my frustrations with how I was extorted? Absolutely. Now she's so cowardly, she refuses to call me back. I let it be known that my husband is in litigation, and that my legal fees would be covered thus it would behoove her to call me back. Still have heard nothing. Stay as far away from this event as humanly possible. One of the worst experiences I've had to date since opening as a small business. Save your money, time and effort. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Manda's Mac's Bakery as a vendor at The Great Food Expo hosted in the Phoenix Convention Center. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

Attended the Forbes event and we kindly received free lunch vouchers. The Asian diner presented a tofu protein bowl. I stood in line and saw all the meat dishes and asked about tofu. The woman serving me starting scooping this and I asked her about tofu. She said "that is tofu" I looked at the greasy veggies and saw in fact there were a few pieces of tofu in the veggies mix. The paper bowl it was served in accumulated much of the oil. It was more of a greasy bowl rather than a protein bowl. I asked about the Celsius drink price since none was listed and it was $8 plus tax. I'm thankful for free food but this was a bummer. Overall the convention center was fine. Security was a bit pushy. When I arrived for day two I was commuting from Florence which was an hour drive. I brought my empty water bottle in, no outside food and drink allowed, and security would not let me in because it was after 6pm. I really needed the restroom and water refill and they said absolutely not. So that was a bummer. I met friends at a nearby restaurant instead. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - "Tofu" - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

I attended the first day of the Forbes Under 30 Summit and found it underwhelming. Badge pickup was quick, but the only item provided was a small branded tumbler--no tote, no general attendee swag, and nothing available unless you were VIP. Most of the sessions and activations were already full by the time I arrived, so I wasn't able to attend anything on the schedule. The app, which is required to register for events, kept crashing, and the help desk wasn't familiar with how to troubleshoot it. I even tried emailing the support address listed in the app, but the email bounced back as undeliverable, which made things even more frustrating. After rearranging my work schedule to attend Day 1, the experience felt disappointing. I'll update this review after the second and third days if things improve. Maybe I can sneak in to some events in the app if some people no shows, but why do I have to? SECOND DAY : attended the second day Forbes Under 30 Summit with a complimentary ticket from Yelp and Forbes, and while there were some technical issues with the app, I still appreciated the opportunity to be part of the event. The highlight for me was the speaker lineup. I was especially interested in the session on "How to Build AI That Actually Solves Problems",-- the kind of talk that makes you think differently about where AI is headed and how it can be used meaningfully. I was also excited about the viral marketing programming, which is always valuable for creators and entrepreneurs looking to grow their reach. "Radical Creation", honestly... it reminded me of something real. Being a content creator can be a lonely road. Especially when your old friends don't support your work anymore. Another positive surprise was the free lunch, which was a thoughtful touch and made the day feel more welcoming. While I did experience some challenges with the app crashing, preventing me from signing up for sessions, I'm hopeful this is something they'll improve for future events. As for the security staff, I understand they have a job to do, and I'm choosing to give them grace -- large events can be stressful for everyone. Overall, I'm grateful for the complimentary ticket and the chance to be around innovative thinkers. With a few improvements to the tech and on‑site experience, this could be an even stronger event in the future. read more

See all

It's a conversation center just like any other conversation center. Lol. So many different events throughout the year. Right downtown so easy walking distance to hotels, restaurants and bars. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

I was at the Convention Center last week for PMI Global Summit and had a great experience. Conference was atrended by ~4000 people. Very clean, well staffed, and easy to navigate. Restrooms very well maintained throughout the day. Food service was good for the #of people. Various size meetibg rooms Convienent walking distance to several hotels and restaurants. Area seemed safe. read more

See all

Thank you Yelp! For the opportunity to run in the inaugural phoenix marathon I chose to hit the 10K but thank you still. The expo was great and was great to see the JORTC and ROTC out and helping. read more

See all

This is a great convention center. It is located right down town and walking distance to so many things down town. Unlike San Fran there are not a lot of bad areas to avoid and makes for a peaceful stay. The size and layout is perfect and from what I hear the price was really good. They shut the street down in front and had a bunch of food trucks and beer tents. Was very nice add and the weather this tome of year was not bad. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

The Phoenix Convention center is quite large and can accommodate large and complex events. The facility has been well maintained over the years. It's what one would expect from a convention center in a large city. read more

Great venue with so much space. Wear comfy shoes and give yourself plenty of time to traverse to wherever you're going! The entire place had just been carpeted and was very clean. The restaurants and coffee shop in the dining hall were open during the event I attended. They were very average to below average. I recommend getting coffee elsewhere nearby and bringing your own food if possible or dining somewhere off property if feasible. read more

This place is HUGE!!! Every employee I have spoken with, has been kind, friendly and helpful. The food is expensive, and if the center is full, the lines are LONG! They even had the road between the North and West buildings is closed and they have several food trucks? But those lines are about an 40 minute wait. There are plenty of restrooms and water fountains. And the restrooms are well maintained. The chairs are not the most comfortable. But this is a great place to hold a large meeting/conference! read more

Went here to pick up our race day bib for the hot chocolate run 2024. Was a clean venue and large space. Parking is tough in that downtown area but we did find a street meter 2 blocks down and walked. That was my first time at the convention center. Seemed pretty good. read more

See all

I was very happy with my experience here for the G.I. conference this past week. The conference center is very large. I found that you actually walked around less here compared to other conference centers even though it's very large. We did not utilize the whole space however there was a lot of areas that were quiet that you can make phone calls or just relax after a long day at the conference. In the rooms there was comfort chairs. There were times where they made the rooms too small unfortunately for some of the events but overall, I am pleased. The staff was very friendly and they have a food hall that's in house with food that is above average quality, but was also a high price tag at a convention center. Overall, the area is very safe and there's a lot of restaurants around. They also have guides that stood outside during the conference that you could ask questions too, which was a nice touch. One other thing is there was always water available in case you were thirsty. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

Attended Quilt Con this year. The convention center was really nice. The food court was decent with good variety. It was easy to navigate the various exhibits and vendors. The area surrounding the convention center is very walkable and felt safe. read more

I came here for a work conference and it was a nice, clean event space! It's quite large with a bunch of different smaller lecture rooms, huge exhibition halls, and a large ballroom. The lunch was catered and it was pretty good, although the staff was a bit disorganized in serving all the tables. The dessert was disappointing. I had complementary parking in the adjacent garage, but otherwise it said the event price was $20. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Lecture rooms - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

See all

Wow, I must say, Phoenix has one of the best of the best Convention Centers I have been to 2twice already. Back in 2023 and 2022, I went to their Phoenix Fan Fusion Convention. Its a convention they have every year in the begining of Summer. It is like Comicon and Anime Conventions. Lots of space and venues here. Restaurants here have good food inside. You can also eat at the nearby restaurants outside of the Convention Center. Staff are professional here, and they also have great views of the city upstairs of the hall floors. This is just the best one I have attended so far, compared to Los Angeles and Anaheim Conventions. read more

Come here for a seminar and found the facility to be very lean, open, easy to navigate and with comfortable lobby areas. It's multiple levels and much bigger than it looks. Facilities were clean. The staff working were very helpful in directions to the different rooms. There is a food court and coffee kiosks on the main level which was a bonus. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Indoor food court - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

My aunt & and I attended our first women's expo here in Phoenix. We both were excited to attend as we signed up for free tickets online and wanted to see all the vendors, sign up for any contest's, drawings, DIY workshops and more. Lots of parking available if you wanted to park on the street it was only a four or five hour limit unfortunately which we were surprised of because it's the weekend otherwise you could park in the structures for $10 which was right down the street or other structures have $15 parking so we lucked out and got the $10 parking Next to the convention center. There were lots of vendors, but we were a little disappointing because they didn't have food vendors there to give our samples and or drink vendors there to give out free samples we heard the previous years they had lots of food drinks all complementary, so unfortunately we had to go outside of the convention center to get food, but we did sample some delicious desserts And other items as well. We enjoyed DJ Bathsheba who is from Chicago & we were from Milwaukee, WI & enjoyed her music & beautiful energy. She gave us a flyer to attend a free play in November & took a few pictures for us as well. in the future, we would love to see more food vendors that will give out free samples, and possibly some drink vendors, like they had in the previous expo's. read more

See all

This convention center has really grown over the years. I remember when it was much smaller when it was called Phoenix Civic Plaza back in the day. It went through a huge renovation and became the massive place that it is today in 2008. Phoenix Convention Center is located in Downtown Phoenix and hosts national and regional conventions, sports experience events, and trade shows. I have actually been to quite a few events here over the years. The old Phoenix Comicon (now Fan Fusion) was always crazy packed, but made for fun people watching. They would utilize almost all the rooms in this place for that event. I have been to a couple Super Bowl Experiences here (2015 and 2023). The 2017 Final Four Experience and 2016 College Football Playoff Fan Central were fun and interactive. Ski Pro holds an annual ski sale here for discounted snow gear that I like to attend every year. Despite how busy this place can get, it's always great to see the community come together for these fun events. Inside are some restaurants that serve food or you can eat at some of the places in the surrounding area. There is a parking garage for parking, but I hear it is pretty pricey. read more

See all

The Phoenix Convention Center has got it together. I'll put on Fan Fusion for us nerds! They open everything up with multiple security point so that you don't even have to really wait in a line to get through the metal detectors and get into the buildings. There are so many food options once you are inside, they even have, a coffee stand with muffins, beer, carts, and alcohol all over the place, and even food trucks parked on the street so you can have some delicious options to choose from. Safety feels top-notch here, with security and nearly every turn. It feels great to be able to come to a large event with an expected 50,000 people over the weekend and actually feel safe. Thank you to the Phoenix convention center for putting on such a huge event, year after year! read more

Phoenix Convention Center - $14 chicken fingers and fries inside the building - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

Came here for a multi-day event... The facility is quite large. Set up was easy. Food provided by the facility was decent. The folks seemed decent too. read more

Attended a few events here in the past and have always had a great time. I attended the Women's expo again this year. What made it fun for myself, were the ladies I attended it with. as well as, the candle making class we partook in. The parking garage didn't have an attendant which, made it hard to get into because their machine wasn't properly working for cars to enter so, it took extremely long for us to get in. The expo didn't have many vendors this year, as they did last year. Sucked! If you wanted to have your makeup, hair, a tarrot reading and botox done, this was the perfect event this year. I hope that next year, the parking garage has a live human working it, as well as, more vendors, swag bags, and sample booths. Things are definitely changing in the World including this expo. Sadly! read more

Phoenix Convention Center - This dude was fun...lol One of the BEST vendors here honestly! Thanks for the edible tutorial Jake - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

See all

The convention center is the perfect place for large events. The facility is clean with ample bathrooms and a few decent food options. We normally come for large events (like Fan Fusion) and the location keeps upping their game to make things seamless and easy. (Such as security, entrances and parking.) read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Meeting room with panel section - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

See all

I must admit I get a little anxious when driving in downtown Phoenix. There's lots of one way streets and the light rail. I had to go to the Phoenix Convention center to pick up my Hot Chocolate race packet. If you follow the directions on Google maps it will take you directly to the convention center. If you don't mind walking you can find some free legal street parking. If not there's plenty of $15-$20 and meter parking. It appeared that you did have to pay for the meter parking on the weekends. Once inside the convention center there's a couple of convenient bathrooms and wheelchair accessible entrance and car drop off. Just be sure you are at the right part of the convention center ( south side etc) The convention center could use a remodel and update but it's ok for a packet pickup. read more

See all

I attended the 2023 franchise expo at the Phoenix convention center with my company. It was my first time at the center and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to find and how stress-free parking was. I was able to park in the north garage and park rather easily. The parking fee was $15 (which I felt was reasonable for downtown). I entered the building it was very spacious, lots of natural lighting, and the room that the expo was being held in was huge and wonderfully set up. I love the concession stand conveniently located inside for refreshments and food. When the event was over I decided to walk around to check out the facility. I was very impressed at how spacious the center is and how many events are held here every year! I can't wait to attend my next event here. read more

See all

The food and the excellent service was great. I suggest this restaurant to anyone visiting in the downtowns Phoenix area. read more

See all

We were in town for a volleyball tournament for our daughter. Based on what was sent to us by the Volleyball association, I pre-booked parking at the North Garage of the convention center for four days. Due to Diamondback games the same days, we were informed pre-booking was suggested to avoid prices going up. I don't recall during the booking process selecting times we would be arriving and departing and with no schedule for our games I really could not have foreseen that anyway. We arrive at the garage the first day and have no trouble scanning the barcode for entry. Upon leaving we are then prompted to pay another $20. We notice a time frame of 10-3 on the print out. I contacted ACE Parking via email to resolve this issue, received a reply, and then was ghosted by the representative of ACE. This parking company is a scam artist at best. The convention center itself was pleasant. Concessions were decent and always open. Employees were helpful and overall it was a good event for our team. read more

This place is so big I'm pretty sure you could have 2-5 events going on at once here. Great place to go to events. There's a cafeteria and some other food options and vending machines. They don't allow outside food or drink. They seemed to be pretty lenient with see thru water bottles tho. read more

See all

I came here for the Rock n Roll Arizona Marathon expo. During my walk up to the convention center, I noticed that there was a lot of construction around the immediate area. Do keep in mind that the North and South buildings are divided by Washington St. Even if you get lost, there are nice employees inside that can direct you to where you need to go. I thought that this was a very nice venue for a race expo. The restrooms were well-maintained and kept clean. read more

See all

I attended a large conference here last month and was overall pleased with the facilities. The convention center is new and updated and in a great location surrounded by lots of hotel and restaurant options. It made walking to and from our hotel easy and the restaurants offered lots of choices for getting together with colleagues after class. The facility was clean and well maintained. Seating was relatively comfortable, though some rooms other than the ballrooms could have more comfortable chairs. Lighting and sound worked well in all but one class and it was easy to hear and follow the lecture slides. There are places to grab snacks, lunch and coffee and everyone was very pleasant. Overall a nice convention center. read more

Great location for an event. Tons of room for whatever is planned. They have on site parking for $15 or you can park in the street, which is what I opted for. Street parking after 5pm for up to 4 hours for $6. We went to An Evening with Dr Zahi Hawass 'Secrets of Ancient Egypt'. His first stop was in Phx for his US tour. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

See all

Nice well laid out convention center. Something I always look for are plenty of stairs, elevator and escalator options so you can get between floors easily. Definitely the case here. We were in town for a marathon and the convention center was very convenient for packet pick up. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

The Phoenix Convention Center is my favorite convention center I have attended for a large (~10,000+ attendees) conference thus far. I enjoyed the layout of the center, it was spread out yet not sprawling and rooms hosting different sessions spanned multiple floors. Made it slightly adventurous for a first timer at the center just trying to find the right rooms. I came to the center for the The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS) Annual Meeting in March 2018. The talk that was both my favorite at the time of the conference and in hindsight (love it when those align!) was a talk by someone from General Motors. The talk was about different steels used in the frame of a car and how to design them so that the car can withstand impact and keep its occupants alive. Materials Science and Engineering is one of my heart call fields and it was inspirational getting to see some of the more practical applications possible in the field be it car frames or NASA spacecraft. Badges provided as part of the conference were well made. I especially liked the durability of the neck strap. Food and coffee is available within the convention center itself. There are also a number of restaurants within walking distance that provide a variety of cuisine options if you want to eat out. Grocery stores are also not too far. Lodging when on a budget can be several miles away. I ended up using Lyft to get to and from the convention center each day. Also, abundant beautiful restrooms. Best restrooms of any convention center I have been to. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - My TMS name badges, one on the right used at the Phoenix Convention Center. - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

The phoenix convention center was good. They had a raffle some local businesses had some stalls and a few products for skincare and several other goods n goodies .I loved attending the women's day convention here. read more

The space itself is large enough to host any event you could ask for. I've seen everything from the Women's Expo to a Bernie Sanders rally over the years, and it's been here, largely unchanged, for what feels like my entire life. But I don't think that whenever someone talks about what downtown Phoenix has to offer, they say "hey look the convention center is awesome". Any time I'm in a conference room here, I'd rather be in a large hotel, like the Sheraton. The Sheraton was sold for a loss in what it widely accepted as an illustration of its failure as a business, and it still is a much more pleasant place to host than this will ever be. Every room feels as drab as the classrooms of my childhood. It feels far behind! They didn't have WiFi available when I was working in one at a major event for my employer, and I will forever be grumpy about that. I can't remember the last time I was unable to work from the cloud at a place like this. So, whatever, it's OK here I guess, so long as good events come here. But when rating it as a space, it is nothing to get excited about. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

They make you charge everything at their events and they have the cheap-O machines where you have to insert in the machine ... They stole my credit card and charged extra stuff on it when I accidentally left it in their cheap machine. Be smart and grab your card or they will screw you over read more

Enjoying this vacation for Super Bowl love the level of security all over. This convention is huge filled with so many NFL collectibles and sport items to purchase. They even got build a bear with exclusive items. The staff on all areas is so friendly. I loved how organized everything was and traffic control as well. Overall this exclusive limited experience was worth it. Highly recommend this convention for future events a visit. read more

See all

The convention center was running the National Money Show this weekend.There were a lot of attendants which made things very orderly. Parking is a bit of a challenge but there are parking lots around the block. read more

Phoenix Convention Center - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Phoenix, Arizona

See all

Security guard very rude and would not let me back in through the door I had just went through to get a pix outside. The door did not say exit only. I had to walk all the way back around to the front entrance to get in...just to go right back where I had just been. Despite having a full access badge, he didn't care. Very rude and in called for! read more

Great locations for a conference. Huge meeting rooms and decent food and drinks. Overall, we had a delightful time.