Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) has held its first events since reopening earlier this month, one of the first venues in Australia to reopen since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Centre played host to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) Queensland State of the State Lunch on Thursday, with Queensland Premier and Minister for Trade, The Hon Annastacia Palaszczuk, as the keynote speaker.
Commenting on what was one of the first major events for Brisbane since the start of COVID-19, Premier Palaszczuk said: “We got the Convention Centre open and that is not happening in other places.”
The event attendance was capped at 260 attendees and took place in the Centre’s refurbished Plaza Ballroom, adhering to social distancing regulations. There was an interactive livestream of the event to a virtual audience of 1,500.
Since reopening, feedback from organisers and guests has been extremely enthusiastic focussing on the positive event experience in a well-managed environment, with the CEDA team telling the audience “There is nowhere we would rather be than at BCEC and no one else we would have trusted for this event.”
BCEC General Manager, Bob O’Keeffe AM, said the reopening of the Centre represented a significant step forward in the recovery of the industry in Australia. “Business Events have been the Centre’s area of expertise, knowledge and experience for more than 25 years and our committed team of event planning, technical and creative professionals are excited to be back at work ensuring events succeed and reach their full potential with the opportunity to develop and grow in future years.”
