Oregon Convention Center

We just had our preconference here. It’s a beautiful place with great staff. The area was constantly being cleaned up and they provided us with good coffee!
All of the meals provided were surprisingly delicious and unique (from a southern girl’s point of view anyway), with tons of healthy options.
Look forward to coming back in May.

This place is big, it was really big before they expanded it. It is home to lots of different events of all kinds. From gun shows, to auto shows to… alcohol free Pow Wows to Comic Cons, sporting events, business meetings… well check out their calendar.
The building looks best from the outside and the inside has big rooms that can be joined together as needed. I have been there when the event felt like it was in a big warehouse space, and I have been there when it is all carpets and nice finishes everywhere.
It is great having this so conviniently located. I tend to watch for whats happening and come to events that sound like I would have a good time. Usually that is big events.
Tip: its right on Max and that is the way I go. It is just easier.
PS this weekend? Chocolate Fest… how do you resist that?

The Oregon Convention Center shares Portland in a wonderful way. It is near light rail, it has affordable concessions, the facilities are modern including WiFi and it is a neat package. Much of Portland’s big and, or unusual events are held here.
Going here with no memories of doing so was a treat. The hall has all sorts of individuals waiting to help you at your whim. The festival was handled well, and the opportunities for concessions did not end outside the rooms, for there was also food on the inside. I will constantly be looking for new conventions to observe here from hereafter.
This is a place that knows how to party.

We went here for Rose City Comic Con and were impressed by this convention center. It’s very clean and airy, and the staff was friendly (although I’m not sure if it was the staff of the convention center or the convention itself, or both.) The space is perfect for the exhibit hall, panel rooms, and resting areas.
There are lots of unique art pieces, such as the pendulum and the Chinese Dragon Boat suspended from the ceiling. The coffee shop inside serves a mean cold brew at prices comparable to other third wave coffee shops, and if it’s too busy, there’s Starbucks a block away.
My wishlist would include more space for bigger events and an update to the carpet. Both will probably come in time.
Easily accessible by Streetcar and MAX Line.

I come here for two reasons: Holiday Food and Gift Fair and Wizard World Comic Con. One in November and the other in February, so it’s inevitably cold and rainy causing people to be unable to function as normal humans. Not the fault of the convention center, but I’m working on a point here. The parking garage is awesome if you get there early enough to find a space. It’s not cheap, but I’m all about convenience. Unfortunately, if you arrive after the parking garage is full, prepare to burn a quarter tank of fuel driving around to find parking. Or you could spend dozens of thousands of dollars on an electric or hybrid car, but that’s neither here nor there. I like that this convention center is astronomical in size and can house multiple functions at once. I don’t like that there is only 1 elevator per bajillion patrons. If you are one of the lucky few to park in the garage, it may take you 20 minutes to an hour to get onto an elevator to take you to your climate-​controlled vehicle. Consider yourselves warned!
Anyhow, it’s a clean and very well maintained facility. The functions I attend are always well planned. The food is comparable to something you’d purchase at the county fair with a little less grease. At least there are several options in and around the area should you get hungry after your super-​well planned convention.

I’ve been here for many science nerd conferences over the years, and this place can house anywhere from 200 to 2000 nerds quite comfortably. It’s close to several light rail stations and walking distance to a bevy of hotels and cheapish eats.
Several good things to say: it’s clean, modern, LEED certified, and it seems pretty accessible for folks of all abilities. Wifi signal is pretty good everywhere that I tried to use it, and there are also many little nooks where you can settle in for private time on the phone or a computer.
Meeting rooms are generally big enough and sound proof enough for whatever is going on. They also do a good job with climate control – so many convention centers turn the A/​C down so low that you could hang meat in the conference rooms but this place is comfy.
Some cool art in the main halls, and the big pendulum clock is a sight to behold.
A few things that are lacking: there aren’t many food or beverage options inside, so the line at the coffee shop can stretch for dozens of people during break times. Also, the bathrooms and water fountains are few and far between, so give yourself a few extra minutes if you don’t want to wet your pants or die of thirst.

The pendulum was cool. Not much to do around there if you are not attending an event or conference. Train stop nearby to take you to funner parts.

The convention center has great event space however the food is not the best… I mean I’ve eaten there on several occasions and the food is just not good I mean I can give the food like a 3 stars but that’s about it.
the workers seem unhappy and the convention center charges and $ 12 a day for Wi-​Fi I think that is ridiculous you’re already there paying for an event it should automatically be free!
Good location for a event in the heart of Portland

After attending the Rose City Comic Con this weekend and spending two whole days at this place, I would consider this convention centers one of the most convenient places and interesting spaces that I have ever been.
I have been to many convention centers from Long Beach to Orlando and I would consider this one in Portland fairly decent. I know the area around the convention center is sketchy, but it is so convenient. For two days straight, we did not feel the need to take our cars but instead we took the Blue Line Max to the convention center since the stop is right in front of it. This is incredibly convenient since you don’t have to fight traffic or parking spaces to be at this event space.
The convention center itself is pretty spacious and I enjoyed having onsite restaurants and coffee shops that you can eat at. Some convention center doesn’t even have food and you would have to leave to get lunch in order to continue at conventions and conferences. I think the area could also be better if it had hotels near it, but I think the convention center itself is pretty good.

I was quite surprised by the ambiance and condition of the overall building. It is up to date, has all the amenities, and free wifi. They have it fully staffed to the point where people are asking to help you if you need to find something or in need of food or drink.
It is really an all inclusive place where you really never have to leave during your meeting. They have plenty of food and drink (adult beverages too). Plenty of meeting rooms, large and small, to fit your needs and a good amount of workstations for your work and charging needs.
The staff is very friendly and helpful. The only disappointment was finding the coffee and café place was not able to toast bagels. Really? I was really craving a toasted bagel with cream cheese. They couldn’t even heat it up, what’s the point? However, there was a Starbucks a short walk away for this.
The restrooms were really clean and well maintained. Not sure if that was because of my «Food Safety» conference, but I’ll take it!
Overall a nice place to visit and be for the day.

The only reason you’ll ever find me at a convention center is for a marathon expo! If there’s another reason I’d love to know it. This brief visit was for the Rock n Roll Portland Expo.
Parking is $ 8 which we avoided by my boyfriend circling around the block when I jetted in to grab my race stuff.
I can’t say much more about the place, I didn’t need to stay long and didn’t do much here. The place seemed clean and fine enough.

Lovely building, very spacious and hosts some pretty great events all the time. LEED certified, easy to find and you can usually find pretty good parking on side streets. You can also take easy public transportation to get here. The décor and artwork throughout the inside is quite nice as well.
During events they even have quite a few little food places which I have not tried to report t you how much or how good but they smelled decent.

I came here for the Spring Wine & Beer Festival, but I don’t have anything negative, nor positive, to say about the convention center itself. It was okay. Spacious, easy to find where we needed to go, near the MAX line, the bathrooms were relatively clean, there were enough tables and chairs set up for people to sit down.
There was plenty of space for the event, and it didn’t really feel over-​crowded, despite the fact that there were a lot of people there. The convention staff was very polite, asking us how we were and such. They got us into the festival pretty quickly, even though a line was starting to accumulate behind us. Lots of natural light in the lobby, and some neat architectural things set up. I’unno, it’s just an average convention center, meant for medium to large gatherings.

Definitely one of the nicest convention centers around. I always got a kick out of it being turned into an airport for the TV show Leverage.

This place is huge! They follow LEED, and overall it’s a very nice convention center. We went here for Wizard World and it was awesome. My one and only complaint is that the parking below seems crazy, you can be on the right floor but if you came down the wrong elevator you can’t get to the section you might be in. Hard to explain but it’s not fun at the end of a long convention day. Short of that, very cool.

Big, LEED, beautiful. …basically all you need to know
Sprawling —
! Natural light and interesting sculptures make for an uplifting visit. Personally I didn’t enjoy the café food options (what’s the point of having on-​site dining… if they’re not open when the conference starts… or ends).
Clean and GREAT sound quality and separation between meeting rooms. Access to the tram that takes you across the river to downtown. The separation was really the only think that irked me. On the one hand, it’ll be sure to keep your attendees in-​place for the conference (no wandering off to explore Portlandia when Portlandia is on the other side of a massive gully). But grabbing lunch is difficult, and means that hotels are most likely not near the fun, ether.
A great convention center, for sure!

Attended a fencing competition for my son over the weekend and Columbus day here. Parking was a breeze. There were even some 5 hour parking spots on the street, very close by. Well-​maintained venue, with lots of restrooms and open space. The food vendors weren’t even half bad. Would have been nice to have some free wi-​fi. Just sayin’ it couldn’t hurt.

Been to several events here and it’s like all the other convention centers I’ve been to. It shares a lot of similarities with other conventions.
1. Parking sucks so take the bus
2. It’s crowded
3. Finding your way to the place to buy tickets in the maze of the area and then finding the room where the event is held can be difficult.
4. It’s one of the few places in town that can host large events so deal with the space
Otherwise been to lots of great events held by the sponsored groups were always very friendly to guests. (rose city comic con, vegfest, retro gaming… etc)

Came for a conference. This place is huge!
Wear your tennis shoes because there could be multiple, gigantic rooms to navigate for your event. Expect to walk a mile or two just getting from room to room.
The event I was at had great sound. I didn’t try out the center’s food options.
My friends and I also went to a Christmas in July event that was going on in the center. There were a lot of vendors. We liked looking at everything, and we each bought several items for Christmas gifts and ourselves.
Some great architecture in this building.
Big plus: Public transit system just yards away and it took me right down to my hotel. Much easier and faster vs. driving around and having to pay for parking.

Lots of options, but a loooong walk between some rooms. Needed a real coat check, waiting for someone in a giant room to dig out my coat was huge time waste.
Overpriced coffee. Not enough accessible water.
Excellent green designed & built building.
Good location in Portland, walkable from many areas on a nice day and a rail stop right out front on not-​so-​nice days