By Selena Chavis

For a convention on the scale of Pittcon 2011, the largest international conference for laboratory sciences, the ability to pull off a successful event is directly linked to location infrastructure. And, according to Pittcon 2011 President Penny Gardner, Atlanta delivers.

“We had an overall great experience with the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB) and the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC). The CVB has one of the best public relations departments out of all of the venues where we exhibit. They set the bar for our expectation for other cities we deal with,” she said. “Atlanta is an easily accessible venue for both domestic and international visitors to get to by air and ground transportation.”

The event encompassed more than 17,000 attendees with 979 exhibiting companies occupying 2,059 booths in the GWCC, the fourth largest convention center in the country. Twenty-five percent of the conference’s attendees came from outside the United States, making ease of access paramount.

Mark Sussman, Atlanta’s CVB director of trade show sales, said whether it’s a meeting of 10 or conventions on the scale of Pittcon, Atlanta offers a wide variety of accommodations to fit any budget with more than 94,000 hotel rooms located in the metro-Atlanta area.

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Featured Properties:

The 1,260-room Hyatt Regency Atlanta is executing a $65 million transformation project. The focus of the project includes 737 redesigned guest rooms and premium suites, the front drive, lobby, front desk, four new food and beverage outlet concepts and major renovations to the 30,000-square-foot Centennial Ballroom and 40,000-square-foot Exhibit Hall. The property houses a total of 180,000 square feet of meeting space.

The 403-room Atlanta Airport Marriott Gateway opened adjacent to the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) last year. Connected to Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport via a complimentary light-rail train, the property features more than 21,000 square feet of flexible meeting space, which includes the 12,000-square-foot Gateway Ballroom, the largest hotel ballroom in the Airport area.

GICC, the second-largest convention center in Georgia, houses 150,000 square feet of exhibit space, 32 meeting rooms and a 40,000-square-foot ballroom. SpringHill Suites Atlanta Airport Gateway is also located adjacent to the GICC.

Cobb County is home to 13,500 hotel rooms and offers more than 375,000 square feet of meeting space, including the Cobb Galleria Centre, the area’s primary convention property. Connected to the 521-room Renaissance Atlanta Waverly Hotel and connected by pedestrian sky bridge to a regional mall and the Sheraton Suites Atlanta Galleria, the property offers 320,000 square feet of overall space, including 144,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 25,000 square-foot-ballroom and 24 meeting rooms. The Embassy Suites Atlanta Galleria is located across the street from the Cobb Galleria Centre. Nearby is the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.

Gwinnett Center in Duluth, Ga., offers a 50,000-square-foot exhibit hall, 22,000-square-foot ballroom and 13,000-seat arena.

The 336-room Evergreen Marriott Resort and Conference Center is located near Stone Mountain in Dekalb County and features 336 guest rooms, 40,000 square feet of function space, two championship golf courses and a spa.

Just minutes from downtown Atlanta, along the I-285 perimeter, Sandy Springs offers convenience to all Atlanta attractions while being outside of the hustle and bustle of the city. In the Sandy Springs area, the Westin Atlanta North at the Perimeter offers 250 guest rooms and 10,000 square feet of meeting space.