FEATURE DESTINATION: Grand Wayne Convention Center
What makes Grand Wayne Convention Center a great place for faith-based meetings?
We host multiple faith-based organizations every year, many of them on a revolving schedule. Planners appreciate how simple and comfortable everything is here. For example, they love the fact our venue offers complete in-house services — there’s little to no additional outsourcing or extra contracts, and if so, our in-house team will readily assist with all of that.
For attendees, we constantly hear how much visitors enjoy being in downtown Fort Wayne! Being in the heart of downtown, it’s especially easy for guests to explore dozens of restaurants and shops, find all the public art displays, and relax in our riverfront parks. Fort Wayne hospitality is a real thing! Plus, we’re easy to get to and have plenty of clean, comfortable hotels.
What are some of GWCC’s unique and major meeting spaces?
Grand Wayne Convention Center is beautifully designed with divisible, obstruction-free, and fully accessible event spaces. We’ve parked school buses and RVs inside our 50,000 s.f. convention hall and hosted thousands for theater, banquet, and classroom events. Every space can host remote or hybrid meetings and is independently customized for climate, AV, and F&B. We have a lot of creative ideas to help make routine events more special.
We often reference our “intuitive floor plans,” meaning it’s easy for attendees to find where they need to be. Accessibility is an essential part of planning, and our goal is to make everyone feel welcome. In fact, we recently implemented GoodMaps navigation, a free smartphone app that provides improved wayfinding for every visitor regardless of limitations.
What are some cultural and recreational experiences that faith-based groups would enjoy?
Grand Wayne Convention Center was built to welcome visitors into downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana. Planners use our location to help entice attendance. Planners and attendees are not bound by our spaces alone — we offer groups a whole downtown experience! The historic Embassy Theater, Botanical Gardens, and multi-purpose Parkview Field are conveniently across the street.
Everything is within a few minutes’ walk. The Historic Landing is Fort Wayne’s oldest commercial street completely revitalized with restaurants and shops … the Arts District features professional performing arts, renowned art museums, and gift shops … the Broadway Shopping District offers boutique stores and connects directly to Electric Works, a renovated retail complex home to the original General Electric company. There’s a lot to see, taste, and try in downtown Fort Wayne.
What are new enhancements of interest to event planners?
We are always improving our facility and services for the groups visiting us. We’ve upgraded our lighting, which is especially helpful for vendors, guest activities, and classrooms. All event rooms are fully carpeted with new carpet coming in 2027. We have free, high-performance WiFi that easily accommodates 5,000 users, and we offer free guest experiences as easy add-ons. Of course, planners really appreciate our on-site event hosts who answer questions, solve issues, and offer helpful suggestions to curious visitors.
We’re environmentally conscious. We’ve recently completed reflective roof coating and installed solar panels to help control energy costs. We have a fantastic 24-7 team that keeps the building humming, and we have great downtown partners who help planners create memorable events without sacrificing budget or sanity.
