Easy access to the city, a good public transportation system, an abundance of hotel rooms, and a mild climate have combined to make Atlanta one of the leading convention centers in the United States, by most accounts ranking just behind Chicago and Orlando. Atlanta's major convention facilities are the Georgia World Congress Center, which contains 3.9 million square feet of exhibit space and 76 meeting rooms and is among the 5 largest nationwide; the Georgia Dome, which seats 71,500 and has 102,000 square feet of exhibit space, and the Philips Arena, which offers an 18,000-seat and 17,000 square-foot facility for meetings, athletic events, and concerts. All three facilities are linked by the new Georgia International Plaza, a gathering place featuring fountains and outdoor sculpture. Three buildings that are connected by elevated walkways comprise AmericasMart, which provides 4.2 million square feet of exhibition space. The Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center provides a 5,800 square-foot ballroom and a 4,600-seat theater.
Atlanta also boasts dozens of smaller, more intimate meeting facilities, some of them in unusual settings. Among them are the Woodruff Arts Center, High Museum of Art, Fox Theatre (a renovated "movie palace" built in 1929), Academy of Medicine, Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change, Callanwolde (formerly a private residence), and Houston Mill House (a country estate). Other facilities are available at many of the city's hotels.
Visitor Information: Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, 233 Peachtree St., NE, Ste. 100, Atlanta, GA 30303; telephone (404)521-6600; fax (404)577-3293