The City of Brotherly Love blends historic charm with modern convenience—a recipe likely to satisfy every attendee.

Downtown convention center. Located in the heart of Center City, the Pennsylvania Convention Center has more than 2 million square feet of space, including seven exhibit halls totaling 679,000 square feet (528,000 square feet of that space is contiguous). In addition, the center boasts more than 82 meeting rooms and the largest ballroom in the Northeast, a converted space in the historic Reading Terminal train shed that is the size of a football field.

Venues with history. Philadelphia has countless historic buildings and attractions that double as special event venues. Among them is the Academy of Music, the country’s oldest continuously used opera house, which features 19th-century touches and hosts up to 2,900. For smaller groups, there is Carpenters’ Hall, where the First Continental Congress met, which can accommodate up to 125 guests.

Prime location. Philadelphia’s location at the center of the Northeast Corridor makes it easy for attendees to get there. More than 40 percent of the U.S. population is a day’s drive away, and Amtrak’s nine routes that stop at the city’s 30th Street Station span the entire Northeast and run as far west as Chicago and New Orleans. Then there’s Philadelphia International Airport, which has more than 1,200 daily flights, including 120 international flights. —Samantha Whitehorne

Philly Fast Facts

Recent and Future Association Meetings: 2019 National School Boards Association Meeting, American Association for State and Local History’s 2019 Annual Meeting, Textbook and Academic Authors Association’s 32nd Annual Textbook and Academic Authoring Conference

Hotel rooms within 15-minute walk of convention center: 11,000

Convention center exhibit space square footage: 679,000

Distance from airport to downtown: 8 miles

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