Freddie Peterson, General Manager, Miami Beach Convention Center
Invest: had the opportunity to talk with Miami Beach Convention Center, General Manager, Freddie Peterson about how the city of Miami Beach’s investment in the center over the years and how its presence has continually influenced growth and success in the surrounding Miami community.
What have been some recent highlights or milestones for the Miami Beach Convention Center?
As we do year over year with our wonderful partners at the GMCVB. We continue to grow substantially on the events side and have almost eclipsed 100 events in FY24 alone, with 22 more events Fy25 than what we traditionally see. As we are on an intense upswing, we have focused on 8 business verticals in that area to attract visitors. We remain surgically focused on economic impact which includes putting people to work and helping the City of Miami Beach as a whole. The city has invested $640 million in our reimagined and expanded convention center as well as our campus. The city’s involvement and support has been nothing short of phenomenal.
What are the Miami Beach Convention Center’s core values and goals?
We have an expansive vision that involves delivering exceptional events, driving excellence in customer service and venue management, and creating memorable experiences for our guests in our iconic location of Miami Beach. Since it is a convention center, we call ourselves the “center of gravity” when it comes to the business front. Regarding sustainability, we just attained the Event Industry Council’s silver certification for sustainability and social impact. We’ve made strides with our commitment to DEI, which further validates our ongoing environmental initiatives and commitment to positively impacting the community. These ideals align with those of the City of Miami Beach. Oak View Group manages over 400 venues globally, so when managing such a massive footprint at 1.4 million square feet, sustainability is paramount.
We also recently attained our autism center certification. Around one in six attendees have some sort of sensory sensitivity, so setting that as a new standard for accessibility in the convention industry and working with the GMCVB and the City has been extremely important to us.
What makes Miami an ideal meeting place, and what value does the convention center provide?
Miami sells itself. It is a great destination on the global front and remains a vital gateway to Latin America, and through this we view ourselves as a funnel for visitors and guests. In relation to our growth are the cultivation of the tech and fintech industries in Miami. With our central location as a gateway in relation to these burgeoning industries, this further solidifies our presence in the business community. The city’s $640 million investment in our center and its campus reaffirms Miami Beach and Miami’s commitment to its growth as a global destination, especially when coupled with the city’s strategic investment in other areas like performing arts venues. Our main eight business verticals that deliver increased economic impact which include medical, IT/tech, finance, education, medical/health, arts and culture, sports, special events and corporate.
What sets the center apart from other event spaces?
One important distinction is the $640 million investment from the City of Miami Beach in the area of capital improvements. The city continues to make strategic investments in this very important area.
Our digital assets program is on the forefront of everything we do, and we expect to invest $2 million in capital alone over the coming years, which is important to our events, as they can help clients monetize and capitalize. It allows us to offer more than traditional posters, column wraps, decals and banners. Plus, it really helps us all on our collective sustainability efforts.
When talking about investing in assets, we must discuss investment in our most precious asset – our team. We can have the most beautiful building with all the bells and whistles which we do, but it means nothing if we are not consistently investing and reinvesting in our teams.
What are some of the most notable technologies you have implemented to continue expanding your event offerings?
We recently hosted Adobe MAX, which traditionally hosts its annual meeting at the LA Convention Center. Guaranteed seamless connectivity is key for these events; you cannot ever experience a blip or a glitch. The city’s investment has been integral in this regard to help with ensuring redundancy and connectivity, and we partner with a company called Smart City Networks that has been exceptional to work with. CISCO was also here in the fall of 2023 which was another large tech event for us. No one sees what goes on in the back of the house in terms of connectivity, but the work is monumental and truly a heavy lift.
Through which of your services are you capitalizing on the opportunities presented by the local food and beverage industries taking off since COVID?
I would put our food and beverage provider Sodexo Live! At the MBCC up against any five-star restaurant and or venue. What they perfect and produce here is nothing short of amazing, and it is never a one-size-fits-all approach. Executive Chef Ismael Lasalle is an artist and is known to routinely and almost daily experiment with new recipes and ideas. This excellence also ties back to capital investment. The city does an amazing job of investing in the food and beverage side. our teams on the sustainability and food insecurity front have worked very closely with Food Rescue US, the Caring Place, and Compost for Life.
What are some of the main challenges you are facing at the Miami Beach Convention Center?
One issue facing us is climate change, as we are a beach community. Infrastructure investments are going to continue to be extremely important. We expect to have to navigate our role in economic impact and reinvesting back into the assets and infrastructure, especially as you look at resilience programs, transportation, modernization and underground utilities. We are ready to play our role in whatever way the city decides.
Another challenge involves hosting high-profile events and conventions as well as supporting local businesses and contributing to the vitality of the community. The new 800-room Grand Hyatt Hotel will be physically connected to our building, and we expect it to open in 2027. I believe this will be a tremendous opportunity. We expect a massive upswing in both the amount and quality of the events coming our way in the future.
What is the outlook for the local tourism, arts and entertainment industry?
Our marquee events, Art Basel Miami Beach and Art Week, and ownership under the City of Miami Beach are all incredibly important to our growth in tourism. There are many convention centers that do not have an art-based and even a sports minded focus. As both are identified as business verticals, this is a great advantage through which we will glean multiple opportunities in the future. As we continue to build both of these areas out, continuously cultivating partnerships with partners such as Art Basel, Design Miami and Art Week as well as the GMCVB teams in the sports side will really grow our success within this business verticals.
What are your top priorities for the Miami Beach Convention Center for the next two to three years?
We continue to be extremely focused on economic impact. This is our driving force, in addition to putting people to work and especially with the $640M investment made by the City of Miami Beach. Our eight business verticals are another top priority. With the Grand Hyatt HQ Hotel coming online, we will see higher-caliber and higher quality events. On the partnership side, I look forward to the further development of our external relationships, while our GMCVB remains extremely positive, working with the Greater Miami and the Beaches Hotel Association (GMBHA), Miami Dade Beacon Council, chambers of commerce and local Business Improvement Districts. Additionally, increasing our workforce development partnerships will be another key to our collective success. We also intend to reach out to the smaller boutique hotels dotted up and down the beach as we see some good synergies there as well. Increasing our involvement and engagement in industry associations will also be helpful on the business development front. The center has a few passion projects too, which involve local businesses and opportunities to diversify our supply and sustainability efforts, like with our Conventions CARE program.
