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A look inside our new facility

With our opening year ahead of us, we’re digging even deeper into the interiors of our new state-of-the-art Halifax Convention Centre. And we want to take you inside our signature spaces to show you the unforgettable experience that awaits you and your delegates.

We drew inspiration from the Art Galley of Nova Scotia, the largest art museum in Atlantic Canada, to learn about some of the more deliciously creative attractions in our province. Check out what their Communications and Marketing Officer, Camille Dubois Crôteau, had to share!

What would you do in Halifax within a 15 minute walk of the new Halifax Convention Centre?

For a croissant, coffee and a moment of indulgence, we love making a quick trip to French Fix on Prince Street. The best part? French Fix also offers pastry making classes so you can recreate their treats at home.

And of course, we love Pavia, which has downtown locations in the Halifax Central Library and is about to open up in our very own art gallery on Hollis Street. So before or after you enjoy our exhibits, you can enjoy an excellent coffee and a panini or cookie.

What would you do in Nova Scotia that’s (about) an hour away from the city?

We want to thank you for following our progress and being a part of our exciting journey all year long.

From your friends at the Halifax Convention Centre, we wish you an eventful holiday season!

A take on a British classic, Sticky Toffee Pudding, our pastry chef Jonathan Hannam shares a recipe to a dessert that has become a special holiday tradition for our team. Delight your guests with this sweet treat over the holidays!

GINGERBREAD CAKE

Ingredients:

2 cups (260 grams) all purpose flour 1 teaspoon (5 grams) baking soda 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) baking powder 1/2 teaspoon (2 grams) salt 1 1/2 teaspoons (3 grams) ground cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons (3 grams) ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves Zest of 1 lemon (outer yellow skin of lemon) 1/4 cup (30 grams) finely chopped crystallized ginger (optional) 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, at room temperature 1/2 cup (110 grams) light brown sugar 1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar 2 large eggs, at room temperature 1/2 cup (120 ml) (130 grams) molasses (Hint: To prevent the molasses from sticking to the measuring cup, first spray the cup with a non-stick vegetable spray.) 1 cup (240 ml) milk, at room temperature

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter and flour an 8 inch (20 cm) square pan with 2 inch (5 cm) sides.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, ground cinnamon, ginger, cloves, lemon zest, and crystalized ginger (if using).

In bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the molasses and beat to combine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the dry ingredients (in three additions) and the milk (in two additions), alternately, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat just until incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

When cool, slice cake and arrange in serving dish. Prepare sticky toffee sauce and pour over gingerbread. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Serve with fresh vanilla whipped cream.

STICKY TOFFEE SAUCE

Ingredients:

8 tablespoons (1 stick, 4 ounces or 115 grams) unsalted butter 1 cup (235 ml) heavy or whipping cream 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (215 grams) brown sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/2 tsp (5 grams) salt

Method:  

This time last year, our development had just started rising above ground. We’ve come a long way since then. Not only has our glass install begun (so exciting), but we’re nearly 200 ft. above Argyle St. and really taking shape, with more than 37,000 cubic metres of concrete poured to date. That’s equal to approximately 550,000 full wheel barrows!

The culinary, slow food, and farm to table movement in Nova Scotia makes us proud of our special province. Recently, we got to experience it in all its glory.

In November, the Devour Film and Food Festival took over the picturesque little town of Wolfville. Festival-goers (including us) took in hours of foodie films and attended unique workshops and tours. 

We learned how to mix up cocktails in the It’s Five O’clock Somewhere workshop. Hopped on a Bubble Bus to taste fine bubbly vintages at local wineries. And learned about the best wings in the world with a screening of The Great Chicken Wing Hunt.

Best of all, we ate some amazing meals prepared by international chefs, who’d come to our corner of the country to celebrate foodie culture and share ideas. We even sampled flaming gourds at a special celebrity chef-studded gala dinner.

We’re proud to help contribute to the economic vibrancy of Nova Scotia and support tourism in our province. So we couldn’t be more excited to be a part of the 2015 TIANS Tourism Summit, Canada’s largest tourism industry conference, November 22-24. Our president and CEO will be providing a presentation on our new, state-of-the-art Halifax Convention Centre, opening in 2017.

Our new Centre has booked over 30 national and international conferences to date, with more than 24,500 delegates already waiting to experience our great province. We can’t wait to showcase all that Nova Scotia has to offer, including our legendary Maritime hospitality, scenic outdoors, and vibrant city streets, when we welcome the world in 2017 and beyond!

Fundraising events, especially around the busy holiday season, can be hard to plan! To get some inspiration, we turned to the Festival of Trees, a long-standing, highly successful, local event in support of the Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia. Starr Dobson, President and CEO of the Mental Health Foundation and lead for the fundraiser event, shared her top tips.

Tip #1: You don’t need to re-invent the holidays Tradition is a good thing. People like and expect good music, fine dining and getting together with friends. Don’t feel the need to come up with a new concept every year. Stick with what already works.

Tip #2: Add extra time for mingling Guests are extra social during the holidays. Always add more time to your reception for socializing than would normally be required.

Tip #3: Offer traditional items, with a unique twist

Stick to the festive mainstays – ornaments, wreaths, cakes, cookies and trees. Don’t worry about finding new items every year for activities such as auctions. Instead, come up with ways to make what is already associated with the holidays, unique, such as ornaments handcrafted by local artisans.

Tip #4: Stay on theme The Festival of Trees chose a magical theme for this year’s event because everyone wants to feel what they felt as a child during the holidays. Reflect your theme in everything, from your script and promotions to the music and decorations.

Tip #5: Involve your sponsors Encourage your sponsors to get involved with your event as volunteers. When sponsors enjoy participating in your event, it becomes a holiday tradition for their organization. In addition to the obvious benefit of retaining sponsors year after year, involving guests in planning is also the best way to ensure that your guests will enjoy your event!

Navigate our culinary scene

We know that you need to refuel after the hustle and bustle of the trade show floor. But we also know that time is of the essence. So we’ve put together a foodie map to help you easily navigate your Halifax gastronomic experience. 

When you first #visitNovaScotia, chances are you’re coming through our award-winning Halifax Stanfield International Airport. To help you decide where to go from there, we asked Joyce Carter, the head of our airport authority, to share some of her favourite places within our province. Check out her top picks!

What would you do in Halifax within a 15 minute walk of the Halifax Convention Centre?

I’d walk the Halifax Waterfront boardwalk, one of Nova Scotia’s most visited locations. There, I’d observe the working port or take in one of the countless world-class events that are hosted along the Halifax Waterfront each year.

What would you do in Nova Scotia that’s (about) an hour away from the city?

We’ve had many reasons to celebrate, but this month marks the biggest one yet! We couldn’t be more proud that our bold, simple and fun marketing efforts have been recognized by our global industry peers with the 2015 ICCA Best Marketing Award.

We were the sole North American organization shortlisted, and are honoured to be the first convention centre in over a decade to earn this prestigious international award. A huge congratulations goes out to the other finalists from Istanbul, Colombia and Denmark for their impressive submissions.

How many panes of glass does it take to help build a bright meeting space with an iconic atrium and breathtaking ballroom that features floor-to-ceiling windows and stunning panoramic views? Approximately 226,000 square feet worth. That’s equal to over 13 NHL-sized ice rinks!

We’re so in the spirit of Hal-Con 2015 and Nova Scotia's growing gaming industry that even our brand decided to level-up to the occasion!

Atlantic Canada’s Largest Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comic and Gaming Convention continues to grow so much in popularity that we've had to expand into our adjacent Scotiabank Centre.

So, you just won the bid for a major international conference, now what? We asked our Director of Sales, Dawn Baldwin, to share her top 3 tips on what it takes to start getting ready to host some of the world’s biggest and brightest:

Connect with the previous host committee and destination representatives to better understand the opportunity and what they learned from their experience.

Go to host cities before yours. Present the new host city to the general assembly and build relationships. Most recently, we headed to STEMFest 2015 in Saskatoon, Canada.

Start thinking about your marketing and communications strategy well in advance, and start promoting the event as early as possible.

Who knows a city better than its Mayor? We asked Halifax Mayor Mike Savage to share some of his favourite places in our province!

What would you do in Halifax within a 15 minute walk of the Centre?

After taking in our historic City Hall, I’d stroll to the ferry terminal and catch the boat to Dartmouth to enjoy both sides of the Halifax Harbour from the water. In the evening, the Scotiabank Centre in the heart of downtown Halifax is a great place to take in a game of Halifax Mooseheads hockey or Halifax Hurricanes basketball.

What would you do in Nova Scotia that’s (about) an hour away from the city?

With Halifax boasting one of the largest concentrations of health care facilities and specialists in Canada, we were a great fit to host the Canadian Medical Association’s annual meeting.

For four days in August, Halifax was at the centre of the national conversation on current medical policy issues and how to improve health care of Canadians. Even more, our convention centre team was prepared to help raise the bar on their ‘meet green’ efforts in order to achieve the association’s goal of hosting a healthy and sustainable conference.