April is Busy Month for Iowa Events Center

April provides $4 Million Economic Impact on Local Community

Monday, May 7, 2012

(Des Moines, IA)—April proved to be one of the busiest months in the Iowa Events Center's history according to facility operator Global Spectrum. A total of 66 events took place in Wells Fargo Arena, Hy-Vee Hall, and Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center drawing in approximately 100,000 guests and providing an economic impact of nearly $4 million for Polk County businesses.

Throughout April the complex hosted events ranging from dance competitions to technology conferences, concerts to fundraising dinners, sporting events and more. 12,000 hours of manual labor were worked preparing 71 different event setups. One of the more challenging changeovers was a 6 hour overnight changeover from Midwest Cage Championships to AAU Wrestling in Hy-Vee Hall. This changeover consisted of tearing down 1,400 chairs and a boxing cage and setting up 20 wrestling mats and seating for 1,300 guests before doors opened for AAU at 7:00 a.m.

On April 11th alone the Iowa Events Center hosted 12 events showcasing the complex's ability to handle events of all shapes and sizes. Global Spectrum's operations team changed the setup of Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center's Grand Ballroom pre-function space four times on the 11th to accommodate the needs of multiple events happening in one day.

“Our team was busy all month long, specifically on the convention side of the street thanks in large part to the many new event bookings which took place in Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center. The number of events we held in April is a true testament to the complex's flexibility which enabled us to host many different events at the same time,” said Global Spectrum's Chris Connolly, General Manager of the Iowa Events Center. 

Ovations Food Services, the exclusive caterer of the Iowa Events Center, was active as well during April events. Ovations served 4,640 plated meals, 4,539 buffet meals and snacks for more than 10,000 people during events held at Hy-Vee Hall and Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center.  Fans at events in Wells Fargo Arena consumed approximately 4,700 bags of popcorn and 3,065 gallons of beer , which was served by 31 nonprofit groups that were working concession stands to raise money for their organizations. In total, non-profit groups raised a combined total of $31,000 in April.

On April 17th, Wells Fargo Arena hosted Jimmy Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band. 5,000 guests enjoyed a pre-event tailgate and over 15,000 attended the concert. It took 130 staff members and 475 working hours to pick up cans, clean the arena and pick up debris in the parking lot after the concert was complete. 

Even though April has passed, Global Spectrum is not slowing down. Yesterday the Iowa Events Center hosted 20,000 guests during the Get Motivated and Exercising Your Character events. Sesame Street Live, Iowa Barnstormers games, and many more spring conferences and meetings will keep the Des Moines community alive and busy.