Event Planning Tips

What You Need to Know to Plan a Corporate Event at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

Walter E. Washington Convention Center

With more than 2.3 million square feet to its name, the Walter E. Washington Convention Center is more than just an event venue. Housed within its walls is also an extensive—and renowned—collection of contemporary art. In fact, it’s one of the largest public art collections in Washington, D.C. Why is it also a great place to plan your corporate event? Find out.

Location and Contact Information

The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is located on Mt. Vernon Place in Washington, D.C.

Street Address: 801 Mt Vernon Place NW, Washington DC 20001

Web Contact: https://eventsdc.com/contact-us

Main Switchboard: (202) 249-3000

Sales and Booking: salesinfo@eventsdc.com or (202) 249-3311

Media Inquiries: communicationsandmarketing@eventsdc.zendesk.com

For comprehensive venue information, see the Walter E. Washington Convention Center event planning guide.

Booking Information

To get started booking an event at this D.C. convention center, click here to fill in a contact request form.

Rooms and Spaces

TheWalter E. Washington Convention Center has more than 2.3 million square feet of space, including 703,000 square feet of exhibit space. With over 70 meeting and breakout rooms, there’s plenty of space to accommodate your needs. And with a recent grand lobby refresh and enhanced digital signage, this venue is looking better than ever.

Event spaces include:

  • 198,000 square feet of flexible meeting facilities, with a total of 77 meeting rooms
  • 52,000-square-foot ballroom—the largest ballroom in the mid-Atlantic region
  • Exhibit halls configurable for theater, classroom, and banquet styles
  • Concourse level: Exhibition space
  • Level 1: Meeting rooms and breakout spaces
  • Level 2: Exhibition space
  • Level 3: Ballroom and pre-function spaces
  • Plus: DC Downtown Dining District, a newly renovated flexible catering space totaling 17,200 square feet and featuring 4 flexible-use spaces with a total seated capacity of 432

For detailed floor plans, dimensions, and more, check out the Walter E. Washington Convention Center floor plan guide.

walter e washington convention center

Event Types at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center

This conference center hosts many big events, including Otakon, Awesome Con, the IAPP Global Privacy Summit, and the National Book Festival. Several official government events have taken place here as well, including the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit and the 2022 United States-Africa Leaders’ Summit.

If you’re looking to host an exhibition or trade show, convention, conference, or summit, you’re in illustrious company here. The event venue’s facilities are ideal for large events, thanks to its massive exhibition spaces and expansive ballroom. Small meetings and events are welcome here too, as the venue has flexible meeting facilities that can be configured for more intimate groupings.

Exclusive and Preferred Vendors and Services

Audio/Visual: Exclusive services provided by Projection.

Catering: Provided exclusively by Aramark

Digital Communications Services: Including digital signage and digital media solutions, exclusively provided by Digital Conventions

Electrical/Plumbing: Exclusively provided by Hi-Tech Electric, LLC

Facilities Services: Cleaning services exclusively provided by Aramark.

Rigging: Exclusively provided by GLP Productions

Telecommunications and Internet: Provided exclusively by Smart City®

Amenities

A Mamava® lactation pod is available for nursing mothers.

walter e washington convention center

Nearby Accommodations

There are plenty of D.C. hotels near the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, with thousands of beds available within walking distance of the venue. Hotels in Washington DC include:

  • Marriott Marquis Washington, DC
  • Embassy Suites by Hilton Washington DC Convention Center
  • Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel
  • Moxy Washington, DC Downtown
  • Hampton Inn Washington-Downtown-Convention Center
  • Comfort Inn Downtown DC/Convention Center
  • Cambria® Hotel Washington, D.C. Convention Center
  • Hilton Garden Inn® Washington DC Downtown
  • Hamilton Hotel

Accessibility

The Walter E. Washington Convention Center aims to provide a seamless experience for every visitor to the venue, including people with support needs.

  • Automatic doors are located at multiple venue entrances.
  • Wheelchair accessible elevators, phones, drinking fountains, and restrooms are available throughout the venue.
  • Braille signage is located throughout the venue, including in elevators.
  • Meeting facilities and the ballroom are equipped with permanent infrared audio assistive listening systems.
  • Event planners are responsible for providing mobility aids, including wheelchairs and mobility scooters. The event venue can provide a list of local rental companies upon request.
  • There are a limited number of wheelchair-accessible lecterns and wheelchair lifts available at the venue, upon request.
  • Service dogs are welcome, but not comfort or emotional support animals. Only qualified service dogs are authorized to enter the venue.

Transportation and Parking

There’s no on-site parking for this D.C. event venue, but there are multiple parking garages located nearby. The closest parking facility to the venue is the Parking Convention Center DC, located at 553 K St NW.

Event attendees have multiple options for traveling to the venue:

  • The Walter E. Washington Convention Center is served by the Mount Vernon Square station of the Washington Metro. Both the Yellow and Green lines stop near the venue.
  • Plan Metro and bus travel via https://www.wmata.com/, or call (202) 637-7000 for more information.
  • Amtrak® serves the city’s train network. Travelers can connect to the venue on the Red Line.

Event Transportation

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Public Safety

Public Safety

Event organizers are required to hire independent service providers for security and crowd management. Your venue Sales or Event Manager can provide a list of preferred security providers. Security personnel must be available through the entire duration of the event, including move-in and move-out days. They must be licensed, bonded, and insured in the District of Columbia. In addition, Metropolitan Police Offers must be stationed at active cash-handling locations.

Event organizers are required to hire medical services and must choose from a list of exclusive medical providers. Medical services must be available throughout the entire event, including move-in and move-out days. Medical personnel must be licensed, bonded, and insured in the District of Columbia.

Washington, D.C. is home to so many amazing sights and pieces of history. Your event could become one of them. Contact the event planning team at ProGlobalEvents today for more information about how to make a DC event outstanding.

Matt Rulis

Up Next

Jack Connolly

Executive Creative Director

As an experiential creative director, Jack prefers to draw outside the lines. He tells stories with original content and impactful design to ignite meaningful conversation.

 

Jack brings 20 years of event industry knowledge to ProGlobalEvents. He specializes in building live & virtual platforms for audiences to connect, engage and immerse themselves in the power of a shared experience. His skills range from ideation and concept development to defining an attendee journey through storytelling and design.

Jack understands the creative process is not linear, but a collaborative process between agency and client. He manages teams of designers and technology developers to pioneer impactful brand experiences. His diverse skillset and leadership ensure for award-winning results and memorable impressions.

 

In 2019, BizBash named Jack one of the top event designers in North America. SXSW awarded his work the “People’s Choice in Innovation” in 2021.

Jerome Nadel

Chief Marketing Officer

Jerome Nadel is Internationally experienced design-led marketing executive (CMO and GM) with a track record of improved market position, revenue growth, and M&A. He is an advance degreed psychologist and user experience product/service design expert, board member and advisor.

 

Prior to joining ProGlobalEvents |ProExhibits |XtendLive, he has had a variety of chief marketing officer and chief user experience officer roles at companies including Rambus, BrainChip, Human Factors International, SLP InfoWare, Gemplus, and Sagem. He started his career in the IBM Human Factors Labs.

 

He is also an avid cyclist with National and multiple California State Champion titles.

Ivan Fujihara

Chief Financial Officer

Ivan brings 25+ years in senior level management experience from a variety of technology industries.  His background includes accounting management, analytics and audit management for technology companies.  He has worked with companies such as THX, Ltd, Recruitology , Double Click, Creative Labs and more.  Ivan has also served on the board of Lincoln Families, a non-profit that supports East Bay children with the objective of disrupting the cycle of trauma and poverty.

Matt Rulis

Vice President of Sales

Matt is a marketing professional and has been managing marketing strategies, campaigns and environments for a diverse client base for over 15 years. From a service perspective, Matt and his team of Account Executives focus on fostering relationships to uphold a greater than 99% customer satisfaction rating year-over-year. Additionally, with extensive experience on the client-side of the industry, he understands that alignment between expectation and budget is paramount to a successful project. As a result, ProGlobalEvents' clients can expect a competitive advantage paired with top quality products and services. Matt is an avid fly-fisherman, enjoys most outdoor activities and is a true college football fanatic.

Tom Foley

VP of Operations

Heading the fabrication side of ProGlobalEvents is exhibit and event industry veteran, Tom Foley. For over 35 years he has been responsible for building amazing exhibits and environments for clients. Tom started out in the production area and has broad experience in project and operations management. He currently oversees production, warehouse, graphics and project management departments. Tom studied machine tool technology and welding before entering the industry. As a true "builder" he also enjoys restoring and modifying classic American cars.

Dick Wheeler

President

Dick serves as President of ProGlobalEvents and President of ProExhibits and is a board member of CEMA (Corporate Event Marketing Association). At ProExhibits he has been nationally recognized as an innovator and driving force in the fast-growing trade show exhibit and event industry. Under his leadership in 1997, the firm received INC magazine’s INC 500 award as one of America’s fastest-growing companies. His informative articles on developments and innovations in the trade show exhibit and event industry have appeared in national trade publications. Dick has a B.S. degree from Wittemore School of Business & Economics at the University of New Hampshire and has completed the Entrepreneurial Executive Leadership Program sponsored by MIT, YEO and INC. He is actively involved in Vistage, an interactive group of over 20,000 CEO’s and presidents worldwide and is a member of CEMA and EDPA.

Jody Tatro

Chief Executive Officer

In addition to being CEO of ProGlobalEvents, Jody is also the CEO of ProExhibits. With Jody at the helm, the company has been recognized repeatedly as one of the Top 50 Women Owned Businesses in Silicon Valley. She has set the outstanding client service standards for which the firm’s account management team is noted. Jody is a recipient of the YWCA’s Tribute to Women Award, the Junior League Community Volunteer Award and is listed in Who’s Who of Women in Business. Following her graduation from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, Jody held various sales positions in several technology companies.