Convention centers of Alaska.

Alaska's three largest convention centers are the William A. Egan Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage, the John A. Carlson Center in Fairbanks and the Centennial Hall Convention and Civic Center in Juneau. All are trying to get more national and state conventions headed their way, and all have unique offerings.

Anchorage's William A. Egan Civic and Convention Center

The Anchorage-owned William A. Egan Civic and Convention Center, built in 1984 as part of "project 80s," along with Anchorage's Alaska Center for the Performing Arts and the Sullivan Sports Arena, is the largest convention center in the state.

It hosts about 800 events per year, approximately 70 percent of those Anchorage-based. With 25 meeting rooms that range in size from 350 square feet to 20,800 square feet, and a sky bridge connecting it to the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, it can offer diversity that other convention centers statewide can't.

For example, in June the Egan Center hosted a dinner for 3,300 people, the largest sit-down dinner in the history of the state, said Greg Spears, assistant center manager. "That's very full," he said. "About 3,500 is about the max we can provide for at a sit-down dinner."

The new sky bridge connecting it to the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts will allow groups to utilize both places. "Meeting planners can plan conferences with much more confidence in mid-winter," said Spears. "They can have very large meetings at the PAC then come across the street in a controlled environment to form trade shows or break-out sessions."

And rooms can be broken down to accommodate special needs. A 20,000-square-foot room, for example, can be divided into three rooms. A smaller 11,000-square-foot room can be divided into four rooms.

"We do a number of trade shows, craft emporiums, dog shows, gun shows ... a wide variety of events," said Spears. "A lot more space is required (than we have), especially on the weekends. There is a feasibility study that suggests expansion; we very much need it."

In addition to these trade shows, concerts and other Anchorage-based events, the Egan Center hosts about 12 to 15 conferences per year (most of those from out of state clients), and numbers are on the rise in the wake of an increase of hotels in the area. In the past, most conferences were scheduled for the fall and winter. Now, with more rooms available, conferences can be scheduled in the preferred summer.

Unique to convention centers in the Lower 48, the Egan Center is what Spears calls a "one stop shop," providing all food, beverages and janitorial service needed. "We try to take very good...