COLUMBUS - The American Academy of Audiology has selected Columbus as the site for its 2019 annual meeting, AudiologyNOW! This meeting represents the first convention to book in the newly renovated and expanded Greater Columbus Convention Center, scheduled for completion July 2017.

The annual conference is the world’s largest meeting of audiologists and will convene March 27-30, 2019. An estimated 4,000 attendees are expected to fill 12,300 hotel room nights and generate over $5 million in direct visitor spending.

“This is a big win for our community,” said Brian Ross, Experience Columbus president and CEO. “The booking is evidence that the new convention center allows us to be more competitive as we continue to pursue national groups and associations. We look forward to welcoming the American Academy of Audiology in 2019.”

“We considered a lot of destinations, including some of the largest cities in the United States, for our conference and expo,” said Larry Eng, AuD, president (2015-2016) of the American Academy of Audiology. “Columbus’ newly renovated convention center, walkable, vibrant districts, and abundance of entertainment options exceeded our needs and made it the best city to host our meeting. We’re thrilled to bring AudiologyNOW! to Columbus in 2019.”

AudiologyNOW! is one of multiple leads Experience Columbus received after hosting Experient, a third-party planner for the meetings industry, this past February in Columbus. During the visit, attendees – many whom had never been to Columbus – had an opportunity to experience the city’s walkable convention package and burgeoning food, arts and entertainment scenes. Experient represents the American Academy of Audiology and recommended they consider Columbus for their annual meeting. 

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Experience Columbus is the destination marketing organization for the Columbus region, dedicated to growing visitor spending that is generated by conventions, meetings, trade shows and leisure visitors.  Annually, visitors make more than 37.9 million trips to Greater Columbus, generating $8.7 billion in economic impact and supporting more than 71,000 jobs. For more information, visit experiencecolumbus.com