Looking Ahead to NSC 2018
Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center is the setting for the National Safety Council's big annual conference next year.
INDIANAPOLIS – The 2017 National Safety Council Congress & Expo is wrapping up Sept. 29 with some profession development seminars, after the event's expo closed the previous afternoon. Exhibitors and attendees alike can look forward to next year's Congress, set for Oct. 20-26 inside Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center. The expo days are Oct. 22-24.
This means two of the U.S. workplace safety and health industry's leading trade shows will be in Texas in 2018, which combined will test the old adage that "everything's bigger" there. The American Society of Safety Engineers' 2018 annual conference will take place June 3-6 at San Antonio's Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. (At that conference, ASSE officially changes its name to the American Society of Safety Professionals.)
The George R. Brown Convention Center opened in September 1987 on the eastern side of downtown Houston. Unsurprisingly, given the arms race that big cities and their convention bureaus have long been engaged in, it has been expanded more than once since then. According to information available on the facility's website, work began in July 2001 to expand the convention center and build an adjacent 1,200-room convention headquarters hotel; the $165 million project enlarged the convention center from 1.15 million square feet to 1.8 million square feet, and three exhibit halls and more meeting rooms were added in preparation for Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004.
Another expansion commenced in June 2014 in accordance with the facility's 2025 master plan. The meant rerouting the north freight ramp to allow room for the Avenida North Garage and Transit Center and creating Avenida Plaza, a pedestrian-friendly outdoor space; The Wharf, a special events area; and more.