Leading the future
of sustainable exhibitions
How have your diverse experiences in the exhibition and event management industry influenced your leadership approach at Exhibition Place?
Laura Purdy. I have had the unique opportunity to develop my leadership skills through engaging in a variety of venue management roles and responsibilities which began over 25 years ago when I joined the management team to open
Enercare Centre, Canada’s largest convention and exhibition centre at Exhibition Place in Toronto. Over the years I benefited from undertaking diverse leadership and operational roles which included business development, and working on project teams to renovate our arena, and later to renovate and relaunch our conference centre venue. In each of these roles, I benefitted from expanding my scope of work and had the opportunity to work with a diverse group of coworkers, industry professionals and suppliers, providing insight into leading with compassion, empathy and a deep understanding of the intricacies of team dynamics. I believe that the experience of personally engaging in hands-on work over multiple roles provided me with a perspective to develop my leadership skills
that encourages teamwork, trust, shared values, collaboration and accountability.
Working with hundreds of event organizers, promoters and planners provided a perspective of leadership through the lens of customer service and shared responsibility within my team to deliver services and support to our customers while ensuring we had solid tools and processes to successfully execute. Our industry is stronger through volunteerism and the ability to engage in industry associations. Through my participation in several industry associations, I have gained a global perspective and learned from some of our industries’ best leaders. I have the pleasure of currently serving on the Board of the Convention Centres of Canada, Meetings Mean Business Canada and the Board and ExCo of UFI, and I am a founding member of Women in Exhibitions North America. Working within each of these associations has
contributed to an approach of life-long learning, global insight and collaboration, which has positively contributed to my leadership style.
Exhibition Place has been recognized for its commitment to sustainability through initiatives like the GREEN Smart program and LEED-certified venues. How do these initiatives align with your vision for the future of the venue?
Laura Purdy. Our commitment to sustainability at Exhibition Place is central to our vision for the future of our industry and the planet. As the largest convention and exhibition centre in Canada, I feel it is our responsibility for Exhibition Place to set the standard for environmental stewardship within the global industry. We have a well-established history of prioritizing environmental initiatives; in 2004,
our GREENSmart sustainability program was established to promote our innovative green technologies across our 192-acre campus and has been instrumental in advancing sustainable development at Exhibition Place. We’ve earned award winning recognition globally, most recently the recipient of the 2025 UFI Operations & Services Award for our sustainable food service initiative, and I’m proud of that accomplishment. Going forward, our vision for a sustainable future is clearly established in our Strategic Plan, which informs Exhibition Place’s business decisions, operations and our service delivery to our exhibition organizers and the public that visit our site.
In January 2022 we were one of the first venues to sign-on to the Net Zero Carbon Events Pledge, committing to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Climate Accord. With continued collaborative work throughout the global events industry, I wholeheartedly believe that we will be able to make swift and essential progress towards reducing the overall carbon footprint. Our Net Zero Carbon Events Roadmap clearly outlines strategies for renewable energy, sustainable materials, food waste elimination practices, and emissions reduction. Our vision is purpose driven; and we lead by example and push towards positive change, demonstrating our economic growth while embracing environmental stewardship as we share our future at Exhibition Place. Through sharing our sustainability message across the global stage, we hope to inspire other convention and exhibition centres to incorporate sustainability into their operations, venue design and service delivery.
In an era where technology is rapidly evolving, how is Exhibition Place leveraging innovations like Wi-Fi 6 and digital infrastructure to enhance attendee experiences and streamline event operations?
Laura Purdy. At Exhibition Place, our ICT north star is ‘frictionless connectivity’ across the entire campus. We are the only convention centre in North America to provide complimentary open and encrypted WiFi throughout our convention and conference centres – including the show floor – so that guests, exhibitors, and planners can get online instantly—no splash pages, no passwords on the open SSID—while still having a secure option for use cases that require encryption. This dual offer keeps connectivity simple for operational needs, and dependable for more sensitive workflows and networking. We have modernized the network where it matters most for density. Since 2021, our Automotive Building conference centre offers WiFi 6, using a modern RF design to handle high device counts typical of conferences and
galas. Across the street at Enercare Centre and common areas, we operate a 5 GHz-first wireless fabric and continually tune it with RF surveys to remove dead zones, manage channel reuse, and mitigate interference from rogue devices (a frequent reality at trade shows).
Behind the scenes, we continuously monitor performance and airspace utilization during events, using real time telemetry to spot saturation, interference, or misconfigured gear. Our wireless events network is managed under dedicated controllers and firewalls, with the Cisco Catalyst enterprise platform and Cisco DNA. Looking ahead, we have outlined an upgrade to WiFi 7 to increase capacity and leverage new RF spectrum potential across both the Automotive Conference Centre and Enercare Convention Centre venues. The objective is simple: keep attendees connected without friction, while giving organizers a high-quality foundation for everything from mobile apps to live content.
How do you see sustainability, digital innovation, and community engagement converging to shape the future role of exhibition venues?
Laura Purdy. Over the years, especially post-COVID, we’ve seen a lot of change driven by technology, yet with an emphasis on sustainability. We realize customers and attendees want more interactive and immersive experiences. We’ve observed over time the future of the venue experience will become more personalized and enabled by AI integration. Currently, our efforts are more focused on modernization, community activation, and sustainability practices. For example, our solar and wind energy projects demonstrate our leadership in energy self-sufficiency as we pioneer climate action, having signed the Net Zero Carbon Events Pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
We’ve also recognized the need for community involvement and inclusion and try to incorporate our sustainability efforts into our public engagement. The residential neighbourhoods surrounding Exhibition Place recognize us as a community public space, not just a convention and exhibition campus. Initiatives like Yoga in the Park, Music in the Park, Community BBQ, Community Ice Skating, Bee Keeping Workshops (using our honeybee hives), monthly community newsletters, and community meetings show that our commitment to community cohesion and inclusivity are central to our strategic goals. We firmly believe that to remain competitive, we need to be innovators and lead the way in community engagement. Our digital platforms are constantly evolving and improving, such as the WIFI enhancements and virtual tours on our website, which further support our role as a forward-thinking, community-focused and environmentally responsible venue.
What operational challenges do venues face when integrating hybrid or virtual formats, and how is Exhibition Place addressing these?
Laura Purdy. Hybrid or virtual components as enhancements to the trade show or conference program elevate expectations on venue networks in one major way: capacity. Capacity (be it through multiple devices or high-density traffic), concurrent streaming, presenter uploads, and attendee engagement tools drive sudden spikes. While it might seem counterintuitive, our approach is to allow high bandwidth connections and provide those connections in an unfettered manner, as much as possible.
This allows users to get what they need done as quickly as possible in a shared medium, thereby freeing up space and capacity for other users. The net result is that attendees get simple, fast, free WiFi; organizers get deterministic performance for their live and hybrid elements; and exhibitors can choose the right level of service—open and free WiFi for basics, encrypted Wi Fi for added security, or wired when nothing but guaranteed performance will do.
