Best of 2011: 10 Orlando Event Industry Highlights

In March, Merlin Entertainments and Unicorp National Development announced plans to develop the former Mercado property on International Drive into an entertainment, dining, and retail complex. I-Drive Live will be a 20-acre development featuring a Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, a 25,000-square-foot aquarium, hotels, and the Orlando Eye, an observation wheel that will carry guests 425 feet into the air. The first phase is scheduled to open in 2013.

Meeting Professionals International had its World Education Congress in Orlando in July. More than 2,500 people from around the world attended the three-day conference at the Orange County Convention Center. Several nearby venues hosted social events, including an opening party at Epcot and casino night at the Hilton Orlando produced by Encore Productions and Caesars Entertainment.

Dave & Buster's opened a 40,000-square-foot entertainment complex on International Drive in July. The venue is a convenient option for convention outings with its proximity to the Orange County Convention Center and several large hotels. The facility is filled with more than 170 games and can accommodate 2,000 people.

Community leaders broke ground on the new Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando in June, kicking off construction of the $383 million project that has been in the works since 2007. Organizers created a four-day community celebration that began with the public groundbreaking and continued with an invitation-only party and two days of open houses, all held inside a tent from Karl's Event Services erected on the site of the future center's entrance. Dozens of Orlando event production companies helped plan the events and also donated services and materials.

Eola Square became downtown Orlando's newest hub for dining and entertainment during 2011. The "square" is in fact a block of Eola Drive that is now home to two new restaurants from FMI Restaurant Group, Prickly Pear  and Nick's Italian Kitchen, as well as Sonoma Draught House and Mucho Tequila and Tacos. The Florida Theatrical Association opened two event spaces in the Sanctuary condominium: the Mezz, a 7,000-square-foot ballroom, and the Abbey, a live entertainment venue and lounge. Aura Bar & Restaurant and DTA Lounge are scheduled to open in early 2012.

German software company SAP AG brought its annual customer and partner conference, Sapphire Now, back to Orlando in May and once again demonstrated innovations in format and content dissemination. More than 14,000 people attended the three-day event at the Orlando Convention Center, while an additional 56,000 participated online and from 22 satellite locations around the world. At the convention center, organizers created a 6,600-seat theater on the show floor for keynote sessions and built six content-specific campuses around the perimeter, each with its own theater and meetings areas.

British music promoter Festival Republic had its first event in the United States in Orlando in November. Orlando Calling featured nearly 100 acts on five stages built in and around the Orlando Citrus Bowl. Headliners included Bob Seger, Kid Rock, Blake Shelton, and the Killers. About 25,000 people attended each day, which organizers said was in line with their expectations for a new event. Festival Republic has not announced yet whether the event will return in 2012.

LeakyCon brought more than 3,400 Harry Potter fans to the Loew's Royal Pacific Resort in July for a four-day fan festival and fund-raiser that coincided with the premiere of the final movie in the popular series. The team behind the Leaky Cauldron Web site created the event and worked with a team of more than 140 volunteers to produce it. Most of the revenue from ticket sales paid for the venue and a private party at Universal Orlando's Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but organizers still had more than $120,000 remaining to donate to the Harry Potter Alliance and Book Aid International.

Central Florida's newest theme park opened in October. Legoland Florida is in Winter Haven, halfway between Orlando and Tampa. The 150-acre park is geared toward families with children ages two to 12, but many of the attractions can be used for teambuilding activities. The park has three large restaurants and several quicker options.

In January, the new $36 million Dali Museum opened in St. Petersburg, with a stunning piece of architecture housing more than 2,000 of Salvador Dali's painting, drawings, and sculptures. The museum hosted a series of invitation-only opening celebrations and one public fund-raiser produced by Grand Events of Florida and Event Show Productions. The 66,000-square-foot museum is available for buyout for groups of 875 and also has several smaller event spaces.