Events DC, the official convention and sports authority for the District of Columbia, announced that the Walter E. Washington Convention Center won a Gold Stella Award from Northstar Meetings Group as the best convention center on the Northeast region.
The Stella awards are the meeting industry’s highest honor, recognizing hotels, convention centers, conference centers, airlines, cruise lines, destination marketing organizations and convention and visitor bureaus that consistently deliver quality service and innovation to meeting and event professionals.
“We are thrilled to receive this industry’s highest honor from Northstar Meetings Group, acknowledging the challenging work and excellence of our team at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center,” said Gregory A. O’Dell, president and chief executive officer of Events DC. “From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic Events DC remained committed to the health and safety of our customers and employees as our highest priority. Our goal is to ensure our clients’ confidence and safety as they return to our venues, and we are dedicated to focusing our efforts on taking our operating standards to the next level.”
With the onset of Covid-19 last year, Events DC partnered with DC Mayor Muriel Bowser to announce the first emergency financial relief package dedicated to local hospitality and tourism industry and workers helping to provide $18 million in funding for local restaurants, hotels, destination marketing and undocumented employees. This past March, the convention center served as a high-capacity vaccination site with over 120,000 vaccination doses administered on-premises. The facility reopened for events in June, having recertified its GBAC Star accreditation for cleaning, disinfection and infection prevention strategies.
“What an honor to receive the Gold Stella Award for the Walter E. Washington Convention Center,” said Samuel Thomas, chief operating officer of Events DC. “To receive this acknowledgement, which recognizes our venue as the best convention center in the Northeast region speaks to the hard work, persistence and commitment of our entire Events DC team. We are proud to have safely reopened and we will continue to provide premier hospitality for our clients and their attendees.”
More than 6,000 votes were received worldwide for 603 destinations, hotels and service providers who were recognized as finalists in 17 categories across six regions in the US and globally. Winners were selected for achieving overall excellence, superb food and beverage, professionalism of staff, sustainability initiatives, and other critical aspects of the meetings and event experience.
“Congratulations to all of the 2021 Stella Award winners and finalists,” said Loren Edelstein, vice president and content director for Northstar Meetings Group. “All of the honorees truly represent excellence in the meetings and events industry as valued and respected suppliers. We are delighted to recognize the best of the best once again, especially as the industry recovers from the pandemic. Thank you to this year’s winners for supporting meeting and event professionals so capably during such difficult times.”
The winners were announced during a virtual showcase that premiered on November 4, 2021 at 2 p.m. EST. The showcase will be available for on-demand viewing until year-end. To learn the winners of the 2021 Stella Awards and to view the Stella Awards Virtual Showcase visit NorthstarMeetingsGroup.com/Stellas.
