Convocation Hall

Kind of a cool facility to look at (neoclassical revival architecture from 1907) but not a great place to see an event.
I went here for the Neil deGrasse Tyson lecture and go to experience it as an event venue. It’s also used for lectures and graduations.
The GOOD:
~~It’s a pretty cool space to look at with its beautiful domed roof and central oculus, Ionic and Doric columns, and great proportions. If you’ve been to Rome, you can’t help but thinking that it might remind you of the pantheon.
~~The floor seats put you pretty close to the stage.
~~It even has a pipe organ!
The BAD:
~~Some of the most uncomfortable seating you will find anywhere. I’m short and found it snug, so woe to tall folks.
~~Sightlines are not great from the mezzanine and balcony… lots of columns partially obscuring views.
~~Stuffy…it supposedly has a ventilation system, but its effect was not evident in a packed theater.
The UGLY:
~~If you’re here for a lecture, the side balconies do not have a view of the main projection screen. Instead they have side projection screens that are of such low quality that one might think that it was an original 1907 projector doing the work. I think your typical junior high auditorium AV system beats this one.
OVERALL, this is a pretty neat building, but if you’re not in a good seat, it’s a pretty awful place to be for an event. So, the moral of this reviews is that you should come early and wait in a silly line for anything you’re going to see here.

It’s a pretty building and it’s fairly easy to find on campus. Located around King’s College Circle/​Park, it’s the one with the huge dome.
If you’re looking to get a prime spot for lectures, expect to arrive fairly early. The seats on the lower floor closer to the front fill up quickly and people tend to be really Junior High about hogging seats for friends and/​or taking up multiple seats because their oh so precious belongings can’t touch the floor.
I personally don’t mind the seats in the upper floors (stairs are located inside the building but before the entrance to the main hall). You get a nice view of all the projector screens. Only thing is, you are way more tempted to sleep.

U of T is supposed to be the crown jewel of Canadian universities (What the hell is a Mcgill?). So, one would expect a certain grandeur when one is new and fresh to the school. And yes, you will find it here at Con Hall. I’m probably more cynical than the average first year. I’m older since I’m a mature student and my time off school has made me a bit of a cold ass realist. Stepping in Con Hall for the first time though, really take away some of the cynicism. This building is beautiful. The acoustics are wonderful and the overall atmosphere just gives off a sense of academia a person won’t find in more modern buildings.
There are a few glaring problems at Con Hall. What you ask? The little details. For example, if you’re over 5 feet tall, forget having any sort of leg room. Next, this place gets hot and I know once winter hits and the heaters are turned, sweat will drown the place. And finally, the thing that kills me every time I see this, the seats. The initial grandeur of this building really gets lost fast once you see every seat here falling apart and being held by duct tape. Very sad.

From hosting some of the biggest first year university courses in the country, grand convocation ceremonies and even the big math quiz at the end of Mean Girls or subbing for Harlem in The Incredible Hulk, Con Hall has done and seen it all.
I had my very first class of university here, coming from a high school class of less than a hundred, when I walked in to lecture 10 minutes late (and that’s 10 mins late from «UofT Standard Time») and seeing over a thousand people in one room sitting silently writing away with a prof lecturing on the stage was mighty nerve racking. It’s got 3 levels of seating, and hardly a seat that’s comfortable to be on for longer than 30 minutes. That sort of helps with night classes when one is prone to sleeping. For such a large space (capacity of close to 2000) lectures are well displayed on a massive center screen and 2 side screens with a good sound system. Classes here are always memorable even if it may be for different reasons.
When it comes to performing its namesake as a convocation venue, Con Hall is as grand a venue as I could expect, with a massive pipe organ to add grandeur to the ceremony, and as large as it is, tickets for convocation ceremonies are very high in demand.
It’s a grand old building and love it or hate it, it’s possibly the only building on campus that can boast every student to have walked through it at some point in their post seconday education.

I have to go to this building every other day at 9am to learn the basics of engineering. Let’s just say that this building does nothing to snap you out of your zombie-​like state. It’s too cold in the fall but some of the classes taught here are actually fun, but more importantly at a reasonable time of day. I’ve gone to psychology and sociology and they are a blast compared to my 9am lecture even though the material requires less brain power.
All in all this venue is a hit or miss, either you’re engaged and listening or you’re asleep, there’s no middle ground.

ive been to convocation hall on many occasions but i’ll divide it into two parts.
the first part we will call: SLEEPING.
the second part we will call: AWAKE AND LISTENING.
SLEEPING consisted of a sociology 101 class at the university of toronto when i was in undergrad. this gargantuan building, seemingly hundreds of years old, houses easily a good thousand people, and in my case, students. every week i would come here and attend this class that had about 700 or so people inside and at first, i was quite delighted to learn new things, but before long, the physical obstinacy of our professor began to make my eyes feel very heavy. i mean, for gods sake, theres a broadway size stage there to WALK BACK AND FORTH ON at least!
the sociology didnt help either. boring with all caps. (BORING). so needless to say, i found myself being woken up continuously after class by other students. (how kind.)
but that didnt stop me. the grandeur of this building just kept me coming back for more — i would actually GO THERE TO SLEEP. id set my books down on my desk, set my head on my books and set my mind to dream.
finally i wised up and just skipped the class.
AWAKE AND LISTENING. i saw edward albee talk here with albert schultz interviewing him. i was on the edge of my seat, laughing, musing and smiling all the way through.
AND THEY DIDNT MOVE FROM THEIR SEATS.
so the moral is, with the right performance, this can be a great venue.

Maybe I am biased because I very recently used this space for the very purpose that it exists: «convocating». But I like it a lot. Here is where I wore a hood with fur-​trim, after all.
It really is a lovely building, as most are in King’s College Circle, with a beautiful domed ceiling, rather comfy wooden seats and great acoustics. It is also easy to get lost in the further reaches of the balcony, because once I get up there, I have no idea which way is what. Which made finding my family on graduation day kind of a nightmare.
I came here for the first time to watch a Henry Rollins lecture when I was about, uh, 12? Everytime I stand outside, especially when it’s lit up at night, in all its glory I feel a similar sense of awe. It was one of my first tastes of the university student and recent-​grad world, inhabited by (presumably) cool, intellectual twenty-​somethings. I remember feeling intimidation and longing to be on the other side of it.
So, now I’m on the other *other* side of it, and oddly enough, it was HERE where I very ceremonially exited/​entered. It’s all come full circle, it seems. In a building shaped like a circle. *whew*
…I must also tell you that a pivotal scene in Mean Girls was shot here, and I’m watching it *now*. Let the scholars rejoice!

Love-​hate relationship with Convocation Hall. I’ve seen three events here, and though I think the space is absolutely beautiful, there are a few problemos:
1. MUSIC: If you see a band here, make sure it’s a low-​key performance. The space lends itself to a degree of seriousness that most rock bands can’t really pull off. I saw Wilco here, and although they’re a great, great live band, seeing them while sitting down left me wanting more.
2. SIGHTLINES: I was here to see Michael Moore speak in the early 2000s sometime, and I didn’t see much except his bobbing baseball cap. SO: do not sit on the top balcony to the right or left of the stage: major obstructed view.
Again, beautiful, beautiful space. But much better if you have fantastic seats and just watching a lecture or folky-​classical show.