Memphis Cook Convention Center

The convention center staff was wonderful tonight, as usual. Everyone was courteous and efficient, the place settings were perfect.
The baked chicken, mashed potatoes and carrots were delicious.
The chocolate cake tasted great, however it was hard as a rock — I think it was left out too long.
Still, I always look forward to events there.
#Yelp901

I’ve been here a few times in the past year and this place is fantastic and horrifying at the same time. Let me elaborate:
*food: I think it’s what you’ll find at the Sheraton that’s hooked on, and at any other convention that is there. Meat covered in thick sauce when being served plated dinners (typical, no complaint), but the buffets are money (great heirloom salad, easy for healthy choices or binge eating Mac and cheese topped with BBQ)
*décor: typical for a convention center. Not great. Not bad. Just conventiony.
*parking: tons of it. No shortage of parking. Easy in and out
*navigation: I got lost here in the elevators between parking level 2 and 3. They require different elevators. After 20 minutes of searching for a stairwell, I finally found my rented black car (I did not know the make and model until I found the keys)
*staff: helpful when you can’t find your car
*one odd complaint: I found a weave by the elevator after a high school graduation that was going on at the same time as a convention this week. I thought it was some sort of nutria that had escaped Louisiana, or a crab. I screamed. Luckily the helpful staff removed it and helped me, once again, to find my nondescript rental.
Yes, I couldn’t find my car twice. No, I wasn’t drinking. Yes, that confirms that there is an abundance of parking.

I was in town for a UNCF Conference, which was held at the Memphis Cook Convention Center. I enjoyed it and the convention center was spacious. The Memphis Cook Convention Center is connected to the Sheraton hotel. This was so awesome because it was winter and I was not interested in braving the cold wind that Memphis was offering. The venue was fairly easy to navigate. We had several workshops and I had no trouble finding any of them due to the signage. All of the ballrooms and other spaces were named and easy to identify. The staff did a great job with the food for all of the events. They provided great food and service for the gala. It was set-​up buffet style and there was no waiting. The same is true for breakfast. The coffee, drinks, and food were easy to access. They put on a special dessert reception after on event and they had ice cream, pies, cookies, cobbler etc. Everything was great and again the service was great.
The only complaint I had about the space was the cold bathrooms. All of the bathrooms were extremely cold. The main area was also very cold, but I’m sure that was because of the doors constantly being opened. This seems like a great venue for conferences and possibly weddings. The staff was nice and the space is large. I’m not sure when it was built, but certain aspects are a bit dated. Especially compared to parts of the hotel that have been updated. I’m not sure of the parking situation, but I saw several signs regarding a garage. There is probably a small fee for parking, but if you are housed at the hotel you can use its parking, which is still associated with a fee. Great location. In walking distance to a lot of Memphis hot spots, but not ideal for the winter.

As much as you’d expect from a convention center. no complaints!

Good shows here for jewelry and other items! Must go place to get things at wholesale prices.

IEEE held its quarterly meeting here and the Marriott Hotel. I didn’t do anything at the center itself, but we had to check in there for registration material, I would like to say that they were very well organized. They had assembled lovely gift bags for the wives that included great information concerning things to do, a gift card to get discounts from the local stores in the area and a three day trolley pass.
Also at the companions breakfast, a representative from the center was there to officially welcome us to Memphis and to give us more info concerning tours, etc. All and all it was very nice touch.

The Cannon Center addition provided a dose of spark to this aging venue. Of course Memphis needs a larger Convention Center (like Nashville is building) to be competitive but we have to make do with what we have. I’d like to see them to update the rest of the center to match the Cannon Center addition. Always visit for the yearly Car Show.
Conveniently located on the trolley line (a plus).

It’s a convention center, to be sure, in a strange downtown neighborhood that they’ve tried their best to revive with a trolley line down the main street (but all of the cars seem to be empty). It was unremarkable, but the reason why i felt compelled to write a review is that the sound transfer between meeting rooms was awful. You could hear the speakers and the applause in other rooms — sometimes a speaker in my session needed to either speak loudly or stop speaking for a short period because of the noise.