It’s not that common for a destination marketing organization to oversee several of the largest meeting and event venues in community. Visit Reno Tahoe is the exception and recently announced it has officially taken over the management of Reno-Sparks Convention Center, Reno Events Center, National Bowling Stadium, and Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center.
Visit Reno Tahoe, also known as the Reno-Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority, was established in 1959 to promote convention and tourism business in Washoe County, which includes Reno, Sparks, and North Lake Tahoe. The organization owns and operates the Reno-Sparks Convention Center and is once again overseeing operations at the state-owned Reno-Sparks Livestock Events Center and city-owned Reno Events Center and National Bowling Stadium, all of which were under a third-party management agreement since July 2018.
The first post-transition event taking place in Reno Tahoe was the 90th annual meeting of the United States Conference of Mayors on June 3-6, with an evening event held at the recently upgraded National Bowling Stadium.
After more than 18 years working in management, maintenance, and operations at the four Visit Reno Tahoe-managed facilities, Trent LaFerriere has been promoted to vice president of facilities. In this role, LaFerriere is responsible for budgeting, operations, staffing, maintenance, safety, compliance, and capital expenditures. He also oversees the management agreement with Aramark, which was recently awarded the food services contract.
