Tuesday Talk: Inside the GWCCA’s 4th of July Celebration


Tuesday Talk rounds up the latest Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) news you might have missed and also points forward to upcoming events on our campus.

Did you miss last Thursday’s spectacular 4th of July fireworks show at Centennial Olympic Park?

Maybe you caught the 17-minute pyrotechnic extravaganza and want to know how we pull off the Southeast’s largest Independence Day fireworks show?

You’re in luck on both accounts because the latest episode of the GWCCA’s series “Center of Attention” (see video below) is now on the Interwebs and it takes viewers behind the scenes of this free, family-friendly tradition that returned to the Park after a one-year change of venue.

The brand new episode of “Center of Attention” goes behind the scenes of the Southeast’s largest Independence Day fireworks show.

Hosted by GWCCA multimedia specialist Ashley Gilmer, “Center of Attention” takes viewers on a trip inside the impressive illuminations assembled, managed and detonated by J&M Displays. J&M’s Johnathan Barhite explains some technicalities of the intricate, choreographed fireworks shoot and “Center of Attention” also gives some historical context to the event.

Photo by Ashley Gilmer, GWCCA Multimedia Specialist.

unConventional also recapped the event, and you can read that account here.

ICYMI (In Case You Missed It):  GWCCA + BeltLine?

What if the No. 1 convention, sports and entertainment destination in the world was directly connected to one of the largest, most wide-ranging urban redevelopment projects in the country?

A recent article/photo essay by online publication Curbed Atlanta shows how the GWCCA’s downtown Atlanta campus will eventually link to the popular Atlanta BeltLine. The article’s imagery prominently features scenes from the GWCCA campus, including the Georgia World Congress Center’s Building C, Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the GWCCA’s pocket park and beehives at the corner of Northside Drive and Joseph E. Boone Blvd.

Check it out by clicking here.

THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS

With an expected attendance of 1,000, the Solution Tree Professional Learning Communities at Work Institute, a three-day education conference, started today (July 9) and runs through Thursday (July 11) in the GWCC’s Building A.

It’s wall-to-wall hoops as HoopSeen’s Best of the South high school boys basketball tournament is slated for Thursday (July 11) through Sunday (July 14) featuring roundball action on 28 courts set up in the GWCC’s Exhibit Halls B1-B3.

Atlanta Comic Con is back for a second helping Friday (July 12) through Sunday (June 14) at the GWCC, featuring comic books, artwork, cosplay, apparel, toys, cards, games, guest creators, and celebrity guests, including actor Val Kilmer, who starred as The Dark Knight/Bruce Wayne in the 1995 flick “Batman Forever.” Single-day tickets are $30 and $40, weekend passes are $60, kids 12 and younger get in free. Get tickets here.

A long-running event at the GWCC, the NPC Georgia Bodybuilding and Figure Championships returns Saturday (July 13) to Sidney Marcus Auditorium.

Across Andrew Young International Blvd. at our campus neighbor State Farm Arena, the sights and sounds of the 1980s and early ’90s will be in effect on Thursday (July 11) as the Mixtape Tour comes to town, featuring headliners New Kids on the Block with opening acts Salt -N-Pepa, Tiffany, Debbie Gibson and Naughty By Nature. Meanwhile, the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream hosts three home games at the arena this week and weekend: a late morning matchup against the Connecticut Sun at 11 a.m. Wednesday (July 10), against the Minnesota Lynx at 7:30 p.m. Friday (July 12), and at 3 p.m. Sunday (July 14) tilt with the Los Angeles Sparks.