Orange County Convention Center — Attraction in Dr. Phillips

Overall, the venue is… well, okay. Clean enough, decent layout, nothing special but functional. However, I had a very frustrating and disappointing experience that completely ruined my impression of this place.

I was standing at my booth, and just three meters behind me, I had placed my plastic storage box. It wasn’t a trash bag, it wasn’t some random cardboard box — it was a sturdy plastic container with expensive brushes and important materials that I use for my work. I turned my back for literally three minutes, and when I looked again — it was gone.

I immediately went to the security team. They had no idea what happened. I checked with Lost and Found — nothing. I searched everywhere. Of course, there are no cameras in the area, and apparently no one saw anything. I started asking every janitor I came across. Either they didn’t know, or they said they didn’t speak English.

Eventually, I got fed up. I found the janitors’ break area — the place where they all sit — and walked straight in without asking. And guess what? My box was sitting right there. When I asked, Why is my box here?, nobody answered. I got nothing but silence and smiles. I asked, Where are the brushes? Where is the food that was in the box? Again, just fake smiles and, “No English.”

It was beyond frustrating. I don’t believe for a second that they didn’t understand me — they just chose not to take responsibility. The brushes were gone. My materials were messed with. My trust? Completely gone.

Thank you, Orange Conference Hall, for making what could’ve been a productive event into a complete disappointment. You really should implement clear and professional guidelines for your cleaning staff. Because this kind of behavior — hiding people’s belongings, refusing to communicate, and then smiling like it’s a joke — is absolutely unacceptable.

I’m very...

Parking lot was declared full barricades unattended yet you could count dozens of empty spaces both in regular and handicap and that's just what I could see from the barricade. Sent to off site parking lot, which was serviced by a shuttle bus. Shuttling went well except we got dropped at the rear entrance to the convention center. No signage to tell us which room our event was held in and no direction on how to find these rooms. Forced to ascend to another floor then walk the length of the center guessing and asking other walkers "is this the right way". Once reaching the other end descended to an immense entry. Again no directional signage. Set of booths in the foreground all had their registration signage facing the front entrance which was closed to traffic except "drop-offs" according to the very polite young man in reflective attire who was knowledgeable except had not been informed that the parking lot had been closed. He did give excellent directions to the off-site parking. As for the event I went to attend i had an enjoyable time. To the convention center management I would like to suggest you send someone to arrive at your facility open minded and able to dis-associate prior knowledge of facility layout and assume the role of a first time convention attendee and follow the footsteps that they must go through to get to the room their event is held in ONCE their cars navigational system says 'you have arrived at your destination'. I believe you will discover a few dollars spent towards identification, directional signage and observation and communication between parking and directions staff will make your otherwise very nice convention center an enjoyable...

Can you really complain though?

What? Conferences at the convention center. I attended the Global Pets Expo. I also had a meeting in one of the meetings rooms. It was a meeting for ~25-30 people and it was quite an experience. AV is provided by LMG.....ordered AV equipment prior to the event for the meeting and there were a lot of miscommunication... The delivery window was 8-12p at the meeting room and it showed up at 2:30p AND showed up at the booth as well the next day. A very sloppy job done by the company, even after so many confirmations. The food ordered was on time, the person that helped with the food did a great job, very disappointed at the selection though. What I thought was popcorn is box popcorn... The temperature of the room was TOO COLD and you can't adjust it by yourself. You have to call them to make adjustment. (call from the house phone, someone answers, no one answers from your personal phone). It was 60* in the room throughout... even at 5PM is was still cold. Very bad planning with no on site/go to person for assistance.

Environment The show was nicely prepared. The parking is also very unreasonable. It is $20 for parking for the day..with no re-entry. What does that mean? Means you need to eat the food that is provided by the convention center. I bought a coffee for $6 and it wasn't worth it at all.

Niceness of the staff Staff were overall nice, nothing that can be helped on their parts in terms of the complaining that I was doing

Dollar Overly expensive from a consumer perspective.

Yes? I can't decide I won't go, just can decide to...