Safety Measures Shine at the Oregon Convention Center
With a combination of partnerships and expertise, OCC ensures peace of mind.
The Oregon Convention Center (OCC) in Portland has everything needed for complex, large-scale events: modern amenities and facilities, easy access to Portland’s city center and its array of hotels, attractions, shops and restaurants. An experienced security team oversees the 255,000 square feet (23,690 sq m) of contiguous exhibit space to ensure every event is as safe as possible, providing peace of mind for organizers and guests alike.
“What sets us apart at OCC is our in-house security and public safety folks,” says Derek Bliss, CPP, the Oregon Convention Center’s Director of Public Safety.
Our average tenure for our public safety agents is ten years. They speak five different languages, are a very diverse group, and are intimate with our building.
Derek Bliss, CPP, Director of Public Safety, Oregon Convention Center
Many convention centers outsource their security. While OCC’s in-house public safety team frequently works with vetted security partners — taking advantage of relationships with the Portland Police Bureau, city and state government, and the Department of Homeland Security — their on-site experience gives them unparalleled expertise.
“Our average tenure for our public safety agents is ten years,” says Bliss. “They speak five different languages, are a very diverse group, and are intimate with our building.”
Another key differentiator regarding security is the convention center’s embrace of technology. OCC’s video surveillance, guest credentialing and badging protocols, and visitor management system empower the public safety team to know who’s in the building at any given time and can remotely lock and unlock doors, including exterior doors and the parking garage.
“We want to be able to support those folks if there’s an emergency evacuation,” Bliss says, “and through our visitor management system, we can be assured everyone in our convention center is here for business with OCC.”
Guests of OCC can feel safe and secure outside the convention center, too, thanks to the collaborative efforts of our community. Convention District Safe Connect Program officers provide wayfinding, visual deterrence and even walk-alongs, escorting visitors to and from hotels in the surrounding Lloyd neighborhood. This program, modeled off other safe districts in the city, was developed by the Oregon Convention Center in collaboration with Portland Metro Chamber and Portland Downtown Clean & Safe to ensure visitors feel safe not only at their events but around their hotels, while dining out and while riding on the MAX Light Rail.
Planning for security at each event begins months ahead, with OCC working with event planners to gather detailed information about each event, its guests, and unique concerns.
“One of my mantras,” Bliss says, “is you can’t over-communicate when it comes to security.”
Once that information is gathered and a custom security plan is put in place, that knowledge is shared throughout the convention center, thanks to the public safety team’s meaningful relationships with the entire OCC staff.
“It’s not just our public safety agents, but our event managers and our folks working with the clients and attendees — they’re deeply involved in our security plans,” says Bliss. “We share this information with the people it’s relevant to and who can make a difference. They’ve all been trained on this. You add all those other people, and it snowballs into a great public safety team that helps us succeed.”
The combination of expertise and preparation pays off, Bliss says, at the end of every successful event.
“The icing on the cake is the salutations, the handshakes, and the hugs after an event — all because of the great experience guests had,” says Bliss. “And it’s not just the safety experience. It’s the hospitality. It’s the cleanliness. It’s everything that we exude here at the convention center.”
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