Orlando's ROSEN HOTELS & RESORTS and the ORANGE COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER (OCCC) announced today a technological breakthrough in the meetings and convention industry.  The program is one of the first in the United States that electronically links convention properties with a convention center to provide unmatched attendance capacity, as well as time- and money-saving, remote-registration capabilities.
 
This remarkable innovation in the meetings industry was created by Smart City, the technology provider for the OCCC, and Millennium Technology Group, the technology provider for Rosen Hotels & Resorts.  The president and COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts is local hotelier, Harris Rosen.  Thanks to this partnership, meeting planners and attendees staying at Rosen Hotels & Resorts' three convention properties -- Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre and Rosen Shingle Creek -- can now easily check-in, register, print badges and conduct other administrative duties via satellite, check-in desks at any one of the three hotels.

"This incredible innovation will provide our meeting attendees with unparalleled convenience, speed, high-tech services and networking capabilities that are unrivaled at any other hotel or convention center in the country," said Leslie Menichini, vice president of sales and marketing, Rosen Hotels & Resorts.  "Meeting planners now have at their fingertips a wealth of creative IT solutions and fresh new ways to deliver content to their attendees."
 
The Rosen convention properties are the only hotels in Orlando to be physically linked via fiber-optic cable to the OCCC secure network.  This connection allows remote check-in and registration to occur in real time with the Convention Center network.

This amazing new capability also enables audio and video to be streamed live from the OCCC to the meeting rooms and/or hotel rooms at the three hotels.  This technology allows multiple groups of attendees to view content simultaneously from the OCCC and the hotels, which makes it possible for even larger citywide groups to participate in more convention activities than ever before.  When convention center sessions are sold out, additional seats can be added via remote sessions at the hotel meeting rooms or even on hotel room TVs.  It also enables citywide attendees to travel less between meeting locations for various sessions..

"It is the goal of the Orange County Convention Center to consistently deliver on our promise of unparalleled guest service and exceed client expectations as the 'Center of Hospitality'," said Kathie Canning, deputy general manager, OCCC.  "This new offering is one example of how we are working with key partners to develop unique services for meeting planners and event attendees that they can only receive when they use our venue."

This revolution provides meeting attendees staying at the three properties with limitless technology possibilities in terms of telephone, video and data, including file sharing, Internet sharing and seamless buy-outs of Wi-Fi services for group attendees.  This connection allows users to feel as if they are in the same building where the event is taking place.

While the fiber network connection involved a significant amount of planning and coordination, the infrastructure is completed and the connections can be used over and over again. 

About Rosen Hotels & Resorts/Convention Properties
Together, the three Rosen hotels offer the most rooms, most meeting space and closest proximity to the Orange County Convention Center of any other Orlando convention hotel.  Combined, they offer more than 3,600 rooms and more than 611,000 gross square feet of flexible meeting space, as well as one of the nation's largest column-free ballrooms.  An award-winning, championship, 18-hole golf course and golf academy; world-class spas; nearly two dozen dining, entertainment and lounging options; state-of-the-art fitness centers; and a variety of tennis and sports courts together provide meeting attendees and leisure guests unparalleled convenience and amenities.  Over the last 35 years, Rosen Hotels & Resorts has grown from 256 to more than 6,300 rooms, approximately six percent of the total guest rooms in Central Florida. Today, the Rosen family of hotels, which includes the award-winning convention properties Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre and Rosen Shingle Creek, and four leisure properties in the Orlando tourist corridor, including the Quality Inn International, Quality Inn Plaza and Rodeway Inn International and Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista, remain committed to providing outstanding value for all guests. 

For more information, visit www.rosenhotels.com or call 866-33-ROSEN.

About Millennium Technology Group
Millennium Technology Group Orlando is a networking company that specializes in providing IT services and solutions to the hospitality industry. As one of Florida's leading providers of hospitality technology, we've built a name consulting and creating communication networks for Orlando area conventions and trade shows, hotels, resorts, restaurants and entertainment venues. Our roots in the hospitality industry run deep having evolved from an in-house IT department serving Rosen Hotels & Resorts to an independent networking company serving small and large name clients throughout Florida and the Caribbean.  Our highly qualified team of engineers and technicians have extensive IT training and experience with multiple software platforms, hardware troubleshooting and network solutions. Clients benefit from our suite of training and development classes and support services including our user-friendly helpdesk.

For additional information and services about Millennium Technology Group, please visit our Web site at www.mtg-fl.com.

About Smart City
Founded in 1984, Smart City is the nation's largest provider of event technology in the convention industry. With corporate headquarters in Las Vegas and Lake Buena Vista, Fla., Smart City provides  clients with design, installation and maintenance of data, voice, electrical and utility platforms, coupled with unparalleled voice, video and data network engineering, security and monitoring across the United States. Smart City also provides services to more than 5,000 trade shows at more than 43 convention centers located in Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and the District of Columbia.   

For more information about Smart City, visit www.smartcity.com.


About the Orange County Convention Center
The Orange County Convention Center is the second largest convention facility in the country.  Each year, OCCC brings more than 250 events to the Central Florida area.  As a result, roughly 1.4 million attendees contribute approximately $1.4 billion to the area's economic impact annually.  For more information about the Orange County Convention Center, visit our Web site at www.occc.net.