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This Just In

Kathleen Canning Named GM of Orlando’s Convention Center

HIL ANDERSON, SENIOR EDITOR

Orlando, FL – Kathleen Canning will take over as general manager of the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC) in Orlando this Summer. Canning, currently deputy general manager, will step into the job held by Jessie Allen, who is due to retire in July.

Canning joined the OCCC in 1985 and was named to her current post in 2002. She assists in running the day-to-day operations of the center, which is the second-largest convention center in the U.S. after McCormick Place in Chicago. The OCCC was expanded twice while Canning was in the leadership ranks and currently has 2.1 million square feet of prime exhibit space, according to the Trade Show Executive World’s Top Convention Centers rankings.

Allen became an Orange County employee in 1977 and was named deputy director of the OCCC in 1992.

Executive Director Tom Ackert is also nearing retirement, reportedly in December.

Reach Kathleen Canning at (407) 685-9833 or kathie.canning@occc.net; Jessie Allen at (407) 685-9800 or jessie.allen@occc.net

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