Work on the expo center in downtown Appleton will be finishing soon, and there are already almost 20 events scheduled there.
Jay Schumerth is the general manager of the Radisson Paper Valley hotel. He says they hope things will pick up, after they host hard-hat tours with event planners this month.
Schumerth says many of them want to see the expo center before they sign a contract. He says because event planners typically book major conferences three to four years ahead of time, it’s going to take some time to ramp things up.
Schumerth says the events they’ve already booked will account for about 4,000 room nights.
The grand opening of the expo center is planned for January 11.