Visit Raleigh closed out 2025 by making a notable impression at Association Forum’s Holiday Showcase, the Midwest’s premier event for association professionals. With Chicago home to the second‑largest concentration of association headquarters outside of the D.C. area, the show offers unmatched access to key decision‑makers, planners and organizational leaders evaluating future meeting destinations.

This year, Visit Raleigh’s booth team included Lauren Miller, senior national sales manager at the Raleigh Convention Center, who joined the destination’s representatives to highlight both the convention center and the planned convention center expansion. The expansion will add 300,000 square feet of new space to the facility, and the forthcoming Omni Raleigh Hotel (set to open in 2027) will bring 550 guest rooms and additional meeting space directly adjacent to the center.

A signature touch at the booth, Ella’s Popcorn proved to be a standout favorite. Attendees gravitated toward the display for conversations and for bags of popcorn, which have become a Raleigh On The Road favorite. The giveaway offered a memorable taste of Raleigh and reinforced the destination’s warm, welcoming personality, giving planners a fun takeaway to remember.

Overall, Holiday Showcase served as an ideal platform for positioning Raleigh, N.C., as a dynamic, attendee‑friendly host city. Strong booth engagement and sustained interest throughout the two‑day event underscored rising momentum for meetings in the Raleigh area and helped lay the groundwork for continued relationship‑building and future opportunities in the year ahead. The team is excited to build on this energy and is looking ahead to a strong 2026!