Convention Centers in Wisconsin With Plans

Wisconsin gives trade show and expo organizers a wide spread of venues: convention centers in Milwaukee and Madison, expo halls and convention centers in Green Bay and the Fox Valley, resort convention space in Wisconsin Dells, and fair park and expo buildings from West Allis to Eau Claire. Below are Wisconsin convention centers and expo venues that already have ready-made floor plans in Map D's Venue Library, grouped by region and linked to their venue pages so you can open a plan and start your booth layout. First, here is how to match a Wisconsin venue to the kind of show you run.

Dimensions in this article come from the plans drawn in Map D's Venue Library, not from official venue specifications. They are approximate, so confirm every measurement, column, door and utility location with the venue before you sell a single booth.

Match the Venue to Your Show Type

Wisconsin hosts a lot of consumer shows, from home and garden to sports, outdoor, boat and farm shows, alongside association and industry expos. The right venue type follows from who your exhibitors are and what they bring.

• Consumer show with large displays: Boats, trailers, hot tubs, campers and equipment need drive-in doors, a floor that can take the weight and room for trucks to wait. Fair park and expo center buildings are often the first look.
• Industry trade show: Exhibitors ship crates through a general service contractor and need floor power and internet. A convention center hall with docks and an attached or nearby hotel fits best.
• Association meeting with an expo: Sessions are the main draw and the exhibit area is tabletops or 8 x 10 booths. A conference center or hotel keeps everything under one roof.
• Family or destination event: A resort convention center gives attendees a reason to stay the weekend, which can lift attendance for regional shows.

Worked Example: Sizing a Show for a Wisconsin Hall

A planning assumption many organizers use is that booths take a little under half of the gross hall area once aisles, registration, food, stages and storage are added. Consumer shows with large displays often need wider aisles, so they may land lower.

• Plan used: Monona Terrace in Madison, drawn at about 362 x 191 feet, or roughly 69,000 square feet gross.
• At 45 percent for booths: roughly 31,000 square feet, or about 310 booths of 10 x 10 feet before columns and features.
• At 35 percent for a consumer show with wide aisles and large displays: roughly 24,000 square feet, or about 240 booth equivalents.
• What to do with that: If your mix includes many 20 x 20 displays, convert them to 10 x 10 equivalents (each is four) and see whether the hall still works.

These are planning assumptions, not venue capacities. Test your own booth mix in the exhibit hall size calculator and confirm usable space with the venue.

Questions to Ask a Wisconsin Venue Before You Sign

Bring this list to site visits, and see our full list of questions to ask an event venue for contract terms and costs.

1. Which building or hall is in our contract, and can you send a current CAD or PDF plan?
2. Where are columns, exits, floor ports, drive-in doors and fire equipment?
3. What is the floor load rating, and can vehicles, boats or heavy equipment drive onto the floor?
4. Are loading areas enclosed or heated in winter, and who clears snow from docks, lots and walkways?
5. How long are move-in and move-out, and are those days charged as rent?
6. Which services are exclusive, such as electrical, internet, food, cleaning and security, and what do they cost?
7. If a winter storm closes roads on move-in day, what are our options under the contract?
8. What other events are on site on our dates, and how will parking and docks be shared?

Milwaukee Area Venues

Milwaukee is the usual choice for statewide and national shows. The library also has two listings for the Wisconsin State Fair Park Exposition Center drawn at different sizes, so check which one matches your building before you open a plan.

• [Baird Center](/venues/baird-center-milwaukee/), Milwaukee: the drawn plan spans about 371 x 383 feet.
• [Wisconsin Center District](/venues/wisconsin-center-district-milwaukee/), Milwaukee: the plan titled "Hall D" spans about 109 x 279 feet. Confirm with the venue which building and hall this listing shows.
• [Wisconsin State Fair Park Exposition Center](/venues/wisconsin-state-fair-park-exposition-center-west-milwaukee/): one listing has a plan of about 474 x 341 feet, and a second listing in West Allis has a plan of about 282 x 295 feet.
• [Brookfield Conference Center](/venues/brookfield-conference-center-brookfield/), Brookfield: the drawn plan spans about 133 x 128 feet, a size for a conference with a tabletop expo.
• [Washington County Fair Park & Conference Center](/venues/washington-county-fair-park-and-conference-center-west-bend/), West Bend: the drawn plan spans about 220 x 163 feet. A second listing has a plan of about 176 x 191 feet, so match it to the space you book.
• [DoubleTree by Hilton](/venues/doubletree-by-hilton-pleasant-prairie/), Pleasant Prairie: the drawn plan spans about 125 x 120 feet, a hotel option in the Kenosha area.

Madison Venues

• [Monona Terrace](/venues/monona-terrace-madison/), Madison: the drawn plan spans about 362 x 191 feet.
• [Alliant Energy Center](/venues/alliant-energy-center-madison/), Madison: the drawn plan spans about 232 x 285 feet. Ask which building on the campus the plan covers.
• [Madison Marriott West Conference Center](/venues/madison-marriott-west-conference-center-madison/), Madison: the drawn plan spans about 326 x 187 feet. A separate Madison Marriott West listing has a plan titled "2023 Building & Remodeling Expo" of about 299 x 109 feet, a useful example of a past show layout in the space.

Green Bay and the Fox Valley

Northeast Wisconsin has convention and expo space close together, which helps regional shows that draw from Green Bay, Appleton and Oshkosh.

• [KI Convention Center](/venues/ki-convention-center-green-bay/), Green Bay: the drawn plan spans about 195 x 341 feet.
• [Resch Expo](/venues/resch-exposition-green-bay/), Green Bay: the plan titled "Hall A" spans about 165 x 313 feet.
• [Hilton Appleton Paper Valley + Fox Cities Exhibition Center](/venues/hilton-appleton-paper-valley-fox-cities-exhibition-center-appleton/), Appleton: the drawn plan spans about 213 x 164 feet, a hotel-connected option for association expos.

Wisconsin Dells and Western Wisconsin

• [Kalahari Resort & Convention Center](/venues/kalahari-resort-and-convention-center-wisconsin-dells/), Wisconsin Dells: the drawn plan spans about 347 x 179 feet, a destination option for association meetings and weekend shows.
• [Chippewa Valley Expo Center](/venues/chippewa-valley-exposition-center-eau-claire/), Eau Claire: the drawn plan spans about 247 x 354 feet.
• [Onalaska Omni Center](/venues/onalaska-omni-center-onalaska/), Onalaska: the drawn plan spans about 298 x 275 feet, an option in the La Crosse area. Ask what floor surface and covering the building uses on your dates.

Winter Freight and Attendee Comfort

Many Wisconsin consumer shows run from January through March, when snow and cold are part of the plan. Give exhibitors a move-in window with slack, publish a weather contact and a cut-off time for delay decisions, and ask the venue where trucks and trailers can wait out of the way. Inside, plan a coat check and a warm entry so the line does not stretch out the door, and keep the first booths back from the doors where cold air comes in. These choices take floor space, so draw them on the plan before you number booths.

How to Start a Layout From a Venue Library Plan

Each venue page in the Map D venue directory shows the plans drawn for that building, their dimensions in feet and a preview.

1. Open the venue and pick the plan that matches the building or hall in your contract.
2. Select Use This Floor Plan Free and create a free account; the plan opens in the editor.
3. Check the drawing against the venue's current plan, then mark drive-in doors, columns and utilities.
4. Block out registration, coat check, food, stages, exits and fire clearances.
5. Lay out booths and aisles, leaving wider aisles where large displays move in.
6. Price booths by size and location and mark sponsor spots near entrances and stages.
7. Send the layout to the venue and the fire marshal for review before you open booth sales.

For rent and service costs, see how much it costs to rent a convention center. Planning elsewhere in the Upper Midwest? See the companion list of convention centers in Minnesota.

Common Mistakes When Picking a Wisconsin Venue

• Booking a building without checking the floor load for boats, vehicles or equipment.
• Using the wrong listing when a fair park or hotel has two plans drawn for different spaces.
• Leaving coat check and a warm entry out of a winter layout.
• Setting a tight move-in window for exhibitors hauling trailers in snow.
• Selling booths before the fire marshal has reviewed the layout.

Where Map D Fits

Map D is floor plan and booth sales software for organizers. You open a venue plan, then add booths, aisles, sponsor areas and labels in the editor. When the layout is ready, a paid plan lets you publish an interactive map, share it with exhibitors and sell booths online, with exhibitors choosing their own booth at checkout. Expo management software keeps the map, booth sales and exhibitor details together, which matters when a consumer show sells hundreds of booths to small local businesses. Map D does not book venues, quote rates or replace the venue's official plan, so keep the venue and the fire marshal in the loop on every revision. To see it with your own show, request a demo or build a free floor plan.