The annual conference of wargamers had grown so much they no longer fit in their longtime suburban Chicago convention center. They needed a new home for the 2025 gathering of 10,000 people, and they needed it fast. 

That’s when Milwaukee called. A representative from Visit Milwaukee reached leaders of AdeptiCon to share news: the city’s downtown convention center, newly renamed Baird Center, had just undergone a massive $456 million expansion, doubling its size to 1.3 million square feet. 

A site visit followed. Baird Center was still in construction mode, but that didn’t matter. 

“This is going to be our new home,” says Shelley Sparks, exhibitor and sponsor coordinator for AdeptiCon. “It just felt right. We got the right vibe from it. We could replicate 100 percent of exactly what we had at our former home, plus the fact that they had hotels attached, and the city itself was very welcoming.” 

The May 2025 event took over the entire Baird Center, packing hotels and filling restaurants within walking distance. 

“The city has this captive audience for five days,” Sparks says. “They want to experience the community as much as possible. I know some of the restaurants actually ran out of items on their menu.” 

AdeptiCon was just one of 192 events in the first year after the expansion, drawing 420,000 attendees, up from 119 events the year before. And interest in Milwaukee was evident. In 2022, Visit Milwaukee’s sales team received 657 inbound convention leads from meeting planners, representing 683,200 requested hotel room nights. By 2023, that number climbed to 986 leads and nearly 870,000 room nights. And in 2024, with the expansion complete, the momentum surged again to 1,031 leads requesting more than 1.26 million room nights.  

That transformation in demand for conventions in Milwaukee was fueled by Wisconsin Center District President and CEO Marty Brooks, who had bet big on Milwaukee when he took on the role in 2018 but wasted no time in rolling out his strategy for success: create a modern, flexible venue built to deliver experiences, not just square footage.  

So far, his gamble is paying off. 

From MSG to Milwaukee 

Brooks arrived at the Wisconsin Center District (WCD) in 2018 with decades of experience under his belt. His resume includes 22 years at Madison Square Garden, including senior roles managing MSG Connecticut and executive producing the Miss Universe pageant, followed by top leadership at the America’s Center in St. Louis and the Scottrade Center and Peabody Opera House before that.  

When the WCD board gave him three marching orders to be entrepreneurial, break down silos, and expand the center, he leaned on his past experience and delivered, starting with a gut check.  

An internal survey revealed a team that felt disconnected, dispossessed, and uninvited. The answer? A cultural reboot anchored by a new rallying cry: Bold. Proud. Experience Obsessed. “It’s the ability to react, pivot and support any event that comes in here,” Brooks says. “We want to make sure that whatever anyone can think of, we can execute in this building.” 

To create the cultural evolution he knew was necessary, he launched town halls, improved benefits, removed staff roadblocks, and began earning the trust he needed to secure the expansion, even when the pandemic made the future of live events look anything but certain. 

He also insisted on making the expansion “for Milwaukee, by Milwaukee,” pushing diversity, equity, and inclusion past the industry standard. Minority labor hours clocked in at over 41 percent, and disadvantaged-business participation reached 43 percent. Sensory rooms, gender-inclusive restrooms, and local artwork adorn the space, because culture should match ambition. 

“Marty Brooks’ legacy in the venue management industry is as expansive as the spaces he has transformed. In 50 years covering the venue industry, I’ve met a lot of dynamic and magnetic personalities, and Marty is in the Top 10,” says Linda Deckard, editor of Venue Professional magazine, a publication of the International Association of Venue Managers.  

Light, Accessibility, and Workspaces That Think 

In convention design, daylight was once a distraction. Brooks flipped that paradigm, flooding the building with natural light and providing a rooftop terrace where attendees can breathe, recharge, and see the city unfold around them. But when presenters want no glare, they get blackout shades in 45 seconds. 

Nearly every chair has a charging port. Bathrooms adapt on the fly for different needs. Centers for nursing mothers and quiet zones honor comfort and inclusion. 

Then there are the art installations, which include a cascading water wall denoting the Great Lakes, a tribute to place that greets you before the exhibit halls even appear. It’s a statement: Conventions are more than square footage, they’re civic expression. 

Brooks has won community pride not just through expansion, but choice. And one of those choices was to incorporate sustainability at the core of Baird Center’s new chapter. Baird Center is now LEED Gold certified, one of only 30 convention centers to earn the Gold or Platinum distinction, thanks to its new underground stormwater detention system, bird-friendly and energy-efficient glass, a food digester, LED sensors to control the lighting, and nearly 90 percent recycled steel used in its construction. It’s a visible declaration that today’s meetings must reflect tomorrow’s expectations. 

Brooks knew, too, that the goal of the expansion wasn’t just structural improvements, it was for the economic wellness of the community. USA Fencing’s Summer Nationals event brought 11,000 athletes and coaches in July 2025, delivering nearly $11 million in impact during an otherwise slow period, and representing a piece of business for Milwaukee that could never have been realized without Baird Center’s expansion. And that’s just one of the 82 events in 2025 driving economic impact for the community. 

More accolades followed almost immediately. In the short time since its expansion, Baird Center has already emerged as one of the most decorated convention centers in the country. It was recently named Best Convention Center in BizBash’s Event Experience Awards, earned EXHIBITOR Magazine’s Centers of Excellence Award twice, and was selected as a finalist for Best Convention Center in Skift’s 2025 IDEA Awards. Add to that two Stella Awards, and the message from the meetings industry is clear. The building is not just new. It is setting the standard.

Brooks’s strategy continues to evolve as the convention center did — working with his partners at Visit Milwaukee to draw in niche gatherings like AdeptiCon and fencing tournaments generates Milwaukee wins through visitor traffic, energized hospitality businesses, and a buzzing downtown whose success spreads throughout the city’s 191 neighborhoods. 

A Legacy Written in Brick, Glass, and Momentum 

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson says Brooks’s leadership transformed not only Baird Center, but the city’s economic trajectory. 

“We landed here because of Marty’s leadership,” Johnson says. “He’s got his eyes on the prize. He knows having a larger, more robust, more modern convention center yields only positive things in terms of tourism dollars being spent here in the community.” 

For Johnson, Baird Center isn’t just a venue, it’s a statement of intent. “Baird Center has become a front door for Milwaukee,” he says. “Every event Marty brings here fuels our restaurants, fills our hotels, and puts people to work. It also gives thousands of visitors a reason to come back. That’s the kind of economic ripple effect cities dream about, and Marty has made it happen.” 

“It takes a people person who loves to host people having great, safe and secure fun to be in this business, and Marty does that flawlessly,” Deckard adds. “Over a distinguished career that has spanned leadership roles in some of the nation’s most notable facilities, Marty has consistently demonstrated a rare combination of vision, operational excellence, and people-first leadership. Marty understands that world-class venues are built not just on steel and glass, but on a strong internal culture that empowers employees to deliver exceptional experiences. His leadership has elevated the Wisconsin Center District and Baird Center to new heights, and his influence will resonate in our industry for decades to come.” 

Thanks to that leadership, there are more hotel elevators dinging, restaurants booked solid, and convention floors packed with people who may be meeting in Milwaukee for the first time – but are already planning to return. And in all that movement, Brooks’s legacy is unmistakable: a city with more lights on, more dollars circulating, and more people – whether they came to fence, game, network, or cheer – leaving with Milwaukee at the top of their list for a return trip.

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