Colorado (ⁱ/kɒləˈrædoʊ/ or /kɒləˈrɒdoʊ/) is the US state that encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains. Colorado is part of the Western United States, the Southwestern United States, and the Mountain States. Colorado is the 8th most extensive and the 22nd most populous of the 50 United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Colorado was 5,116,796 on July 1, 2011, an increase of +1.74% since the 2010 United States Census.

The state was named for the Colorado River, which early Spanish explorers named the Río Colorado for the red colored (Spanish: colorado) silt the river carried from the mountains. On August 1, 1876, U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant signed a proclamation admitting Colorado as the 38th state. Colorado is nicknamed the "Centennial State" because it was admitted to the Union in 1876, the centennial year of the United States Declaration of Independence.

A convention center (American English, conference centre outside the USA and Canada) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typically offer sufficient floor area to accommodate several thousand attendees. Very large venues, suitable for major trade shows, are sometimes known as 'exhibition centres'. Convention centers typically have at least one auditorium and may also contain concert halls, lecture halls, meeting rooms, and conference rooms. Some large resort area hotels include a convention center.

Exhibition Hall of the Makaryev Fair

Metro Toronto Convention Centre, late 2004

Siglo XXI Convention Centre in Mérida, Mexico

McCormick Place in Chicago, the largest Convention center in North America

The back entrance of the PBH convention center in Zuidlaren, Netherlands

View of the west portion of the San Diego Convention Center from West Harbor Drive. The San Diego Convention Center is one of the largest in North America and is home to Comic-Con International

The Colorado Convention Center is a multi-purpose convention center located in Downtown Denver. The center opened in June 1990; the first event being the NBA Draft for the Denver Nuggets. The convention center was expanded in 2004 to include several meeting rooms, two ballrooms and an indoor amphitheatre. Since opening, the center hosts over 400 events per years.

Centrally located in Denver, the center has become one of Denver's many landmarks. The center is adjacent to the Denver Performing Arts Complex and the Emily Griffith Opportunity School. It is blocks away from the Colorado State Capitol, Auraria Campus and the 16th Street Mall. It is served by the RTD light rail station, Theatre District / Convention Center.

The Colorado Convention Center is owned by the City and County of Denver but is privately managed by SMG since 2003. The convention center opened in June 1990 with an exhibition hall, 5 meeting rooms and a main ballroom, totaling 800,000 square feet (74,000 m²).

The Colorado Convention Center underwent a $340 million major expansion that was completed in December 2004. The expansion doubled the size of the facility which now consists of 584,000 square feet (54,300 m²) of exhibit space, 100,000 square feet (9,300 m²) of meeting rooms, and 85,000 square feet (7,900 m²) of ballroom space. The expansion of the facility also included the spectacular 5,000 seat Wells Fargo Theatre. The CCC is now 2.2 million gross square feet. Curtis W. Fentress, FAIA, RIBA of Fentress Architects designed the CCC, as well as the Phase II expansion.