There have been national conventions and international conventions held at the Dena'ina Center. Glacier Conference hosted by the US Dept. of State, the President of the United States was there, I think most of us heard about it. Also, Ducks Unlimited, The National Conference on Earthquake Engineering, there was one for a national meeting of a sorority, can't remember which. There are plenty more that I can't remember but you can call Visit Anchorage or Anchorage Convention Centers and they can probably give you a list if you're not convinced that having a nice convention center benefits our city.