JAVITS CENTER
New York's flagship convention center
The Jacob K. Javits Convention Center is New York City's flagship venue for trade shows, conventions, and special events, a Hudson River landmark that hosts the region's largest gatherings and anchors the West Side economy. Operated in the public interest for the State and City of New York, Javits pairs massive scale with a nation-leading sustainability program, from its famed green roof to a one-acre working rooftop farm.
A massive expansion, and no film to show it
In 2021, Javits completed the largest expansion in its history, rebuilding the north end of the campus and reopening the doors on a transformed convention center just as live events returned to New York. The expansion added 1.2 million square feet to the campus, a five-fold increase in meeting room space, 53,000 square feet of column-free special event space, a rooftop pavilion hosting 1,500 guests, and 27 new loading docks in a four-level marshaling facility.
The story was enormous, and the assignment was to tell it. Ruckus was engaged to power the relaunch on two fronts: a full video and photo production program shot on site across the new campus, and a marketing campaign built to put the new Javits in front of the planners, associations, and executives who book it.
Reintroducing an icon
The flagship film of the series moves from the glass of the new facade to the rooftop pavilion and the show floor, shot on site as the new campus opened. Production ran across the campus and its calendar, capturing the building at work: shows in full swing, event spaces dressed and lit, and the architecture that makes Javits unmistakable to anyone booking it.
Today's space, for tomorrow's ideas
Ruckus developed the creative platform for the reopening moment, a forward-looking vision positioning the expanded center as the space where tomorrow's ideas launch, backed by mood boards, messaging, and campaign creative built from the new campus itself. The campaign went to market as a qualified-lead engine: paid search against planners hunting for NYC venues, LinkedIn targeting across education, finance, entertainment, and healthcare, and email programs driving event bookings on javitscenter.com.
Beating benchmarks, then selling the space itself
Across both paid channels, impressions, engagement, traffic, and click-through all landed above industry benchmarks between July and December 2021: 2.2 million impressions, a 3.96 percent click-through rate on paid search, 12,635 unique users reached on LinkedIn, and more than 350,000 clicks driven to javitscenter.com.
The relationship continued past the relaunch. Ruckus now designs the campus sales brochure suite and floor plan guides the Javits sales team puts in front of organizers today, covering the one-acre rooftop terrace and pavilion, the 53,000 square foot column-free level 5 event floor, and the new Javits North event level. The relaunch got the films, the films got the audience, and the building keeps getting booked.
