Los Angeles Conventions, Trade Shows, Conferences and Meetings
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Miles of beaches and beautiful weather year round, the glamour of the entertainment and movie industries, impressive art museums, and world-class dining contribute to making Los Angeles an alluring destination.
And then there are the congested freeways, the social upheaval, the smog, and the people who gave the world Ishtar. The land of opportunity can seem like a troubled, shallow paradise. But Los Angeles is a uniquely American city with great cultural impact on our image-obsessed culture.

Known for its ethnic diversity, Greater Los Angeles offers a potpourri of fascinating communities for the visitor to explore, including West Hollywood's artsy district, Pasadena's historical Old Town, and Santa Monica's energetic Third Street Promenade. There is also Chinatown, Little Tokyo, Olvera Street, oceanfront Long Beach, and elegant Beverly Hills. The downtown area, which houses the main commercial district, continues to grow, encroaching on what were once residential areas.

But above all, Los Angeles is about Hollywood, home to the glitz of the entertainment business. The movie studios here attract eccentric artists, hedonists intent on living the Hollywood lifestyle, and tourists hoping to rub elbows with the stars. Through its excess and indulgence, Los Angeles scurries to live up to the hype created by films, magazines, and music.

The epitome of cultural growth in the City of Angels is the newly renovated, world-class Getty Museum and the recent and much-publicized expansion of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. A variety of cultural venues present classical and popular music concerts, dance, opera, and current Broadway hits. At the top of the attractions list, Universal Studios Hollywood offers a behind-the-scenes look at the world's busiest film and television studio. Another favorite spot is the new Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, which offers face-to-face encounters with sea creatures.

This international city constantly reinvents itself and never ceases as a trendsetter in fashion and food. The growth of the movie and television industry continually adds to the spice and excitement of the city, with celebrity-owned establishments popping up regularly.

Los Angeles is a bright and eclectic patchwork of neighborhoods and lifestyles. Made up of dozens of communities, there is no one unifying experience that sums up the life and the heartbeat of this city among cities. From the eternal sunshine and Hollywood glitz to the traffic and smog, this City of Angels will forever be many things to many people.

Downtown
While not exactly in the center of town geographically, downtown is still a major center of activity. But while the focus is mostly on business, downtown also features many shops, restaurants, bars and even a few museums.

Hollywood
The big sign just about says it all. The center of things is, without a doubt, Hollywood Boulevard, location of world-famous tourist spots including Mann's Chinese Theater, the Hollywood Walk of Fame and countless souvenir shops.

The Miracle Mile/Hancock Park area is another of L.A.'s historical neighborhoods. Here you will find Wilshire Boulevard's Museum Row. The museums are contained within Hancock Park, a small but peaceful oasis in the center of hectic urban activity.

Ritzy West Hollywood is home to one of the city's most famous (or infamous) attractions: the Sunset Strip. Here you'll find most of the city's hippest and hottest clubs, as well as some of the city's finest shopping and hotels. West Hollywood is also the center of the city's gay and lesbian community, and it puts on one of the bawdiest and most exhilarating annual Halloween parades in the state.

Beverly Hills and the Westside
This world-famous city with its world-famous zip code is synonymous with wealth, status and celebrity. The understated elegance and grace of the residential neighborhoods are balanced out by Rodeo Drive, which offers some of the finest (and most expensive) shopping in the world.

Santa Monica and Bay Cities
Back in the heyday of Route 66, this was the end of the line. Today, this beachfront community offers the best in shopping, dining and entertainment.

The motto of the coastal community of Malibu is "27 miles of scenic beauty," and that about describes it best. The main attraction here is the drive along the Pacific Coast Highway, which takes you past beach after beach on one side of the road and million-dollar hilltop estates on the other. Make sure you have plenty of film and sunscreen. Even at night, the stars just seem brighter.

Venice, just south of Santa Monica, is the city's home to all things eclectic and many things downright bizarre. This small, artsy beach town offers one of the greatest collections of cafes, bars, galleries, antiques and one-of-a-kind shops around. Weekend afternoons on the boardwalk are definitely a memorable experience for any visitor to the city.

San Fernando Valley
On the other side of the Hollywood Hills sits "The Valley," as known by locals. It features a seemingly endless sea of suburban cul-de-sacs, strip malls, funky shops and restaurants. Hollywood makes its presence known in the cities of Burbank and Universal City, which are home to Warner Bros. Studio and Universal Studios. There are two things you can always count on in the Valley: the earthquakes always feel stronger, and the temperature is always 10 degrees hotter.

South Central and Compton
Although the South Central neighborhood of Crenshaw gained worldwide publicity as the center of the infamous 1992 riots, this area remains one of the city's best-kept secrets. Home to a great number of African-Americans, South Central communities such as Crenshaw and Leimert Park offer wonderful shopping, dining, recreation and live music clubs. It has also long been a place of culture and diversity, as evidenced by the African American Cultural Center and the Museum In Black.

Long Beach and the South Bay
Long Beach is a fairly large city in its own right. Aside from a plethora of shopping and dining options, this beach community is perhaps best known for the Queen Mary, a Titanic-esque ocean liner now permanently docked here and open for tours.

The South Bay is made up of smaller beach towns and quiet neighborhoods such as Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach and Palos Verdes Estates.

Orange County
As you drive south of L.A., the pastures seem to get greener—quite literally. Orange County is a collection of beautifully manicured suburbs and picturesque beach communities. Some great spots include Anaheim (home of Disneyland), Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Dana Point.

Pasadena and Points East
Pasadena is one of the most prominent communities in the entire state of California. Old Town Pasadena provides one of the greatest clusters of bars, shops, cafes and restaurants in the entire L.A. area. And every New Years’ Day, this not-so-sleepy town becomes the focus of the entire world for the annual Tournament of Roses Parade.

East L.A., as evidenced by its name, forms the eastern edge of the city and is home to a large part of L.A.'s Latino population. Perhaps nowhere else in the city is L.A.'s cultural diversity better represented than here.

LAX and Inglewood
LAX is one of the largest airports in the United States, when it comes to the sheer number of people passing through its hallways. The airport is the main feature of the otherwise-sleepy, suburban neighborhood of Westchester. This pocket of quiet, tree-lined streets and neighborhood schools and churches is a refreshing oasis in an often-frenetic city.

Inglewood, home to many of L.A.'s African-American population, features a wide variety of restaurants, music and sports venues. Here you will find Hollywood Park Racetrack and the The Forum arena, an entertainment hotspot. Inglewood also hosts the annual Hollywood Black Film Festival, which pays homage to African-American filmmakers of past, present and future.

Los Angeles
Historical Background

California's earliest residents were Native Americans. Prior to the mid-18th century, several native peoples dominated the area, most notably those from the Tongva nation. Legend even has it that these early inhabitants were reluctant to establish large settlements in what is now the L.A. basin due to its poor air quality—perhaps a premonition of things to come, and certainly ironic given today's smog.

The earliest key date in the development of Los Angeles is August 2, 1769. It was on that afternoon that a group of Spanish explorers from the east, led by Junipero Serra and Captain Gaspar de Portola, entered what came to be known as Los Angeles, in the area around Elysian Park. The purpose of the expedition was to establish a trail of missions linking San Diego and San Francisco, known as "El Camino Real," or The Royal Road. Legend also has it that during their brief stay in the area, the men experienced three earthquakes. Unfazed by this, the group decided to establish a large settlement here in spite of the terrestrial shaking—another premonition of things to come.

Los Angeles got its name from Serra who originally called the area "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula," which was obviously shortened later. Throughout the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the area thrived as a mission under the control of the Mexican government. On March 9th, 1842, Francisco Lopez discovered gold in the Santa Clarita Valley and by 1845, U.S. troops began battling for control of California. On January 9, 1847, Commodore Stockton recaptured Los Angeles for the third and final time, and just days later Mexican general Andres Pico surrendered California to U.S. General John Fremont. A subsequent boundary dispute ensued as to where the borders of the city and county should be, but on April 4, 1850, the city of Los Angeles was incorporated, with California officially entering the union five months later.

The late 1800s and early 1900s saw Los Angeles grow exponentially. One reason for this was the railroads, which finally reached Los Angeles from the East. The railroads resulted in a major expansion of economy and population, as evidenced by the fact that L.A.'s population doubled in the last decade of the 1800s and tripled in the first decade of the 1900s. In 1913, William Mulholland built an aqueduct, which allowed water to be brought to Los Angeles from 200 miles north. This important event, coupled with the earlier railroad boom, is considered to be largely responsible for L.A.'s growth into a major population center.

By the 1920s, many industries were beginning to stake their claim in the city. The most popular of these industries was the budding film industry. Filmmakers from the East came to Southern California for its eternal sunshine and varied landscape. Where else in America could they find perfect weather and largely empty surrounding land, as well as mountains, lakes, forests and beaches all within an hour's drive? As movies and movie-making became more ingrained in American culture during the 1940s and 50s, millions began flocking to L.A. in hopes of becoming a star and striking it rich. By the mid-to-late 1950s, the population of L.A. had reached two million and appeared to be going nowhere but up.

As the city grew, more people meant more problems. In 1943, a clash between sailors, marines and local Hispanic gangs broke out, known as the Zoot Suit Riots. For several days and nights, downtown Los Angeles was transformed into a battle-zone. Although the riots were finally quelled by police, this would not be the last time the city witnessed large-scale urban unrest. Devastating race riots erupted in 1965 and again in 1992, after the Rodney King verdict, giving the city its reputation for being a hotbed of racial tensions. Riots, however, weren't the only problem associated with overpopulation. Runaway air pollution and the damage caused by several earthquakes —the largest and most memorable of which was the Northridge earthquake in 1994, with a total magnitude of 6.7 - have also given the city its fair share of crises to deal with over the years.

Now in the 21st century, things are definitely looking up. While the ground may never stop shaking, tougher building codes and better city planning have helped to minimize damage caused by earthquakes. Stricter emissions standards for cars and factories have helped dramatically clean up the air and while racial tensions continue to simmer, they are getting better with time. As long as this high-profile city remains standing, certain things can always be counted on to thrive in L.A.: movies, sunshine, gridlock on the 405 Freeway and eager souls arriving each day to the City of Angels in search of their own piece of heaven.