BlueZoo provides Glass City Center with occupancy measurement for smart facility management

Legends Global manages Glass City Center, the premier convention and event venue in the heart of downtown Toledo. As part of the world’s leading venue management company, Glass City Center hosts everything from trade shows and concerts to weddings, banquets, and community gatherings. With flexible spaces that can accommodate groups anywhere from 10 to 15,000+, the facility plays a vital role in the city’s cultural and economic life, serving as both a community hub and a regional destination.

Challenge

Glass City’s insurance provider asked for accurate, trustworthy data on how the building was being used to fairly assess coverage and rates. The variety of events and the fact that the facility remains open 24 hours a day created challenges for not only insurance but also operations. The operations team often had little insight into real attendance numbers, since many events are run by outside promoters who don’t always provide reliable ticketing or attendance figures.

This uncertainty made planning difficult. Staff and resources could be under- or over-allocated, and the team had no consistent way to verify what really happened after an event. The result was inefficiency for operations and ambiguity for insurance providers.

Solution

In 2023, Glass City Center deployed BlueZoo audience measurement technology to address both challenges at once, while scrupulously protecting consumer privacy. Eleven sensors were installed on two levels of the convention center, discreetly mounted in ceilings to continuously track visitor flow without disrupting activity. The system was installed using Power-over-Ethernet (PoE), to minimize deployment costs while ensuring uninterrupted measurement, critical for a venue that hosts such a wide range of events at all times of day throughout the year.

One of the most critical capabilities for Glass City Center has been BlueZoo’s ability to measure unique visitor counts. In a multi-level building where staff, vendors, and repeat visitors could otherwise distort raw counts, this feature provides a far more accurate measure of actual usage, something valuable to both the operations team and their insurance partners.

Result

BlueZoo has given Glass City Center the ability to present insurers with clear, privacy-safe data about building usage. Instead of relying on incomplete promoter reports or estimates, the facility can now provide precise usage numbers, strengthening its case for fairer insurance rates.

For the operations team, the technology has also become a planning tool. BlueZoo data provides an after-the-fact record of attendance that helps verify promoter claims and, more importantly, guides future planning for similar events. The data also combines with other building systems to identify the best times to close off sections or adjust staffing schedules.

The insurance use case has been the primary driver of adoption, but the impact reaches further. As Glass City Center continues to host new and unfamiliar events, BlueZoo’s audience measurement helps eliminate uncertainty. Post-event data validates resource planning, highlights actual visitor trends, and ensures utilities and staffing align with reality rather than guesswork.

“Glass City Center demonstrates how BlueZoo’s privacy-first audience measurement can serve both insurance and smart city applications,” says Bill Evans, CEO of BlueZoo. “By providing reliable, real-time insights, our technology helps venues like Glass City Center balance operational efficiency, customer service, and risk management.”

Glass City Center’s adoption of BlueZoo has already delivered value for insurance and operations, but the potential for broader smart city applications is clear. Because the convention center sits at the heart of downtown Toledo, many of its events ripple outward into the community. City-wide events that draw large crowds into the area create demand for coordinated planning across transportation, security, sanitation, and emergency services.

BlueZoo’s technology enables this kind of planning with accurate, privacy-preserving attendance counts. Unlike ticketing data or surveillance, BlueZoo provides objective measures of how many people are present while ensuring individual privacy. This makes it possible for city stakeholders to design safer, more efficient experiences for residents and visitors.

With BlueZoo, Legends Global’s Glass City Center has solved pressing insurance and operational challenges today, while positioning itself as a forward-looking model for how venues can help cities become smarter, more connected, and more resilient.