CONVENTION CENTER UPDATES | NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT | SALEM, OREGON JUNE 2019
s ’ a i n r o f i l a C COLORFUL COAST
OPENING IN 2020 Brookfield, Wisconsin is conveniently situated along I-94 between Milwaukee and Madison. The Brookfield Conference Center at the south end of the newly revitalized Brookfield Square shopping, dining and entertainment district. With 2 completely modular ballrooms of 18,000 and 6,000 square feet, the conference center can accommodate groups of virtually any size. A beautiful outdoor plaza and spacious atrium with plenty of natural light creates an elegant atmosphere for all events. Featuring an attached Hilton Garden Inn, on-site catering and beverage service and ample, free parking, The Brookfield Conference Center offers a cost-effective venue in a convenient suburban location. An additional 15 hotels and 2,200 hotel rooms are located within a 1-mile radius of the conference center. 150 restaurants and 3 million square feet of shopping guarantee an event that will exceed your expectations.
BROOKFIELD CONFERENCE CENTER
CONNECT. COLLABORATE. CELEBRATE. 262-789-0220 www.brookfieldconferencecenter.com
PICTURE YOURSELF IN
MESQUITE
Spend a day or a weekend where real authentic Texas culture is thriving in Mesquite, recognized as the Rodeo Capital of Texas by the Texas State House of Representatives. Enjoy the Texas traditions of rodeo and BBQ at the Mesquite Championship Rodeo at the Mesquite Arena. This famous venue has evolved into a regional concert facility hosting thousands for award-winning musicians.
VisitM
teT esqui
X.com
Satisfy any craving from Texas BBQ, and Greek with a variety of restaurants, including a few Zagat-rated eateries and the famous pies at Mesquite’s newest restaurant, Porch Swing. Enjoy shopping at Town East Mall or in Downtown Mesquite. Check out local attractions like the Devil’s Bowl Speedway, Celebration Station, or XscapeDFW Adventures. Give us 15 minutes and we’ll give you an experience like no other.
The dedicated art enthusiast is sure to find something to spark their interest. Mall or Downtown Mesquite. Check out at Devil’s Bowl Speedway, The Mesquite Arts Center keeps a great rotation of local artists in the gallery. Celebration Station or XscapeDFW for a little more excitement. Give us 15 Discover the sounds of the Mesquite Symphony Orchestra or see a show by minutes, and we’ll give you an experience like no other. the Mesquite Arts Theatre. The vibrant community of Mesquite is also a great place to enjoy the outdoors with more than 70 parks that offer experiences for everyone. Get in a healthy jog or enjoy a leisurely walk along the Mesquite Heritage Trail on your way to nearby shopping and eateries. Take archery or tennis lessons at Westlake Sports Center. Get lost in the history of the community at the Opal Lawrence Historical Park. Hit the links or just a bucket of balls at the Mesquite Golf Club. Take the family to City Lake Park to enjoy fishing and a picnic. The possibilities for outside exercise and fun are endless.
ON THE COVER: The Pacific coastline in La Jolla, California, makes a scenic backdrop for outdoor meetings. Photo by Art Wager.
INSIDE VOLUME 20 | ISSUE 6
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IDEAS Convention Center Updates
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CITY New Haven, Connecticut
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Courtesy Birch Aquarium
TOWN Salem, Oregon
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MEETING GUIDE California
D E PA R T M E N T S
6 INSIGHTS 8 CONFERENCE 14 MANAGING Get to know Creative
Creating Personal Connections
Green Bay
Dine-Arounds
SMALL MARKET MEETINGS is published monthly by Pioneer Publishing, Inc., 301 E. High St., Lexington, KY 40507, and is distributed free of charge to qualified meeting planners who plan meetings in small and medium size towns and cities. All other meeting industry suppliers may subscribe by sending a check for $39 for one year to: Small Market Meetings, Circulation Department, 301 East High St., Lexington, KY 40507. Phone (866) 356-5128 (toll-free) or (859) 225-1452. Fax: (859) 253-0499. Copyright SMALL MARKET MEETINGS, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction of editorial or graphic content in any manner without the written consent of the publisher is prohibited.
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The Fox Cities offer convenience, versatility and venues for every type of meeting. An array of exceptional dining options, 3,500+ room choices and group activities, along with our walkable downtown areas will complete your experience. ©ADAM SHEA PHOTOGRAPHY; TOWN COUNCIL, NEENAH, WI
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INSIGHTS WITH VICKIE MITCHELL
NETWORKING, REVISITED
I
f someone asks why you attend professional conferences, chances are you’ll say “to meet people.” For about 80% of conference attendees, networking is the top priority, studies show. But oh, meeting new people is often so much easier in theory than in practice. That’s where a meeting planner can make additions and adjustments that pave the way for attendees to connect with one another. Here are a few ideas.
Try these new ways to connect your crowd
Turn the Tables
Enlist Ambassadors
Every year, new people come to your conference. If they have a good time, make connections and learn something new, they will likely return. Making them feel a part of your community is one way to ensure they do. To help newcomers get acquainted and acclimated, pair them with a longtime member, someone who knows lots of people and can make introductions that quickly widen a newcomer’s circle. Identify newcomers through registration questions, then match them with your most involved and engaged members. Ambassadors can introduce them to others, answer questions and make sure they are included in small off-site dinners or other outings and events. It’s like the Welcome Wagon without the welcome basket.
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It’s human nature to gravitate toward those we already know, especially if we are introverts who don’t like making conversation with strangers. Circles of old friends that gather around banquet tables can make breaking in even more difficult. There are ways to break up cliques and open up more conversations. For a preemptive strike, hand out numbers or different colored bandannas or suckers at the banquet room door, and have people seat themselves at the table that corresponds to their number or color. Or try this idea from Performance Management Co.: Allow people to seat themselves, and then disrupt their patterns. Designate one person as the table leader by putting a star on their chair or plate. That person is allowed to stay at the table. Everyone else must move to another, and they are not allowed to sit with their current seatmates again. Give them a short window of time to make the move — three minutes is recommended — to discourage people from sitting with their friends again or saving seats for their buddies.
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Supply Conversation Starters
Most conferences miss the boat with those personal billboards we call nametags. First, they almost always could stand to be larger, with names in big, bold print so people don’t have to squint to see them. Go beyond a person’s name and company by adding a short statement like “I love ” with a blank line beneath it so the attendee can use a Sharpie to describe one of their interests. Discovering that a peer loves rock climbing or collects vintage purses allows conversations to go to new heights. When Robbie Samuels and Hilary Allen started a social advocacy group in Boston, they used nametags to build conversations, according to a story in Fast Company by writer Dorie Clark. Their nametags said things like “I’m looking for” or “Ask me about.” “Right away, it was about creating a welcoming space and engaging with people,” said Samuels. At dinner tables, post a topic for the whole table to discuss, like “Describe your first pet,” “What was the best/weirdest/most fun summer job you ever had?” or “Talk about a funny moment on the job.”
Think Small
Conversation comes easier in small groups, so offer plenty of downsized activities and events. Fun free-time options might include a group bike ride through local parks, a guided tour of an art or history museum, a pub crawl or a cooking class. Invite early risers to an easy yoga class followed by smoothies; take night owls to a midnight movie, and buy them popcorn. Include comfortable areas for casual conversations in your prefunction areas or even outdoors. Make sure that seating offers one open side to visually communicate that others are welcome to join. Put out boxes of jigsaw puzzles or Legos to draw people in and give them something to do. Instead of one large reception, have several small ones with themes to unite people; Game of Thrones, bookworms, gardeners, wine and cheese aficionados, for example.
June 2019
Share Networking Tips
We all could use a few pointers on how to start a conversation beyond the typical questions “What do you do?” or “Where are you from?” Inspire your audience to connect with others with more vigor and strategy. Michelle Tillis Lederman, author of “The Connector’s Advantage: Seven Mindsets to Grow Your Influence and Impact,” provides several good examples at entrepreneur.com, including “What brings you here?” “How do you spend your time outside of work?” and “How did you get involved in this industry?” Other ideas from experts: “What’s on your reading list?” and “Where do you turn for guidance when you have a problem on the job?” Grab a few tips from the mounds of books about networking that pepper business book lists and integrate them into your preconference emails, mailings or tweets. Send a link to a TED Talk about networking. You’ll have plenty to choose from: A Google search for “business networking videos” turns up 369 million.
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CONFERENCE
WELCOME TO
n w o t e l t Ti M
BY DAN DICKSON
any American cities have an enduring love affair with their sports teams, whether they play collegiate or professional ball, outdoors or indoors. But fans of the 13-time NFL champion Green Bay Packers have forged an extraordinary bond between their midsize city in northeast Wisconsin and their legendary green-and-gold-clad football team.
In Green Bay, the Packers, and their huge home stadium, Lambeau Field, mean everything to fans, to community pride and to the economy. The Packers are the only publicly owned major league sports team in the U.S. The team has several hundred thousand shareholder fans and a decadeslong waiting list for season tickets. “One of the first things people think of when they get here is the Packers and Lambeau Field,” said Beth Ulatowski of the Greater Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau. “Lambeau is open for tours and houses the Packers Hall of Fame, a restaurant and a great fan gift shop.” Green Bay will serve as the site of this year’s Small Market Meetings Conference, September 24-26.
PACKERS PLAYGROUND
Lambeau Field is now a year-round destination thanks to the five-story-tall, glass-enclosed atrium with 376,000 square feet of space for every type of event. “When they renovated Lambeau Field in 2003, they wanted to open the stadium for more than just 10 football games a year and offer opportunities for events, meetings and every kind of gathering,” said Casey Ausloos, an account executive at Lambeau Field. “We utilize all our unique spaces to make them appealing to meeting planners and add an extra wow factor.” Outside the stadium is the new Titletown District, a sort of neighborhood playground for adults. It features wintertime tubing lanes down man-made Ariens Hill plus ice skating, a full-
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size all-weather football field, a unique playground and plenty of game areas and fitness activities. Rockwood Terrace, a venue on top of Ariens Hill with breathtaking views through tall windows of Lambeau Field and Titletown, is fantastic for gatherings. An area known as Under Ariens Hill is another rental option for planners. Just a hundred yards from Lambeau and right in the thick of Titletown activity is Lodge Kohler with 144 guest rooms. It has a wonderful restaurant, cafe and rooftop bar plus a sumptuous spa that offers massages, hydrotherapy services, facials, manicures, pedicures and more. Green Bay, with a population of 105,000 — 320,000 metro — is also known for its pulp-paper and meatpacking industries and is a major regional health care provider. The city and bay are in the subbasin of Lake Michigan, and the Fox River flows through the community. The city is serviced by the Green Bay-Straubel International Airport, interstates 41 and 43, and Amtrak rail. Brown County, surrounding Green Bay, offers 4,500 hotel rooms that are busy places, with hundreds of thousands of visitors arriving each year for more than just football game-day activities.
HOTEL HIGHLIGHTS
The city’s main meetings place is the downtown KI Convention Center, managed by Hyatt Regency Green Bay and conveniently connected to the center. The hotel has 241 guest suites. There is ample meeting and function space at the center, including a 25,000-square-foot grand ballroom. The exhibit hall and a second ballroom each boast 17,000 square feet of space. The 2019 Small Market Meetings Conference will take place at the KI Convention Center. The Hyatt is the official conference hotel. DELEGATES TO THE SMALL MARKET MEETINGS CONFERENCE WILL Hyatt general manager Kristine Hall believes that Green Bay ENJOY A VISIT TO GREEN BAY’S LEGENDARY LAMBEAU FIELD. is just right for many types of meetings and events. “We should be selected over a lot of small markets because of Photos courtesy Greater Green Bay CVB the size of the convention center and our pricing, especially food and beverage, compared to larger cities,” she said. “We have a total of 80,000 square feet of function space, and we can conform to whatever needs the planner has.” Also connected directly to the KI Convention Center is Hampton Inn Green Bay Downtown, with 135 guest rooms and suites. This riverfront hotel and the Hyatt have direct access to the 20-mile-long Fox River State Recreational Trail. Directly across the street from the airport is the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, with 350 guest rooms and thousands of square feet of meeting space, which includes the Oneida Casino with many slots and gaming tables. A $19 million property renovation is about to get started. Mary Shaw, Radisson’s director of sales, is proud to promote the city and its offerings. “I think Green Bay is a wonderful community overall,” she said. “We’re more than just a football team. The Radisson is a long-standing property here, and we’re known for our service. So when people bring their meetings here, what is always their takeKI CONVENTION CENTER away is our service. We’re also very budget-conscious.”
June 2019
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OTHER HOTEL OPTIONS
There are other outstanding hotels around Green Bay that offer distinctive meeting spaces. One of them is the Hotel Northland, with 160 guest rooms and 11,000 square feet of meeting and event space. A spectacular renovation was completed this past winter. Opened in 1924, the property was once the largest hotel in Wisconsin. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Hotel Northland combines vintage beauty and charm with all of the modern amenities that today’s hotel guests expect. “Our largest meeting and event space is the gorgeous Crystal Ballroom, which is original to the hotel and where many of the city’s main events were held years ago,” said Brandon Flitter, the hotel’s director of sales. “We hope it will be the scene of many more to come.” Another hotel option with meetings space is Delta Hotels by Marriott, which provides 149 guest rooms and suites. There are also two indoor pools, a whirlpool and a fun waterslide. There are 11,000 square feet of space divided up in adaptable meeting rooms. The hotel is excellent for meetings, weddings and other events. Two other hotels of note in Green Bay have plenty of meeting space. The Tundra Lodge Hotel and Water Park has the feeling of a woodsy northern lodge but also with an indoor water park for kids and families. There are 18,000 square feet of meeting space, two grand ballrooms and 15 meeting rooms. Other meeting site options include the reliable, local family-owned Comfort Suites Hotel and the Bemis Center and the Kress Inn, both on the campus of St. Norbert College.
MORE TO DO
Football aside, Green Bay visitors have much they can do. Dozens of beautiful classic cars sit on display at the Automobile Gallery, owned by local legend Red Lewis. Inside a former car dealership, Lewis has assembled dozens of restored cars from practically every decade of the last century. “People come up to me and say, ‘I had a Corvette just like that,’” said Lewis. “People are reminded of their lives 30, 40 or more years ago. Everybody loves it. It’s been fun.”
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A LAMBEAU FIELD TOUR
GREEN BAY BOTANICAL GARDEN
A BANQUET IN THE LAMBEAU FIELD ATRIUM
“We should be selected over a lot of small markets because of the size of the convention center and our pricing, especially food and beverage, compared to larger cities. We have a total of 80,000 square feet of function space, and we can conform to whatever needs the planner has.” — Kristine Hall, Hyatt Regency Green Bay
June 2019
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CONFERENCE
THE AUTOMOBILE GALLERY
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For a change-of-pace meeting location, the Gallery offers 18,000 square feet of event space amid the shiny cars. Green Bay Botanical Gardens is a beautiful oasis that presents amazing seasonal beauty plus wonderful spaces for private or corporate events. Many weddings, ceremonies, concerts and family events take place in this setting. Visitors can wander the grounds and engage in the many activities that are scheduled year-round. The National Railroad Museum calls Green Bay home. The railroad history, as seen through locomotives, rail cars and exhibits, is fascinating. Highlights include the world’s largest steam locomotive known as “Big Boy” and the railcar in which Allied commander Dwight D. Eisenhower planned strategy during World War II. Visitors can also learn about the history of the railroading Pullman porters and their link to the civil rights movement. There is plenty of room in the museum for meetings, events and other activities to take place in the midst of all the railroad history. For some old-fashioned fun, locals and out-of-towners love to visit Bay Beach Amusement Park. Incredibly, the park is in its 127th season. The big attraction this year is the new 100-foot-tall Ferris wheel, nicknamed the Big Wheel. It’s twice as tall as the old one. The new attraction offers uncommon views of the city and bay from 20 gondolas. There’s a wooden roller coaster called the Zippin Pippin that was built from the same plans as Elvis Presley’s favorite coaster in Memphis, Tennessee. There are also a giant slide, a tilt-a-whirl and concessions. Admission is free. Ride tickets are priced incredibly low. The iconic park is within walking distance of the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary and numerous walking and bike-riding trails. Local beer and cheese are mainstays of life in Green Bay. Two interesting breweries welcome football fans and other visitors. The Titletown Brewing Company and Badger State Brewing both offer a wide variety of local seasonal beer with clever names and many fun spaces where individuals or groups can consume them. The CVB’s Ulatowski is confident that planners will be surprised by the variety available in Green Bay. “We have a wonderful convention package and great hotel facilities,” she said. “We’re a safe and affordable community compared to many places and offer amenities you usually only find in larger cities.”
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Your meeting will be so
you’ll be tempted to wear the cheesehead home!
We’ll see you
September 24-26
at the Small Market Meetings Conference Sign up now for pre and post FAMs! Call Beth to reserve your spot 888.867.3342
www.MeetInGreenBay.com
MANAGING
A Different Dine-Around TRY THESE STRATEGIES FOR YOUR NEXT MEETING MEAL EVENT
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BY RACHEL CARTER
ine-arounds are a longtime staple and a trusty standby for meeting planners who have to feed a crowd, and dine-arounds are “as popular as ever,” said Amanda Kliem, director of sales for Visit Newport Beach. Compared with taking attendees off property to a large event, the dine-around option is a more intimate way for groups to engage, not only with each other but also with the host destination. A smaller group size allows attendees to connect with one another on a deeper level and also “allows groups to dine like the locals,” Kliem said. But are dine-arounds “done-arounds”? It can be easy to fall into the rut of finding a handful of regular ol’ restaurants and eating at one of those and calling it dinner. But it doesn’t have to be that way. From interesting locations to local flavors, there are many creative ways to differentiate a dine-around.
“We know that attendees want to experience the local food scene, and [a dine-around] provides a cost-effective way for planners to incorporate it into events.”
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Most cities have certain neighborhoods that work well for dine-arounds. Many times, that’s downtown, where a plethora of restaurants can be found in a concentrated area, which minimizes transportation needs. Indianapolis offers more than 250 dining options within walking distance of hotels and the Indiana Convention Center, which makes dinearounds easy to coordinate. Limited transportation needs ease logistics planning, and a variety of cuisine options appeals to participants’ palates and wallets, said Lisa Wallace, associate director of convention marketing for Visit Indy. In Indianapolis’ downtown core, groups will find favorites like St. Elmo Steak House and its sister restaurant Harry and Izzy’s, and cultural districts like Mass Ave and Fountain Square. The East Bank District is Bossier City, Louisiana’s newest entertainment district; and recently, it became the city’s first open-container district. People can take their drinks with them — in nonglass containers — within the three-block area, which is anchored by a festival plaza. Planners can coordinate East Bank dinearounds to coincide with the farmers market, festivals and concerts, allowing attendees to eat, drink and enjoy free entertainment.
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Lisa Wallace ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, CONVENTION MARKETING Visit Indy Experience: 8 years
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“The dine-around option is a more intimate way for groups to engage with the host destination, and certainly, everyone enjoys having the opportunity to incorporate the flavor of the local lifestyle into the meeting.”
Nearby, Louisiana Boardwalk Outlets is an outdoor shopping center on the Bossier City side of the Red River that features several restaurants. In Newport Beach, California, Newport Harbor is “really the centerpiece of our destination,” Kliem said. The harbor is strictly dedicated to recreation and residential uses and is ringed by mansions and restaurants. Visit Newport Beach can connect planners with vendors of a fleet of Duffy boats. These small, covered electric boats offer banquette seating for eight to 10 people around a central table. Groups can enjoy a floating happy hour with cocktails and appetizers as Duffy boats ferry attendees to harbor-front restaurants for dinner.
BRING THE DINE-AROUND TO ATTENDEES Indianapolis is home to nearly 100 food trucks, and during large conventions, Visit Indy often arranges to have food trucks congregate along the outdoor event boardwalk just outside the Indiana Convention Center. “When events like Gen Con and National Future Farmers of America bring in more than 60,000 attendees, having food trucks to supplement our restaurant offerings delivers an enhanced attendee experience,” Wallace said. During MPI’s World Education Congress in Indianapolis in 2018, Visit Indy arranged a food truck lunch experience, where attendees could view the truck’s menus on the conference app.
LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL
Amanda Kliem DIRECTOR OF SALES Visit Newport Beach Experience: 26 years
June 2019
Dine-arounds can also highlight regional cuisine and allow attendees to sample food they can’t savor anywhere else. The Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau can reach out to appropriate partners to help highlight the city’s culture, “which, in Louisiana, is food,” said marketing associate Aly Velasquez. Dine-arounds can focus on restaurants where attendees will enjoy Louisiana-centric cuisine like gumbo, crawfish, and shrimp and grits. “Being Louisiana, food is one of the No. 1 things that visitors love to do,” she said, adding that many of the restaurants that are local or that feature Louisiana food are group-friendly. One of Lancaster, Pennsylvania’s claims to fame is the area’s smorgasbords. Smorgasbords are massive buffets with Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine, such as chicken pot pie, dried corn and shoofly pie. Discover Lancaster once arranged to bus groups of conference attendees to several different smorgasbords for dinner.
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MANAGING
FIND A THEME Planning dine-arounds in a concentrated area, whether that’s in downtown or at a shopping center, is convenient, but planning the night around a theme can mix it up. Newport Beach can help organize a celebrity-chef themed dine-around featuring Nancy Silverton’s Pizzeria Mozza, co-founded by Mario Batali; Rick Bayless’ Red O; and the city’s most recent addition, Nobu, namesake of legendary chef Nobu Matsuhisa. Planners can opt for a brewery-hopping dine-around at Shreveport-Bossier’s craft breweries. Great Raft Brewing usually has a food truck parked outside, Flying Heart Brewing and Pub sells artisan pizzas, and Red River Brewing Co.’s gastropub serves dishes like green chili poutine.
Aly Velasquez
MARKETING ASSOCIATE
Shreveport-Bossier Convention and Tourist Bureau Experience: 4 years
Where
Meets
BUSINESS
ADVENTURE
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www.smallmarketmeetings.com 877.775.5252
“Depending on the needs of the group and their interests, we can reach out to appropriate partners to see if there’s an opportunity to get discounts or to highlight the cultural aspects of the city.”
Themed dine-arounds can also feature international cuisine or experiential activities. Newport Beach’s Fashion Island shopping district has over 40 diverse restaurants, and Visit Newport Beach will work with Fashion Island to do a progressive dinearound with an international flair. Groups go in waves and have different courses at each restaurant. Also at Fashion Island, groups can do a scavenger hunt where they follow clues to figure out where they’re dining at the end of the game.
DISCOUNTS AND DEALS CVBs often help planners organize badge programs for conference attendees to get discounts or claim offers at participating restaurants. In 2017, the Shreveport-Bossier CTB organized a restaurant week for Alpha Kappa Alpha’s 85th annual South Central Regional Conference. It was similar in concept to a dine-around, but instead of one night, it lasted the full week of the conference. The CTB facilitated $10 lunch deals and $20 dinner specials at downtown restaurants during the week, and the event went so well “that it actually launched our 318 Restaurant Week,” Velasquez said.
Gatlinburg is nestled in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Our quaint town is filled with everything a meeting planner needs for a successful event: beautiful well-equipped meeting facilities, a wide variety of sleeping accommodations, hundreds of shops and restaurants, along with attractions of every age interest. All in an accessible, walkable destination. The Gatlinburg Convention Center The Gatlinburg Convention Center has 148,000 square feet of flexible meeting space that is comprised of exhibit halls, a ballroom, an auditorium, executive boardroom and 16 meeting rooms. The exhibit hall(s) has a total of 66,910 square feet and is divisible by three sections and is column free. The Tennessee Ballroom is 17,064 square feet and is divisible by four sections. The Mills Auditorium is 8,800 square feet and has a built-in stage. Sleeping Accommodations Meetings in Gatlinburg are enhanced by the wide variety of accommodation options. Gatlinburg offers 10,000+ sleeping rooms (4,000+ in close proximity to the convention center), including full service and limited service hotels and motels, condominiums, chalets, cabins and campgrounds. No matter what your preference, Gatlinburg can accommodate your needs. Group Attendee Activities Gatlinburg provides an extensive array of options for your meeting attendees. Team building activities and outdoor experiences such as snow skiing, ziplining, fishing, white water rafting, hiking, horseback riding and many additional options. The 18-hole Gatlinburg Golf Course is acclaimed as one of the most picturesque courses in America with breathtaking views of the Great Smoky Mountains.
To experience extraordinary gatherings, call GCVB Sales Department 865-436-2392 | sales@gatlinburg.com | meetings.gatlinburg.com
June 2019
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IDEAS
Courtesy KICC
INVESTING AND INNOVATING Big changes are underway at these convention centers
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BY RACHEL CARTER
hen people describe a convention center as a “concrete fortress” or a “county jail,” or when outdated arenas and auditoriums no longer serve the needs of conferences and conventions, it’s time to update. Whether it’s adding new space or renovating existing space, doing a simple refresh or a total reconfiguration, these convention centers are looking to the future and looking to better serve their communities and clients.
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KENTUCKY INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY The Kentucky International Convention Center (KICC) in downtown Louisville closed in August 2016 for a $207 million renovation. When it reopened in August 2018, it was practically a new building, and it provides a new experience. “Before, it was sort of like a concrete fortress; you couldn’t see in the building,” said Rosanne Mastin, marketing communications manager for Louisville Tourism. “Now it’s all windows and glass, tons of natural light. Folks outside can see in, and folks inside can see out and see the vibrancy of downtown.” KICC now has more than 200,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space, up from 150,000 square feet before the renovation, which has “increased the amount of meetings our city is able to go after by 25%,” Mastin said. “We were sort of topped out on some groups because they were just too big, and we couldn’t accommodate them.” For example, Sweet Adelines International is bringing its 10,000-person convention and competition to Louisville in 2020.
The Kentucky International Convention Center reopened in Louisville last summer after a twoyear, $207 million renovation.
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KICC now also has 52 meeting rooms and features a 40,000-square-foot ballroom that can be divided into five smaller spaces. The KICC renovation was done alongside downtown’s booming hotel development. The 612-room Omni Louisville Hotel opened in March 2018 and connects by skywalk to KICC. The AAA four-diamond property has 70,000 square feet of meeting space, two full-service restaurants, a rooftop poolside cafe, a lobby lounge and a speakeasy with bowling lanes. It also houses Falls City Market, an emporium of eateries and shops. kyconvention.com
"It’s all windows and glass, tons of natural light. Folks outside can see in, and folks inside can see out and see the vibrancy of downtown.” —Rosanne Mastin, Louisville Tourism
BOISE CENTRE
BOISE, IDAHO The Boise Centre in Boise, Idaho, is still fresh from its recent renovation, and the renovation is still boosting Boise’s meetings market. The multiphase expansion began in 2014 and was completed in July 2017. Before the renovation, the center had 50,000 square feet of event space with 18 total rooms, said communications manager Mary-Michael Rodgers. Now, it offers 31 flexible meeting rooms and event spaces totaling over 80,000 square feet. The expansion added 36,000 square feet in a new wing, aka Boise East, but also made the original building, or Boise West, more usable. A tiered 349-seat auditorium “was beautiful, but it was the least-used space in the building,” Rodgers said. The auditorium was demolished and transformed into two levels. Now, a new junior ballroom sits off the main lobby on the first level, and roll-up doors connect the spaces. A 60-person executive conference room with an attached terrace was added on the second level.
A new facade and renovated interiors at the Boise Centre
June 2019
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IDEAS
The center “became more event-friendly and adaptable to maximize every space we could,” Rodgers said. And it has allowed the city to retain existing regional conventions that were outgrowing the space, like the Botanical Society of America, which will return in 2021; and it will also attract new events, like the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents, which will meet in Boise for the first time in 2020. The project is also part of downtown Boise’s boom. In two years, the area has gone from 692 hotel rooms to over 1,273 hotel rooms, and another hotel is slated to open in 2019. boisecentre.com
COX BUSINESS CENTER
TULSA, OKLAHOMA The Cox Business Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is getting a makeover, both the building and the brand, and the renovated center will play an important role in the city’s efforts to create a downtown arena district. Construction at the Cox began in July 2018 and should be complete in August 2020, but the convention center will stay open the entire time. Meanwhile, the center’s rebrand will be revealed this summer.
A RENDERING OF THE COMING RENOVATIONS AT COX BUSINESS CENTER Courtesy Cox Business Center
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Manhaan MEET IN
Manhattan exceeds your expectations. • Unique dining
• Exceptional meeting venues
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There are two major pieces of the project: converting the 8,000-seat arena and renovating the east entrance. The arena will be transformed into a 41,470-square-foot carpeted, column-free, divisible event hall, bumping available exhibit space to more than 174,000 square feet and providing more options for meetings and conventions. The Cox was limited in how it could use its fixed-seat arena. Meanwhile, its sister venue, the BOK Center, offers 19,000 seats across the street. “We’re getting rid of 8,000 seats, but we can hook our clients up with a 19,000-seat arena,” said communications manager Holly Beal. The renovated east entrance will “give us a true front door, which we haven’t had,” she said. A three-story open glass atrium will provide 14,000 square feet of prefunction space and will include a bus drop-off and valet area. A plaza will also connect the center to the edge of downtown, where city officials are focused on creating an arena district; they are also pushing for a convention hotel. “We’re hoping people look at Tulsa as this true destination with the creation of the arena district,” she said. coxcentertulsa.com
Downtown Views. Uptown Service. Centrally located in vibrant downtown Boise, the newly expanded Boise Centre has a variety of customizable meeting spaces, modern amenities, exceptional culinary services and a warm and hospitable staff ready to make your next meeting an unforgettable experience.
June 2019
OREGON CONVENTION CENTER
PORTLAND, OREGON A refresh and renovation of the Oregon Convention Center in Portland began in August and should be complete by October. The center is getting a facelift not only to update the space, but also to keep up with the neighbors. New hotel inventory is set to increase by 40% in Portland over the next two years, and a new headquarter hotel, the 600-room Hyatt Regency Portland at the Oregon Convention Center, will open across the street in 2020. “We felt it was necessary to complement that new inventory,” said Cindy Wallace, director of sales and marketing. The interior refresh features natural elements like wood, lichen-inspired carpet and forest-canopy ceilings. “The idea is to offer this natural space and this nice backdrop so events pop and [to] offer gathering spaces for our guests,” Wallace said. Work also includes reconstruction of the exterior plaza on the northeastern corner, which was a mishmash of levels and stairs and ramps. Crews will eliminate those obstacles and transform it into a safe, usable 30,000-square-foot plaza.
• Seven minutes from Boise airport • Over 20 direct flights • Nine hotels within walking distance • Downtown Location • Close to outdoor recreation LEARN MORE:
boisecentre.com
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IDEAS
The addition of a level-one connector is “something we’re really proud of,” Wallace said. The center is built on a grade, and before, guests had to take a series of escalators to get from one end to the other. Now, they can use an interior corridor that connects the southern and northern ends, “which is a great story about accessibility and accommodations,” she said. oregoncc.org
A NEW INTERIOR AT THE OREGON CONVENTION CENTER
CHARLESTON COLISEUM AND CONVENTION CENTER
CHARLESTON, WEST VIRGINIA The recent renovation and expansion of the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center in Charleston, West Virginia, was a long time coming. The center was built in 1958, a spectator arena was added in 1980, and the ice rink in the west hall was converted into exhibit space in 1980, creating 50,000 square feet of unobstructed exhibit area. But nothing had been done at the center since then — that is, until 2015, when work began on the $100 million, 146,000-square-foot expansion.
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Courtesy Oregon Convention Center
www.smallmarketmeetings.com
More than enough column-free space NOW THAT'S AN EDGE Whatever your vision, you’ll find the perfect space for it in Chicago Northwest. From amenity-rich meeting rooms to the 100,000 square foot Schaumburg Convention Center, which can handle the most elaborate trade show displays. Accessible. Affordable. Remarkably enjoyable. And so close to O’Hare and downtown Chicago.
Give yourself an edge at ChicagoNorthwest.com. Over 1,000 Daily Direct Flights | 10,000+ Hotel Rooms | Over 400 Restaurants
Good events make good memories and there’s no better Midwest venue than Grand Wayne Convention Center in downtown Fort Wayne, Indiana, as the backdrop for your story. INSIDE: 225,000 square feet of fully carpeted, beautifully appointed, versatile space | OUTSIDE: 3 full-service, adjacent hotels and a million amazing experiences! Let’s create
Most of the work focused on the convention center with the addition of a 25,000-square-foot ballroom. The space can be broken into five smaller rooms and connects to a glass atrium and an outdoor terrace overlooking the Elk River. The project also added eight new meeting rooms and built a new lobby for the coliseum that is separate from the convention center lobby, allowing for separate events to happen simultaneously. Renovations also included new furniture, carpet and artwork, as well as behind-the-scenes updates like automated lighting and climate control, more Wi-Fi bandwidth and technical upgrades at the coliseum. The center, which hosts 400 individual events annually, stayed open during the entire project and celebrated the end of renovations with a ribbon-cutting in October. chaswvccc.com
THE UPDATED CHARLESTON COLISEUM AND CONVENTION CENTER Courtesy Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center
Most of the work focused on the convention center with the addition of a 25,000-square-foot ballroom. The space can be broken into five smaller rooms and connects to a glass atrium and an outdoor terrace overlooking the Elk River.
grandwayne.com • 260.426.4100 24
The Midwest’s Favorite Drive-To Destination! Easy by Air via Fort Wayne International (FWA).
www.smallmarketmeetings.com
d l O tes i r o v Fa
IN NEW HAVEN Established in 1701, Yale University brings a stately presence to meetings in New Haven. By Michael Marsland, courtesy Yale University
CITY
Yale University is among many distinctive venues in this Connecticut city
H
BY ELIZABETH HEY
ome to Yale University and the epicenter of southern New England, New Haven, Connecticut, has a vibe that attracts both business and leisure travelers. Yale has helped facilitate an impressive urban renaissance intermingled with the city’s rich history and vibrant art scene. From celebrated institutions to up-and-coming restaurants, New Haven successfully blends urban sophistication with historic New England charm that attracts approximately a million visitors per year.
NEW HAVEN AT A GLANCE
LOCATION: South central Connecticut ACCESS: Tweed New Haven Regional Airport; Union Station New Haven; interstates 91 and 95; Hartford’s Bradley International Airport HOTEL ROOMS: 1,498 (6,400 in the greater area) CONTACT INFO: Visit New Haven 203-777-8550 visitnewhaven.com YALE UNIVERSITY ESTABLISHED: 1701, most recent addition 2018 EXHIBIT SPACE: Over 100,000 square feet OTHER MEETING SPACES: 200 buildings across more than 20 city blocks MEETING HOTELS Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale GUESTROOMS: 306 MEETING SPACE: 22,000 square feet Study at Yale GUESTROOMS: 124 MEETING SPACE: 3,000 square feet Blake Hotel GUESTROOMS: 108 MEETING SPACE: 4,700 square feet WHO’S MEETING IN NEW HAVEN Association of College and University Printers ATTENDEES: 190 Institute of Transportation Engineers Northeast District Annual Meeting ATTENDEES: 2,000 Global Health and Innovation Conference ATTENDEES: 275
June 2019
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Destination Highlights
T
he Greater New Haven region, which encompasses 15 towns, including the city of New Haven, offers the best of chic city life and small, friendly communities. On Long Island Sound, New Haven proper lies 70 miles north of New York City and 140 miles south of Boston. Geographically, New Haven is best known for its large, deep harbor and two red "trap rock" ridges on its northern and western borders. Perhaps the city’s most notable fixture is illustrious Yale University. Since its founding in 1701, the university has educated many of the world's greatest minds and political figures. A highlight of any visit to New Haven, Yale offers walking tours of its impressive campus filled with buildings whose architectural styles range from Gothic Revival to Modernism. “Attendees will find New Haven easily walkable because our downtown is nine square blocks,” said Sarah Washburn, tourism manager at Visit New Haven. “Yale University’s open campus is intertwined throughout the city.” Hillhouse Avenue was lauded by Charles Dickens and Mark Twain as “the most beautiful street in America.” Galleries showcase painting, pottery, sculpture and jewelry created by local artists. The Madison Sculpture Mile and downloadable art tours of both the city and Yale University invite walkers to view the prolific artwork. For evening entertainment, New Haven has theater districts, jazzy nightclubs and bars. Your group can catch a Broadway show at the historic Shubert Theatre. The Yale Repertory Theatre and the Long Wharf Theatre also produce award-winning plays featuring current stars as well as up-and-coming actors. The College Street Music Hall, a local hot spot, hosts a variety of music, comedy shows and live simulcasts.
Downtown New Haven Courtesy FullSend Productions
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DESTINATION HIGHLIGHTS
MAJOR MEETING SPACES
Yale University By Jack Devlin, courtesy Yale University
Major Meeting Spaces
F
or more than 250 years, Yale University’s tree-lined campus has housed “a company of scholars and a society of friends.” The expansive campus spans more than 200 buildings across more than 20 city blocks of downtown, for a total of more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space. During the summer, Yale University can house groups of from 10 to 2,500 guests. Yale Conferences and Events offers a wide range of creative, administrative and logistical services to facilitate the execution of your group’s program, conference or event through every step of planning and implementation. “In the last decade, Yale University has opened their doors to the meeting world, and it’s a huge draw,” said Washburn. “Their greatest capacity is during June and July, and several recently built dorms offer rooms that resemble miniapartments.” Two blocks from Yale University, the Omni New Haven Hotel at Yale overlooks New Haven Green. This New England-style property sits close to downtown museums, restaurants and shopping. The Omni features 306 elegant guest rooms and 19 meeting rooms with more than 22,000 square feet of function space, including the 9,200-square-foot Grand Ballroom. The hotel’s premier 19th-floor restaurant, John Davenport’s, offers spectacular views of New Haven. A striking example of New Haven's sophisticated resurgence, the Study at Yale offers 124 guest rooms and cutting-edge technology. Choices for events at this trendy boutique hotel include 3,000 square feet of meeting space and a 1,200-square-foot penthouse that lends itself to small banquets and receptions.
www.smallmarketmeetings.com
Distinctive Venues
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or a less traditional meeting experience, a number of unique venues can be found on New Haven's historic streets. The stately New Haven Museum offers a historic backdrop for events, from small meetings to catered receptions in several spaces, including a 1,313-square-foot auditorium. In the heart of New Haven, the majestic Shubert Theatre offers two stunning lobbies and seating for 1,587 people. Directly across the street, the College Street Music Hall offers theater seating for 2,000 and flex space for either table seating or a reception in this historic landmark. The newly built Canal Dock Boathouse pays homage to New Haven’s rich boating history while offering panoramic harbor views in its varied event spaces. The main event hall is just over 3,600 square feet, and the Adee Room is almost 1,300 square feet. Both rooms offer direct access to a large outdoor balcony with expansive views of New Haven Harbor and Long Island Sound; outside catering is available. In addition, the facility offers opportunities to learn to kayak and row. New Haven has fostered a dynamic food-truck scene. Trucks can be hired to serve your meeting and select venues citywide. Catering services are wide-ranging and include barbecue, pizza, laid-back luncheon buffets and gourmet dinners.
AFTER HOURS
Yale University Art Gallery By Elizabeth Felicella, courtesy Yale University
After the Meeting
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DESTINATION HIGHLIGHTS
June 2019
Autumn in New Haven Courtesy Visit New Haven
ttendees often take advantage of Yale’s free educational museums. At Yale University Art Gallery, more than 500,000 works from some of history’s most well-known artists are exhibited on a rotating basis. The Yale Center’s British Art collection is the most comprehensive collection of its kind outside the United Kingdom. New Haven boasts several unusual tours. Quite popular are the Taste of New Haven walking tours and the Elm City Party Bike tour. Both feature New Haven eateries and hot spots for an entertaining and interactive diversion. Nightlife begins with a taste of the city's remarkable restaurant scene. From clam shacks and fresh-seafood eateries along the shore to fine-dining establishments that fill downtown, New Haven's restaurants number surprisingly high for a city of its size. For casual dining, the city’s Little Italy boasts renowned New Haven-style “apizza,” a Neapolitan-influenced pizza with a thin, crisp crust and a chewy inside. The Overshores Brewery Company, Connecticut's only Belgian-style brewery, serves a noteworthy selection of craft beer and offers free tours. Just outside New Haven proper, attendees can enjoy the Connecticut shoreline. Seasonal activities, wide beaches and lovely vineyards make fine spots for events or day trips. In summer months, the ever-popular Thimble Island Cruises accommodates 48 passengers on a 45-minute tour of the Thimble Islands while Captain Bob recounts the area’s pirate legends. Two-hour charters with outside catering can be arranged.
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TOWN
SCENIC
m e l Sa
OREGON
S
BY REBECCA TREON
alem, Oregon, lies between hipster havens Portland and Eugene, but it’s not trying to compete. The capital city has a walkable downtown area with a waterfront park and a vibrant arts and farmers market scene, and it’s located in Willamette Valley in the heart of Oregon wine country. Just an hour south of Portland, the city is easy to reach. A dynamic convention center is just one reason it works well for groups, not to mention a handful of unusual venues and attractions. Photos courtesy Travel Salem People don’t have to venture far from Salem to discover some of OreBy Ron Cooper gon’s most scenic wilderness. Two state parks — Willamette Mission State Park and Silver Falls State Park — draw active visitors year-round with the state’s mild weather. Hiking, cycling, birding, fishing and kayaking are all popular recreational activities, but the downtown area has plenty to draw people, too. Shopping, Riverfront Park, and theater and cultural activities abound, plus there’s a vibrant dining scene focused on farm-to-table food, local wine and craft beer, and locally roasted coffee. “Salem is an ideal location for small to midsize events and conventions,” said Debbie McCune, director of sales for Travel Salem. “It’s easily accessible off a major interstate, friendly and laid-back, along with beautiful scenery and lively cultural offerings. In addition, because we are a smaller market, we can offer the kind of personalized service that meeting planners will appreciate.” Travel Salem, the city’s tourism board, has partnered with the convention center to arrange tours — both within and outside the city — for groups, whether their interests be tulip farms, state parks or wine country.
SALEM CONVENTION CENTER
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www.smallmarketmeetings.com
Convention Center
The Salem Convention Center hosts many of Salem’s meetings and events, from weddings and social events to workshops and expos. It offers planners 14 different meeting and conference rooms that can be configured in any way, from theater to banquet, for a total of 30,000 square feet. The award-winning complex has been LEED-certified since 2011 and includes the adjacent 193-room luxury Grand Hotel. The Willamette River Room can accommodate up to 1,500 guests, and the Pringle Creek Room, at 900 square feet, is for smaller groups of up to 80 people. On-site venues include private dining rooms inside Bentley’s, an upscale restaurant.
Unique Meeting Venues
A GOLD STATUE STANDS ATOP THE OREGON CAPITOL OVERLOOKING SCENIC SALEM. Photos courtesy Travel Salem By Ron Cooper
SALEM OREGON LOCATION
Center of Oregon’s Willamette Valley
ACCESS BALTIMORE
Interstate 5, Portland International Airport, Amtrak Cascades
MAJOR MEETING SPACES
Salem Oregon Convention Center and the Grand Hotel
HOTEL ROOMS 2,140
The Willamette Heritage Center features 14 historic homes and buildings that offer multiple unique meeting spaces for groups of 50 to 400 people. Chemeketa Community College’s student-run winery, Chemeketa Cellars, has a modern design and majestic valley views, making it a popular venue for private events. The Salvation Army Kroc Corps Community Center has five meeting and banquet rooms that can be used separately or opened into one 4,000-square-foot space. In addition, there is a chapel/theater for 288 and an outdoor amphitheater that seats 250.
Major Meeting Hotels
The Salem Convention Center and the Grand Hotel host Salem’s largegroup events; in addition, several other area hotels are suited for smaller groups. The Holiday Inn Salem has four meeting rooms with a total of 10,000 square feet that can be arranged for boardroom, classroom, banquet or theater-style setups. The Days Inn by Wyndham Black Bear features three meeting rooms and 3,000 square feet of meeting space that can accommodate up to 175 guests. Best Western Plus Mill Creek Inn, at the intersection of Interstate 5 and Highway 22, can accommodate up to 160 for a meeting.
OFF-SITE VENUES
Oregon Garden Resort, Chemeketa Cellars, Willamette Heritage Center, Pringle Creek Community Center, Salem Salvation Army Kroc Center
CONTACT INFO Travel Salem 503-581-4235 travelsalem.com
June 2019
Postmeeting Activities Salem’s park system is interconnected, with more than 20 miles of off-street trails that comprise more acreage than New York City’s Central Park. On the Willamette University campus, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art features a permanent collection of more than 6,000 artifacts, as well as temporary exhibitions. Willamette Valley is one of the world’s premier wine destinations, and Salem is a perfect base to explore the area’s picturesque views and pinot noirs.
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HOTEL
Meetings at the Marcum
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BY KRISTY ALPERT
nyone who has watched the sun set behind the Miami University Sundial or walked the trails of the Formal Gardens as the tulips are coming into full bloom would likely agree with poet Robert Frost, who once described this Oxford, Ohio, university as “the most beautiful campus ever there was.” Named after the Native American tribe who once lived in the Miami Valley region of Ohio, the university was founded in 1809 and has grown over the years to include more than 2,000 acres of manicured grounds and stunning architecture with eight buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The university has nearly 18,000 undergraduates and a thriving Greek life; five social Greek-letter organizations were founded on the campus. But it wasn’t until 1981 that the university became home to its first and only on-campus hotel: the Marcum Hotel and Conference Center. The hotel was funded entirely by private donations and features brass plaques throughout the expansive property that honor the donors. Built as a replica of the Wren building on the campus of William and Mary in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, the Marcum Hotel is a beautiful option for guests that want to stay on campus. It’s also a fantastic choice for on-site meetings, with more than 10,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. The hotel was renovated in 2012 to feature 55 rooms of varying sizes, as well as a complimentary continental breakfast buffet for overnight guests, a lobby bar with local artisanal spirits and unusual wines, and access to a state-of-the-art fitness center in proximity to numerous trails. The hotel is within walking distance to all university facilities and just a short walk to uptown Oxford, making it easy for guests to get around once on campus because of its central location. The hotel has become a favorite for family, alumni and even businesses, who use it for conferences, training events, retreats, meetings, banquets, receptions, reunions, weddings and more.
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THE MARCUM HOTEL AND CONFERENCE CENTER SITS ON CAMPUS AT THE MIAMI UNIVERSITY CAMPUS IN OXFORD. Photos courtesy Marcum Hotel Photos courtesy Chattanooga Choo Choo
A MEETING ROOM IN THE CONFERENCE CENTER AT THE MARCUM
www.smallmarketmeetings.com
M E E T I N G S PAC E S Most of the meeting spaces at the Marcum Hotel and Conference Center are on the first floor, and many can be combined to accommodate larger gatherings. Spaces include Rooms 108-110 for up to 120 guests combined; Room 112, for up to 75 guests; Room 124, for up to 15 guests; Room 126, for up to six guests; Room 154, for up to 85 guests; Room 158, for up to 120 guests;, Rooms 154158, for up to 275 guests combined; Rooms 180, 184 and 186, for up to 250 guests combined; Rooms 180-184, for up to 130 guests combined; Rooms 184-186, for up to 200 guests combined; Room 180, for up to 36 guests; Room 184, for up to 80 guests; and Room 186, for up to 120 guests.
C AT E R I N G Miami Catering, the exclusive catering team for the Marcum Hotel and Conference Center, is composed of graduates from some of the top-rated culinary schools around the country. The team can handle groups of any size and customize menus for any time of the day, whether it’s a casual lunch or a formal dinner or reception. Vegetarian options are available for breakfast, lunch and dinner; favorite dinner items include mushroom ravioli with Gorgonzola cream sauce or cheese enchiladas on the Southwestern buffet option. A selection of wine and beer is available for sale at the guest services desk, and full bar service can be added to any catered event.
EXTRAS
HOTEL FACTS LOCATION Oxford, Ohio
SIZE
55 guest rooms and suites
MEETING SPACE
More than 10,000 square feet
ACCESS
Northwest of Cincinnati in Oxford on Ohio Route 27
CONTACT INFO
513-529-6911 miamioh.edu/campus-services/ marcum
June 2019
Aside from audiovisual equipment and meeting supplies, the meetings team at the Marcum Hotel and Conference Center specializes in creating team-building activities for groups that include everything from ropes courses and escape rooms to fitness class options. Their Outdoor Pursuit Offerings take groups outside to solve problems together in a risk-free, natural environment in Miami University’s Natural Areas. The team also offers team-building events with food, including a fire chili cook-off, a Farm to Fork experience and a recipe challenge that promotes communication and teamwork. Groups work together to follow a simple recipe, with a few tricks and challenges to solve along the way.
BEFORE AND AFTER On-site amenities at the Marcum Hotel and Conference Center include access to the Miami University Recreational Sports Facility on campus, an outdoor gazebo that is also available to rent and a vibrant lobby bar. Guests of the hotel also have unlimited access to more than 17 miles of walking and hiking trails. Guests can enjoy the Conrad Formal Gardens adjacent to the hotel or head indoors to the five museums and two galleries on campus. Self-guided walking tours of the campus are available online or at the front desk, and nearby Uptown Oxford is easy to navigate without a map.
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VENUE
THE BUTTERFLY CENTER AT CALLAWAY GARDENS IS ONE OF THE LARGEST IN NORTH AMERICA. Photos courtesy Callaway Gardens
PICNIC PERFECT
I
t was a beautiful sunny day in 1928 when Cason J. Callaway and his wife, Virginia, decided to take a break from their hectic city lives and venture out to the countryside with their friends for a leisurely picnic near Blue Springs in Harris County, Georgia. The landscape enchanted Callaway and Virginia so much that two years later, they purchased 2,500 acres in Harris County on which they would soon make their home. For nearly two decades, the family settled and cultivated the land, only to realize that their love for the property was quickly outgrowing their private acreage. They decided the property was just too beautiful for one family to enjoy. So in 1940, they began work turning their pastoral retreat into a public garden. Set in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, the Calloway Resort and Gardens opened to the public in 1952 and has welcomed millions of visitors to the manicured grounds since its inception. The garden’s mission has remained the same since it was founded, dedicated “to connect man and nature in a way that benefits both.”
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BY KRISTY ALPERT
Guests now have access to numerous hiking and biking trails along the 2,500 acres of beautiful gardens and lakes of the Callaway Resort and Gardens. The property also includes four types of accommodations, more than a dozen options for dining and the gorgeous grounds of the gardens themselves. Visitors can start at the Discovery Center before making their way to the Cecil B. Day Butterfly Center, where more than 1,000 butterflies make this butterfly conservatory one of North America’s largest. Azaleas make up a good portion of the gardens, but there is also have a dedicated Azalea Garden and Azalea Bowl on the property, where walking paths allow guests to meander through the colorful blooms. The Calloway Gardens are owned and operated by a not-for-profit organization, so groups meeting within the grounds are able to directly support the growth of the gardens and their future by simply showing up and exploring.
www.smallmarketmeetings.com
M E E T I N G S PA C E S The 12 venues at Callaway Resort and Gardens are wide-ranging, with elegant ballrooms and meeting rooms, flourishing outdoor spaces and scenic lakeside viewing points. Spaces include the Longleaf Ballroom, for up to 1,000 guests; the Loblolly Ballroom for up to 600 guests;
the Cypress Conference Room for up to 200 guests; the four Sourwood Breakout Rooms, for up to 60 guests each; the Sourwood Boardroom, for up to 20 guests; and the four Bayberry Breakout Rooms, for up to 60 guests each. Outdoor spaces are also available for rent.
C AT E R I N G The team of chefs and catering staff at the Callaway Resort and Gardens has catered countless events over the years, specializing in customized banquet menus that feature locally and regionally produced foods. The team welcomed a new award-winning chef in May who has added a signature touch to a series
of new menus that include break, breakfast/brunch, lunch, reception, dinner and beverage menus. Each of the new menus showcases the craft and quality from the local fishermen, farmers and artisans of the South. Alcohol is allowed and available for events and meetings at the gardens.
EXTRAS A RECEPTION AT THE SKI PAVILION OVERLOOKING ROBIN LAKE
V E N U E FA C T S AN EVENT IN ONE OF CALLAWAY GARDENS’ 12 MEETING SPACES
CALLAWAY GARDENS
Aside from complimentary entrance to the gardens, which includes regular shows and events each week, meeting groups can also book a range of interactive experiences for an additional cost, like the Sangria Mixer, which is a cross between a scavenger hunt and charades. Other team-building activities include the TreeTop Adventure zip-line course, the
Photo Rally photo scavenger hunt, the Ropes Course challenge and a number of other activities such as sports, cultural exhibits and shopping. The events team can arrange for boating excursions for groups and even guided fishing trips; also available are off-site excursions like a class in herbal vinegar-making or a container gardening session.
LOCATION
Pine Mountain, Georgia
SEASONAL FUN
TYPE OF VENUE Off-site, Garden
CAPACITY
More than 1,000 guests
NEARBY ACCOMMODATIONS The Lodge and Spa at Callaway
CONTACT INFO
844-512-3826 callawaygardens.com
June 2019
Callaway Gardens allows guests to connect with the great outdoors no matter the season. During their free time on property, guests are invited to take in the vibrant blossoms of spring on more than 2,500 acres that are marked with numerous hiking and bike trails and two world-class golf courses. Summer days are spent on the water,
where guests can try their hand at watersports on Robin Lake, which features the world’s largest man-made white sand beach. Fall getaways are filled with wildlife experiences, a relaxing day at the spa or a quiet day of fishing. Christmas at Callaway includes Fantasy in Lights, a National Geographic-acclaimed light display.
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California’s Outdoor Venues
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Meetdieng Gui
Courtesy Birch Aquarium
BY PAULA AVEN GLADYCH
ith its more than 280 days of sunshine and consistently warm and temperate weather, California is a great place to host outdoor events and meetings. Here are a handful of great outdoor venues that are sure to please even the pickiest of planners. BIRCH AQUARIUM AT SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY
La Jolla Along with being a research facility for the University of California at San Diego, Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography is a unique outdoor/indoor venue with stunning views of the Pacific Ocean. The aquarium takes the university’s research on ocean and earth science and translates it into fun exhibits that resonate with people of all ages. It is renowned for its sea horse and sea dragon exhibit, and visitors get a true California experience when they interact with the outdoor tidal pool exhibit that features sea stars, sea cucumbers and hermit crabs. Meeting planners take over the aquarium for their events, meaning
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GROUPS CAN HAVE EVENTS OVERLOOKING THE STUNNING LA JOLLA COAST AT THE BIRCH AQUARIUM AT SCRIPPS INSTITUTION OF OCEANOGRAPHY.
they can host a dinner inside next to one of the exhibits but host cocktails on the Tide Pool Plaza. Its Ocean Discovery or Shark Discovery programs offer guests an opportunity to observe, touch and ask questions about the ocean. “People can interact with animals,” said Ioanna Vladescu, director of special events and group sales for Birch Aquarium. “They have the opportunity to engage and explore so much more.” Volunteer docents can interact with guests or give tours of the different exhibits. Smaller groups can explore interactive exhibits and meet amazing animals face-to-face, including an octopus, a loggerhead sea turtle, leopard sharks, jellyfish and sea horses. They can also watch a 20-minute dive show in the 70,000-gallon kelp tank that features sharks and more than 200 other marine animals. “We are working right now to provide behind-thescene tour opportunities,” Vladescu said. “We’re excited about that. We also have scientific lectures or presentations based on subject matter the group might be interested in.” aquarium.ucsd.edu
www.smallmarketmeetings.com
BENZIGER FAMILY WINERY
Glen Ellen The Benziger Family Winery is nestled in the heart of California wine country. Unlike many wineries in the Sonoma Valley, Benziger doesn’t host weddings. Its event business is centered around corporate and social functions. Along with its wine cave, which can seat up to 130 people for lunches and dinners, the winery has a barn, with sliding doors on the side leading to a beautiful outdoor terrace. The barn can seat 100, but the Oak Terrace, named for the giant oak tree rising up from the middle of it, can seat 250. The winery uses biodynamic farming practices, meaning it doesn’t use pesticides. “Everything we take out of the earth, we put back into the earth,” said Jennifer Good, corporate event sales manager for the winery. Because of that, groups that hold events at the winery are invited to take a biodynamic tour of the area before their meal or activity. The tour takes guests around the vineyard and winemaking facilities, telling them about the area, the wine and the reasons behind the winery’s philosophy. The winery offers group team-building activities, including wine-blending competitions, where groups learn about how to make and blend wine. The groups are then split into teams to make their own wine, make a label and present their creation to the other participants. benziger.com
THE TERRACE AT BENZIGER FAMILY WINERY Courtesy Benziger Family Winery
SOUTH COAST BOTANIC GARDEN
Palos Verdes Peninsula Meeting planners that are hosting events at the South Coast Botanic Garden have their choice of exotic outdoor locations. Meetings can be hosted in a jungle setting, among the garden’s tropical palm collection, in Alpine Lane or in the rose garden. “It depends on the scenic backdrop you like and the size of your group,” said Lisa Wysocki, manager of special events and filming for the South Coast Botanic Garden. The gardens can host up to 1,000 people at a time. Events held indoors can also take advantage of the many beautiful outdoor spaces at the venue. One popular spot is the koi pond patio. It has plenty of shade, making it easier for meeting presenters to use computer presentations. “If you are meeting outdoors, you have to be mindful of the weather and environment,” said Wysocki. The upper meadow is a great spot for a company picnic or barbecue. It offers an acre of open space for food, games, activities, obstacle courses and team-building exercises. Many groups take tours of the garden or get out into nature on their own. Others hire yoga instructors to work with meeting attendees in the garden’s many outdoor spaces. Many conference planners like to hold their meetings indoors and then use the outdoor spaces for scavenger hunts or brainstorming sessions. The South Coast Botanic Garden is located just south of the Los Angeles airport and north of Long Beach. southcoastbotanicgarden.org
SOUTHCOAST BOTANIC GARDENS By Jessica Elizabeth, courtesy Southcoast Botanic Gardens
June 2019
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Meetieng Guid
RAYMOND 1886
THE RAYMOND 1886
Pasadena The Raymond 1886 started its life as the caretaker’s cottage for a grand hotel that burned to the ground in 1895. The owner of the hotel, Walter Raymond, rebounded, building an even grander hotel in its place, but he ended up losing it during the Great Depression. He and his family moved into the caretaker’s cottage, and the hotel was knocked down to pave the way for residential development. The current owners of the Raymond 1886 turned the Craftsman-style home into a unique handcrafted-cocktail bar and restaurant with three outdoor patios that double as event space. The main dining patio used to be an open-air patio surrounded by bougainvillea. Now, it is partially enclosed with dropdown shades and can be used for cocktail parties or dinner engagements 90% of the year. The south patio features a fireplace, and the wisteria patio is a small, romantic nook covered with wisteria. The Raymond can host events of up to 70 people, more if the event planners rent out the entire facility. The Raymond hosts corporate dinners, luncheons and spirit dinners, meals that are paired with a specific wine or cocktail. Guests come for the history and ambiance, but stay for the food and cocktails. The culinary program fits the building; it is rustic, warm and contemporary. The food is American but done with a twist. theraymond.com
Courtesy The Raymond 1886
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www.smallmarketmeetings.com
LA CASA DEL CAMINO
Laguna Beach La Casa del Camino was built in 1929 as a 37-room boutique hotel in Laguna Beach. It is now a historical landmark about 30 steps from the water. Meeting planners love to use the hotel’s existing restaurants and meeting spaces for the meeting portions of their events, and then adjourn to the Rooftop Lounge for cocktail parties or sit-down meals. The rooftop has amazing panoramic views of the ocean. “That is what brings the uniqueness in,” said Melissa Anderson, catering manager for La Casa del Camino. “It is not your standard stuffy ballroom. We are right in the heart of Laguna Beach, so there is more to do afterwards. If you want to go to more bars or go dancing, it is all within walking distance.” Overall, the hotel has 6,200 square feet of indoor and outdoor event space and can host corporate events of up to 120 people. Even the indoor meeting rooms bring the outdoors in, with big windows and lots of light. lacasadelcamino.com
THE ROOFTOP LOUNGE AT LA CASA DEL CAMINO Courtesy La Casa del Camino
June 2019
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THE DOUBLETREE BY HILTON BERKELEY OFFERS 18,000 SQUARE FEET OF MEETING SPACE ON BERKELEY MARINA.
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Meetdieng Gui
The home of the Free Speech Movement back in the 1960s, Berkeley is a funky, laid-back town about 15 minutes from both San Francisco and Oakland by BART train. “We are only 18 square miles. We are tiny but mighty,” said Nikole Halaka, director of sales for Visit Berkeley. “Our downtown is very urban, and we have great restaurants and a great art scene: performing arts, live music options and theater.” Berkeley is also walkable, and the University of California Berkeley
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Courtesy Visit Berkeley
BY PAULA AVEN GLADYCH
eeting planners don’t have to host their events in California’s bustling urban centers. Instead, they can consider these California suburbs that offer many of the urban amenities available in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento and San Diego, but in a more intimate and engaging environment. BERKELEY
California Suburbs
brings in people from all around the world. The largest convention hotel is the DoubleTree by Hilton Berkeley, which is close to Berkeley Marina and features 380 guest rooms and 18,000 square feet of meeting space. Two higher-end boutique hotels — Graduate Berkeley and Hotel Shattuck Plaza Berkeley — also catch a lot of the area’s convention and meeting business. The university can also host large events on campus and has a beautiful 10,000-squarefoot ballroom, which is one of the largest ballrooms in the East Bay Area. One of Berkeley’s most unusual off-site venues is the Berkeley City Club, a historic hotel and club built in 1929 and designed by Julia Morgan, a female architect who also designed Hearst Castle in San Simeon. In their free time, meeting attendees can take a walking food tour of North Shattuck and the Gourmet Ghetto, the so-called cradle of California cuisine or farm-to-table dining. The tour takes guests to different iconic spots in the neighborhood for bites of food and a taste of history. UC Berkeley also has a ropes course for team-building activities and offers tours of the historic public university. visitberkeley.com
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REDDING
Redding is an outdoor oasis surrounded by lakes, rivers and 50 waterfalls. The area isn’t as well known as some parts of California, but it is just as scenic and thrilling, playing host to some of the state’s lesser-known state and national parks. Lassen Volcanic National Park is about 40 minutes east of Redding and is home to an active volcano. It features geothermal wonders similar to those of Yellowstone National Park, without the geysers and with a fraction of the visitors, said T.J. Holmes, communications coordinator for the Redding Convention and Visitors Bureau. Whiskeytown National Recreation Area is also close by and offers easy access to four beautiful waterfalls. Meeting planners like Redding because it has 55,000 square feet of meeting space, 2,800 hotel rooms and 300 restaurants to choose from. Its top two meeting hotels — the Red Lion Hotel Redding and the Holiday Inn Hotel and Convention Center Redding — are next to each other, making it easy for larger conferences to be centrally located. The hotels are close to all of Redding’s main attractions, including Shasta Lake, the largest man-made lake in California; the Sundial Bridge; and downtown Redding. Conferencegoers love to include a two-hour catamaran cruise across Shasta Lake to the entrance of Lake Shasta Caverns. The cavern tour, which is only accessible by boat, is the area’s top attraction for meeting planners, Holmes said. visitredding.com
REDDING’S LAKE SHASTA CAVERNS Courtesy Redding CVB
IRVINE
In the bustling heart of California’s Orange County, Irvine is just 45 miles south of Los Angeles and 90 miles north of San Diego. It also offers easy access to Anaheim, home of Disneyland and Disney California Adventure theme parks. Irvine boasts 21 hotels with more than 4,700 sleeping rooms and 190,000 square feet of meeting space. The city can host meetings of up to 1,200 people. Its largest meeting hotels are the Hotel Irvine, the Irvine Marriott and the Wyndham Irvine-OC Airport. It also has some unique meeting venues, such as the Marconi Automotive Museum, Orange County Great Park and the Oak Creek Golf Club. Irvine’s claim to fame is that it is a leading technology and life science hub with more than 16,000 acres of preserved natural habitats and wildlands, with 54 miles of trails for hiking and biking. “We’re a great destination for meeting planners to come out and experience the area, and have their friends or family join them for a longer extended period of time,” said Wendy Haase, senior director for Destination Irvine. The city is a master-planned community, so it doesn’t have a downtown area. Instead, it has two retail and entertainment districts: the Irvine Spectrum Center on the south end of the city and the Diamond Jamboree. Because it has a large Asian population, Irvine is known for its variety of cuisines that originated in Asia’s Pacific Rim. destinationirvine.com A BANQUET AT MARRIOTT IRVINE Courtesy Destination Irvine
June 2019
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Meetieng Guid
DANA POINT
The birthplace of surf culture, Dana Point is a beautiful beach town about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego. It also is where the whale migration comes closest to the west coast of North America and a pod of 5,000 dolphins reside. Three major resort hotels make Dana Point an excellent spot for meetings and conferences: the Ritz Carlton Laguna Niguel, the Laguna Cliffs Marriott Resort and Spa, and the Monarch Beach Resort. With nearly 2,000 hotel rooms and 256,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting spaces, Dana Point has something for everyone, including 72 holes of golf within 10 miles of the town. Visit Dana Point works with meeting groups to set up itineraries for when their attendees have some downtime; they include highend shopping trips to Costa Mesa, whale-watching and sports-fishing adventures, surf and stand-up paddleboard lessons and a visit to Mission San Juan Capistrano, which was built in the 1700s. “That is the most cultural iconic place we have here,” said Jonny Westom, executive director for Visit Dana Point. “The other part of the culture is the nostalgia of surf culture. That resonates through the clothing people wear, the shoes they have on their feet, the way they speak and the way they provide customer service.” The Surf Heritage and Culture Center is another great off-site venue that has been called the Smithsonian of California surf culture. visitdanapoint.com
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CARLSBAD
Carlsbad wants meeting planners to know that it is not San Diego. “Some people still see it more as part of San Diego and not a destination in its own right,” said Tamara McGiboney, director of group sales for Visit Carlsbad. But the community has everything the larger city has to offer, including great resorts, nice beaches, diverse restaurants, golf courses and theme parks. Visitors to Carlsbad can play golf, spend time in Oceanside Harbor, take dinner or whale-watching cruises, visit the San Diego Safari Park or just enjoy seven miles of beaches. LegoLand, one of the most famous attractions in Carlsbad, offers VIP experiences for convention visitors, and many of the large U.S. golf manufacturers that have offices in Carlsbad — Titleist, Callaway and Taylor Made — will work with event planners to set up special experiences for their attendees. There are 29 hotels with more than 3,500 sleeping rooms in the area, and between them, they have about 370,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space. The Omni La Costa Resort and Spa is one of the largest golf and meeting resorts in Southern California, with more than 600 guest rooms and 50,000 square feet of meeting space. The Westin Carlsbad Resort and Spa has 75,000 square feet of meeting space and 377 guest rooms. Visit Carlsbad loves groups of up to 150 people. “Small meetings are the heart of our business,” McGiboney said. visitcarlsbad.com
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In the heart of Northern California, you’ll find an outdoor paradise in Redding. The Sacramento River runs through the city, which is surrounded by tree-lined mountains and boasts 300+ days of sunshine as the sunniest city in California. With no traffic, inspiring scenery and hassle-free accommodations, Redding sets the scene for a stress-free meeting or event. In addition to the endless outdoor meeting options, take advantage of over 55,000 total square feet of indoor meeting space and enjoy one of 2,000+ hotel rooms. Break away from normal, make Redding your next meeting destination.
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