VFW Booklet

An Option to Revitalize Your Convention - Choose Fort Wayne

Why Fort Wayne for Your Next Convention Presented By:

Visit Fort Wayne

Major Benefits of Meeting in Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne, Indiana has so much to offer conventions and meetings because of its newly expanded Grand Wayne Convention Center, two attached full-service hotels and nearby amenities including the Embassy Theatre, Parkview Field, Botanical Conservatory and many downtown dinig options too.

We can assist your group with arrangements including blocking hotel rooms at discounted rates, arrange for a baseball game for your attendees and set up pub crawls, dine arounds and family side trips too.

Please look through this booklet to learn more about how Fort Wayne is a great fit for your convention.

What You Need...

What Fort Wayne Can Offer...

Quality Hotels Close to Convention Center

Hilton Hotel (220 rooms) and Courtyard by Marriott (250 rooms) are attached.

High Quality Convention Center

Over 250,000 sq. ft., numerous break out rooms, all on one level!

Affordable Hotel Rates

Fort Wayne hotels on average are 15% lower than Indy hotel room rates.

Convenient Amenities

Enjoy 20 restaurants all within walking distance of convention center.

Take in a ball game at Parkview Field, -One of Minor League Baseball’s top stadiums .

Enjoy arts, zoo, festivals and more downtown entertainment for your attendees.

Message from Visit Fort Wayne Dear Tim and others, Thank you for considering Fort Wayne, Indiana for your future convention.

Fort Wayne has been an excellent choice for over a dozen associations and corporate meetings that have moved out of Indy in the past two years to meet in our city. Our new, upgraded convention center and adjoining facilities like new hotels, new ballpark, new parking garages, new restaurants and expanded festival park, downtown fairs and more are changing old traditions.

The Grand Wayne Convention Center has available dates in June 2014 or June 2016. However, the 2014 dates are going fast. We would need a decision fairly soon to secure these dates for your group’s convention. The year of 2016 is wide open at this point.

Fort Wayne has two hotels which are conveniently connected to our beautiful Grand Wayne Convention Center. Both the Hilton and Marriott hotels are full-service, first-class hotels that can offer discounted room rates, even some government rates too.

These hotels offer you two outstanding lodging options: 1. Hilton/Grand Wayne: The Hilton Fort Wayne at the Grand Wayne Convention Center has just completed a $3.9 million dollar renovation. The state-of-the-art Grand Wayne Convention Center offers more than 100,000 square feet of quality meeting space, along with award-winning customer service.

2. Courtyard by Marriott: Newly opened in 2010, this hotel offers 6,000 square feet of meeting space, with full-service catering and event technology.

Thank you for considering Fort Wayne.

Sincerely,

Dan O’Connell CEO/President Visit Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Fort Wayne, Indiana’s second-largest city, is home to over 250,000 residents. Fort Wayne’s facilities are firstrate, technology-advanced and fully adaptable to your unique needs.

Past meeting planners have been impressed by Fort Wayne’s ability to put on effective events. We offer a big city feel, with a small community atmosphere. Not to mention, Fort Wayne’s high quality and lower cost amenities, and cleanliness and friendliness of community, sets our city apart from our counterparts.

Accessible by major interstate highways and an international airport, it’s easy to see why Fort Wayne is one of the Midwest’s most central and convenient locations.

Fort Wayne’s convenient location makes us an ideal convention location.

“In preparation for our conference, the attention to detail was perfect, and during the meeting there was nothing for me to be concerned about. My group was delighted, and we look forward to the next time we can meet in Fort Wayne.”

— Bill Borne, Indiana Auditors’ Association

Facility Information Grand Wayne Convention Center

The Grand Wayne Convention Center features 80,000 square feet of fully carpeted, dedicated event space and 30,000 square feet of public areas, in addition to a sub-divisible 50,000 square foot multi-purpose Convention Hall. Consistent with the entire Center, it is fully carpeted, equipped with technologically advanced sound and lighting systems, and is acoustically paneled for superior sound quality. In addition, they offer easy-access loading docks, phone lines, computer-driven sound system, in-house exhibition services and a fully staffed audio-visual department.

Grand Wayne Convention Amenities • Clean, contemporary and modern facility • Attached and first-class hotels • Professional and experienced event hosting staff • 17 breakout rooms

Second Floor

Ground Floor

Downtown Fort Wayne

Fort Wayne’s growing and energized downtown is the largest economic and business development sector in Northern Indiana. Several exciting new commercial developments and local improvements have created new opportunities for event attendees and visitors to enjoy.

Downtown Fort Wayne offers exceptional connectivity. Our Grand Wayne Convention Center is attached to two hotels, extensive parking, our Historic Embassy Theatre, Botanical Gardens and several other attractions via our convenient skybridges.

A long attribute of our downtown is our commitment to serving visitors by locating our Visitors Center directly across the street from the Grand Wayne Convention Center. Our full-service, newly designed center will be open during the conference to service all attendees with needs and questions.

Downtown Fort Wayne is the area’s most popular dining and entertainment destinations. With dozens of restaurants and bars located just steps from the Grand Wayne Convention Center, Fort Wayne’s downtown offers a wide variety of dining and bar options for different tastes.

In addition, Downtown Fort Wayne is the home to our arts and cultural attractions, including dozens of museums, and a vibrant arts campus. Your attendees can enjoy live performances at the historic Embassy Theatre or Arts United Center and take in the culture of our city while in town.

Activities

Visit Fort Wayne strongly believes the convention or meeting experience doesn’t have to end following the business day. Fort Wayne offers many activities for groups of all sizes to enjoy either during the day or evening hours.

Take in a ballgame at Parkview Field, which was named the #1 Minor League Baseball experience in the United States!

Get your taste buds ready for delicious tours at the DeBrands Fine Chocolates, cinda b handbags and purses, or Olive Twist.

The Embassy Theatre and Fort Wayne Civic Theater offer fan-favorite shows throughout the year, while Glenbrook Mall and Jefferson Pointe Shopping Center feature a large display of popular store choices.

Want to visit one the country’s top 10 best zoos? The Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo was ranked as the number-one must-see summer attraction in the state of Indiana.

With countless museums and other historic attractions waiting your group, we can easily offer suggestions to create an outstanding offsite itinerary.

“

Our recent national Operations Conference held in Fort Wayne was a resounding success!

The meeting package offered in the city was an excellent complement to our meeting needs and everything went very smoothly. We plan to return in the near future.”

— Brian Risley, SIRVA

Dining & Nightlife

Known as the “City of Restaurants,” Fort Wayne offers countless dinner and nightlife options, including several locally owned hotspots and franchised favorites. Downtown Fort Wayne offers dozens of restaurants within blocks of the Grand Wayne Center, including a fantastic martini bar at Club Soda, Irish Pub JK’s O’Donnells, Pint and Slice, Dash In, Don Hall’s Gashouse and more!

And after dinner, you can sit back and relax over a cocktail after a successful business day! You and your event attendees will have plenty of late-night options, whether the evening calls for live music, dancing, or just unwinding.

Downtown Dining District

Club Soda offers over 20 delicious martini choices.

The Grand Wayne Convention Center is located downtown, just mere blocks from another 20 great eateries!

We’d love to host you in Fort Wayne!

We partner with our convention clients. We also can generate the media coverage that will make your delegates, leaders and attendees feel not only welcomed, but the focus of our community during your stay.

Please take a look at the attached Media Collection Booklet as sample of how our community’s newspapers, television and radio stations will cover your convention.

Please take a look at the attached video for a national convention group. We could do the same for you!

To find more reasons and case studies from successful conventions in Fort Wayne, please visit, www.visitfortwayne.com/meetings-professionals.aspx.

Dan O’Connell CEO/President Visit Fort Wayne

Visit Fort Wayne 927 S. Harrison Street Fort Wayne, IN 46802 www.VisitFortWayne.com 1-800-767-7752

Josie O’Donnell Group Sales Manager Visit Fort Wayne