Outstanding meeting opportunities are as far as the eye can see.
By Marc Boisclair
If any section of the country symbolizes America’s grass roots spirit it’s this wide open, eight-state stretch of land running from the Canadian border to the edge of the Deep South. While the Great Plains region accounts for almost one-fifth of the U.S.’s topography, it holds a mere 5.5 percent of the country’s population. Thus, groups rarely feel crowded when they’re meeting in Missoula, Topeka or Joplin. Attendees also tend to come away from their Great Plains meetings feeling that their experience was positive and productive, and imbued with a certain level of comfort and security.
“While many parts of the nation’s travel industry may be struggling in this economy, the Great Plains and Wyoming in particular appear to be doing well,” says Darren Rudloff, CEO of Cheyenne CVB. “In the last year, for example, some of our travel indicators were down only 3-4 percent, much different from other parts of the country.” That’s important, he adds, because during tougher times people gravitate towards what’s familiar and safe. “We’re in the center of the national park loop and a perfect location for that meeting/all-American vacation for the whole family, and that matters to a lot of people,” he says.
What attendees also deem important in a meeting destination — easy access, quality accommodations and overall bang for the buck — comprise a common thread throughout the Great Plains. Another unifying element: the strong spiritual bond that runs throughout the region. “The people in this city are very caring and involved in their community and very much play the role of hosts to visitors,” says Teri Ellis Schmidt, executive director of the Sioux Falls CVB. “That automatically draws the attention and focus of religious groups, who very much feel and live that type of lifestyle as well.”
HEART OF THE PLAINS
The two states most central to the Great Plains, Kansas and Nebraska, and their individual destinations (e.g., Topeka, Omaha, Kansas City, Lincoln) personify the best of what might be described as the heart of America. Tiny Lebanon, Kan., even sports a monument as the geographic center of the lower 48. Each state welcomes faith-based groups in great numbers and each comes with its own quirks and charms. Nebraska, for example, has the highest population of domesticated llamas in the country, while Kansas’ high point — Mount Sunflower, at 4,039 feet — is not a mountain at all but a man-made wood-and-stone maker (with a picnic table that accommodates up to six) denoting the state’s highest altitude, just shy of the Colorado border.
Omaha, Nebraska’s largest city, is a regular stop for Catholic and Lutheran conferences as well as Women of Faith events. “The entire landscape of the city has changed in the last six years,” says Cathy Keller, director of sales for the Omaha CVB. “We have a beautiful convention center [Quest Center Omaha] with an attached arena and this tremendous supply of hotels downtown, next to a historic old market and dining district, which makes it convenient for the attendees.”
True enough, the city is undergoing a hospitality renaissance of sorts, with three new properties — the 114-room Holiday Inn Downtown Omaha, 108-room TownePlace Suites and 134-room Courtyard by Marriott Aksarben Village (part of the $166 million Aksarben Village project that will include 500 residences, an entertainment district and 1 million square feet of office and retail space) — opening during 2009. A LEED-certified 132-room Element by Westin is on target for a late 2010 debut as part of Mutual of Omaha’s $300 million, 15-acre Turner Park at Midtown Crossing, a mixed-use development in Omaha’s historic Midtown neighborhood. Recently renovated properties include the 229-room Omaha Marriott ($7 million) and the Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center ($4 million).
Omaha’s Jozlyn Art Museum unveiled its new $7.5 million sculpture garden last May, while the $22 million Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, a 3,000-foot suspension bridge across the Missouri River to Iowa, opened in late 2008 with a plaza area and mini-amphitheater. Work also continues on the $120 million conversion of Omaha Baseball Park to TD Ameritrade Park, scheduled to open in 2011 as the new home of the College World Series and a number of other major sporting events.
The big news in Kansas City, Kan., this summer was the opening of Schlitterbahn Vacation Village, a $750 million complex that includes a 40-acre enclosed water park and accommodations for up to 1,500 guests. That new project only adds to the allure of Kansas City as a convenient, all-around group destination. “We’re within driving distance of most types of meetings for this part of the country so you don’t need airlines,” says Kerry Green, meetings and group coordinator for the Kansas City, Kan., and Wyandotte County CVB. “Our hotels are typically less expensive than major cities and many offer free parking plus free meeting space and breakfasts with their rooms.” Kansas City’s Jack Reardon Convention Center, with 20,000 square feet of flexible space, ties into the 147-room Hilton Garden Inn for all-in-one meeting site convenience. Several new locations have opened with unique meeting space as well, including the Mule Deer Country Museum at the city’s new Cabela’s store. “We’re actually working with a producer now, putting together a meetings video to send to planners that features all the unique venues in the area,” says Green.
Wichita offers groups its own similarly convenient setup, where the Century II Performing Arts & Convention Center, which features more than 200,000 square feet of flexible space, connects to the Hyatt Regency Wichita. Combined, the two facilities total some 28 meeting and function rooms. “We’re an extremely family-friendly city,” says Maureen Hofrenning, VP of sales and marketing for the Wichita CVB. “For people bringing their family along we have many options outside of the conference rooms,” she adds, including the Children’s Discovery Center, Exploration Place, and, in a city that was once the end of the Chisholm Trail, the Old Cowtown Museum, dedicated to the sights, sounds and activities common to a Midwestern cattle town.
The $46.5-million Overland Park Convention Center acts as a big draw for that city with associations and faith-based meetings, with 237,000 total square feet of meeting, exhibition, banquet, pre-function and service space, as well as 1,400 parking spaces available for drive-in attendees.
WHAT’S DOIN’ IN THE DAKOTAS
This pairing of states at the northern end of the Great Plains epitomizes the ideal of the solid, all-American lifestyle backed by character and determination. “We’re centrally located, affordable and extremely safe, and we have a very strong religious foundation,” says Teri Ellis Schmidt of the Sioux Falls CVB. “Most importantly, once we have groups here we really do take care of them. We’re a full service bureau that works with a group until they pack up and leave town.”
The Sioux Falls Convention Center, with 12 meeting rooms and 50,000 square feet of exhibit space, comes connected to both the 8,000-seat Sioux Falls Arena and the 243-room Sheraton Hotel, providing an all-inclusive option for groups. “Our convention center is all on one floor and groups of all sizes love it,” says Ellis Schmidt. “It’s a very easy convention center to hold a meeting in and every breakout room has a big window, which people also love.” The city also welcomed a new 103-room Hilton Garden Inn this fall with more than 4,000 feet of flexible meeting space.
Elsewhere in South Dakota, the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center in Rapid City now sports a shiny new $25 million arena for conventions, conferences and special events with 27,000 square feet of exhibit space and seating for 7,500 people. The $47 million Lodge at Deadwood, jointly funded by the town of Deadwood and Regency Hotels, has opened with 140 guestrooms and a convention center that features 16,000 square feet of meeting space.
Fargo, N.D., shares a common bond and CVB with Moorhead, its immediate Minnesota neighbor, including several colleges, more than 45 hotels (4,100 guestrooms), some 350 restaurants, a popular zoo and great shopping and more than 60 meeting venues designed to accommodate from 70 to 25,000. “We’re considered a second-tier city and are little bit lower in cost because of that,” says Nicole Moen, convention sales manager at the Fargo-Moorhead CVB. New properties here include the 110-room Hilton Garden Inn, while the Best Western Doublewood Inn and Ramada Plaza & Suites are sprucing up with renovations.
COUNTRY COMFORT
No doubt faith-based attendees always feel at home in Iowa and Missouri — just witness all those church steeples blending into the city skylines from St. Louis to Des Moines and dotting the gently rolling countryside from Joplin to the Amana colonies. Should some of those churches seem familiar there’s a good reason.
“If you’re traveling anywhere across the U.S., chances are you’ll be coming through here,” says Chris Baker, convention and group sales manager for the Greater Des Moines CVB. Indeed, Iowa’s capital and largest city sits at the juncture of two major highways (I-80 and I-35) on the Missouri River, a huge plus for groups. Small wonder, then, that the city just gave the go-ahead to upgrade and expand Veterans Memorial Auditorium by some $42 million. Davenport, set on the state’s other big river (the Mississippi) is also a group favorite, part of the Quad Cities CVB with nearby Bettendorf and Illinois’ Moline and Rock Island. The quartet includes several major meeting venues as well as nine conference hotels and 5,400 guestrooms.
Neighboring Missouri offers groups a similar choice of major river destinations (Kansas City on the Missouri; St. Louis on the Mississippi) and such delightful and varied meeting spots as the college town Columbia and state capital Independence. Joplin, home of Ozark Christian College, has been a faith-based meetings favorite since 1839, when the first settlers here gathered for small church and religious events. Branson, known as an entertainment center, has just recently come to the meeting table in a very big way via its new 226,000-sq.-ft. Branson Convention Center, a 293-room Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel and $155 million Branson Regional Airport.
COWBOYS AND A BIG SKY
“We’re very competitive in terms of price points, meeting rooms and sleeping rates,” says Shantelle Dedicke, director of convention sales for the Cheyenne Area CVB, which represent Wyoming’s capital and largest city. “We have great convention services, and the branded ‘Cheyenne experience,’” says Dedicke. “We also roll out the red carpet in price and that’s very valuable to any meeting planner’s bottom line.” That Cheyenne experience includes the city’s Frontier Days rodeo, seven museums, hiking, horseback riding and skiing as well as simply soaking up the scenic wonders of such natural treasures as Yellowstone, Shoshone, Rocky Mountain and Grand Teton national parks.
Billings, Montana’s largest city (about 100,000) set in the south central section of the state, has seen a flurry of hotel activity, ranging from new additions (e.g., the 128-room Hilton Garden Inn; 101-room Hampton Inn & Suites; 109-room Wingate by Wyndham, with 4,500 square feet of meeting space) to major renovations at such favorites as the 317-room Holiday Inn Grand Montana and the Crown Plaza Billings. The city’s landmark Northern Hotel, meanwhile, is undergoing a $10 million facelift of its 160 guestrooms and 10,000 square feet of meeting space. Billings’ new Downtown Conference Corridor project combines hotel, retail, art and culture into one visitor-friendly district, with 400 guestrooms and more than 16,000 square feet of meeting space within easy access of downtown venues like the Alberta Bair Theater, Yellowstone Art Museum and the Montana State University Billings Conference Center.
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