With favorable year-round weather and a huge dose of hospitality, the country’s Southeastern states greet visitors with a sweet embrace. Here, you can stroll through 100-year-old oak groves, or take a boat ride in swampland, on a lake, in the Gulf of Mexico or on the Atlantic Ocean. Whether you are looking for an action-packed destination like Kissimmee, Fla., or a city filled with history like Charlotte, N.C., you can find it when you head south.

Atlanta, Georgia

Known as the capital of the South, Atlanta, already home to 5 million residents, continues to grow. Likewise, when it comes to attractions, there’s always something new in town. Of course, there’s the famous Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coca-Cola, but there’s more on the way. The aquarium opened a $110 million dolphin exhibit in April; Legoland Discovery Center opens in 2012; and the College Football Hall of Fame relocates to Atlanta in 2013.

“If you haven’t been to Atlanta and its surrounding areas in the past five years, you haven’t seen Atlanta,” says Rachel Rosenberg, public relations manager for the Atlanta CVB. Another big advantage for the city: It’s easy to get to. “The city is the hub of the Southeast with three major interstates running through downtown,” Rosenberg says. “It is a four-hour drive for most visitors in the Southeast, and 80 percent of the U.S. population is within a two-hour flight of Atlanta.” Those passengers fly into Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the busiest airport in the world, which has two convenient train lines running to the downtown, Midtown and Buckhead business and meeting districts.

Downtown has its own collection of meeting hotels near the Georgia World Congress Center and AmericasMart, two of the city’s large conference facilities. (Atlanta has four facilities with more than 140,000 square feet of exhibit space, the Congress Center topping all of them with 1.4 million.) All the major hotel chains are represented downtown: Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton and Westin.

In fact, once attendees arrive, they’ll have a wide variety of accommodation options to fit any budget with more than 94,000 hotel rooms located in the metro-Atlanta area. Six new boutique hotels have opened since 2008, providing more choices for travelers looking for a place to stay. With so many hotels within walking distance, planners can also cut down on transportation costs, making Atlanta an even better value.

The convention center is accessible by foot from 12,000 of the city’s hotel rooms. Add to that the number of attractions in Centennial Olympic Park and convention attendees will never need to leave downtown, unless they want to explore some of the city’s distinct areas just outside of the city, including Sandy Springs, Alpharetta Dunwoody and Duluth.

Sandy Springs, Georgia’s sixth largest city, has more than 20 miles of shoreline along the Chattahoochee River, 11 parks, a dynamic economy and a strong sense of community. Alpharetta, about 20 miles from Atlanta, is gaining in popularity, too. The charming city has 150 dining options, upscale boutique hotels and is quickly becoming known as a meetings destination.

Duluth, another popular suburb, is where the Catalyst conference has been held since 2003. Each October it gathers more than 13,000 Christian leaders age 40 and younger in Duluth. The massive gathering is held at the Arena at Gwinnett Center, which “has been a fantastic home base for Catalyst through the years,” says Ansley Lawhead, public relations representative for Catalyst. “This venue allows for growth and creativity. We highly recommend its utilization to other event planners.”

The Dunwoody CVB, the newest bureau in the metro area, has plenty to brag about. The city, which incorporated in 2008, is home to the second largest mall in the Southeast, excellent restaurants and five hotels that host meetings for groups from 15 to 1,500.

Augusta, Georgia

Augusta, Ga., is known worldwide for one thing: golf. Each spring thousands flock to the Southern riverfront city for the storied Masters golf tournament. However, the city has more to offer than gorgeous azaleas and men in green sports coats.

History, scenic gardens and Southern hospitality draw a wide variety of meetings and conventions to the Georgia-South Carolina border on the Savannah River. Faith-based meetings like the annual leadership and ministry congress of Georgia’s African Methodist Episcopal Church easily find common ground in Augusta’s roots.  It’s the founding location for the Southern Baptist Convention and Morehouse College and home to the oldest independently formed African-American congregation still meeting on its original site and the third oldest Episcopal church in Georgia. But today, it’s what’s new in August that’s bringing more meetings to town.

The aptly named TEE (Trade, Exhibit and Event) Center is under construction and set to open spring 2012. Its 38,000 square feet of exhibit space and 29,000 square feet of pre-function space will connect to 49,000 square feet of existing space in the Augusta Convention Center. Also attached is the 372-room Augusta Marriott Hotel and Suites, the largest meeting hotel in the city with 49,000 square feet of meeting space.

An up-and-coming downtown with trendy restaurants and galleries hosts a lively, family-friendly evening of local arts and music the first Friday of the summer months, and a riverfront amphitheater is a popular site for concerts and special events. The Morris Museum of Art and the downtown Imperial Theater are also important to the local arts community and provide alternative settings for off-site events.

Groups looking for an inspirational setting can take advantage of the Sacred Heart Cultural Center, a former Catholic church with all the grandeur expected from its previous tenant. The restored 1898 Romanesque Revival church on the National Register of Historic Places hosts cultural events and performances, and its 7,000-sq.-ft. Great Hall can be situated theater- or banquet-style for a variety of events.

Southern tradition pulses through the town from the mansions on The Hill to a hard-to-resist dining experience at Sconyers Barbecue. The hickory, pit-cooked barbecue that’s good enough for the White House lawn caters events, but the large log-cabin style restaurant can accommodate large groups, too.

Charlotte, North Carolina

Charlotteans say you only need to visit the Queen City once. Why? Because, as the story goes, you’ll end up moving there after. It’s that charming. Thriving intersections are blocks away from green spaces. Skyscrapers tower above tranquil neighborhoods. Guests and locals eat at the same restaurants and walk the same streets in a city that blends a fast-paced business atmosphere with Southern charm.

Charlotte’s full of special venues that appeal to meeting planners like Wonderland Dawson, director of meetings and events for 3D Hospitality, an event management company that coordinated University Park Church’s Entrepreneurs Ministry’s Network mixer a few years ago and is now organizing the True Women event meeting in Charlotte in November.

Dawson says she likes the Carole A. Hoefener Community Services Center for it’s central location in Uptown Charlotte, free on-site parking, flexible rates for faith-based organizations and great amenities (including a full kitchen, audiovisual equipment, break-out classrooms and on-site management).

“For smaller events, I like The Van Landingham Estate Inn and Conference Center, The Morehead Inn, The Great Aunt Stella Center, The Palmer Building and The Wadsworth Estate,” Dawson says. “For larger events, I like The Zion Renaissance Complex and The Park Expo and Conference Center.”

They are hidden gems within the Queen City, she says, well-suited for retreats, bible studies, ministry teambuilding, creative-thinking activities, leadership training seminars, luncheons and socials. And attendees have easy access to entertainment hotspots like The Levine Center for the Arts, the James L. Knight Theater and the Mint Museum.

Ronda Caldwell, president of The Main Event Inc., a company that plans corporate, social and faith-based events, schedules conferences in Charlotte because the thriving uptown area gives guests access to entertainment, food and fun all within walking distance of one another—no car needed.

Not to mention, the Charlotte Convention Center has 46 meeting rooms and a spacious 35,000-sq.-ft. ballroom that seats 1,800. The 280,000 square feet of exhibit space can accommodate up to 1,250 exhibit booths. In addition, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, which opened more than a year ago, boasts a 40,000-sq.-ft. ballroom and connects to the convention center via an above-the-street walkway.

As for accommodations, the 700-room Westin Charlotte and the recently revamped Hilton Charlotte Center City flank each side of the convention center. A few blocks away, the Hampton Inn and the Hilton Garden Inn can accommodate overflow guests.

Fort Lauderdale

This year, Fort Lauderdale turns 100, and the coastal community is starting to show its age—in a good way. The city, which became known as a spring break hotspot thanks to the 1960 movie “Where the Boys Are,” is growing up and, turning into a respected beach destination with large-scale resorts and award-winning restaurants. The city hasn’t completely turned its back on bikini-clad spring breakers, but it has given faith-based meeting planners more than one reason to look twice.

In June, Fort Lauderdale hosted the 105th annual National Baptist Congress, bringing between 8,000 and 10,000 people to the city from all over the country, including a number of young Baptists who take part in the event’s Youth Congress, aimed at people ages 4 to 24. “One of the highlights of the congress is the drill teams,” Rev. Anthony Burrell, pastor of Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Pompano Beach and host pastor, told the Sun Sentinel. “They perform synchronized routines. It’s just a great activity to see young people who are leading positive and productive lives.”

The almost weeklong event featured ministry sessions, performances by gospel artists such as Dorothy Norwood and Beverly Crawford, and keynote speeches, including one by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, President Obama’s pastor from Trinity Church of Christ in Chicago. The National Baptist Congress last came to Florida more than
10 years ago. “For a lot of people this is a family tradition; this is the kind of thing you plan your family vacation around,” Burrell said. “Some of the people on stage today have mentioned they had been coming to this since they were children.”

Most of the Congress’ events took place at the Broward County Convention Center, a 600,000-sq.-ft. facility situated between the hotels located on Fort Lauderdale Beach and the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The three-story center has a large wall of glass that runs along the eastern side of the building overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway. The building has four exhibit halls, two ballrooms and 31 meeting rooms.

The CVB established the Lauderdale Convention Collection, a set of six hotels located within a mile and a half of the convention center. The hotels are Hyatt Regency Pier Sixty-Six, Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Port Everglades, Sheraton Fort Lauderdale, Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, Harbor Beach Marriott Resort and Spa, and Embassy Suites Fort Lauderdale. They have a total of 2,700 rooms.

Hilton Head, South Carolina

Each year, more than 2.5 million visitors head to Hilton Head, which anchors South Carolina’s southern coast. With its subtropical climate, leisurely activities and some of the Southeast’s finest saltwater fishing, that comes as no surprise. This laid-back yet sophisticated island is a place where flip-flops and khakis are wardrobe staples.

“Hilton Head Island is a great destination because the atmosphere is so inviting,” says Jessica Gardo, manager of marketing and public relations for the Hilton Head Island Visitor and Convention Bureau. “We were green before sustainability even became a buzzword.” Hilton Head was the first eco-planned resort destination in the country, she says, and prides itself on having a carefully preserved, natural environment with protected saltwater marshes, loggerhead sea turtles and tree canopies.

There aren’t any streetlights along the roadways or flashy neon signs in town either. “All of this combines for a relaxing, rejuvenating island vibe that really sets the stage for any meeting, putting attendees in the right mindset to get the most out of their stay,” Gardo says.

Meeting planners especially love the Hilton Head Island Difference program. The program gives groups the opportunity to take part in social responsibility projects organized by the VCB. Two-hour, half-day and full-day programs are available. The activities, such as kayak marsh clean-ups or maintenance of facilities like the Coastal Discovery Museum, encourage teamwork and add an environmental and historical education component to events. Gardo offers a tip for planners: “Meetings on Hilton Head Island are a great value during our shoulder and off-seasons (October through March) when rates are better and the summer family crowds are back in school,” she says. “The weather is temperate year-round and enjoying the beach or being on the golf course is pleasant any time of year. Functions such as a Low Country boil or oyster roast are great outdoor dining experiences that only happen during these months.”

There are five oceanfront hotels that accommodate groups, ranging from executive retreats to groups up to 2,000. The island has two boutique inns for smaller conferences. The largest ballroom accommodates 2,000 people at the Hilton Head Marriott Resort and Spa. There are several select-service properties as well, such as the Hilton Garden Inn, which can accommodate overflow from the larger hotel properties.

Kissimmee, Florida

The Kissimmee area, just outside of Orlando, isn’t all rollercoasters and pixie dust. In addition to the wide range of entertainment and attractions, Kissimmee has more than 47,000 guest rooms, including brand-name hotels, resorts, vacation homes and villas with everything from large meeting space to small boardrooms suited for team planning or strategy sessions.

Rev. Randy Bryant should know. As the executive director of Florida State Association of Free Will Baptists, he’s chosen Kissimmee as the place to host his Seniors’ Summit at the Radisson Resort in October.

The goal of the event is three-fold: edification, fellowship and providing seniors with wholesome, beneficial activities. “Anyone is welcome to participate, but it is promoted among the Free Will Baptist churches in Florida. The attendees come from various churches in various parts of the state. Many of those who attend have come year after year,” says Bryant.

The retreat includes worship services and off-site excursions to theme parks or state parks. As part of the event, seniors will attend Arabian Nights, a popular dinner show in Orlando. Bryant chose the Radisson Resort for this year’s event because of its proximity to entertainment and the golf course on hotel property.

“Kissimmee is a great option because of its location, the number of activities available, great rates and good people to work with,” he says. Beyond the three big theme parks—Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando Resort and SeaWorld—new nearby attractions include Fantasy Surf, a 14,000-sq.-ft. indoor aquatic recreation attraction that gives visitors the chance to hop on a body board and ride the waves indoors; Alligator Alley Country Bar, which is built inside of a stone castle; and the Screamin’ Gator zip line at Gatorland, opening this summer, which takes riders along 1,200 feet of high-flying adventure over alligators and jumping crocs.

Mississippi Gulf Coast

When it comes to rich culture and heritage, the Magnolia State has plenty, from antebellum homes to Civil War sites. At the turn of the 19th century, the Mississippi Delta was the birthplace of the blues. In 1935, Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo. The list goes on and on.

Equally appealing are the state’s other amenities like noteworthy art museums and popular annual festivals. Take your pick from the Gulfport Music Festival or Kite Fest in May, St. Paul’s Seafood Festival or Schooner Races in June, Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo in July and the Long Beach Fest in August.

It’s a well-rounded destination, and convenient, too. “The state offers great meeting space like the Mississippi Coast Convention Center, which has more than 410,000 square feet of meeting space,” says Taryn Pratt Sammons, social media/media relations specialist at the Mississippi Gulf Coast CVB.

Recent faith-based events include the Sacred Heart Art Festival, Pass Christian Mardi Gras Parade and the annual Gulf Coast Blessing of the Bikes.

The region has a current room inventory of more than 12,500 rooms. The area has fishing, history and cultural sites including the Beauvoir, the last home of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and the Maritime and Seafood Industry Museum. The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Walter Anderson Museum of Art and water-based attractions such as the Biloxi Shrimping Trip or Ship Island Excursions are other popular sites for activities or events.

Palm Beaches, Florida

Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, located about 65 miles north of Miami, hug Florida’s Atlantic coast and have long attracted a well-to-do crowd with their resorts, sparkling waterways, and crowd pleasers such as the Norton Museum of Art and Henry Morrison Flagler. But sprinkled in with high-end resorts are also a collection of full-service meeting properties in the Palm Beaches’ 38 cities and towns and 200 hotels. The area’s convention and entertainment district brings together the 350,000-sq.-ft. convention center, a world-class performing arts center and CityPlace, a shopping, dining and entertainment district. Conference hotels include the Boca Raton Resort and Club, a Waldorf-Astoria resort, with more than 1,000 guest rooms; the 352-room West Palm Beach Marriott, within walking distance of CityPlace and the convention center; and PGA National Resort and Spa, located about 15 minutes from the airport, with 339 guest rooms and 33,900 square feet of meeting space.

Last year marked the completion of a $30 million renovation of West Palm Beaches’ downtown waterfront. Completed in February, the 4.5-acre restoration features a $250,000 lighting system for nightly light shows; green space with swings and seating along its perimeter; a 400-sq.-ft. visitor center; a 4,000-square-foot pavilion for public events and private parties; and a half an acre of sandy beach. The development is the perfect venue for new year-round events and programming for the area and hosts long-established major events like SunFest and the annual Palm Beach International Boat Show.

The additions don’t end there. “We just received a new water taxi service in the north part of the county and are anticipating a new artificial reef and scuba diving park along the Jupiter inlet in the near future,” says Carli Smith, director of public relations and communications for the Palm Beach County CVB. Alos, it was recently announced that the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center will undergo $80 million in expansions and improvements.

Beaumont

Located on the Gulf Coast near the Louisiana border, Beaumont has a history linked to bayous and oil. In 1901 in nearby Spindletop, one of the world’s great oil discoveries transformed Beaumont from a small-but-significant timber and rice town into a boomtown that led the way for petroleum production in Texas. The legacy of that oil prosperity can be seen today in such grand structures as the Neoclassical McFaddin-Ward House or the historic structures that comprise the Crockett Street entertainment district.

A mid-sized city of about 100,000, Beaumont is experiencing a cultural boom again. Visitors come for its historic architecture, fine dining, lively nightlife and high concentration of quality museums—including the Texas Energy Museum, Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum, Fire Museum of Texas and the Art Museum of Southeast Texas. Cajun culture entices with spicy cuisine, high-energy Zydeco music and colorful festivals, while the great outdoors provides ample water-recreation adventures in gator country.

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Beaumont’s largest conference facility is the Ford Park Event Center, which, on May 5, will be the site of the fourth annual LiveWell Women’s Conference sponsored by local Christus Hospital. The one-day conference attracts about 2,000 women, mostly from the region, though it now attracts people from Houston, Louisiana and beyond. That is sure to be the case this year with Hilary Swank as the keynote speaker and about 25 breakout sessions on topics ranging from leadership to health to financial management, spirituality and fashion. There will also be cooking demonstrations and a fitness arena with classes throughout the day.

Marketing and Events Coordinator Becky Howard has seen the conference grow from the start. The first year, the event was at the MCM Eleganté, which is still the host hotel. “Max attendance was going to be 500, but 600 attendees packed in,” Howard recalls. “The next year it was at the Beaumont Civic Center Complex and, again, we sold out in 10 days. We moved to Ford Park, and we’re excited this year that we should be able to stay at the same place for a while.”

The Ford Park Event Center has a 48,000-sq.-ft. exhibit hall, eight meeting rooms, a 9,500-seat arena and a VIP lounge. Combined with the arena, there’s 95,000 square feet of floor space. “We have plenty of parking and a Houston pedicab company that escorts people on bicycle rickshaws from their cars,” says Howard. “As it’s getting bigger, it became important to have nearby hotels, and the Ford Park is not even two miles from what we call hotel alley,” an area of town with a number of hotels.

El Paso

In its early days, El Paso’s reputation was staked as a Wild West border town. People have always been drawn to the dusty outpost in the northern Chihuahuan Desert as a gateway to its Mexican sister city, Ciudad Juarez. But people don’t head south to Mexico anymore. El Paso has redefined itself as a growing destination with massive scale of construction projects throughout the city. Fueling the boom are the expansions of U.S. Army base Fort Bliss and the Texas Tech University medical school, as well as the new El Paso Children’s Hospital and the revitalization of the historic downtown. The population is rapidly approaching 800,000.

The buzz throughout the city is palpable. Residents are excited and hopeful about the upswing in business, while visitors continue to be drawn by long-time favorites like the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Mission Trail, sun-drenched recreation at Franklin Mountains and Hueco Tanks state parks and the city’s famed rendition of the Mexican dish, “chile relleno,” or stuffed chile pepper.

“Downtown El Paso has undergone a drastic change,” says Brooke Underwood, Director of Convention Development for the El Paso CVB. “A couple years ago, after 5 p.m. it would have turned into a ghost town, but now it really comes alive.” Some of the projects contributing to that makeover include the new El Paso Museum of History, new downtown public library, the historic restoration of a few 1930s–40s office buildings, the renovation of the 1930 Plaza Theatre and the new Doubletree Hotel, which has 200 guest rooms and seven meeting rooms.

Sister Kateri Mitchell, executive director of the National Tekakwitha Conference, visited El Paso in February in advance of her organization’s annual conference to be held in July 2013. She noticed a dramatic change in the city since the event was last held there in 2004: “It has grown tremendously. I found the downtown area to have changed so much because of development. The whole city is much, much larger.”

The National Tekakwitha Conference is an organization for Native American Catholics based upon the teachings of patroness Kateri Tekakwitha, a 17th

century woman who was beatified in 1980. The organization is based around Kateri Circles, or local prayer and study groups comprised of Native Americans from various tribes. Each year, they hold an annual conference that rotates around the country with the goal of bringing members together to share their Catholic faith and study the diverse cultures from the 156 tribes represented.

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“We’re going to El Paso in July 2013 because there is a Kateri Circle there,” Mitchell says, “and the process is to have a local group to work with to help plan this annual event with the national office.” As the national representative, she meets with the local membership, the Catholic Diocese of El Paso and the CVB to choose host hotels and the conference location.

As in 2004, the conference will be held at the Judson F. Williams Convention Center. Located downtown, the 133,000-sq.-ft. facility includes 80,000 square feet of exhibit space, 17 breakout meeting rooms, three halls and an additional 15,000 square feet of meeting space. Last year, a striking new outdoor shade canopy was constructed, which can be booked for outdoor receptions of a few hundred people.

Directly behind the convention center is the popular Union Plaza Entertainment District. Formerly an industrial warehouse park, the area has been reshaped as a hip dining and nightlife district, including notable restaurant, The Garden. And despite its thriving business climate, spicy culture and

year-round sunny weather, El Paso remains surprisingly affordable. “To combat the travel expenses of a delegate coming into El Paso, we can close that gap with much more affordable meeting accommodations,” Underwood says. “As far as parking, meals, lodging, accommodations and the actual meeting, it won’t break the bank.”

The other perception she wishes were commonplace regards safety. “Despite what people are hearing in the national media, El Paso is the safest city in America with a population of more than 500,000,” Underwood says. “The things that are happening on the other side of the border are not spilling over. If people want that international experience, they can still experience it by coming to El Paso. All that flavor, culture and cuisine is now on this side of the border.”

Galveston

Few places embody the spirit of Texas tenacity like Galveston. It rose to national prominence in the 19th century, at one time becoming the largest city in Texas due to its port, where cotton shipped out and immigrants poured in. But all that changed with the Great Storm of 1900. The city was submerged and more than 6,000 people were killed by a hurricane, the worst natural disaster the U.S. had faced. In the aftermath, the Houston ship channel was constructed, and that inland city became the state’s major commercial center.

Galveston residents raised the entire city by eight feet and constructed a 17-foot seawall to protect against future storms. During Prohibition, Galveston experienced a comeback as a lawless hub for drinking, gambling and prostitution. That mini-boom lasted until the mid-1950s, when the Texas Rangers finally put an end to those activities. Since the 1980s, Galveston has focused on tourism, capitalizing on its colorful history, grand architecture and beaches.

In 2008, Hurricane Ike flooded Galveston again. More than two years later, it’s estimated that at least 20 percent of the population of 58,000 did not return. Some historic buildings were seriously damaged or destroyed, and saltwater killed about 40,000 trees. The city has mostly rebuilt and recovered, and its major attractions—including the Strand Historic District, the 1859 Ashton Villa, 1892 Bishop’s Palace, tall ship Elissa, Moody Gardens tourist complex and Schlitterbahn waterpark—are open for business.

As a former Floridian who lives in Plano, Phyllis McCully enjoys Galveston for its beach and seafood. But as a meeting planner, the associate director of the South-Central Region of the Association of Christian Schools International appreciates Moody Gardens as the yearly setting of ACSI’s regional educators’ convention. “I’ve been involved in planning at a lot of different venues, and Moody Gardens is my favorite venue to attend both because of their wonderful facilities and the people to work with,” she says.

Moody Gardens Convention Center has more than 100,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 60,000-sq.-ft. flexible space for a ballroom or expo hall. Most rooms can be divided into smaller rooms for breakout sessions, receptions or other events. The attached garage can accommodate 1,000 cars, and adjacent Moody Gardens Resort has 428 guest rooms. The resort and convention center are part of the 242-acre Moody Gardens tourist complex, one of Texas’ top attractions, which draws more than two million visitors a year and features three glass pyramids housing an aquarium, recreated rainforest and science exhibits.

ACSI uses the convention center for exhibits and general sessions, and has breakout sessions at both the hotel and convention center. “They have some rooms that can be divided into two spaces or opened up,” McCully says. “Depending upon what our needs are—whether we want them set classroom-style or whether we want them set theater-style—they are always very good about working with us.
McCully praises Moody Gardens’ staff for always exceeding expectations: “Even when the hurricane came through, they called us right away to let us know they had minimal damage and there wouldn’t be any problem with holding our convention…There is always a lot of communication back and forth about what our needs will be. The whole staff just seems to really go out of their way to work with us.”

Plano

In the late 1970s and ’80s, the popular television series “Dallas” reinforced the stereotypes of Texans the world over. Right or wrong, J.R. Ewing et al came to represent the popular notion of Texas excess—big oil and ranching money, brash attitudes and outsized personalities. The setting for this melodrama took place at Plano’s real-life Southfork Ranch.

The reality of Plano is much more ordinary. The Dallas suburb began as a rural agricultural community with origins dating back to the 1840s. In 1960, the population was less than 4,000, but it exploded in subsequent decades as the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex expanded. Plano’s population is currently estimated at around 300,000, making it the ninth-largest city in the state. It is now known for outstanding shopping and dining establishments, a hot air balloon festival and a penchant for ending up on best-places-to-live lists. But small-town agricultural roots are still evident in the historic downtown and the Heritage Farmstead Museum—a living history property that features an 1891 Victorian farmhouse.

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In April 2009, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America held its 22nd Northern Texas-Northern Louisiana Synod Assembly at the Plano Centre. The annual meeting of the church rotates around the region, coming back to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex every few years. With more than 86,000 square feet of meeting space, 18 breakout rooms and more than 21,000 square feet of exhibit space, meeting planner Becky Brakke recalls the Plano Centre meeting the synod’s needs.

“It is just an absolutely lovely space,” she says. “It sits on a nice, expansive country lot. You have plenty of parking and even some hook-ups for campers.” Those are important assets for a planner whose delegates tend to drive and bring RVs. “We’ve used two hotels that are about a mile or two away, so there is some travel,” she says.

The synod used all the breakout rooms, as well as hallways for displays and the assembly space for worship. Church youth also attend, and Brakke says their own meetings were conducted in rooms set off specifically for them. “We found the staff to be very accommodating, and it has one of the best in-house caterers we have ever worked with,” she says. “I would rank the Centre at the top of the list.”

San Antonio

San Antonio is one of America’s cultural gems, world-renowned for its Spanish Colonial architecture, hallowed history, vibrant traditions and top-tier attractions like the Alamo and the River Walk. This year, Texans celebrate the 175th anniversary of independence from Mexico and the fight for freedom that took center stage at the Alamo on March 6, 1836. The tragic events of that day rallied the Texas revolutionaries and helped shape the state’s resolute destiny and character, commemorated this year in anniversary events across the state and city.

Another reason to visit San Antonio soon is to experience the new expansion of the River Walk. The Museum Reach section opened in 2009 and extends the walking trail about a mile and a half north of downtown to the San Antonio Museum of Art, Pearl Brewery complex, Brackenridge Park and the Witte Museum. This noncommercial stretch is beautifully landscaped with native plants and public art installations, offering visitors and residents alike a tranquil alternative to the bustling tourist restaurants and nightlife of the old River Walk. In late 2010, the first part of the Mission Reach section opened, which will eventually be a hike-and-bike trail connecting four historic Spanish missions south of downtown with the city center. The entire River Walk will stretch 15 miles by 2014.

In addition to attractions, meeting professionals love San Antonio for its unique combination of culture, convenience and compactness. From humble beginnings as a Spanish colony founded in 1718, San Antonio now has a population of about 1.4 million, making it the second-largest city in Texas and seventh-largest in the country. Downtown contains more than 12,700 guest rooms within walking distance of the Alamo, River Walk, Market Square, Main Plaza, Mexican restaurants and the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, which has 630,000 square feet of meeting space and almost 440,000 square feet of exhibit space. Three ballrooms are available, as well as the 2,400-seat Lila Cockrell Theatre and 63 breakout rooms.

One prestigious downtown property is The St. Anthony Hotel, a National Historic Landmark that was built in 1909 by cattle barons. Known for its grand history and opulence, The St. Anthony delivers for meeting planners with 352 guest rooms, more than 30,000 square feet of meeting space, 22 meeting rooms, two ballrooms and a rooftop reception area called the Starlight Terrace, providing stellar views of downtown.

For Kristen Cress, it was all about location. The coordinator of member services for United Methodist Association of Health and Welfare Ministries organized the 71st UMA National Convention at the St. Anthony March 2–4. The annual event rotates around the five jurisdictions of the United Methodist Church, and Cress says, “We were looking for something centrally located that would appeal to our members and hopefully encourage them to stay before and after for vacation.”

“We always look for a one-stop place,” she adds. “We’d be lost in a convention center, plus there’s added cost for meeting space. If we do it at a hotel large enough for us and we meet our room blocks, then they throw in meeting space for free.” It also helped that The St. Anthony is located right next to Travis Park United Methodist Church, which served as the only off-site event location by providing a space for worship. “Because Travis Park is right next door, and it actually has history to one of our homes [Methodist Mission Home] in the community we thought it was important to do worship there,” Cress says.

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Billings, Montana

While the Big Sky Country concept might seem odd for those who’ve yet to meet in Montana’s largest city (population 101,000), the idea makes sense on arrival. On a clear day (of which there are many, thanks to clean air and low humidity), the 360-degree views are impressive, from Billings’ famed Rimrocks, which are beautiful sandstone cliffs and rock formations, to the half-dozen rugged mountain ranges surrounding town.

Special Places: Click here to learn about ZooMontana

“We get every type of group coming here because there are so many things to see and do,” says Tom Krause, sales manager for the Billings CVB. “We tout ourselves as the ‘come early, stay late city.’ In winter we’ve got skiing, snowmobiling and ice climbing; in summer, there’s rafting and fishing. The Yellowstone River runs right through the city, and we’re very close [2.5 hours] to Yellowstone National Park itself.”

While Krause’s job is made easier by Billings’ natural assets, the city also features plenty of the selling points that work in favor of a planner. Billings has some 4,300 guest rooms distributed among more than two dozen hotels in a range of price points, many with ample meeting and exhibit space. Downtown in particular is a hit with groups because attendees can easily walk among the shops, restaurants, museums and nightspots making up the city’s core.

When the National Association of Counties met here in May 2010, Amanda Clark, CMP, manager of conference and meetings, was confident her group would bond with Billings. “It’s an easy destination to reach, whether driving or flying, and reasonably priced,” Clark says. “Our folks like to be able to walk to places, and I was pleased with how much there was to do in and around downtown.” To wit, Clark cites a pair of special events that enhanced the experience: a large get-together at Billings’ MetraPark fairgrounds and a more intimate board function at the Yellowstone Art Museum, originally built as the county jail.

Boise, Idaho

If Idaho’s largest city leaves new visitors with anything, it’s usually a terrific first impression. “We constantly surprise people,” says Terry Kopp, Boise CVB’s director of sales. She says visitors like the state capital for its consistent, high-plains climate (dry, and warmer than the Midwest and Northeast) and quality of life. “We have a lot of corporate headquarters here, and that brings lots of nice amenities: major airlines and good flights, good restaurants, a great arts community, and the Greenbelt, a 25-mile path that runs right through the city along the Boise River,” she says. “People come here and say, ‘Gee I think I could live here,’ and that kind of sums up why people want to meet here as well.”

Special Places: Click here to learn about Boise's Basque Block.

Kopp points to one attendee she met in town for the recent Go West Summit of international tour operators. “This woman said, ‘Boise is such a surprise to me, not at all what I expected, really pleasant,’” Kopp says. “Our biggest challenge, then, is getting planners to come for a site visit. Once they do, the city sells itself.”

A good starting point: the Boise Centre, downtown’s meeting centerpiece abutting Grove Plaza, within a short stroll of 1,000 hotel rooms and highlighted by a 25,000-sq.-ft. ballroom and 375-seat auditorium. “It’s a fabulous facility,” says Pat Thomas, events coordinator for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Boise, who’s planning the international Diocesan Information Systems Conference at the center this May. “It’s downtown, has the appropriate space, good breakout rooms and works well for our vendors,” Thomas says.

Boise is also home to a wide spectrum of museums, where the focuses range from sports, Basque culture and black history to human rights and birds of prey, and where groups can often do both tours and special events.

The city’s efforts at sustainability also go hand-in-hand with its emphasis on the outdoors and recreation. Golf begins in March, with the whitewater rafting season (on the Payette River) following shortly thereafter. Leisurely pursuits like jogging, cycling along the Greenbelt or floating along the Boise River, can be done in the center of town.

Colorado Springs, Colorado

For anyone wondering why Colorado’s second-largest city might work for faith-based groups, Kathy Reak provides some nuts and bolts. “We have all the amenities of a first-tier destination but with second-tier pricing, and that makes us very affordable,” says Reak, director of convention sales for the Colorado Springs CVB. Another plus: “A very relaxed and beautiful setting—the scenery here is phenomenal,” she says. Indeed, there’s a lot to like about meeting in the heart of the state’s Pikes Peak region, awash in both natural beauty (e.g., Manitou Mineral Springs, the Cave of the Winds, and 14,110-ft. Pikes Peak) and colorful history. Colorado’s gold rush began here in 1858 and nearby Cripple Creek, once home to the region’s biggest mine, is now a National Historic Landmark.

Given the critical role local church groups often play in their denominations’ national meetings, Reak points to another reason why religious conference planners flock to her town. “There are over 100 ministries headquartered in the Colorado Springs area, plus Focus on the Family, which draws a lot of attention to faith-based groups,” says Reak. “Those national associations will often look for a local connection to help out with some of their events.
“We have over 50 attractions, and the neat thing is that many of these activities are free,” she adds. The list is long and led by the Air Force Academy, U.S. Olympic Training Center and Colorado Springs’ famed Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, also a terrific special event venue.

Planners can count on easy access via Colorado Springs Airport and a wide choice of meeting sites, which include familiar mid-level hotels (the newest, Wyndham Grand’s 135-room Mining Exchange Hotel, is set to open this summer). There’s also properties such as the 740-room Broadmoor Hotel and new 300-room Renaissance Colorado Springs Hotel, Spa and Conference Center, with 185,000 and 50,000 square feet of meeting space, respectively.

For the Minnesota-based Evangelical Press Association, local members who can serve on host committees is a major plus when choosing a meeting site. Colorado Springs fits the bill nicely, says Executive Director Doug Trouten, who’s booked his group of about 300 there for its 2012 annual convention. “[They] have a large pool of volunteers to draw on, and meeting in a city where we have a lot of members creates opportunities for local members to attend the convention without having to spend money on travel and lodging,” he says. A favorite off-site event: The Flying W Ranch for an evening meal and performance by the Flying W Wranglers. “That’s always a big hit,” he says.

Denver, Colorado

In keeping with its history as a crossroad of the American West, Colorado’s capital city continues to bring a vibrant mix of people, places and activities to the meetings table.

“Meeting planner surveys tell us that accessibility, facilities and affordability rank as their top concerns, and we really excel in those areas,” says Richard Scharf, president and CEO at the Denver Metro CVB. That mix is enhanced further, he says, by Denver’s customer service and destination appeal, as well as the steps his city has taken in terms of development and sustainability. “We have the fourth-busiest airport in the U.S. and are adding a new component to it—our light rail system from downtown—by the end of 2015,” he says.

Scharf also points to the city’s hospitality boom and downtown’s more than 8,400 hotel rooms. Large properties downtown include the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center with 1,100 rooms and more than 60,000 square feet of meeting space; Four Seasons Hotel Denver, an upscale urban hotel with 239 rooms and a 5,200-sq.-ft. grand ballroom; and Hilton Garden Inn Denver Downtown, with 6,800 square feet of event and meeting space, and a high-tech audiovisual system.

Denver’s fast-growing urban core also has affected how visiting groups view their time in town. Witness downtown’s free-spirited 16th Street Mall, an attendee favorite for its cafes, shops, restaurants and entertainment venues, all of which are walkable from the convention center. “We’ve got a lot of offerings right here in the city that are easy to get to—great restaurants, museums and sports facilities—and have gotten the word out about them,” Scharf says. From Denver it’s also just a quick trip to the nearby college town of Boulder and all the outdoor group adventures (e.g., skiing, hiking, fishing, horseback riding and rafting) that await in Colorado’s high country.

That sense of convenience and security was a critical decision factor for Andy Stephenson, who will be bringing the Church of God Ministries’ International Youth Conference to Denver in July 2012. “We’ll have a group of 5,000 to 6,000 teenagers in the city, so safety and accessibility from the hotels is really important for us,” says Stephenson, the leader of the Youth Ministries team. “The convention center is great, and the mall area is close to the hotel and super safe for kids to go out to at night,” says Stephenson. He isn’t alone in his love for the city. Denver experienced its second-best convention and meetings year in history in 2010, when it hosted 75 conventions, 423 meetings and more than 370,000 delegates who made an economic impact of $653 million.

Salt Lake City, Utah

It’s always satisfying to find a destination where attendees can meet productively while their families take in the sights—without breaking the bank. Welcome to Utah’s capital, founded by the Mormons some 150 years ago, where the price of admission can fit many attendee budgets.

“We have so many free historical and cultural attractions that provide a full day’s worth of activities,” says Mark H. White, vice president of sales for the Salt Lake City CVB. There are museums chronicling Utah’s first settlers (the Beehive House and the Daughters of the Pioneers and Social Hall museums), military history (Fort Douglas), folk crafts (the Chase Home) and art (the Phillips Gallery, Museum of Church History and Art, Salt Lake Art Center). And many of the world-famous Mormon Tabernacle Choir’s rehearsals are also free.

Cost control is critical for the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations—a big reason why the Boston-based group likes Salt Lake City. “Their CVB staff is helpful and professional, and the package they offer us is very affordable,” says Jan Sneegas, director of general assembly and conference services. “We’re also very interested in sustainability, and their hotels are within walking distance of the convention center so we don’t need to use shuttles.”

A vibrant, walkable city core also helps planners when it comes to post-meeting options. “We’ve doubled the number of restaurants and nightspots in downtown in the last few years,” says White, adding that the city is now “big enough to have good restaurants and museums but still small enough to be safe and clean.” That balance of being a big city with a small-town feel goes to the heart of what the CVB and Salt Lake’s hospitality community share as goals. “We try to focus on those groups that we know that we can accommodate,” White says.

That said, space is certainly plentiful in Salt Lake. The Salt Palace Convention Center anchors the city’s reinvigorated downtown with the EnergySolutions Arena, which seats 20,500, and several meetings properties close by. The South Towne Exposition Center, with nine meeting rooms and 243,000 square feet of exhibit space, offers an alternative meeting option set 16 miles from Salt Lake City International Airport. Utah Olympic Park is an easy day trip and ideal for teambuilding and picnics. A trip to Utah’s spectacular National Parks—Zion, Bryce Canyon and Arches among them—is also an option for daytime off-site trips.

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Tips

Explore the Past: Few destinations are as rooted in and dedicated to their past as Salt Lake City, which has several major attractions revolving around the history of the Mormon Church and its research into genealogy. The church’s FamilySearch Center and Family History Library are free to the public, and attendees would be wise to build in extra pre- and post-meeting time to spend at the venues. familysearch.org

Take Time to Adjust: Destinations like Denver and Colorado Springs sit up a mile or higher. Remind attendees that sea-level constitutions need time to adjust. Keep strenuous exercise and alcohol at a minimum (at least for the first day); and drink plenty of water and wear ample sunscreen.

The Mid-Atlantic region is appealing due to its vast natural resources from West Virginia’s mountains to the beaches of the coastal quartet of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Its cities and towns are a blend of old and new: centuries-old architecture and state-of-the-art facilities, world-class museums and new attractions. It has all the right ingredients to host a successful meeting, and planners will find that what the region promises, it delivers.

Charleston, West Virginia

Charleston, West Virginia’s capital city, has small-town charm but the amenities of a larger metropolis. Located within 500 miles of half the U.S. population, it prides itself on being safe, affordable and accessible. Add to that a number of first-class meeting and event facilities, inspiring cultural museums and a wealth of outdoor recreational opportunities, and it’s easy to see why this city is a favorite with faith-based planners.

Edgar Sutton, director of meeting arrangements for the American Baptist Association, found that the city had everything he required for the annual Messenger Assembly last June.

“Charleston worked for 12 years to get our meeting, and I can recommend it as a great meeting city for faith-based meetings,” Sutton says. “The hotel rates and meal functions were affordable, and many restaurants were just a few steps away. The city had the advantages of a much larger city with the ease of getting around.”
The Charleston Marriott Town Center, which has 17,500 square feet of flexible meeting space, served as the group’s headquarters. The hotel is currently undergoing an $8 million renovation of its lobby and 352 guest rooms to be completed by fall 2012.

Special Places: Click here to learn about zip lining across West Virginia's New River Gorge.

Sutton also booked the Charleston Civic Center with its 13,500-seat Coliseum, located within walking distance of several hotels, the Charleston Town Center Mall (largest urban indoor shopping mall in the East) and the stunning Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences. Home to the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, the center offers rental space for receptions, dinners and other events.

Jonathan Dow, executive director of Aldersgate Renewal Ministries, chose the same two venues for his first convention in Charleston last July. Aldersgate 2010 attracted 1,400 participants.

“Each annual conference we host varies in both schedule and in programming,” he says. “Facilities in Charleston allowed us the flexibility to be creative in our planning because we knew there were multiple unique venues to work with. 2010 was our first time. We are currently in negotiations for a future year.”

The West Virginia State Capitol Complex and the $17 million newly renovated West Virginia State Museum at the Culture Center serve up slices of the state’s rich history while the entire area has opportunities for outdoor activities including hiking, mountain biking and whitewater rafting. In summer, groups can catch a baseball game at Appalachian Power Park, home stadium of the West Virginia Power. The park also rents space for group gatherings.

Fredericksburg, Virginia

Fredericksburg is nicely positioned on the Interstate 95 Capital Corridor connecting Richmond, Virginia’s capital, to the nation’s capital. It has ties to George Washington (Ferry Farm was his boyhood home) and the Civil War. Its reasonably priced hotels and meeting venues and proximity to Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C., are major draws.

The Southside Women’s Conference values Fredericksburg as a meeting destination. This October it returns for the eighth consecutive year, says Conference Director Missy Bingaman.

“The location is great for getting away but only an hour away from our church [Southside Church] in Chesterfield, Va. Kimberly Herbert at the Fredericksburg Department of Economic Development and Tourism has been an integral part of our planning each year by providing current information on Fredericksburg’s meeting spaces and activities.”

The variety of activities, including shopping, bowling and restaurants, keeps the group coming back, as does the affordability. “Some of the hotels are willing to extend a nonprofit discount and work with us to provide catering that fits within our budget,” Bingaman says.

Planners can choose from several meeting venues including the Fredericksburg Expo and Conference Center, which has 80,000 square feet of versatile exhibit space and 15,000 square feet of designated meeting space. It’s part of the Celebrate Virginia complex, which includes the 148-room Hilton Garden Inn Fredericksburg with 2,700 square feet of meeting space, a Hampton Inn, Hyatt Place and Homewood Suites.

One of the city’s newest hotels, the Residence Inn Fredericksburg recently added a full-service conference facility with 2,600 square feet for meetings. Its proximity to the Spotsylvania Town Centre provides meeting-goers with dining, shopping and meeting options in one location. Many groups also book the 196-room Fredericksburg Hospitality House Hotel and Conference Center, which has 18,000 square feet of newly renovated meeting space and can accommodate functions of up to 750 people.

For more unusual meeting venues, the Inn at Fredericksburg Square, a circa-1854 mansion in Old Town Fredericksburg, features two ballrooms and a full-service kitchen for banquet service for up to 250 people. The 1790s Georgian home and studio of American impressionist painter Gari Melchers at Belmont accommodates up to 150 people for meetings, 100 for banquet seating.

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News can trace its origins almost as far back as the first settlement in nearby Jamestown and is home to several one-of-a-kind museums including North America’s largest maritime museum. But it’s the city’s accessibility—not solely its history and attractions—that appeals to meeting planners like Ken Lupp. He’s worked with faith-based groups in the Hampton Roads, Va., area for more than 20 years, currently as an independent meeting planner and owner of KAL Meeting Resources.

“I really never gave much thought to Newport News,” Lupp admits, “until about a year ago when I did a Sunday afternoon drive through the area and realized the value this city has to offer.” He cites the miles of waterfront and the proximity to airports and Amtrak among the reasons to consider this southeastern Virginia city.

A site visit was all it took for the Church of God Militant Pillar and Ground of the Truth, one of Lupp’s groups, to decide to convene at the 256-room Newport News Marriott at City Center in 2012. The hotel’s 25,000 square feet of meeting space, the most in the city, is part of City Center at Oyster Point, a 52-acre mixed-use urban village. With more than 40 shops and restaurants, it offers everything in one compact, walkable location. Three full-service properties with an additional 454 rooms are located within a five-minute drive of City Center, including the Omni Newport News Hotel, which recently underwent a nearly $1 million makeover. The 181-room hotel features 10,000 square feet of function space.

Many of the city’s major attractions are within a 10-minute drive of City Center including the Virginia Living Museum and the Mariners’ Museum with its full-scale replica of the USS Monitor. The museum is available for receptions and meetings. The Ferguson Center for the Arts located on the nearby Christopher Newport University campus, also rents space to meeting planners interested in combining a musical performance or other social event with an on-site reception.
With the Civil War’s Sesquicentennial next year, the city’s rich military history will make it a popular choice for meeting planners. In addition to the USS Monitor Center at the Mariners’ Museum, groups can tour historic homes in the area, including one that briefly served as a Confederate hospital.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., needs no introduction for meeting planners. This vibrant city has more than 100 hotel properties, a range of meeting venues, including one of the country’s 10 largest convention centers, and a number of world-class museums and other attractions to explore when it’s time to relax.

“Faith-based planners should consider Washington, D.C., because of the premier facilities it offers for meetings from the Walter E. Washington Convention Center to the Verizon Center,” says Ronnie Burt, Destination DC’s vice president of sales and services. “D.C. offers a diverse portfolio of hotel brands and products and an array of choices for family entertainment from visiting the museums, monuments or local attractions like the National Zoo.”

The 2.3 million-sq.-ft. Walter E. Washington Convention Center covers six city blocks, making it the largest building in the capital and a top choice for large conventions. Planners also might consider the 1,071-room Washington Hilton, which completed a $150 million renovation less than a year ago. Its 110,000 square feet of meeting space includes 42 meeting rooms as well as the largest ballroom within any hotel in the city.

Special Places: Click here for information about the Marine Corps Museum.

What sets D.C. apart from many other cities is the sheer number of unique off-site venues for meetings and social functions including the Library of Congress and the National Building Museum. The city also scores points with convention-goers for its walkability and excellent public transportation including an impressive metro system with a dedicated stop at the convention center and other convenient locations. Two of the five routes of the DC Circulator, a red bus for visitors, travel past the convention center at a cost of only $1 per ride.

Several attractions are less than a 15-minute walk from the convention center including the White House, International Spy Museum, the Newseum and the National Gallery of Art. Meeting attendees can stay a few extra days to visit Capitol Hill and other iconic landmarks including the Washington Monument, the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials and the Smithsonian Institution, which includes the National Zoological Park and 19 museums, most of them free.

Wilmington, Delaware

When the New York-Washington Region Christian Methodist Episcopal Church chose Wilmington for its 2009 annual conference, one requirement was a facility with concert-like sound production for choirs as well as technical sound support and the capability to produce a quality live recording.

That’s where Azeez Weeks, site supervisor for the New Destiny Fellowship Church in Wilmington, stepped in to work with the Wilmington Convention and Visitors Bureau.

“We were able to meet those technical requirements, but we’re also only one of three places in the city able to accommodate more than 1,000 people,” he says, referring to the church. “Our 23,000-sq.-ft. facility can hold up to 1,700 to 1,800 people.”

More than 1,000 people attended the conference, although, Weeks says, “our ability to stream live on the Web filled hundreds of seats in cyberspace.” The convention also utilized the Doubletree Hotel Downtown Wilmington, which has 20,000 square feet of meeting space, including a grand ballroom that seats 1,080.

Special Places: Click here to learn about Geppi's Museum in Baltimore, Md.

The Chase Center on the Riverfront, Wilmington’s largest convention venue, has 87,000 square feet of space including 33,000 square feet of dedicated exhibit space. Smaller groups may prefer the more intimate setting of the historic Hotel du Pont, the Delaware Art Museum, or Winterthur Garden and Library with its impressive collection of decorative arts. The DuPont Environmental Education Center at the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge on the Wilmington Riverfront accommodates up to 80 people.

Wilmington is the gateway to the scenic Brandywine Valley and easy to reach via all modes of transportation including air service from the Philadelphia International Airport only 30 miles away. Equally appealing is that the city has no sales tax on food, beverage, entertainment, shopping or meeting rooms, and a lower lodging tax than surrounding areas, which helps stretch planning budgets.

Planners interested in local history might consider including a tour of the New Sweden Centre, the replica sailing ship Kalmar Nyckel and the Old Swedes Church, all of which help tell the story of the first Swedish settlement there in 1638. The church, built in 1698, is the oldest religious institution still used for its original purpose in the country.

Another option is to book a meeting in August when the August Quarterly is held. The country’s oldest continuously celebrated African American Festival commemorates the origins of the nation’s first black-led church through gospel, preaching and stage performances.

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Tips

Travel Green: A fleet of hybrid electric Charm City Circulator buses provide free, eco-friendly public transportation for sightseeing or getting around Baltimore. Passengers can sign up for mobile alerts for instant notification of service updates or check out the online Next Bus feature to obtain GPS-based arrival times for the next few buses.

Free in D.C.: The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., hosts free performances at 6 p.m. daily on its Millennium Stage. Symphony orchestras, military bands, dance troupes, poets, singers and others entertain visitors. Although tickets are not required, popular performers fill seats fast, so arrive early to avoid disappointment.

See George’s Estate: Beginning April 2, Mount Vernon, the plantation home and estate of President George Washington, begins a new walking tour. Mount Vernon in the Civil War tour marks the sesquicentennial of the start of the war and is offered on Saturdays and Sundays. The estate also reopens George Washington’s Upper Garden on May 20 with a new design that reflects what it likely looked like in 1799 when Washington lived there. Special tours for groups of 20 or more are available. mountvernon.org

Daytona Beach

Special Places: Click here to learn about the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Fla.

“The captain, rearing cautiously in the bow after the dinghy soared on a great swell, said that he had seen the lighthouse at Mosquito Inlet.” That’s a line from “The Open Boat,” a short story by American author Stephen Crane, first published in 1897. Based on his own experience, the story chronicles four men battling the high seas in a dinghy after their ship wrecked and sank. They’re guided to shore by a small, flickering light in the distance: the lighthouse at Mosquito Inlet.

That lighthouse still stands today in Ponce Inlet, formerly Mosquito Inlet, Fla., a small oceanfront locale just south of Daytona Beach. The Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse, the tallest in Florida, is non-operational. It’s now a museum in a mostly tourist-centric section of town, but it reminds visitors of the area’s seafaring past.

The 23 miles of beaches and Atlantic Ocean coastline have long served as the reason people visit the Daytona Beach area, most notably when it first became a resort destination in the early 20th century. Daytona’s wide beaches became the test track for automobile and motorcycle racers at that time. In 1936, Daytona Beach hosted the first stock-car race on the beach, and in 1948, the first NASCAR-sanctioned race was held there. Daytona Beach became known as “The World’s Most Famous Beach.”

Daytona still sees record numbers of visitors each year for its beaches and high-profile events like NASCAR’s Daytona 500 and Bike Week, but it’s also gaining a reputation as an affordable, accessible beach town for meetings and events. “Every inch of the beach is open to the public,” says Georgia Turner, director of specialized markets at the Daytona Beach Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Eleven miles of the beach are still open to vehicles. That’s the kind of unfussy, easy-going attitude you find throughout the town.

Conference Planner Charles Melear recently organized the Feast of Tabernacles Conference in Daytona. Melear, who organizes between 15 and 18 conferences a year, is looking for three things in a meeting destination: affordable meeting space, adequate housing and recreational activities in the area to attract members. Daytona Beach had all those things, he says. More than 2,500 people attended the event, which included daily church services, educational workshops and recreational activities, including a family day, golf tournament, singles activity, teen activity and senior citizen luncheon.

Daytona Beach begs planners to build in time for recreation during events. Located in Northeast Florida, the weather is mild year-round, allowing for kayaking and parasailing trips even during the winter months. For nature lovers, Tomoka State Park, north of Daytona Beach in the neighboring community of Ormond Beach, is a scenic spot to spend an afternoon. “It’s a great place to get an idea of what real Florida is like,” says Emily Wehr, the park’s ranger, who takes visitors on guided tours through the park. A leisurely hike through the canopied park reminds you how far north you are in Florida. Palm trees that are rampant in tropical South Florida mix with live oaks and slash pines you’d find in Georgia and the Carolinas. The park is also a launching point for kayaking and canoeing in the Tomoka River, a tidal salt marsh that flows north and empties into the Halifax River. It’s uncommon—but possible—to see an alligator in the water or on the banks of the river.

Planners can also organize water activities like sailing, boat tours, jet skiing and parasailing in Ponce Inlet near the lighthouse. Attendees who would rather stay on land can explore the Marine Science Center with a seabird sanctuary and turtle rehabilitation center. Back in the convention district is Ocean Walk Shoppes at Ocean Walk Village, a dining and entertainment district with restaurants like Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. and Johnny Rockets.

There are plenty of choices for hotels in the Daytona Beach area, but the best option to be close to the action, the beach and the convention center is the Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort, located directly across the street from the Ocean Center. It has 744 guest rooms and 60,000 square feet of meeting space. Other nearby hotels include the Wyndham Ocean Walk Resort, Plaza Resort and Spa, and Fountain Beach Resort.

A few years ago, the Ocean Center convention complex underwent a $76 million expansion that added 100,000 square feet of exhibit space and 30,000 square feet of meeting space, doubling the size of the facility. The expansion was completed in 2009, and the center, which sits on the famous A1A boulevard, is only 400 feet from the beach. Adjacent to the Ocean Center is Peabody Auditorium, a 2,500-seat historic facility with a 4,000-sq.-ft. lobby suitable for receptions. Across A1A and on the beach is Daytona Beach Bandshell, an outdoor amphitheater built in 1937 that accommodates 5,000 people for events.

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WHILE YOU’RE IN DAYTONA BEACH
◗ Sail aboard the Eagle Yacht on an instructional charter with Captain Eric West. The 36-ft. yacht sets outs from Adventure Yacht Harbor into the Intracoastal Waterway, where dolphin sightings are common. marinesource.com/eagleyacht

◗ Dine at The Cellar, located in the historic winter home of President Warren G. Harding, which was built in 1907 by his father-in-law. Chef Sam Moggio prepares fine Italian pastas that can be paired with one of the many wines on the hand-picked list. thecellarrestaurant.com

◗ Visit the Daytona International Speedway, a Daytona landmark built in 1958 by NASCAR founder William France Sr. that hosts the Daytona 500 race each year. Take a tour of the track and learn about Daytona Beach’s racing history. daytonainternationalspeedway.com

◗ Savor the treats at Angell and Phelps Chocolate Factory, a Daytona Beach landmark since 1925. Take a tour of the facility to watch how chocolate truffles, caramels and toffee are made, then enjoy a few samples. angellandphelps.com
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Orlando

When most people think of Orlando, the one word that comes to mind is Disney. When planners think of Orlando, the word that comes to mind is space. The city’s facilities can accommodate nearly any size meeting between its convention center and hotel meeting facilities.

Disney resorts have plenty of room for meetings, too. Charles Albrecht planned the 2010 Grace Communion International denominational conference at a property within Walt Disney World Resort. “Although we are scattered across the United States and around the world, we are a tight-knit group and we have a long history together,” Albrecht says. “So in addition to being a denominational conference where we conduct training and carry out organizational business, this is something of a big family reunion for us, so the success of this event is very important.” The international event is hosted every two to three years. About 1,100 church pastors, elders and members attended the event. “The noteworthy thing is that, in spite of bad economic conditions in 2010, our attendance was up from our previous conferences,” he says, noting that the last conference totaled around 800 people.

The conference included music, worship time, educational sessions and dinners. “We also hosted a Disney character breakfast, which was a big hit,” Albrecht says. New to Walt Disney World this year is the Star Wars 3-D attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, scheduled to open in May.

“We take several things into consideration when looking at venue options,” Albrecht says. The location needs to be easy to get to for both domestic and international travelers, and the actual host facility needs to have adequate meeting space that is separate from the space used for meal functions. “In addition, we are looking for a location that would be church- and family-friendly,” he says, and “we are also looking for a location that will provide places for our international attendees to reconnect during downtime and for some recreational opportunities during free time.”

Special Places: Click here to learn about Omni ChampionsGate.

Beyond Disney, the focal point of the city’s meetings offerings is in the International Drive district, or “I-Drive,” where visitors find a dining and entertainment center, dozens of hotels and Orange County Convention Center. The OCCC is the country’s second-largest convention center behind Chicago’s McCormick Place with 2.1 million square feet of exhibit space. It’s divided into two buildings: The West building, which opened in 1983, has four levels with more than 1.1 million square feet of exhibit space, 49 meeting rooms and 141 breakout rooms; the North/South building has almost 1 million square feet of space and has a distinctive design with two arched entrances and 80-ft. glass windows. An open-air bridge with moving sidewalks connects the two centers.

The convention center is also connected to neighboring hotels, including The Peabody, which unveiled a major expansion last year that brought its total meeting space to 300,000 square feet and room count to 1,641. The expansion came with a hefty price tag—$450 million—but the investment is evident in the hotel’s sparkling marble floors, creative lighting fixtures and immense meeting rooms. Even the hallways outside the meeting facilities are wide and tall, allowing for large pre-function receptions outside the ballrooms. The entire I-Drive area has an impressive 9,100 guest rooms within walking distance of the convention center. Orlando has more than 115,000 rooms in all.

Orlando is known for its theme parks, and the I-Drive area has a few of them in close driving distance to its hotels, including SeaWorld Orlando, Aqautica SeaWorld’s Waterpark, Wet ‘n Wild and Discovery Cove, which opens a new attraction, The Grand Reef, in June. Also nearby are Universal Studios Florida and Islands of Adventure, both at Universal Studios Resort. Last year was a stellar year for Universal with the opening of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at the Islands of Adventure Park. Readers of Theme Park Insider voted the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride as the best theme park ride to open last year, and the best theme park ride in America.

Albrecht says the city met his expectations. “As we had hoped, it was very family and church friendly,” he says. “There was a lot of variety and the Orlando area was reasonably priced overall. We were also surprised to discover that there is a good public transportation system in place. Because taxis can be intimidating or cost prohibitive for teen groups, the public transportation made it possible for them to get around with their chaperones during free time. It was also helpful for our international attendees who didn’t want to drive in the U.S.”

With a city as large as Orlando, Albrecht has some advice for other planners organizing events there. “If your event is new to Orlando or if it is a larger event, be sure to utilize the CVB,” he says. “To a great extent, Orlando has developed around tourism and this continues to be huge industry in this area. The CVB is well staffed with a team that is knowledgeable and eager to serve without being pushy. Then, it is much more manageable to step into working with hotel properties, destination services, attractions and so on.”
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WHILE YOU’RE IN ORLANDO
◗ Visit the Hilton Orlando as a possible spot for your next meeting or event. The contemporary hotel discreetly separates leisure guests from meeting guests. The hotel, which has 175,000 square feet of meeting space, is connected to the Orange County Convention Center by a covered, open-air walkway. thehiltonorlando.com

◗ Dine at Mojo Cajun Bar and Grill in downtown Orlando, a New Orleans-themed restaurant and bar that opened late last year. Don’t miss out on the selections at the raw bar. mojocajunbarandgrill.com

◗ Visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando’s Islands of Adventure. The true-to-book attraction opened last summer and has been packed with visitors—both fans of the boy wizard and not—who are impressed by its quality and rides. universalorlando.com/harrypotter

◗ Meet at Caribe Royale, an all-suite hotel and convention center, for an all-inclusive event. Located on 53 acres of land, the hotel has 1,218 suites. The convention center has two ballrooms—one totaling 40,000 square feet and the other 26,000 square feet—and 29 breakout rooms. thecaribeorlando.com
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Pensacola

In the westernmost corner of the Florida Panhandle is Pensacola, a smaller resort destination of somewhere around 50,000 people. During the BP oil spill last summer, the city struggled to convince potential visitors that the beaches were clear and Pensacola was open for business. In November, numbers were released showing that the county’s year-over-year revenues decreased 5 percent from 2009, which is a victory, according to tourism officials. “The year was off to a strong start, and we were looking for one of the best years for tourism,” said Ed Schroeder, vice president of tourism development at Visit Pensacola. “October [2009] through May [2010], lodging revenues were up almost 5 percent over 2009, and we had every reason to be optimistic that trend would continue. Unfortunately, the oil spill blunted that momentum.”

But faith in the city has returned, and Pensacola’s bracing for a busy summer. Two major industries make up the majority of the city’s business: tourism and the Navy. The city is home to a United States Naval Air Station (the first in the country) and the Blue Angels. That naval history draws a number of visitors to the area each year. Another thing that brings people to town is, of course, the beach. Many meeting attendees turn trips to the Gulf Coast region into vacations for their families.

For planners who want to be close to the beach, the city has what it calls Pensacola Beach Conference Campus, an area with a total of 928 hotel rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space. The headquarter hotel is the Hilton Pensacola Beach Gulf Front, which has 276 rooms. Nearby hotels include the Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Resort. The new Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Beach Hotel has 162 rooms and is a 15-minute walk from the Hilton. It opened last June and sticks to Buffet’s laid-back, kick-off-your-flip-flops attitude.

Estella Lee is the program coordinator for Bridges to Circles, a community initiative from Catholic Charities of Northwest Florida that helps to solve poverty issues in the Escambia County area. She recently hosted a small training group for the national hands-on training program in Pensacola, headquartered at the Hampton Inn. Lee plans about eight events each year, and for this program, people traveled to Florida from states including North Carolina, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Minnesota, New Mexico. The event introduces trainees to Bridges to Circles initiatives with direct observation, consultation with experienced staff and in-depth training.

Lee was able to keep attendees from defecting to the beach during the four-day event by maintaining a tight schedule. Seasoned planners know that the beach can be a detriment to session attendance (what’s the big deal if we skip just one afternoon session for the beach?). Pensacola has a solution for that: historic downtown Pensacola, which sits inland along the Pensacola Bay. There, planners find Historic Pensacola Village, a two-block section of downtown with restaurants, cultural centers, museums and art galleries. It’s operated by West Florida Historic Preservation Inc. and has a number of venues that work for small off-site events. The Crowne Plaza Pensacola Grand Hotel is the biggest hotel in the area and hosts a number of meetings each year. It’s a few miles from Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key, the beachside meeting destinations.

Many groups headed to Pensacola, like Lee’s, are a combination of drive-in and fly-in attendees, and the Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport makes it easy for those who have to fly. It recently underwent a large renovation and remodeling that extended the concourse and ticket areas.
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WHILE YOU’RE IN PENSACOLA
◗ Dine at Frank and Lola Love Pensacola Cafe at Margaritaville Beach Hotel. Named after Jimmy Buffet’s 1982 song “Frank and Lola,” the indoor/outdoor restaurant has a menu of steak, seafood and island-inspired drinks. margaritavillehotel.com

◗ Take a ride with Pensacola Trolley Tours, 75-minute narrated tours of the city on replica 1880s streetcars. Tours visit all major historic districts and explains why Pensacola’s called the “City of Five Flags.” pensacolatrolleytours.com

◗ See a Blue Angels practice session behind the Naval Aviation Museum. When the angels are home, they hold practice sessions, mostly on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings around 8:30. The sessions are free, but call in advance to make sure the show isn’t on the road. blueangels.navy.mil

◗ Set out aboard an Aquatic Charters boat for a two-hour dolphin cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s likely you’ll see bottlenose dolphins, but you also might catch a glimpse of leatherback turtles, manta rays and pelicans. chase-n-fins.com
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St. Augustine

If you’ve been to other cities in Florida, the first thing you’ll notice about St. Augustine is that it doesn’t look like the rest. Sure, there are hints of Florida here and there—sunny beaches along the Atlantic coast, palm trees huddled together on street corners—but the overall impression the city leaves is one of history, influenced by its Spanish ancestry. The area was first explored by Ponce de Leon (the one who claimed to find the Fountain of Youth, and there’s a tourist attraction in town celebrating the rumored story), but the town was officially founded in 1565 by Spanish admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles.

St. Augustine remained under Spanish control for most of its early history until ceded to the United States in 1822. Early Spanish Colonial architecture is still evident throughout the city in churches, museums and hotels with their red-tiled roofs, smooth stucco walls and canvased awnings. The tycoon and railroad developer Henry Flagler settled in the area in 1885, contributing a building boom of his own to the city, choosing Spanish Colonial Revival-style architecture as a nod to the city’s past.

Some of those historic buildings provide a setting for meetings and events. The Lightner Museum was built in 1887 as Hotel Alcazar, commissioned by Flagler to appeal to wealthy tourists who traveled there on his railroad from the north. Today it’s a popular event and wedding venue. The third-floor gallery of the museum has a circular flow that’s perfect for receptions. It’s open to a courtyard below, which was once a swimming bath at the Alcazar.

Across the street is the historic Casa Monica Hotel. Built in 1888, it was restored in 1999 in a classic Moroccan style. It has 138 guest rooms, an award-winning restaurant, and 12,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space, including the 3,000-sq.-ft. Casa Monica Ballroom. The Sultan’s Pavilion is a 1,500-sq.-ft. event space overlooking the pool deck and gardens. The pavilion holds up to 100 people. Another hotel in the historic district is the Hilton St. Augustine Historic Bayfront, which has 72 rooms and more than 2,000 square feet of meeting space.

St. Augustine’s meeting venues aren’t limited to the historic downtown region. Just outside the city are a number of fine resorts for meetings and retreats. Pastor of Congregational Care Patrick Callahan plans the Marriage Retreat, the signature off-campus event for The Family Church based in Gainesville, Fla.

The event has grown from about 10 couples meeting overnight in a small hotel in Ocala in 1995 to the current model, which combines teaching, worship and significant amounts of time for dating your spouse. “Beginning in 2001, we began a working relationship with Lisa Miller and the staff of the Marriott Renaissance Hotel at the World Golf Village,” says Callahan. World Golf Village is located just north of St. Augustine. The area has hotels, championship golf courses, restaurants, shopping and the World Golf Hall of Fame.

“We seek to find a somewhat upscale setting in a relaxed atmosphere, and the community of St. Augustine offers the perfect options for the beach, tourist attractions, shopping, dining and three days of peace and rest,” he says. “Many couples have simply forgotten how to date and have fun, and the Marriage Retreat is a reminder tool that courting throughout the marriage is critically important to the success of the marriage.”

Callahan says it’s the service he and the attendees receive at the Renaissance resort that keeps them coming back every year. “We are treated as honored guests,” he says. “The business owners rally to partner with the event planners to add that special touch of welcome through creative door prizes, and the conference participants loyally respond by supporting the local businesses and leaving behind small greeting cards thanking the supporting businesses for their support. It seems each year like the community rolls out the red carpet of welcome. We so look forward to this weekend each year.”
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WHILE YOU’RE IN ST. AUGUSTINE
◗ Tour the city with Old Town Trolley Tours to learn its history with a narrated guide. It takes you past notable stops including the Castillo de San Marcos fort, Fountain of Youth and Flagler College. trolleytours.com/st-augustine

◗ Dine at Pizzalley’s Chianti Room, a family-owned pizzeria that can hold groups of up to 80 people. Order a pizza, a bottle of wine and a traditional Italian coffee to end a busy day of events in St. Augustine. pizzalleyschiantiroom.com

◗ Visit the Ponte Vedra Inn and Club to consider it for a special executive retreat or getaway. The 250-room, historic resort was built in 1928 on 300 acres of beachfront property. The five-diamond property sits on a pristine, private beach and has its own restaurants and spa. pontevedra.com

◗ Stay at Casa Monica Hotel in St. Augustine’s downtown historic preservation district. The hotel is beautiful inside and out and inspires visitors with its Moroccan theme. Try the Mediterranean-inspired calamari at Cordova 95, the hotel’s restaurant that has three private dining rooms. casamonica.com
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Tampa

There’s a lot to like about Tampa, the bay city on Florida’s west coast that more than 4 million people in the metro area call home. Its big-city attributes include a number of sizeable meeting hotels, a large convention center, an international airport and professional sports teams. But it also has qualities of a small town, namely its hospitality and surprisingly walkable convention area.

Click here to learn about hosting meetings in Palm Beach.

The city’s main meetings district sits right on the bay. That’s where the Tampa Convention Center is located. It has 200,000 square feet of exhibit space, a 36,000-sq.-ft ballroom and views of the bay. While many cities are just now digging out from the aftermath of the economic tsunami, Tampa—and the convention center—are faring pretty well. “We were actually up in 2010, and we’ve hit our projections for 2011,” says Eric Blanc, the center’s director of sales and marketing and president of the Association for Convention Operations Management. He attributes that solely to service. “At the end of the day, service is what really sells a destination, and Tampa is one of those destinations that if we can get planners here, we sell them on the destination and the service,” he says. “That’s really where we excel as a facility and a destination. We’re user-friendly. We do our best to show customers we want you to hear, and we’re your partner in your event. Those partnerships go along way to keeping business and doing new business.”

Other things that help sell the destination are the hotels and entertainment options within close distance to the convention center. The Embassy Suites Tampa Downtown Convention Center is connected to the center by a skybridge; the all-suite hotel has 360 guest rooms and 9,000 square feet of meeting space. Tampa Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina sits on the Channel Riverwalk. It has 50,000 square feet of renovated meeting space and 719 rooms. The 521-room Hyatt Regency Tampa is also near the convention center, as is the Sheraton Tampa Riverwalk Hotel with 277 rooms and 12,000 square feet of event space.

Nearby is Ybor City, a historic district founded by cigar makers in the 1880s. The area is now an entertainment district with international restaurants including Columbia Restaurant, a family-owned Tampa mainstay that can accommodate up to 200 guests for Cuban food, live music and its famous flamenco dancing.

Another area that’s suitable for meetings and events is the Westshore business district, located near the Tampa International Airport. One of the area’s main hotels is the Renaissance Tampa Hotel International Plaza. It has 15 meeting rooms and 12,500 square feet of meeting space, and is near shopping, dining and entertainment at International Plaza and Bay Street. It’s also in close distance to the George M. Steinbrenner Field, the spring training facility for the New York Yankees. The Tampa CVB can help organize a private off-site event for groups at the field during spring games.

Blanc says the city’s CVB, Tampa Bay and Company, has really made an effort to put Tampa on the map. “What they have done in the past few years is remarkable, he says. “They’ve taken a destination that was thought of as a sleepy little town and they’ve managed to show the hospitality industry that not only are we not just a sleepy little town, we are more than capable of housing some of the nation’s largest events.

“One of the strategies we have is quite simply the idea of a little fish in a big pond. When you come to Tampa, you are going to be the star of the show,” he says. “A lot of…second-tier and third-tier cities do this partially by necessity, but the ones that excel are the ones who see that as an advantage.”
A few new arrivals land in Tampa this spring. Busch Gardens Tampa Bay opens A New Breed of Speed, an attraction with a Cheetah Hunt rollercoaster that launches rides from 0 to 60 in a matter of seconds. Tampa Museum of Art opens the “Degas: Form, Movement and the Antique” exhibit in March. It includes the French artist’s bronze sculptures, paintings and drawings. Dinosaur World, a nearby attraction, is expanding by 12 acres with a new 22,000-sq.-ft. building housing an indoor Prehistoric Museum. The renovations also include the addition of a dinosaur playground and picnic area. The expansion opens in the fall.
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WHILE YOU’RE IN TAMPA
◗ Tour historic Ybor City on a self-guided walking tour. You can spend an afternoon discovering the famed cigar town on your own schedule. ybormuseum.org/visit-the-museum/walking-tour

◗ Try the Columbia Cafe on the Riverwalk. Part of the Gonzmart Family of Columbia Restaurants, it’s operated by 4th- and 5th-generation family members that own the city’s well-known Columbia Restaurant. columbiarestaurant.com/cafe

◗ Stroll the Tampa Riverwalk on the Tampa Bay waterfront. It’s lined with hotels, meetings venues, restaurants, green spaces, museums and parks, and has a water taxi to transfer you back and forth. thetampariverwalk.com

◗ Visit nearby St. Petersburg’s The Dali Museum, which relocated to its new building in January. It’s a striking museum that houses the world’s most comprehensive collection of works by the late Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali. thedali.org
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Click here for more Florida tips, venues and information.

History and diversity define the Northeastern United States, a nine-state region from Pennsylvania to Maine. While proud of its deep-seated roots in America’s past, the region moves forward, drawing the attention of meeting planners because of its easily accessible cities and ever-expanding convention facilities. Located within a day’s drive of 30 to 40 percent of the country’s population, cities in the Northeast are convenient and appealing, and each has qualities that help it stand out from its counterparts.

Albany, New York

Albany's Empire State Plaza

As the oldest chartered city in the United States, Albany lays claim to having hosted meetings for more than 400 years. But the debut of the New York State Convention Center in 2012 will rebrand Albany as the region’s hottest new destination for meetings. The state-of-the-art venue will have 60,000 square feet of exhibition space, two ballrooms and more than 22,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

Until then, planners can take advantage of all the Empire State Plaza Convention Center offers, including a 26,000-sq.-ft. exhibit hall and the Times Union Center with 51,000 square feet of flexible function space. The Hilton Garden Inn Albany Airport just completed an extensive renovation. Remodeling is in progress at the Crowne Plaza Albany City Center, which will have 384 refurbished hotel rooms and 22,000 square feet of meeting space when complete.
The New York District Assemblies of God will host I.N.S.P.I.R.E., an event for women and high-school girls, this month at the 216-room Ramada Plaza in Albany’s Capital District.

“The affordable accommodations allow us to have an all-inclusive event, so the ladies can have their meals and attend the event without leaving the building,” says Linda Morrison, Women of Purpose director, New York District Assemblies of God. “There are also malls, specialty retail, great restaurants and other attractions in the area, so some ladies will choose to come and stay an extra night to enjoy what the area has to offer.”

From early June through Labor Day, groups can enjoy a narrated tour to learn about the host city through Albany Aqua Ducks and Trolleys. Tickets are good all day and allow passengers to get on and off at any of 20 trolley stops on the loop. It’s an easy way to take in some of the sights such as the New York State Capitol; New York State Museum; First Church, the oldest church in upstate New York, founded in 1642; and the Albany Institute of History and Art, where groups also can book meeting space and private tours of the exhibits.

Atlantic City, New Jersey

The world-famous boardwalk in Atlantic City

Atlantic City, N.J., may not be the first destination that comes to mind for a faith-based event, but the city’s history, family friendliness and ability to reinvent itself to keep pace with planners’ expectations shouldn’t be overlooked.

“Atlantic City is a well-rounded destination resort that offers all the amenities you’d expect,” says Gary Musich, vice president of convention sales for the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority. “We have an abundance of clean beaches, water sports, shopping, golf, fine dining and family attractions as well as a fascinating history that includes historic churches. Meeting and convention facilities are second to none, and our Atlantic City hospitality will make everyone feel welcome.”

The convention district is just 20 minutes from the Atlantic City International Airport. Amtrak has frequent service from Philadelphia and other major cities with a terminal adjacent to the 500,000-sq.-ft. Atlantic City Convention Center, one of the largest convention centers in the East.
Visitors will discover Atlantic City is very compact, making it easy to explore with or without a vehicle. Many major resort hotels and attractions are within walking distance of the convention center, including Atlantic City Outlets, The Walk, a popular retail outlet shopping and dining district with more than 100 stores. A $15 million expansion project will add another 45,078 square feet of retail space this year.

Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City’s original convention venue, is located on the world-famous boardwalk only four blocks from the convention center. This National Historic Landmark, which first opened in 1929, is the ideal venue for a reception or dinner.

The 502-room Sheraton Atlantic City Convention Center Hotel, connected to the convention center by a skybridge, recently opened the Gallery, an ocean-themed, 5,000-sq.-ft. event space featuring aquariums with a living coral reef. Another spectacular meeting space, One Atlantic, a 10,000-sq.-ft. venue on the top level of The Pier Shops at Caesars, juts out over the water and offers wide-sweeping vistas of the ocean, beach and boardwalk.

Buffalo, New York

A $7 million upgrade to the Buffalo National Convention Center included a state-of-the-art electronic marquee.

Buffalo is perhaps best known for Niagara Falls and buffalo chicken wings, an invention of the city’s landmark Anchor Bar. But the city stands poised to be a major player in the convention game in the Northeast with the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center’s recent facelift. The $7 million upgrade to the facility updated its 64,400-sq.-ft. exhibit hall and added a new main entrance and state-of-the-art electronic marquee. The 396-room Hyatt Regency Buffalo adjacent to the convention center also underwent major renovations this past year to its guest rooms, lobby and nearly 22,000 square feet of meeting and banquet space.

The Empire Baptist Missionary Convention of New York held its Congress of Christian Education Conference in Buffalo last April and has booked its next two youth conferences at the Adam’s Mark Hotel. The centrally located hotel, which has 486 guest rooms and 72,000 square feet of meeting space, is only 15 minutes from the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.
The statewide organization returns to Buffalo year after year for a number of reasons, says Mae Henrie, site coordinator and planner.

“It’s a good location for us,” Henrie says. “Our main goal is to keep prices down so church members and young people can attend. The hotels here offer good rates. We use Adam’s Mark because it has enough rooms and meeting space, so we don’t need to look for an overflow hotel.”

Although Niagara Falls is always a big draw for convention-goers, so are the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra and Shea’s Performing Arts Center, both offering world-class performances, and the historic Michigan Street Baptist Church, once the last stop on the Underground Railroad for slaves heading to Canada. Visitors also can look forward to touring unrivaled attractions such as the Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House Complex with its recently renovated Prairie-style home, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, the latter two both with event space available to rent.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia's 1,408-room Marriott was renovated in 2010.

The Pennsylvania Convention Center’s $787 million expansion, scheduled for completion in March, gives the venue
62 percent more space, allowing it to host two major conventions at the same time. More than 1 million square feet of rentable space will include 528,000 square feet of contiguous exhibit space and a 55,400-sq.-ft. ballroom.

The 1,408-room Philadelphia Marriott Downtown also underwent renovations this past year to improve guest accommodations, public spaces and its 92,000 square feet of meeting space. Its proximity to the convention center makes it a popular choice for groups like the Supreme Council Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, which met there last August.

“We move our annual convocation to different cities within our 15-state jurisdiction,” says Marie D’Amore, Supreme Council meeting planner. “Our last visit was in 1981. Feedback from our delegates indicated Philadelphia was a winner in all aspects of their attendance.

“The Philadelphia Marriott Downtown Hotel is a modern, centralized facility, efficiently staffed with top-notch administrators and event managers,” she adds, noting that one of the highlights for her group was their “utilization of the beautiful Academy of Music, a historical gem of a theater in its own right. Another highlight was accessibility to Independence National Historical Park, where numerous historic attractions afforded visitors a wonderful glimpse into our roots.”

Two newly opened attractions—the National Museum of American Jewish History and the President’s House, home to George Washington and the nation’s first White House—join Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell and the National Constitution Center as part of or near Independence National Historical Park, nicknamed “America’s Most Historic Square Mile.” The Avenue of the Arts, the entertainment and arts center of Philadelphia, gives planners with plenty of options to include theater, music, dining and shopping on the agenda.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh is the first LEED Gold convention center.

Pittsburgh raises the bar for going green with its architecturally striking David L. Lawrence Convention Center. The 1.5 million-sq.-ft. facility, the world’s first LEED Gold convention center, is a natural fit for environmental associations and eco-minded planners, and its convenient downtown location makes it the logical choice for anyone planning to meet in the Steel City.

The recently opened Fairmont Pittsburgh follows suit as the first LEED Gold hotel in the Fairmont hotel group. Its 12,000 square feet of meeting space, including a grand ballroom and four meeting rooms equipped with the latest audiovisual technology, enables it to accommodate a range of events from association meetings to receptions and formal dinners.

“Pittsburgh is historically a great city for us as it is in the center of our membership base,” says Peter S. Maher, program coordinator for the National Association of Pastoral Musicians, which will meet here in 2012. As a group that values sound quality, it was important to Maher that his group be allowed to bring in its own sound company for conventions.

“This was addressed at a very early stage in our discussions with Pittsburgh,” he says. “We worked out a very reasonable understanding that we would be bringing in our own crew.”

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) also will convene in Pittsburgh next year, says Deborah Davies, meeting services manager.
“The Pittsburgh CVB, the convention center and downtown hotels have all cooperated in putting together a citywide package that offers great facilities for our meetings, while being very affordable for the Presbyterian Church and our attendees. Pittsburgh has a vibrant downtown with museums, galleries, theaters, numerous restaurants at all price ranges, major league sports and shopping, all within walking distance of the convention center and hotels. Our attendees will love having all these options and will wish they had more free time.”

Other nearby attractions include the Monongahela Incline, one of two historic cable car railways still in operation in the city, and The Strip district, which features trendy ethnic markets, coffeehouses and shops. With the walkability of Downtown Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle and free public transportation, getting around is easy.

Dallas, Texas

Winspear Opera House in Dallas

In Texas’ signature destination, bigger is indeed better. Ranked third among the Lone Star State’s largest (at 342 square miles) and most populous (with 1.3 million people) cities, Dallas comes in ninth among cities across the country. Its skyline, a sine wave of glass-and-steel towers, reinforces the city’s “big” picture, as does nearby DFW International Airport (the world’s third-busiest, with 1,750 flights daily) and the ongoing expansion and renovation of the city’s central arts and culture scene.

“We’ve made the single largest investment in the arts since New York’s Lincoln Center,” says Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau President and CEO Phillip Jones of his city’s $14 billion stake in developing the Dallas Arts District, which, at 19 blocks, might well be the world’s largest contiguous cultural district. The monumental undertaking includes several chic venues—Dallas Museum of Art, Winspear Opera House, Nasher Sculpture Center and I.M. Pei-designed Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, among them—that would elicit a smile from any special event planner. “We also have track record of hosting very successful faith-based meetings,” says Jones, noting upcoming conferences for both the Parliament of the World’s Religions in 2014 and the National Baptist Convention’s Annual Congress, which could bring some 60,000 attendees to town in the summer of 2014. “We’re affordable, accessible and we have a community base that provides support to make sure these meetings are successful,” he says.

Dallas CVB’s “Living Large, Thinking Big” slogan also works well for the Dallas Convention Center, with more than a million square feet of flexible space; Cowboys Stadium (25,600 square feet of video screens and seating for up to 111,000); and Fair Park, a 300-acre landmark that’s home to the annual Texas state fair (and its 52-foot cowboy greeter, Big Tex) and houses the largest collection of 1930s Art Deco exposition buildings in the country, plus seven museums and venues available for groups year-round. One more potentially big plus for planners: “We’re a right-to-work state,” says Jones, “so our costs are considerably less than elsewhere.”

Fort Worth, Texas

With 700,000 locals and more than
5 million visitors annually, Fort Worth, Texas, meshes its urban and cowboy identities in seamless fashion, with world-class museums and world-famous rodeo performers providing entertaining bookends around a downtown where fine dining and haute hotels share patrons with Billy Bob’s Honky Tonk and Filthy McNasty’s Saloon. It’s a combination that keeps attendees flocking to both sides of Fort Worth’s aisle.

“Four years ago, when we started selling our downtown meetings package of new hotels and a renovated convention center while it was still under construction, we were a good mid-tier city for people in the association market,” says David DuBois, CMP, president and CEO of the Fort Worth CVB. “Now, with the completed 1,000-room hotel package around the convention center, we’ve elevated ourselves,” he says, referring to the new 614-room Omni and renovated 431-room Sheraton hotels.

The Fort Worth Convention Center remains the city’s meeting centerpiece, enhanced by a 13,500-seat arena and the grand, 55,000-sq.-ft. Events Plaza. The 14-block convention zone downtown also includes the Fort Worth Water Gardens, a four-acre urban oasis highlighted by shade trees and terraced pools. The culture connection remains fresh as well, led by the recent $80 million renovation and expansion of the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History.

DuBois also cites his city’s safety (“It’s the No. 1 thing we promote,” he says) and Fort Worth’s three entertainment districts: downtown’s dining and dancing hub, Sundance Square; the Stockyards, renowned for its twice-daily cattle drives; and the area around West Seventh, which has added a dozen new restaurants and bars in the past year.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

The Sooner State’s capital and largest destination is a prime example of why second-tier can be first-rate for meetings. What makes Oklahoma City stand out from competing destinations? “Easy access into and within my destination, which is critical to my attendees,” says CVB President Michael Carrier. “We have great access via I-40, I-35 and I-44, and Will Rogers World Airport is only
15 minutes from the heart of downtown.”

Visitors find the core of Oklahoma City a user-friendly environment as well. “We’re currently in the process of re-engineering our entire downtown to make it more walkable and easier to navigate for vehicular traffic,” says Carrier. “The entire area is being re-landscaped and on-street parking is being added.”

That should amplify the appeal of downtown’s main meeting point, the Cox Convention Center, and its adjacent, 15,000-seat arena, located a short stroll from three major hotels and the historical, revitalized Bricktown District. This former warehouse area now ranks as the city’s hottest entertainment and dining district with restaurants, shopping, theaters, the American Banjo Museum, AT&T Bricktown Ballpark and a mile-long canal lined with walkways and water taxis.

Oklahoma City's Bricktown Canal

Staying the night in Oklahoma City brings a surprising number of choices, with more than 150 hotel properties at a range of prices, from mid-range and familiar brands like Hilton and Renaissance to the chic Colcord, downtown’s new boutique hotel. The city recently welcomed five economy properties as well, adding 533 guest rooms to its growing inventory.

Oklahoma City’s growth made it an ideal fit for the United Methodist Church’s 2012 South Central Jurisdictional Conference and its expected 800 attendees. “We actually considered coming here before all the development took place, but the city could not have handled us,” says Executive Director David Severe. “Now, it’s a great place to hold a meeting. People will be able to walk to Bricktown and have a wide choice of places to eat and things to do.”

Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona

The real beauty of meeting in Arizona’s Valley of the Sun is how this desert community can be most things to all attendees. Take the area’s often ideal weather, for example, where sunshine rules and daily highs average in the 70s and 80s from November through April. Looking for fancy accommodations at a discounted rate? Take advantage of Arizona’s off-season summer, when rising temperatures bring dramatic price drops at even the fanciest hotels. And yes, that warm, dry climate also provides planners with recreational and special event options that most other destinations can only offer on a limited basis.

Another plus about this popular swatch of Arizona is the blend of urban excitement, posh resort and rugged, remote wilderness, all within easy proximity of each other. A decade of change has transformed Phoenix, the state’s staid, buttoned-down capital city, into a progressive metropolis. The city’s core downtown district is now home to both corporate giants and major higher education institutions, not to mention a growing number of hip restaurants and hotels, including the new 242-room Westin Phoenix Downtown, set to open in March, and the 1,000-room Sheraton Downtown Phoenix, which opened two years ago. The biggest changes, though, revolve around the city’s new 20-mile, $1.4 billion Metro Light Rail system and the recent $600 million renovation and expansion of the Phoenix Convention Center.

Neighboring Scottsdale has exclusive spa resorts, fine dining and fashion malls. Higher-end, however, doesn’t mean out-of-reach. “One of the biggest surprises is how affordable Scottsdale really is, more now than even a few years ago,” says Brent DeRaad, executive vice president of the Scottsdale CVB. “Late summer and early fall are good times for religious groups to take advantage of our low rates.”

San Antonio, Texas

San Antonio's Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center

The Alamo, the historic American landmark that honors Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and others, celebrates its 175th anniversary this year. It remains San Antonio’s best-known draw, but it isn’t its only one.

This major metropolis of more than 1.3 million still manages to exude a warm, small-town feel, no matter where attendees enjoy themselves. The city’s famed River Walk area, home to almost 13,000 guest rooms, hums with visitor-friendly activity almost 24 hours a day. Evenings are prime time for shopping, strolling, outdoor dining, networking and enjoying relaxing boat rides along this two-mile stretch of the San Antonio River. In fact, the downtown segment’s enormous popularity has earned it an 11-mile extension that will soon connect many of the area museums and historic districts, including the San Antonio Museum of Art and popular Pearl Brewery north of town, with the city’s beautifully preserved Spanish-colonial missions to the south.

At its core, San Antonio is a foot-friendly destination. Attendees can walk from one of several downtown meeting hotels to the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, the Alamo, historic San Fernando Cathedral and the shops at La Villita Village, and view all those attractions and more from atop the 750-foot Tower of the Americas. The Alamodome, San Antonio’s 65,000-seat, multipurpose sports and entertainment complex, sits just across I-37 from downtown.

Looking for group fun and family activities? SeaWorld San Antonio, the world’s largest marine park, lies just 16 miles north of downtown and is full of event options, while the 65-acre Schlitterbahn Waterpark Resort promises nautical group adventure in nearby New Braunfels. And the quaint towns and rural charm of Texas Hill Country are hard to beat for a day of antiquing and hardy German cuisine.

Anaheim, California

For those who may still envision this Orange County powerhouse as a Mickey Mouse destination, better think again. California’s 10th-largest city is booming, within an hour’s reach of four major airports, four group-friendly theme parks and easy access to Orange County’s 42 miles of gorgeous beaches. This city of 342,000 is also home to the West Coast’s largest convention center, set within a dedicated meetings campus, Anaheim Center Walk, which features 2,600 guest rooms and nearly 1.5 million square feet of flexible meeting space.

While those stats alone offer enough to draw a decent meetings crowd, Anaheim is hardly resting on its laurels as it moves forward with a series of major hospitality-related projects. For starters, there’s the $1 billion renovation underway at Disney’s California Adventure Park that will result in several new attractions and entertainment options when completed in 2012. Another major Anaheim property, the Hyatt Regency Orange County, has just wrapped up a $25 million makeover, while Disney’s arts-and-crafts–styled Grand Californian Hotel and Spa has finished its own redo, adding 203 guest rooms and 50 two-bedroom vacation villas.

All work and no play? Not here, as Anaheim-area attractions such as Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott’s Berry Farm Theme Park provide event space, food and beverage, and a slew of memorable and family-friendly fun (for example, Knott’s upcoming Windseeker ride, Legoland’s Water Park, Universal’s new King Kong 360 3-D attraction) for a one-size-fits-all group experience. Shoppers can also revel in the delights of nearby Fashion Island in Newport Beach, fresh from its own $100 million facelift and hopping with nearly 20 new stores and restaurants.

Los Angeles, California

If California’s largest, most recognizable city is anything, it’s exciting. Something’s always percolating here, and for attendees, the idea of meeting in the country’s entertainment capital provides an irresistible incentive to be productive in the meeting room and have fun later in Los Angeles’ trendy restaurants and boutiques.

“Our sheer size allows us to be all things to all types of groups,” says Michael K. Krouse, senior vice president of sales and client services at the Los Angeles CVB. The city covers more than 450 square miles filled with diverse neighborhoods—Hollywood, downtown, Westside, the beaches—and meshes with a host of individual cities like Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.

Krouse also cites the city’s range of hotel price points and a “huge base of religious diversity” as major group draws. “We have large megachurches here—we just did a Church of God in Christ women’s conference—and the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels has a large meeting facility with breakout rooms, which is unique for a church of any kind,” he says.

L.A. also brings big venues aplenty to the meetings table. The Staples Center, for example, holds 18,000. The multipurpose sports and entertainment complex, home of the reigning NBA champion Lakers, is just one part of L.A. Live, the new $2.5 billion development that’s changed downtown from sleepy to snazzy. Incorporating the existing Los Angeles Convention Center with several acres of new properties that range from condos and hotels (JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, for example), L.A. Live also features new venues like the Nokia Theatre, Grammy Museum and ESPN Zone.
Nearby Long Beach has kept busy as well with group-centered updates. The Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center recently wrapped up an $8 million renovation while the city welcomed Doubletree’s new 194-room Hotel Maya. The venerable Queen Mary, docked permanently in Long Beach Harbor, has finished its upgrades while Parkers’ Lighthouse, Long Beach’s waterfront seafood landmark, is undergoing a $2.5 million facelift.

Palm Springs, California

In one generation, this quiet corner of Southern California has grown from a celebrity and spring break getaway into a thriving meetings destination. That’s not entirely surprising given the recent development within the surrounding Coachella Valley.

Palm Springs International Airport

Palm Springs is the valley’s geographic and pop-culture anchor, but the hospitality umbrella covers eight towns—from Palm Springs on the west end to La Quinta on the east—that groups consider when booking a meeting in the desert. More than $2 billion has been funneled into the industry here, from new and renovated resorts to a $32 million overhaul of the Palm Springs Convention Center.

“We have a tremendous faith-based following,” says David Renker, senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Palm Springs Desert Resorts Convention and Visitors Authority. “Attendees know they’re going to get great meeting space, great sunshine and, in the past few years, great availability,” he says. Renker points to easy access by car along the I-10 corridor and tumbling off-season hotel rates (a meeting resort room that runs for $225 in March could go for $99 or less in July) as incentives for groups to book. “You’d be surprised how many attendees bring their families,” he says. “We have a lot who come in on the Thursday before their meeting and spend the extra time just having fun.”

Access into the valley has improved by air as well, adds Renker, thanks to upgrades at Palm Springs International Airport and an increase in the number of flights both there and into Ontario (Calif.) International Airport, just an hour east. And given the desert’s warm, sunny climate, groups can opt for a number of outdoor events—golf (110 courses valley-wide), tennis, barbecues, pool parties, jeep tours, moonlight mountain hikes—that would be impossible for much of the year elsewhere.

San Diego, California

Few places epitomize consistency and quality quite like California’s second-largest city. That’s a boon for planners, as those who’ve brought groups here know just what to expect the next time around: great weather, quality meeting space and accommodations, no shortage of good restaurants, and plenty of options for attendees to stay and play once the meeting’s over.

“You can always find a place in San Diego to fit your group and budget,” says Margie Sitton, senior vice president of sales and services for the San Diego CVB. “We’re at an all-time value, so now’s the time to come and take advantage of that.” A good starting point: the 2.6 million-sq.-ft. San Diego Convention Center. Its distinctive white Sails Pavilion and scenic harborside location provide an easy landmark for attendees. Three major meeting hotels are either connected or adjacent to the center, and 7,500 guest rooms are within a mile.

“The diversity of our destination also works really well for faith-based groups,” adds Sitton, ticking off a number of historical and cultural reasons—Old Town, Balboa Park’s museums and scores of free festivals—for attendees to bring along the family and turn their meeting into a vacation. San Diego’s also a city defined by its neighborhoods, and planners can find familiar chain and value properties in Mission Bay, Harbor and Shelter Islands, and Mission Valley, or golf and spa resorts in La Jolla, Carlsbad and elsewhere in the county.

Town and Country Resort Hotel in Mission Valley is hugely popular with faith-based groups. In 2010, Children’s Pastors’ Conference, Campus Crusade Pacific Southwest Winter Conference and National Youth Workers Convention were among the many that met there. Minutes from downtown, the family-owned resort has 1,000 guest rooms and 200,000 square feet of flexible meeting space. SeaWorld, USS Midway Museum and San Diego Zoo are popular attractions and options for off-site events, and the Gaslamp Quarter, San Diego’s downtown entertainment district, has 90 restaurants and 100 shops.

San Jose, California

Many folks might view San Jose mainly as a center of high technology—a fair assessment, no doubt. Still, Diana Ponton doesn’t want anyone overlooking her city’s other charms. “We have a symphony, museum of art, children’s theater and the largest rose garden in the nation,” says Ponton, vice president of sales for Team San Jose. “We have concerts in the park and can arrange events for groups at one of our various wineries,” she says. And yes, when tech is the only way to go, there’s the Tech Museum, a geeky marvel sporting hundreds of cool, custom-made exhibits that can accommodate thousands for catered, creative special events.

San Jose's McEnery Convention Center

Ponton also emphasizes the city’s work/play options for groups, which can be organized by Team San Jose. “We’re one team managing sales and marketing of the city,” she says. “The customer only has to deal with one person when planning a citywide event, which really streamlines the planning process, and saves time and money.”

Downtown remains a great group starting point, with the San Jose McEnery Convention Center as its centerpiece. An eye-catcher thanks to its iconic 125-foot abstract-tile mural, the center has more than 425,000 square feet of versatile space. Planners also benefit from the McEnery’s partnership with more than a dozen meeting hotels, most featuring their own meeting space.

San Jose also provides a great jumping-off point for day trips to Northern California’s wine country, as well as family-friendly activities in Monterey, Santa Cruz and Santa Clara. And for offbeat fun, it’s hard to beat the quirky twists, turns and dead-ends of the Winchester Mystery House, the 160-room mansion once owned and reportedly haunted by the rifle heiress Sarah Winchester.

Branson, Missouri

Most folks have long known this southern Missouri town by its apt moniker, “the live music capital of the world,” thanks to some 50 theaters and the 100 shows that run here from morning ’til late night. But in the past few years Branson’s other persona has emerged: that of a major meetings hub. “We’ve always been a great vacation destination; what we lacked, though, was a great convention center,” says Bill Tirone, CMP, CEM, assistant GM for the Hiltons of Branson and the Branson Convention Center. “Since 2007 we’ve had the marriage of those two elements.”

True enough, along with the marquee performers, three theme parks, several lakes, 10 golf courses and 240 restaurants, Branson now offers groups a sleek glass-and-stone convention hall, awash in earth tones and natural light, with 220,000 square feet of flexible space and connected to a 290-room Hilton. The combination provides an irresistible work-and-play incentive for groups, says Tirone, especially those groups in the religious market.

“Branson’s long been a natural for faith-based events and is very proud of its Christian roots,” he says. “Having the convention center allows us to host those larger religious organizations that have wanted to meet here as well as the smaller groups that have been coming here for years but wanted to grow their attendance.” Branson is also home to a number of family-friendly museums, covering everything from toys and the Titanic to classic cars and Hollywood legends. There’s even a butterfly house and rainforest, perfect for a peaceful time-out away from the shows and celebrities

Kansas City, Missouri

Power and Light District

These days the Show-Me State’s western anchor, Kansas City, remains busy answering a question we’d all like posed to us: If you had $9 billion, what would you spend it on? Plenty, as it turns out. For the better part of a decade the Missouri River port and state’s most populous destination, with about 482,000 residents, has been on a roll with major renovations affecting both the city and its tourism and hospitality industry.

Leading the long list of upgrades is the revamp of downtown. Following a $150 million facelift, the Kansas City Convention Center now sports a renovated Music Hall and the new Grand Ballroom (LEED Silver, 46,400 square feet) to complement its 48 meeting rooms and 388,000 square feet of exhibit space. A short stroll away: the $276 million Sprint Center complex, with seating for up to 18,000, a 30,000-sq.-ft. fan appreciation zone and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. The city’s hotels have kept pace with its growth as well, with a series of major renovations and
expansions that have the city’s guest room total approaching 33,000.

Post-meeting pursuits abound, thanks in great part to downtown’s hopping Power and Light District. This new $850 million neighborhood, formed as a bridge between the convention and Sprint centers, covers eight blocks and contains everything attendees love most about downtown meetings, including a variety of restaurants and nightlife and an enormous outdoor space that can be cordoned off for private events. Kansas City’s arts community has its own excitement brewing, following a $200 million expansion of the prestigious Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the upcoming $413 million Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. And for history and military buffs, planners need to pencil in two must-see attractions: the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial, set on a serene patch of parkland overlooking downtown Kansas City and Union Station, and nearby Independence, Mo., home of Harry Truman and his library and museum.

Omaha, Nebraska

Been to Nebraska’s largest city lately? If not, get ready for some head-turning changes. “People are amazed at all the development that’s taken place here recently — it’s a brand-new city from even what it was five years ago,” says Cathy Keller, director of sales for the Omaha CVB. The big news: TD Ameritrade Park Omaha, the $128 million downtown stadium set for a spring 2011 opening, which will play host to the NCAA Baseball College World Series for the next quarter century. Holding up to 24,000, the new stadium features the requisite bells and whistles (1,000 club seats; 26 luxury boxes; retail stores) as well as parking for 9,000 cars and a 360-degree walk-around concourse.

Meeting attendees will soon have many more overnight options to choose from while in town, led by the recently opened, 132-room Element by Westin, a 102-room Staybridge Suites (debuting in March) and a Residence Inn by Marriott Downtown due in 2012. The 450-room Hilton Omaha, meanwhile, continues its major expansion and renovation, adding 150 guest rooms, a 7,000-sq.-ft. ballroom and another 100 parking spaces for a 2012 completion. Omaha’s new products nicely complement what’s been drawing groups already, including the spiffy Qwest Center (194,000 square feet of exhibit space; 12 meeting rooms) and roughly 13,000 area-wide hotel rooms.

Despite so much new development Omaha remains simple to navigate. “We sell more meeting planners on how easy a city we are logistically,” says Keller. “It’s not like you’re ever lost. The airport is five minutes from the Qwest Center, downtown hotels and the entertainment district (formerly Omaha’s major market).” Omaha also draws a fair share of faith-based meetings. “We do a lot of religious groups because there’s tremendous support here in the community for them,” says Keller, citing the National Catholic Forensic League’s recent trip to town for its 2010 Grand National Tournament.

Rapid City, South Dakota

Mount Rushmore

A gold rush helped establish this Black Hills outpost in the late 19th century, and tourism as well as a hip sensibility have kept people coming back ever since.

Despite its modest population of a little more than 60,000, Rapid City seems larger, courtesy of its easy access (off I-90) and a bustling core. Downtown remains a favorite of locals and visitors, sought out for its dining, which ranges from nouvelle cuisine to lively brew pubs, trendy shops and galleries, and Art Alley, the block-long, downtown alleyway packed with urban murals and graffiti art. Accommodations are comfortable but never snobby, running the gamut from inns, cabins and resorts to extended-stay and major meeting hotels. The Hotel Alex Johnson, a historic, 143-room charmer set in the heart of downtown, is fresh off a $5 million renovation and features five elegant meeting rooms.

Rapid City offers a wealth of activities and special event options worth pursuing as well, either as a group or post-meeting with the spouse and kids. The big draws — Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse and Devils Tower — provide attendees with a scenic drive and memorable day trip just west of town. Closer in, there’s family fun at WaTiki Indoor Waterpark, animal fascination with the Reptile Gardens and Bear Country USA, and art and history, via gold factory tours, the Journey Museum and Dahl Arts Center.

When Lifeway Ministries chose Rapid City and the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center for a recent Living Proof Live Conference, “the city and its core group of churches was very welcoming,” says planner Amy Cato, “and the CVB helped us secure our venue and hotels.”

Wichita, Kansas

In many ways Kansas’ biggest city (360,000) epitomizes all that’s harmonious and productive not just in the Sunflower State but throughout America. “We’re in the center of both Kansas and the U.S.,” says John Rolfe, a native Kansan and president and CEO of Go Wichita. The city’s location and approach to life provides a nice surprise for groups, he says, as does Wichita’s affordability and friendliness. “We’re a big city with nice amenities — a vibrant arts and culture scene, great hotels, over 1,000 restaurants and wonderful meeting facilities — but with Midwestern prices,” he says. “Because of our demographics we’re like a test market for new things: If you can make it here, you can make it almost anywhere in the U.S.”

Indeed, the city sports some snazzy venues, starting with the dynamic Century II Performing Arts and Convention Center, which features more than 200,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space and connects to the 303-room Hyatt Regency Wichita. Then there’s the new, 15,000-seat Intrust Bank Arena, ideal for faith-based meetings and trade shows; the multipurpose Hartman Arena; and Kansas Pavilions, a 250,000-sq.-ft. favorite for auto and agriculture shows. And for fans of environmentally friendly practices, Wichita sits just an hour’s drive from Greensburg, the central Kansas community destroyed by a tornado in 2007 that has since rebuilt itself as a
thriving example of green-focused living and business.

For Elizabeth Stevenson, conference director for the Society of Decorative Painters, Wichita recently provided the perfect gathering spot for her group’s annual conference of 1,000. “It was the best overall in terms of the five cities we were considering,” she says. “It’s convenient, you can walk downtown and the convention center hotel provides free transportation to the airport, which is just five minutes away.”

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Site Visits | For more Great Plains places, click on the images below.

The Grand Chapel

Corn Palace

Durham Museum