Boise Centre is located in the heart of downtown Boise. Photo by Warren Lassen

When you think of the ideal locations to host association conventions, meetings and events, there are key cities that come to mind – Miami, Los Angeles, Denver, New York, Chicago, to name a few.

While these are exceptional options for association meetings and events, other emerging cities are entering the meetings and events scene, raising their profile to appeal to both planners seeking to offer innovative and appealing options for those looking to experience something new, and to attendees, who increasingly make decisions about what events to attend from a tourist’s perspective.

Small Town Charm

Hattiesburg, MS, is quickly emerging as a top destination in the Gulf South for association meetings and events. Tiffany Bush, conventions coordinator for Mississippi Municipal League, in Jackson, MS, recently held the organization’s Small Town Conference in Hattiesburg. As Bush explained, the purpose of this specific conference is to give approximately 400 municipal elected officials, particularly those from the smaller cities and towns, the opportunity to meet and share ideas and challenges unique to their communities.

“While we wouldn’t consider Hattiesburg a ‘small town,’ it was a perfect site for this event as it features many key factors that we look for when picking a host city,” Bush said. “There are numerous lodging opportunities, including unique, boutique hotels and well-known national chains. The Lake Terrace Convention Center provided ample meeting space for the attendees.”

The destination also provided a variety of unique spaces to host events. The group held a reception at the Hattiesburg Zoo and allowed attendees to tour the zoo and attend a private reception on-site with the giraffes. “For anyone looking to plan a meeting in Hattiesburg, I’d highly recommend hosting an event at the zoo!” Bush said.

Centrally located and drivable from much of the Southeast, Hattiesburg has long been a draw for groups. A recent renaissance — complete with turnkey event facilities, local dining options that rival any major metropolitan area, multiple live music venues and a globally-ranked public art scene — has made Hattiesburg a highly desired meeting and leisure destination.

Home to two thriving universities, thousands of hotel rooms, a regional airport and a plethora of locally owned restaurants, Hattiesburg provides a modern approach to meetings with familiar southern hospitality and service.

A new amphitheater called The Lawn at Lake Terrace has emerged adjacent to the convention center. Its natural acoustics make for a unique experience and a beautiful place to listen to live music or a presentation as part of an association’s event.

Vibrant Scene

Boise, ID, has a great reputation for creating memorable experiences for attendees. It’s a clean, walkable city with an array of lodging, restaurants, bars, shops and attractions from which to choose. Just ask Sherry Huss, meeting planner and head of community with The Freeman Company, in the San Francisco Bay area, who leverages her extensive experience in the event industry to drive innovation and create unique experiences for associations and other clients.

“After my first trip to Boise last year, I immediately got it,” Huss said. “Association planners can create bespoke, authentic experiences for attendees. The destination has everything that is needed — hotels, venues, experiences, fabulous food options, culture, people, parks, accessibility, a vibrant downtown scene, as well as an amazing, creative talent pool —  to create the experience that I wanted to design, and so much more. In addition, Boise Centre could be considered a ‘boutique convention center.’ It is in the heart of downtown and is just the right size for more intimate events, and opens up to the downtown plaza and restaurant corridor.”

Boise’s accessibility to outdoor recreation makes it stand out. Meeting attendees can access miles of foothills trails just five minutes from downtown and the Boise River winds through the city.

“For those interested in combining business and leisure, Boise is a perfect destination to get your work done and then spend time on the river, on the slopes or in the woods. It has so much to offer,” Huss added.

There are diverse restaurant options as well. The Warehouse Food Hall opened last summer with over a dozen local food and drink vendors all under the same roof. After grabbing a drink or a bite to eat, attendees can walk next door to the new BoDo Cinema or Treefort Music Hall to enjoy a movie or concert after meetings are done for the day.

Accessibility is Key

Meet Minneapolis, an DMO in Minneapolis, MN, consistently hears from association meeting planners how pleasantly surprised they are when they first visit. When they see the destination for themselves, they realize how great, and affordable, Minneapolis can be to book for an event.

One of Minneapolis’ primary assets as a place to meet is its accessibility, thanks in part to the light rail system that connects the airport to downtown, a walkable central business district and 9.5 miles of climate-controlled skyways. And as the ‘City by Nature,’ association meeting attendees enjoy abundant lakes, parks, the mighty Mississippi River, and miles of beautiful walking and biking trails alongside our modern urban surroundings.

Stephenie Zvonkovich, director of meetings, American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPR)  in Arlington, VA, has had success hosting both large and small events in Minneapolis.

“My largest event was for approximately 2,000 design and construction professionals specializing in infrastructure needs, such as roads, bridges and wastewater treatment plants. We utilized the Minneapolis Convention Center and the Hilton Minneapolis as our headquarters,” Zvonkovich said. “I loved the convention package and that all hotels were extremely close with no busing needed. The event also required an off-site reception where we used the charming Mill City Museum.”

The smaller event Zvonkovich hosted was for approximately 150 pharmaceutical scientists at the Renaissance Minneapolis Hotel, The Depot. The AAPR attendees loved the unconventional layout and design of the hotel and gave rave reviews for the staff, F&B and large amount of indoor and outdoor space.

“Minneapolis has a lot to offer both planners and attendees. The airlift was a large factor for my smaller meeting since that was a complaint we received in previous years,” Zvonkovich said. “Almost all participants were able to get in/out of the airport with nonstop flights even if they were coming from smaller regional airports.”

In addition, AAPR attendees loved how walkable the downtown area is and how there are so many restaurants from which to choose. In addition, there were a lot of options for attendees with dietary restrictions.

“Even when hosting offsite receptions, the venues had proactively put selections on the menu that accommodated those individuals without any modifications needed,” said Zvonkovich, who often has to edit menus to ensure that all dietary needs are met, so it was refreshing that significant options were built into the existing menus.

“Minneapolis is a great city! I’ve hosted events in both cold and warm weather. There are plenty of things to do year-round and the skyway system makes it very easy to get around without going outside,” Zvonkovich said. “I would advise to not discount Minneapolis as a destination based on time of year and, if possible, take advantage of some of the great special event spaces it has to offer. I’d also suggest walking from place to place during any site visits if time permits to really understand how connected the downtown is and how easy and quick attendees can maneuver the city.”

Association meeting planner, Lara Durben, partner at Empowered Events in Buffalo, MN, works with a variety of clients across the U.S. to coordinate meetings, conferences and trade shows.

“Our association client, Midwest Poultry Federation, also in Buffalo, MN, hosts an annual convention and trade show in Minneapolis called PEAK. The event is held over the course of three days at the Minneapolis Convention Center and includes a large trade show of nearly 300 exhibits, a robust education program and several networking events,” Durben said. “PEAK is the largest trade show in North America that focuses exclusively on the business of poultry production. This year, the event welcomed just under 3,000 attendees from the U.S., Canada and other international countries.”

Minneapolis has been PEAK’s preferred location for the past six years, after the event outgrew its previous convention space. The team at Meet Minneapolis and the Minnesota Convention Center worked closely with Midwest Poultry Federation to offer the space needed to expand the event while understanding both the organization’s budgetary needs and strategic focus toward the future success of the event. In addition, the city offers a multitude of world-class hotels close to the Minneapolis Convention Center, many of which are accessible via the extensive indoor skyway system.

“PEAK utilizes the Minneapolis Housing Bureau to manage the online reservations at all of our contracted hotels, which has been such an asset internally. The staff at the housing bureau is professional, knowledgeable and saves us, as planners, so much time. Our attendees appreciate this service as it is not only online; if they have a question, they are able to call and talk to a real person as well. That personal service goes a long way.”

PEAK attendees also enjoy the variety of restaurant options in the downtown area. Meet Minneapolis worked with Empowered Events with us to create a web landing page for the association’s event that provides details on restaurants, events and other things to do in the city.

“In general, Minneapolis is a great location for our attendees that is easy to access, whether they are driving or flying into the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport,” Durben said. “The city offers an attractive array of things to do, while also delivering a personal touch to our attendees. It’s the people behind the destination that truly make a difference.”

Affordability & Airlift

National Harbor, MD, offers a beautiful resort destination on the banks of the Potomac River with a walkable downtown, just minutes from Washington, D.C. and easily accessible to all three area airports and major highways. Within National Harbor, there are eight hotels that can accommodate groups of all sizes and types, with parking and group access. The combination of meeting space, hotel options and dining selections with the feel of a small city is a perfect solution for many planners.

National Harbor’s new Spirit Park pays tribute to the American flag and features a beautiful amphitheater. It overlooks the Potomac River and is a unique venue for events. This year, the destination has also added three new restaurants, new activities and team-building options, including Escapology and on the water activities.

Rosina Romano, CMP, DES, CEO of the Entomological Society of America, will be hosting Entomology 2023, their annual meeting, in National Harbor in the fall. They expect approximately 3,600 in-person attendees and 100 virtual attendees.

“National Harbor offers an affordable Washington, D.C. location with the best/easiest transportation options for our members,” Romano said. “With three major airports, Amtrak and I-95, our members are able to get here quickly and efficiently. We’ve been looking for an eastern/northeastern location for years and this is our first time back to the D.C. area since the 1970s.”

Romano also pointed out that there are a variety of bookable offsite venues and restaurants that offer unique dining opportunities and experiences for attendees within steps of all the hotels.

“We book nightly private dinners for a variety of group sizes and this was the first location where we could find everything we needed within a short walk of the meeting site,” Romano said. “All the restaurants are great partners, are easy to work with when booking groups and gave us a great dining experience.”

The National Council for Mental Wellbeing also hosted its Annual Conference & Expo, NatCon22, at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor last spring. NatCon is the largest conference in mental health and substance use treatment and connects over 5,000 health care professionals in the field, from influencers and decision-makers to advocates and executives.

“As NatCon continues to grow each year, we look for sites that can accommodate our large number of educational sessions and growing number of attendees. National Harbor was a destination that checked all our boxes,” Alaina Herrera, CEM, manager, conference & events, National Council for Mental Wellbeing, said.

“National Harbor is a great location and offers many restaurant options and various spaces great for events. Our exhibitors and sponsors love to host after-hour events. They were able to celebrate in unique spaces like Bobby McKey’s Dueling Piano Bar, which had a mix of classic and contemporary live music, and the The Capital Wheel, where attendees could ride the Ferris Wheel and see the Potomac River from another view.”

World Class Accommodations

Located in the heart of Central Florida, Kissimmee is easily accessible for attendees traveling from various locations by plane, car and train. The Brightline train station has now opened in Orlando. From world-class meeting hotels and golf resorts, to boutique venues, Kissimmee offers a variety of options for any size meeting and budget. And to help with budget, Experience Kissimmee’s incentive program, It Pays to Meet in Kissimmee, offers meeting organizations up to $10,000 cash back plus a new sustainability initiative with Trees4Travel.

Patricia Tripp, PhD, LAT, ATC, CSCS, meeting planner and president of The Athletic Trainers’ Association of Florida, recently held the association’s annual ATAF clinical symposium at the Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista South in Kissimmee, FL, and welcomed over 200 attendees, plus speakers and vendors. The event is co-branded with the association’s title partner AdventHealth and Rothman Orthopaedics.

“We are a healthcare membership organization representing over 2,000 athletic trainers from across Florida. Finding a central location with great amenities and excellent staff allows us to offer a high quality symposium experience for our members,” Tripp said. They have hosted their event at the Embassy Suites Lake Buena Vista South in Kissimmee for about nine years, since around the time they opened. “Experience Kissimmee represents Osceola County. They provide helpful information about venues and restaurants, and provide other incentives to support your event. We love visiting Celebration and Kissimmee each year for our event.”

Southern Hospitality

Many association meeting planners are drawn to Greenville, SC, for a variety of reasons. Of the most frequent is the ease of hosting their events in Greenville. Centrally located along the I-85 corridor between Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, NC, Greenville’s international airport offers more than 100 flights daily to more than 20 nonstop destinations.

Greenville is known for its Southern hospitality. There is also plenty to see and do here to keep attendees entertained after meetings. The award-winning, walkable Main Street is lined with restaurants, unique shops, galleries and more.

Municipal Association of South Carolina (MASC) held their annual meeting at the Hyatt Greenville and found plenty of space to accommodate their meeting and for lodging attendees.

Ken Ivey, meeting planner with MASC, based in Columbia, SC, said, “This year, we had 1,160 registered. There were more than 700 municipal officials from South Carolina cities and towns plus 85 exhibitors, attendees, speakers, etc. Generally, we have about 600 municipal officials register for this event, so this year’s registration numbers were unexpected. We ran out of hotel rooms and had to scramble to find more.”

Fortunately, Greenville has so many hotels in the Main Street area that it was an easy fix. Besides the host hotel, they found rooms at Aloft, SpringHill Suites, Residence Inn, AC Hotel, Marriott Courtyard and elsewhere.

Ivey stressed that Greenville is one of the Municipal Association of South Carolina’s favorite locations because of its natural beauty, walkability and all of the amazing restaurants downtown.

“You never have to get in your car. Also, it is sort of a classroom for other cities to observe how Greenville has developed its downtown and taken advantage of the natural assets that make downtown a destination,” Ivey said. “It is also more affordable than coastal locations and much easier to navigate since there are so many hotel rooms, restaurants and meeting venues on and around Main Street. It really is perfect for groups our size.”

Greenville’s variety of venues is one of the big things that make the region both unique and perfect for association meetings of all shapes and sizes. The convention center is one of the largest in the southeast. The Bon Secours Wellness arena can host 15,000 attendees for large events or transform into an intimate space perfect for smaller events. In addition to these two large venues, Greenville boasts dozens of other unique spaces throughout the destination, perfect for offsite receptions and “out of the box” meetings and events experiences.

Always Expanding

Asheville, NC, is easily accessible via air or driving, including direct flights from destinations such as D.C., NYC, Boston, Austin, Chicago, Phoenix and Denver, making it easier for association attendees. The Asheville Regional Airport has consistently ranked as one of the fastest-growing airports in the country, currently undergoing modernization and expansion that will more than double its size.

The National Watermelon Association recently held a convention for the watermelon industry at the historic Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, which has 86,852 total meeting space and has been utilized by many state, national and international association events. The convention hosted almost 500 attendees.

“After 20 years of attending produce industry events, I can say that this convention is like none other, complete with a seed-spitting contest, many generations of families in attendance, and an auction that raises the funds to keep this 109-year organization going. It is truly the Watermelon Family Reunion,” George Szczepanski, executive director of the National Watermelon Association, said.

“Asheville is a great city that has something for everybody. I would have been pleased just to visit for the culture and craft beer scene, which were incorporated as much as possible, but a world-class destination like the Omni Grove Park Inn is not available in every city, and that was surely part of the decision as well,” Szczepanski said. “Coupling that in with it being convenient to get to, the beautiful view and great weather we had, it was a sure-fire win. Asheville checked the boxes for different age groups and interests, so that everyone had a memorable experience and a great time.”

The American Institute of Architects – Atlanta Chapter, also took advantage of Asheville’s downtown area and used more than eight hotels for lodging at last year’s annual conference and then booked a variety of alternative venues, including the newly expanded Asheville Art Museum, Wortham Center for the Performing Arts and Hatch, a thriving business incubator. Attendees roamed the city center, enjoying the fabulous architecture dating back to the turn of the century. It was so well received by the attendees that they are returning again this year and next. | AC&F |