Great Lakes

It’s not a meeting — it’s a family reunion.

By Marc Boisclair

For groups in search of destinations that seem different yet offer all the comforts of home, the Great Lakes area provides a trove of meeting options. Centrally located and blessed by a well-balanced blend of urban pizzazz and spectacular countryside, this cluster of freshwater states features true four-season charm.

“The weather is often very nice, especially during the spring and summer months,” says Leslie Blair, CMP, with VIKTOR Incentives and Meetings in Traverse City, Mich. “We have sunny days and low humidity, which makes us a great destination for golf and other outdoor activities.”

Access also ranks high, with major airports close enough to hotels and convention centers in big cities such as Cleveland, Milwaukee, Chicago and Minneapolis while an easy drive from the resorts and recreation of Wisconsin’s Dells, Ohio’s Greene County and Harbor Country in Michigan. The Great Lakes hoteliers and DMC’s really know their destinations as well, offering savvy guidance on affordable accommodations and creative itineraries designed to make a planner’s game plan seamless and leave attendees with a memorable experience.

And then there are the lakes themselves, which bring their own group benefits in the form of beachfront resorts and nautical recreation, as well as the chance for attendees to get back to nature while enjoying a productive meeting.

Facts&Figures

Cleveland, Ohio

• Area guestrooms: 22,000
• Convention center: Cleveland Convention Center
• Exhibit space: 375,000 square feet
• Meeting rooms: 22

Indianapolis, Ind.

• Area guestrooms: 28,000
• Convention center: Indiana Convention Center
• Exhibit space: 566,000 square feet (2010)
• Meeting rooms: 83 (2010)

Green Bay, Wisc.

• Area guestrooms: 4,300
• Convention center: KI Convention Center
• Exhibit space: 17,346 square feet
• Meeting rooms: 19

Minneapolis, Minn.

• Area guestrooms: 35,000
• Convention center: Minneapolis Convention Center
• Exhibit space: 480,000 square feet
• Meeting rooms: 87

Lansing, Mich.

• Area guestrooms: 4,300
• Convention center: Lansing Center
• Exhibit space: 71,760 square feet
• Meeting rooms: 12

Destination Q&A:

Lifelong Ohioan Brian Ross is currently VP of Sales with Experience Columbus and enjoying his second tour of duty at the state capital’s CVB. He shares some insight into Ohio’s capital city.

What makes Columbus such a good meetings draw?
First and foremost, we’re accessible. Flights and air fares are very reasonable here compared to other destinations. There’s quite a bit of competition, which helps to keep the rates low. Southwest happens to be the busiest carrier, so you can see that there’s value in accessing us from pretty much anywhere in the U.S.

And accommodations?
Right now we’ve got just over 3,000 hotel rooms in downtown and about 22,000 area-wide. But that’s going to change.

Meaning the new convention center hotel?
Right. It’s going to make a dramatic difference because we’ll be able to condense our group room blocks around the convention center. Instead of needing 12 hotels across town, groups will be able to use just seven or eight and stay closer to downtown. Also, it will give us another brand name anchor to compete nationally and help our overall hotel package.
A lot of our readers travel by car.

We’re definitely drivable. With I-71 and I-70, we’re within a day’s drive of half the population in the U.S.

What do you offer attendees on a budget?
We’re a value destination. The overall costs of hotels and entertainment is low here. You’ll find a good selection of places to stay from economy to major chains. Even the cost of using the convention center, including the labor rates, is better than most places.

What should first-time visitors expect for attractions and activities?
We’re very proud of our arts and culture. Our zoo is terrific and we have great museums: the Center of Science and Industry, Franklin Park Conservatory, Museum of Art and Kings Art Complex, based on contemporary African-American style.

Are there historic, educational and military venues at which groups can tour and hold receptions?
You can do a tour of the Ohio State House and they just opened their own museum. And an hour south of here in Dayton is the U.S. Air Force Museum, which draws a lot of groups.

What are Columbus’ neighborhoods like?
People love the Short North district — it’s hip and eclectic, with lots of galleries, shops and restaurants unique to Columbus. German Village has cobblestone roads, row houses and authentic German cuisine.

So you must have some good food and fun festivals.
We’ve got Asian, Greek and Arts festivals; a Jazz & Rib Fest and our own Oktoberfest. Dublin, a suburb, holds one of the largest Irish fests in the Midwest. The restaurants here are great as well — sushi, pasta, steakhouses, German — not chains, but locally owned and operated.

How about group activities?
We have this terrific series of experiential activities — about 22 in all. You can do everything from culinary tours, where you actually make the wine and cook the meal that’s being served, to playing baseball for a day with the AAA Columbus Clippers. You sign a contract, wear a uniform, hit, pitch, play the field and hold a press conference. It’s really fun for team building.

Nearby

Need a convenient, professional conference center with social and fitness activities that mesh nicely into any itinerary? The Eaglewood Resort & Spa in Itasca, Ill., tucked into 106 acres of lush countryside 12 miles from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, can sync all those considerations into a customized meeting package. For starters, the IACC-certified meeting space runs to 37,000 square feet and 39 function rooms, with an amphitheater, outdoor terrace, 50,000-sq.-ft. spa and bowling alley (think: team building and theme parties). The 18-hole championship golf course dates back to 1928, enhanced by a $1 million renovation in 2006. And the resort’s suburban Chicago location puts groups just a short drive from Oak Park and the country’s largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed architecture, which is reflected in Eaglewood’s own design and can be easily incorporated into group tours and day trips. eaglewoodresort.com

ValueAdd

VISIT Milwaukee can provide a PR boost for your meeting that includes media kits (with info on the Midwest Airlines Center); local, regional and/or national media contacts; a history of Milwaukee; and options for dining, entertainment, arts and culture, and area attractions. visitmilwaukee.org

A two-, three- or five-day Cleveland Plus Pass gives admission to 10 major attractions and other valuable traveler discounts for one discounted price. Cardholders receive up to 30 percent off gardens, museums, zoos and more. positivelycleveland.com/pluspass

The Chicago Southland CVB provides visiting groups customized area maps (designating specific hotels for your group’s events, along with other area hotels and their amenities) and profile sheets of pharmacies, grocery stores, dry cleaners and other necessity businesses. visitchicagosouthland.com

The Greater Lansing CVB offers on-site, uniformed registration staff to distribute name badges and registration packets and check in attendees, and a portable information booth at your event to help answer questions. lansing.org

Planner Buzz

Most Americans identify Kohler, Wisc., with the cool kitchenware and sexy bath accessories produced there. For Leslie Blair, though, this tiny resort community an hour north of Milwaukee offers much more than fancy faucets. “It’s a beautiful place to bring a group, with golf, spas and good restaurants,” says Blair, a CMP with VIKTOR Incentives and Meetings in Traverse City, Mich. She recently booked a sales-related program at the American Club resort for 140 insurance industry attendees, who raved about the area’s great outdoors. “Kohler and Sheboygan, which is right on the water, are just 10 minutes apart,” she says. “You can go canoeing and fishing, do dine-arounds, ropes courses and cooking classes.” And that world-famous Kohler factory? “They have a terrific design gallery,” says Blair. “You can do tours and hold events right there among the kitchens and bathrooms.”

Coming Soon

In Cleveland plans call for a new $450 million convention center and medical mart near Tower City. The Cleveland Museum of Art has just unveiled its new 139,000-sq.-ft. East Wing, part of an overall $350 million expansion and renovation by 2012. The Double Tree Hotel Cleveland/Lakeside has wrapped a $15 million redo, while the Ritz-Carlton, just finished its own $8 million makeover. The Cleveland Airport Marriott is completing a $20 million overall renovation.

Cincinnati recently unveiled two new value properties — a 122-room Springhill Suites by Marriott and a 115-room Holiday Inn Express — as well as a pair of special meeting venues: Blue Ocean Facilities (2,700 square feet) and Boost…for Meetings Sake (4,600 square feet). The Sharonville Convention Center, 15 miles north of Cincinnati, will more than double its meeting space to about 115,000 square feet by 2011. In Columbus, plans call for a $160 million, 500-room hotel to open adjacent to the Greater Columbus Convention Center in 2012. Meanwhile, the center is finishing up a $40 million facelift of Battelle Hall.

Marriott is spending $425 million on four new Indianapolis properties — the JW Marriott Indianapolis, Indianapolis Courtyard by Marriott Downtown, Indianapolis Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Downtown, and the Indianapolis SpringHill Suites by Marriott Downtown — adding more than 1,600 guestrooms when all are completed by mid-2011. The Indiana Convention Center’s current expansion will increase its exhibit space from 403,000 to 566,000 square feet (745,000 in combination with the new Lucas Oil Stadium) when completed in 2010. New hotels in Chicago include the 216-room Dana Hotel and Spa; the 225-room Hotel Felix; and theWit, a 27-story, eco-friendly boutique property. The Art Institute of Chicago just opened its new $300 million, 264,000-sq.-ft. Modern Wing.

The 453-room Westin Book Cadillac Detroit has re-opened after a $200 million renovation, while the 203-unit Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby completed a $90 million facelift. There’s a new 95-room Staybridge Suites in Lansing and a new Holiday Inn Express for East Lansing, while the Radisson Lansing Hotel and East Lansing Marriott have finished renovating.

Sports fans have reason to cheer in Minneapolis, which opens Target Field, the Minnesota’s Twins new stadium, next April, and TCF Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota this fall. The Holiday Inn Minneapolis Metrodome, Holiday Inn Express Downtown and Hyatt Regency Minneapolis recently wrapped up redos, while the Minnesota Orchestra plans a $40 million makeover by 2013.

In Milwaukee, the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee and Hilton Milwaukee City Center have completed major renovations. The new aloft W Hotel Milwaukee is expected by year’s end, following the earlier area debuts of Crowne Plaza Hotel Milwaukee Wauwatosa, Staybridge Suites Franklin and Candlewood Suites Oak Creek. Lake Delton in the Wisconsin Dells is once again full and available for recreational use. The Chula Vista Resort’s recent $200 million renovation and expansion included the new, 90,000-sq.-ft. Wisconsin Dells Center and 200,000-sq.-ft. Exposition and Sports Center.