Small Towns, Big Meetings

Major cities attract meetings for good reason. They’re hip and alluring, and they have loads of hotel inventory and meeting space.
    They also can be expensive. Hotel rooms, meal prices, and convention center rental and labor rates are sometimes budget busters in cities where cachet is king.
    Big conventions can’t avoid big-city prices, but midsize events have the power of choice. Some smaller towns across America are willing and able to host meetings of up to a few thousand attendees, at impressive prices. Those reasonable tabs not only buy a top-notch meeting, but also the intangible commodities of peacefulness and down-home charm.
    Following are some locales to consider.

Bayou beauty: Alexandria, La.’s
Riverfront Center on the Red River,
as blue as the night sky

Alexandria, La.
www.apacvb.org
Population: 46,000
Hotel rooms: 2,000
Convention center: Alexandria Riverfront Center; exhibit space, 36,540 square feet; meeting rooms, none;
www.alexandriariverfrontcenter.com

Smack-dab in the middle of the Bayou State, off Interstate 49 and an easy drive to its own international airport, Alexandria is a hidden gem for high-class, low-cost meetings with a generous helping of Southern hospitality.
    The Alexandria Riverfront Center is set on one bank of the Red River in a quaint downtown with boutique shopping, a children’s museum and the River Oaks Arts Center, which houses artists’ studios and galleries. Two renowned golf courses, Links on the Bayou and Oak Wings, provide an exotic natural setting for the sport. For outdoor enthusiasts without a great golf swing, the Kisatchi National Forest, which stretches across central Louisiana, is a 20-minute ride from downtown and offers horseback riding, canoeing, hiking and biking. The region also draws some of the country’s most loyal bass fisherman for tournaments.
    For indoor enthusiasts, the city has plenty of historic plantation homes and not-so-historic spas to visit, not to mention a rich culinary tradition, fueled by Cajun spice and peppered with a dose of Southern comfort.

Chateau on the Lake Resort and
Convention Center in Branson, Mo.

Branson, Mo.
www.bransonchamber.com
Population: 6,000
Hotel rooms: 22,000
Convention center: Chateau on the Lake Resort & Convention Center; exhibit space, 32,000 square feet; meeting rooms, 19; www.chateauonthelakebranson.com

The stretch of Missouri Highway 76 in Branson is the Las Vegas Strip of the Midwest, minus the gambling and exposed skin. Thanks to its fun and wholesome image, Branson has long attracted families and groups to its numerous bargain-priced shows, theme parks and retail outlets. Now, thanks to a convention center currently under construction, the city is poised to draw larger meetings.
    Branson Landing, a mixed-use waterfront development on track for a 2006 opening, will feature a 220,000-square-foot convention center with a 55,000-square-foot exhibit hall and 32,000 square feet of meeting space, not to mention shops, restaurants and 360 hotel rooms.
    The fun extends beyond the Landing, too. Three lakes contribute the necessary ingredient for water sports and dinner cruises, and venues such as the Hollywood Wax Museum and the Roy RogersDale Evans Museum provide a heartwarming trip through time for the nostalgia-prone.

Greenville, S.C.
www.greatergreenville.com
Population: 56,000
Hotel rooms: 8,000
Convention center: Palmetto Expo Center; exhibit space, 368,000 square feet; meeting rooms, 15; www.palmettoexpo.com

Settled in the late 1700s as a cotton and textile town, this South Carolina destination has accumulated more than its share of historical charm. Neighborhoods are rich with a veritable timeline of architectural styles, and several sites commemorate local historical figures ranging from baseball’s “Shoeless” Joe Jackson to the thousands of Confederate soldiers killed in the Civil War.
    Later this year, a transformation of Falls Park on the Reedy, a major public park downtown, will be completed, making it a gorgeous place to hold special events.
    Greenville’s setting away from the expensive real estate of major cities makes meetings affordable, yet its proximity to the hassle-free GreenvilleSpartanburg International Airport makes them convenient. Also, attendees living in a swath from Charlotte, N.C., southwest to Atlanta will have an easy drive.
    A convention in Greenville is no low-class affair, either. To wit: Hotel brands include Crowne Plaza, Embassy Suites, Hyatt and Westin.

Hot Springs, Ark.
www.hotsprings.org
Population: 36,000
Hotel rooms: 4,000
Convention center: Hot Springs Civic and Convention Center; exhibit space, 107,000 square feet; number of meeting rooms, 15

Hot Springs is a true American resort town. The whole city feels like a park, thanks to its greenery and natural jets of steaming water. Downtown is so compact, a car isn’t necessary. There’s a spa on every corner and a string of them on the celebrated Bathhouse Row with boutique shops and art galleries to boot.
    Unlike many resort towns, Hot Springs is affordable. For example, a hotel room at a luxury hotel can be had for well under $100, convention center labor is reasonable (and nonunion) and parking is free. For those who know the angst of shelling out upwards of $100 for a spa treatment, the going rate for a traditional Hot Springs bath with a 20-minute massage is about 50 bucks.
    Convention space is plentiful, too. An expansion to the convention center opened in December, adding a 120,000-square-foot arena, parts of which can be used for exhibit space in a pinch. “All the meeting space is really top-of-the-line,” boasts Cindy DeWitt, director of group sales for the Hot Springs Civic and Convention Center.
    Dallas conventioneers can fly into the neighborhood airport; others must connect through DFW Airport or fly into Little Rock and drive 50 miles.

Palm-lined plaza:
The Ontario (Calif.)
Convention Center,
lit in all its glassy glory

Ontario, Calif.
www.ontariocc.com
Population: 158,000
Hotel rooms: 5,000
Convention center: Ontario Convention Center; exhibit space, 70,000 square feet; meeting rooms, 24

Granted, Ontario is not exactly a small town. But in the shadow of the freeway jungle that is Los Angeles, it begins to look like a quiet and quite affordable escape.
    Downtown Ontario is hardly a metropolis, but it is home to one of the largest malls in America. “They just keep adding to it,” marvels Dick Walsh, executive director of the Ontario Convention and Visitors Bureau.
    What’s more, the city benefits from a central location. Within an hour’s drive are Disneyland, downtown Los Angeles, Palm Springs, the beach, a ski resort, Native American casinos and 36 golf courses.
    The city’s trump card is what’s possibly the best airport location on earth, two blocks from the convention center. Low-fare leader and customer-service queen Southwest Airlines is the major carrier here, and negotiating security is typically smooth even pleasant.
    Prices are better in Ontario, too. Hotel rates hover around $100, and Walsh claims convention space rental is about five cents cheaper per square foot than in surrounding cities, including Los Angeles. “We will not lose a piece of business over a dollar issue,” he promises.

George Washington’s
headquarters at the
Valley Forge (Pa.)
National Historical Park

Valley Forge, Pa.
www.valleyforge.org
Population: 26,000
Hotel rooms: 7,500
Convention centers: Valley Forge Convention Center; exhibit space, 108,000 square feet; meeting rooms, 61.
Fort Washington Expo Center; exhibit space, 272,000 square feet; meeting rooms, 15

In 1777, George Washington led his army into Valley Forge to train for the Revolutionary War. Nowadays, the site serves as the rallying point for a collection of Philadelphia suburbs that are popular for meetings.
    Attendees interested in history can wander the 18 miles of trails in the 3,400-acre Valley Forge National Historical Park or visit the Justice Bell, which became an icon of the struggle for women’s suffrage in the early 20th century. The American Revolution Center, a museum devoted to the nation’s first war, will open in Valley Forge in 2006.
    Those who are less curious about historical matters can visit the Barnes Foundation, an extremely impressive collection of Impressionist art, or the King of Prussia Mall, an equally impressive collection of shops, nearly 400 in all.
    Conference facilities are modern and affordable. The Valley Forge area has 14 well-kept conference hotels with rates averaging about half of what one would pay in Center City, Philadelphia and two convention centers. The Valley Forge Convention Center is connected to nearly 500 hotel rooms and sits on the edge of Valley Forge National Historical Park.
    “Looking out the window of any of the rooms, there are meadows and woods and just plain beauty,” says David Bradley, director of convention sales for the Valley Forge CVB. “It’s pristine.”

The Wildwoods, N.J.
www.wildwoodsnj.com
Population: 14,000
Hotel rooms: 10,000
Convention center: Wildwoods Convention Center; exhibit space, 75,000 square feet; meeting rooms, 9

Step out of the Wildwoods Convention Center and sink into the sand of one of the Jersey Shore’s most beautiful beaches. Or, from inside the exhibit hall, gaze at the ocean through the center’s east wall, made of glass.
    Already a thriving tourist haven, the Wildwoods opened a convention facility in 2002 in hopes of boosting hotel occupancies during the shoulder seasons. Instead, it transformed the collection of three small resort towns into a convention destination.
    “We first thought we’d have a 10-month season here,” says John Lynch, director of sales for the convention center. “Now we’re finding business coming in 12 months a year.”
    The secret is low off-peak hotel rates. For conventions in spring and fall, room nights range from $59 to $109. None of the hotels carry the flags of the major full-service chains, which also serves to keep prices down.
In the shoulder seasons, most of the shops on the three-mile boardwalk are still open, yet the beach is peaceful and the sand isn’t scorching. Groups looking for more activity can take short day trips to Atlantic City or Cape May.