With its stunning desert setting and vibrant Southwest heritage, much of Tucson provides a living backdrop for memorable events. So it’s little wonder that local DMCs have a lot to work with in staging experiences that evoke southern Arizona’s distinctive appeal.
Show Me Arizona
(www.showmearizona.com) For Show Me Arizona, a Tucson-based DMC, the surrounding desert environs, which offer several large outdoor venues such as the Stardance Center, are an inspirational canvas for a wide range of events.
“The party possibilities in the desert are endless,” says managing director David Krzyzanowski. “We can do everything from a Western barbecue with red-checked tablecloths on up to very elegant dinners with butler-passed hors d’oeuvres and white-linen tablecloths. We’ve even brought in executive washrooms with marble floors.”
Show Me Arizona also makes effective use of the many ranches in the Tucson area that feature impressive facilities for both day and evening events.
“The local ranches are great party venues,” Krzyzanowski says. “For instance, at Rancho de los Cerros we can do dinners with Native American hoop dancing in an upscale barn that we decorate in a Southwest motif. There’s also a new venue, Rancho Valle Milagro, which has an equestrian center and a 10,000-square-foot house. You can do indoor or outdoor events.”
Southwest Conference Planners
(www.swep.net) Southwest Conference Planners, which has offices in both Phoenix and Tucson, is another DMC that makes the most of the desert.
“We’ve done dinners with a Moroccan/.Arabian Nights theme held in a Bedouin-style tent,” says general manager Kathleen Glenn. “We’ve also done dinners in a transparent tent that is kept dark until the group pulls up. Then it is lit up like a jewel in the desert.”
The DMC also likes to stage events at Tucson’s Pima Air & Space Museum, which displays over 250 vintage aircraft spanning the full spectrum of American aviation history. To create a dramatic entrance for groups arriving at the museum, the DMC uses lighting and fogging special effects to evoke the impression of a runway landing.
“The Air & Space museum is a great setting for everything from World War I parties on up to Top Gun events with light simulators,” Glenn says. “Another real winner for groups are World War II theme parties with a USO show and dog tags for the attendees.”
Both Southwest Conference Planners and Show Me Arizona like to make use of Old Tucson Studios, where a re-creation of an 1880s frontier town has been the location set for hundreds of Western films. Large enough to accommodate groups of 1,000 or more, Old Tucson lends itself to everything from mock gunfights to can-can shows.
