When it comes to getting an expert opinion about a destination’s viability for groups—at least in the trade show segment—it would be hard to find a more qualified authority than SISO, the Society of Independent Show Organizers.
SISO, a Chicago Ridge, Ill.-based association comprised of senior management from for-profit trade show and event production companies from throughout the U.S., as well as Germany, Belgium, Canada, and other nations, held its 2006 Executive Conference at the Connecticut Convention Center Aug. 15-17, and came away impressed with the recently revitalized Greater Hartford region.
“Hartford for a long time had the reputation—along with many other East Coast cities—that its downtown closes down at five o’clock,” says Mary Beth Rebedeau, executive director of SISO, whose conference drew about 275 delegates over a day-and-a-half. “That’s not longer the case in Hartford—there’s a very vibrant entertainment district with restaurants, bars and music, and people are living down there.”
SISO opened the conference with a reception and dinner at the Old State House.
“The tours through the Old State House were really interesting,” Rebedeau says, adding that the tour was even more exciting to her because she’s a history buff. “The next night we went to The Bushnell [Center for the Performing Arts], which has been beautifully resorted, where we ate on the stage and enjoyed some Cirque du Soleil-type entertainment.”
To further spice up the event—and perhaps make attendees the actual star of the show—the performances were set in the orchestra pit between the dining set-up on stage and the theater seating.
Following dinner, the group used the arts center that’s attached to the The Bushnell for a dessert and aperitifs reception.
Apart from the social/networking events, SISO used the Connecticut Convention Center, which opened in 2005 and features the attached 409-room Marriott Hartford Downtown hotel.
“The convention center execution of the meeting was flawless, the food was great at the convention center, and the building is beautiful—it worked on many levels,” Rebedeau says. “They’ve done a very artful job at the convention center of making the meeting space really feel like a conference center. The Marriott and the convention center connected very well. Even though we were a relatively small meeting we didn’t feel lost because of the way the convention center and the hotel worked together.”
In the end, however, the true measure of whether the destination was successful for SISO—and Hartford—is whether any future business came out of it.
“I think that a couple [of trade shows] have booked there,” Rebedeau says.
