Executive Director
Wisconsin Green Building Alliance
Milwaukee
Describe your event.
Greening the Heartland 2007 is a regional conference of folks interested in green building from an eight-state area. It was held at Monona Terrace, with 700-plus attendees.
Why did you decide to host the meeting in Madison?
Monona Terrace has been certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) program of the U.S. Green Building Council so it was an appropriate venue. Madison has appeal to our audience as a progressive, environmentally conscious city.
What did your attendees seem to enjoy the most?
Since most of our attendees were from the design, engineering and construction professions, they enjoyed the Frank Lloyd Wright influence at Monona Terrace. They liked the lake, and we had beautiful weather.
Was anybody particularly helpful?
Michelle Marx and Patty Lemke, our event and food coordinators at Monona Terrace, they were outstanding. I loved working with them. They were helpful and on top of everything—made my job much easier.
What would you have done differently?
I would probably not have had the Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor’s Club as the flagship hotel, even though they were great. It was a long walk for people.
Did you incorporate any interesting excursions or activities into the agenda?
We took tours of green buildings in the area.
Would you return?
Yes.