The best thing about Kissimmee for groups is that it offers so much variety, says Madeline Cancel, conference and event director of global sourcing for Benchmarc360°, a conference, event and association management company based in Atlanta.
“Kissimmee has a lot of offer,” Cancel says. “It has attractions for families like Disney, obviously, but there are nature-oriented activities and a lot of great restaurants.”
One of Cancel’s favorite venues in the area happens to be the House of Blues, located in nearby Lake Buena Vista. She’ll likely visit that spot when she returns soon to plan another event in Kissimmee. She’s already looking at the city as a destination for next year.
Last September, Cancel coordinated an annual meeting of a leading national distributor and direct marketer of maintenance, repair and operating products, including some of the firm’s customers and supply partners.
More than 1,500 people attended the meeting at the Gaylord Palms Resort Hotel & Convention Center in Kissimmee. This year’s theme was “Dream Big, Deliver Big.”
“The cool thing about the Gaylord is that it’s large enough to really do things on a grand scale,” Cancel says. “I like to think outside the box.”
Cancel used the facility’s mammoth atrium for custom signage and special lighting. The highlight of the meeting was a performance by the Blue Man Group, which was kept as a surprise from conference attendees. The mood extended into the “Blue After Dark” after-party with blue lighting in the Gaylord’s foyer, making it seem as if hotel fixtures were floating in the dark. A reggae singer entertained the group, changing the idea of networking into something a lot more fun.
Legendary basketball coach Rick Patino spoke at the general session, so Cancel created a “sports zone,” going for an “ESPN Zone-kind of look.” Poker tables and virtual reality games were offered, and sporting events were played on big-screen TVs. The big hit in The Zone was the virtual reality game system, Wii, which was set up on 60-foot TV screens.
On the last day of the conference, a golf tournament was held on two golf courses at Walt Disney World at the Magnolia, with its abundance of magnolia trees, and the Palms, featuring a more tropical vibe with its lush palm trees and scalloped sand. Disney offers four golf courses and a nine-hole walking course.
Those who didn’t want to golf went to the Gaylord’s Canyon Ranch SpaClub and sipped refreshing teas to offset the humid Central Florida air.
“We found that a lot of people brought their families, and Kissimmee was perfect for this,” Cancel says.“ The airport is a major hub, and that’s a big plus. The only problem, if you can call it that, was that people did not want to leave Kissimmee. It really has so much to offer.”
