For the past four years Lisa Jerebko, owner of Eventastic, has planned the Buffalo Niagara Dental Meeting, an annual gathering of dentists and hygienists, many of whom attended or graduated from the State University of New York School of Dental Medicine in Buffalo.
In 2008 the two-and-a-half day event attracted roughly 800 dentists, 800 hygienists and 150 exhibitors among a total attendance of roughly 3,000 at the Buffalo Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency downtown.
Though this gathering’s purpose is primarily one of continuing medical education, it is also an occasion for many attendees to see old friends and classmates, adding an enjoyable social layer to the event.
“We bring in anywhere from 20 to 25 speakers throughout the meeting,” Jerebko says, adding that she also offered shuttle service to area hot spots.
“They could take a shuttle to the Seneca Niagara Casino [in nearby Niagara Falls] and also to the Canadian side if they chose to do that,” she says. “And then there are lots of really nice bars where we hosted happy hour parties.”
The Buffalo Convention Center hosted one such event at the 2008 meeting, while on another night Jerebko chose the Buckin’ Buffalo Saloon, which she describes as “a fun kind of country bar downtown.”
On Friday evening during the meeting Jerebko and the Hyatt put on a dinner dance for 600.
“What’s nice about our meeting is that a lot of reunion classes come back after maybe five, 10, 15 or even 20 years, and then they plan their own separate events,” she says. “I have never heard once from any of these classes that there’s nothing to do in Buffalo. The nice thing is that the cost is very appealing to people; it is on the low end as far as food, drink, shows and hockey games.”
Even more remarkably, given Buffalo’s low costs for planners and attendees, Jerebko lauds the level of customer service that the city offers.
This past year, Jerebko also worked on a 20th anniversary party for Mentholatum, a global health and wellness company that makes brand-name products like pHisoderm. Twenty-six people from 18 countries joined 250 Buffalo-area staffers for this week-long celebration that included three high-impact venues: a meeting at the Buffalo Bisons’ baseball stadium, a trip to the Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society and a day in which attendees pitched in to build a playground and trails at Chestnut Ridge Park.
Jerebko would love to show visitors more of Buffalo’s downtown in the future, particularly given two potential projects that may increase traffic to the city’s urban core.
“Whether the Seneca build [another] casino or Bass builds a new [pro shop], I would love for people to come to downtown Buffalo and see what it has to offer,” she says. “If you dig in, it has some great things.”
