If your name was Morgan, Vanderbilt, Mellon or Carnegie at the turn of the 20th century, you probably took your summer air around the pristine lakes and forests of New York’s Adirondack Mountains. It’s where denizens of the Gilded Age gathered to relax—and visitors to the region still do, in any season. This is New York wild, close in miles to that big city in a tiny eastern geographical corner of the state, but far in mind from its concrete canyons.
In upstate, cities like Albany, Binghamton, Corning, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Ithaca attract meeting groups for their urban attributes and facilities. But the region’s 2,759 lakes, soaring peaks and stunning views are never far away.
Albany/Saratoga
New York’s capital city has been welcoming visitors for four centuries, and it boasts government clout and an ideal location for state association business. Science is big, too, with an emphasis on nanotechnology by the State University of New York.
The city entertains groups with a variety of diversions. Visitors enjoy Albany’s architectural heritage, which ranges from Victorian to contemporary. The capital’s attractions include the USS Slater, a historic naval destroyer, where ship tours, receptions and onboard dinners are available. Tours of the New York State Museum, the Albany Institute of History and Art and the New York State Capitol are also popular with groups. New on the Albany scene is the American Italian Museum and Cultural Center.
The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza is Albany’s business and convention centerpiece. A $2 billion complex, it holds the convention center, part of an 80,000-square-foot meeting and exhibit space. Albany also has around 100 hotels for meeting groups at every price level. Included are the Albany Marriott, Crown Plaza Albany and 74 State.
Nearby Saratoga Springs is an international summertime horse racing center and site of many natural mineral springs, spas and buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Saratoga Springs City Center downtown has a conference center and the adjoining Saratoga Hilton Hotel and Conference Center. A 12,000-square-foot expansion of the center is slated for completion later this year.
Lake Placid/Adirondacks
With a location in the midst of the Adirondack High Peaks, lakes and unspoiled forests, Lake Placid has made headlines not only as the site of the 1932 and 1980 Winter Olympics, but also an area that attracts meeting groups for both business and recreation.
The region is home to meetings-ready properties such as High Peaks Resort, Lake Placid Lodge and Mirror Lake Inn Resort and Spa, and when The Conference Center at Lake Placid opens in spring 2011, the meeting facilities bar will rise. The new center will have 89,000 square feet of function space and green features prescribed by LEED.
"The conference center will accommodate large general sessions or a variety of breakouts and receptions," says Arlene Day, director of sales and service for the Lake Placid CVB. "The conference facility occupies 30,000 square feet of the facility, and The Herb Brooks 1980 Arena and the Jack Shea 1932 Arena are connected to the center. Each offers 20,000 additional square feet of space for trade shows and other events."
Team building takes on a whole new meaning in Lake Placid. After a torch-lighting ceremony, groups can score goals on the ice where the 1980 U.S. Hockey Team made history. They can also experience bobsled, biathlon, curling or luge in any season.
More outdoor options abound at nearby Lake George. The area has 9,000 guest rooms ranging from bed-and-breakfast properties to The Sagamore, a storied resort with 26,000 square feet of meeting space, a golf course and other recreational options. Fort William Henry Resort and Conference Center is another option, as is Silver Bay YMCA of the Adirondacks, which hosts group retreats.
Buffalo/Niagara Falls
Inside New York’s western gateway to Canada, you can feel the days when the city was a strategic rail and shipping connection between the Great Lakes and the Hudson River in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Historic architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright, H.H. Richardson, E.B. Green and Frederick Law Olmsted are among the visitor attractions, along with more contemporary treats like the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo wings.
But there’s much more to Buffalo than football, hockey and America’s favorite bar food. Visitors find a pleasing medley of nightspots, cafes and shops, along with cultural attractions such as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Burchfield-Penney Art Center, Ira G. Ross Aerospace Museum, Shea’s Performing Arts Center and the Buffalo Philharmonic.
Meetings are taking on new importance as The Buffalo Niagara Convention Center completes $12 million in tech upgrades, a new exhibitor floor and a kitchen redesign.
"With our September opening of our ‘new’ convention center, we’ll be more meetings competitive than ever," says Michael Even, vice president of sales and services for the Buffalo Niagara CVB. "Our hotel product is on a new level, too, with recent renovations by Hyatt Regency Buffalo, Hampton Inn and Suites Downtown and Comfort Suites Downtown. Also, we have a brand-new Embassy Suites with green construction."
The U.S. side of Niagara Falls is a short 20-minute drive from Buffalo, and visitors may enjoy views of the Upper Niagara River Rapids and the American Falls. Niagara Reservation State Park and the Prospect Point Observation Tower are access points for a journey into the Niagara Gorge and the Maid of the Mist cruise to the base of Horseshoe Falls.
Meeting facilities include the Conference Center Niagara Falls, with 116,000 square feet of function space and Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel.
Rochester
Ever since George Eastman put his city on the innovations map with Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester has been a vibrant center of development and business.
Rochester is headquarters for corporations such as Xerox and Bausch and Lomb, plus the University of Rochester and Rochester Institute of Technology, all of which support the city’s live performing arts scene.
"Planners who visit Rochester are often amazed at all there is here," says Tracy Armstrong, director of sales for Visit Rochester. "They are surprised by our facilities, accessibility and affordability, and most of all, the many cultural options."
Among the options are the George Eastman House, a museum that extols the founder’s love of music and film, and his extensive philanthropic endeavors. The gardens are one of Rochester’s unique venues for private events. Rochester Museum and Science Center as well as Strong National Museum of Play are other off-site venue options.
Principal group facilities include the Rochester Riverside Convention Center and the recently renovated Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside.
Syracuse
With new recognition from the Destination Marketing Accreditation Program for destination service excellence, the Syracuse CVB is poised to serve meeting planners and their groups as never before, says David Holder, president of the CVB.
"This accreditation hopefully sends a clear message to planners that we take their business seriously and stand ready to meet their needs and wants," he says. "When planners come through our bureau, they have an advocate in the community for their groups because we let our business community know how important they are to us."
Because it’s within a five-hour drive of 18 million people, Syracuse appeals to visitors for its accessibility, affordability and culture. Big shopping options are also in the destination mix, including the Carousel Shopping Center, which just completed a 1 million-square-foot expansion.
The city is also an emerging destination for sustainability study and development. This spring will see the debut of Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems, a facility for developers and researchers to test-drive green materials and equipment.
The Oncenter Complex is the city’s major meeting facility, and it includes the Convention Center at Oncenter, the newly renovated War Memorial Arena at Oncenter and the Civic Center Theaters.
Finger Lakes/Ithaca
Sitting on the largest of New York’s famed Finger Lakes—Cayuga Lake—Ithaca has natural and cultural attributes few destinations can match. "Ithaca is Gorges" auto bumper stickers around town refer to the area’s dramatic ice-age gorges, towering waterfalls, four state parks and seductive panoramas.
The Ivy League’s Cornell University and Ithaca College promote a cultural climate par excellence for the city, which includes a nice range of performing arts options, restaurants, museums and horticultural enclaves like Cornell Plantations, where several venues are available to groups. Enhancing the array of choices are several regional wine trails many groups follow to sample local products by vintners of the oldest and second-largest wine-producing region in the U.S.
Cornell’s world-renowned School of Hotel Administration includes The Statler Hotel and J. Willard Marriott Executive Education Center, a 153-room teaching hotel that’s popular with business groups, and the Clarion Hotel University Hotel & Conference Center.
Nearby Corning offers more standout cultural stops, including the Corning Glass Museum and the Rockwell Museum of Western Art, along with more of central New York’s most stunning scenery. Radisson Hotel Corning is the city’s principal group facility.
Binghamton/Central Leatherstocking Region
If you want a bulls-eye meetings location in upstate New York, consider the Greater Binghamton region.
In addition to its great location, the Binghamton area offers a rich arts culture and educational base, including Binghamton University and Broome Community College. Innovation is the city’s middle name, and Binghamton is the birthplace of companies like IBM, Universal Instruments, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Endicott Johnson.
Meeting groups often book the Binghamton Regency Hotel and Conference Center and the Holiday Inn Arena and Convention Center. In all, the city has more than 2,500 guest rooms. Traditions at the Glen Resort and Conference Center in Johnson City is a corporate retreat that once belonged to IBM.
For a sophisticated small-town atmosphere about 90 minutes from Binghamton, there’s Cooperstown. Its major draw is the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Other local diversions include 30 museums and galleries, including Fenimore Art Museum and Glimmerglass Opera, and many antique shops.
Cooperstown’s tranquil countryside still inspires visitors, just as it did James Fenimore Cooper, who wrote Leatherstocking Tales and The Last of the Mohicans. Along the way, travelers can experience 19th century homesteading history at The Farmers’ Museum.
Groups have a variety of lodging and meeting options in the area, including the lakeside Otesaga Resort and the Best Western Inn & Suites Cooperstown.
Thousand Islands
When the meetings agenda calls for an inspiring atmosphere, the Thousand Islands region delivers.
"The classic beauty of the islands combined with the fresh air and laid-back pace offers meeting groups the opportunity to step back, take a breath and renew their creative spirit," says Tillie Youngs, sales and services coordinator for the Thousand Islands International Tourism Council. "Our natural setting provides a diverse, therapeutic atmosphere for any professional event."
Among the culture stops are the Antique Boat Museum and the Clayton Opera House.
Popular meetings properties include Edgewood Resort & Conference Center and Pine Tree Point Resort. Properties opening in 2011 include a Hilton Garden Inn and a Fairfield Inn by Mariott.
