llinois is much more than the Land of Lincoln that its license plates promise. From the wild Shawnee National Forest in the south to Chicago’s urban canyons in the northeast, and from the Galena wine country to the high-tech University of Illinois campus in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois offers planners a range of venues that are America in miniature.
Chicagoland
It’s been an up-and-down year for Chicago. Of course hometown law professor Barack Obama was inaugurated as president in 2009, but the city lost its bid for the 2016 Olympic Games. On the other hand, the Chicago Blackhawks resurrected Chicagoans’ faith in pro sports by winning hockey’s Stanley Cup championship.
But these major events are just part of what’s happening at any given moment. Go to a show. Catch a Cubs or White Sox game. Eat at one of several thousand restaurants. Visit the Field Museum or the Art Institute of Chicago. You’ll run out of time before Chicago runs out of activities.
Chicago’s has two headlines for planners. First, a new incentive fund can help planners defray the cost of some services associated with their meetings. Second, a new law will reduce exhibitor costs at McCormick Place, one of the world’s largest meeting venues. Exhibitors can now do their own booth work, hire outside electrical and food-service contractors, and hire smaller work crews generally, says Meghan Risch, director of public relations at the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau.
"The benefits are really for the exhibitors," she says. "They have more rights and lower costs, which is what they’ve been asking for. We think it could [represent] more than $300 million in direct expenditures for future years."
Five new hotels have opened here in the past year, including the Hotel Palomar, Elysian Hotel, The Wit, a Comfort Suites and a La Quinta Inn & Suites, while a 610-room JW Marriott debuts in downtown Chicago this fall.
South of Chicago, the more than 60 communities of the Southland range from the urban edge of Lake Michigan to farmland. Mary Patchin, director of sales at the Chicago Southland CVB, summarizes the area in five points.
"We have easy accessibility, being on the Illinois/Indiana border," she says. "We don’t have a ton of traffic. You can go from urban to farmland in a matter of minutes. We’re reasonably priced. And the Metra [commuter rail] goes to a lot of our main suburbs."
The Southland’s large venues include First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre and Toyota Park, but communities such as Frankfort and Oak Lawn are cozy enough to have community movie nights each summer, and there’s a farmers market in Lansing.
The Doubletree Hotel Chicago Alsip just renovated its 193 guest rooms and more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space. Meanwhile, the Hilton Oak Lawn also recently renovated its 184 guest rooms and 20,000 square feet of meeting space. In April, ground was broken to expand the Tinley Park Convention Center to roughly 58,000 square feet by May 2011.
Chicago’s northern suburbs include Evanston, a favorite group destination that is home to Northwestern University and meetings properties such as the recently renovated Hilton Orrington/Evanston, while in Skokie, the North Shore Performing Arts Center offers live music, dance and theater, and the Chicago Botanic Garden in Glencoe has 24 display gardens and three full-fledged natural habitats.
Chicago’s northwestern suburbs encompass communities such as Schaumburg, Arlington Heights and Hoffman Estates, and the 11,000-seat Sears Centre is a top venue for large events, while the Renaissance Schaumburg Hotel and Convention Center is a premier group property.
In nearby Rosemont, the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont Conference Center, Allstate Arena and Rosemont Theatre make the area a meetings magnet, and there are plenty of properties with function space in the area surrounding O’Hare International Airport.
West of Chicago, Oak Park is an attractive community, and its Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust rents the Wright-designed Robie House and Wright’s home and studio to groups.
A bit farther west is DuPage County, a prominent meetings destination in the state. Among the region’s premier group venues and meetings-ready properties are Pheasant Run Resort & Spa, the DuPage Expo Center, the Advanced Center for Training and its adjoining Hilton Garden Inn, the IACC-approved Q Center, the newly opened Hotel Arista at CityGate Centre, Hickory Ridge Marriott Conference Hotel and Hilton Lisle/Naperville.
Northern Illinois
Lake County is home to Naval Station Great Lakes, a U.S. Navy training facility and a major draw for sailors and families attending weekly graduations. Visitors can check out Six Flags Great America, see a show at the Genesee Theatre, or walk along the shore at Illinois Beach State Park. Also, the Naval Station just opened a new, more convenient Navy Museum outside its security perimeter.
In May the Lincolnshire Marriott Resort in Lincolnshire finished renovating its public spaces, while the Expo Center at the Lake County Fairgrounds has moved into new buildings in Grayslake.
Rockford prides itself on having big-city amenities and a small-town vibe. Its abundant sports facilities led Sports Illustrated to name Rockford the amateur sports capital of the Midwest, and the Holiday Inn Rockford and Radisson Hotel & Conference Center Rockford provide meeting facilities.
Moline and Rock Island are the Illinois half of the Quad Cities, which also include Davenport and Bettendorf, Iowa. Despite being separated by the Mississippi River, however, the four cities (along with East Moline, Ill.) are tightly linked and can practically be considered a single entity.
The Illinois side features the newly named iWireless Center, a venue for national acts such as Toby Keith and Carrie Underwood, which is adjacent to the newly renovated, 162-room Radisson John Deere Commons-Moline.
Rock Island offers an arts and entertainment district, the Quality Inn and Conference Center and the Rock Island Arsenal Golf Club, where attendees can literally tee off on the Mississippi. In addition, the Quad City Botanical Center is a unique alternative venue with both indoor and outdoor gardens.
Lynn Hunt, vice president of sales at the Quad Cities CVB, lists the Quad Cities’ major benefits such as the Quad Cities International Airport, great interstate access from 80 and 280, affordability and a variety of inventory.
Celestino Ruffini, director of sales and marketing at the Galena/Jo Daviess County CVB, says Galena and surrounding Jo Daviess County have evolved into an active-lifestyle destination, and 35 percent to 40 percent of its business is from leisure and meeting groups.
"Whatever property you’re using, whether it’s Eagle Ridge Resort or Chestnut Mountain Resort, they have outdoor team-building activities, geocaching, kayaking and hot-air ballooning," Ruffini says.
Jo Daviess County is within the Driftless Region, a geological formation that gives it a romantic, hills-and-valleys feel, Ruffini says.
Chestnut Mountain is Illinois’ only major ski resort, and it finished renovating its dining and meeting space last year. In Galena proper, the Country Inn & Suites finished a property-wide renovation in April, and Timmermann’s Hotel and Resort in East Dubuque completed a renovation of its meeting rooms and guest rooms.
Central Illinois
Springfield is Illinois’ capital and Abraham Lincoln’s old stomping grounds, but as Gina Gemberling, director of sales at the Springfield CVB, likes to say, "We love Lincoln but we are more than Lincoln."
Springfield has a strong trade-association business but also pursues different markets, according to Gemberling.
"One of our strengths over the last five to 10 years is automotive shows, car-club conventions and rallies," she says. "Besides the religious and association markets, we’ve seen a lot of strength in the agricultural market, such as at the Illinois State Fairgrounds."
That 366-acre facility is in continual use for horse and livestock shows and tractor pulls.
The President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, connected to the Prairie Capital Convention Center, is currently renovating its guest rooms, while in April, the 122-room Statehouse Inn added meeting space, including a ballroom. At Southwind Park, Erin’s Pavilion will open this fall as a LEED Platinum, multiuse gathering place.
Peoria sits along a beautiful stretch of the Illinois River, and attractions include the new Africa! Expansion at the Peoria Zoo, the 2,000-acre Wildlife Prairie State Park and the new Peoria Riverfront Museum, which shares space with the Caterpillar Visitor Center. The Peoria Civic Center has 110,000 square feet of exhibit space following a recent $55 million expansion.
Bloomington and neighboring Normal are growing fast thanks to the intersection of three interstates, a high quality of life and a variety of cultural facilities that includes the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts, science-oriented Challenger Learning Center, Pepsi Ice Center skating rink and three public and three private golf courses. Meetings-friendly facilities here include the Chateau Hotel & Conference Center, Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center and Marriott Hotel & Conference Center.
Champaign and Urbana occupy a sweet spot between big and small towns, says Libby Nelson, marketing and sales director at the Champaign County CVB.
"One thing that’s growing in popularity is [that we’re] a ‘micro urban’ community, which is a trendy way of saying a small community with the big-city amenities," Nelson says.
The flagship University of Illinois (UI) campus provides many of those amenities, and each summer there are a variety of festivals, including a chili cook-off and beer tasting, a sweet corn celebration, film festivals and the Taste of Champaign-Urbana gourmet food fest.
The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts attracts copious talent, Nelson says, and the resident Mark Morris Dance Group performs frequently. One unusual attraction is Hardy’s Reindeer Ranch in nearby Rantoul, where visitors can meet and eat while watching Julie and Mark Hardy’s small herd of reindeer roam the couple’s Christmas tree ranch.
On the UI campus, the Activities and Recreation Center was recently renovated and is open for events. The green-designed Microtel Inn & Suites Champaign is the area’s newest hotel property, while the Holiday Inn Hotel Champaign/Urbana recently renovated its guest rooms and meeting space.
Southern Illinois
Carbondale is known as southern Illinois’ capital and is home to Southern Illinois University. It is surrounded by lakes, parks, golf courses and Shawnee National Forest, a sprawling, wildlife-rich area. It’s no surprise that Carbondale was recently one of Outdoor Life magazine’s top 200 towns for outdoorsmen.
Cultural facilities include University Museum and McLeod Theater; the Varsity Center for the Arts; and the Interfaith Center, which promotes interfaith dialogue and social justice. Other meetings-friendly facilities here include the Holiday Inn & Conference Center, Royal Plaza Inn, Quality Inn and Ramada Limited.
Paul D. Kretkowski writes frequently about travel, food and sports.
