Ever since the advent of computers nearly a half century ago, the "geek" was someone to be ridiculed and teased—a quality generally left off the dating resume. No longer.
Today, when having the hippest new iPhone application is just as important as the latest hairstyle, nerds rule. They are the maestros of our online social lives, the engineers of our workday efficiency. They even dress well and buy expansive loft apartments with their exploding stock options.
In tandem with the evolution of nerd chic, the nerd epicenter—Silicon Valley—has morphed into a revitalized and restyled destination, enough to compete with the likes of neighboring San Francisco.
And with the infusion of billions of dollars in technology money—through such companies as Google, Apple, Intel, Yahoo and countless others—an impressive range of restaurants, entertainment venues and recreation options have opened to amuse the nouveau-rich, yet hotel rates are still well below those in San Francisco.
With its consistent Mediterranean climate and ideal Bay Area location—coupled with friendly rates and highly rated CVBs—Silicon Valley has long been a planner favorite. But with the skyrocketing popularity of high tech, it’s now on everyone’s to-do list.
San Jose
Though it’s a little over a half-hour away, the city of San Jose could not be further removed from San Francisco. There’s no fog and it’s about 15 degrees warmer. And up until recently, San Francisco was where you went for fun, while San Jose was, well, not quite in the same league.
San Jose is now packed with trendy restaurants, nightclubs and music venues. With a broad demographic of immigrants and foreign workers, the culture is engaging and well-integrated. And the city has embraced its technology backbone so that visitors and attendees can get a feel for what makes this city buzz.
"Innovation Starts Here" is the city’s new tagline.
"It’s about how we can help you to think about the fact that this is a place of people that are innovating all the time," says Dan Fenton, president and CEO of the San Jose CVB. "How do we tap into that feeling and make it part of the meeting?"
Fenton explains that planners can work with the CVB to make their event as technologically savvy as possible, with the aim of fostering ideas, such as having the attendees use their phones during seminars to contribute ideas and comments to the presentation itself via live texts and tweets. They can also help planners design specific programs about the event itself, so that attendees have interactive event information accessible through their Smart Phones.
In addition to embracing high tech, Team San Jose is also reputed for its all-in-one service, which includes full control of F&B and a unique private entertainment partnership with Nederlander Producing Company.
"Team San Jose provides a consolidated single point of contact for whatever you need to produce an event," says Che-lin Ho, a meeting planner for FanimeCon, a four-day event for anime fans. "They can help you organize hotel space, meeting space, food and beverage, etc. This single point of contact greatly simplifies the task of working out the logistics for your event."
Ho brought 17,000 attendees to San Jose in May for FanimeCon. He says in addition to choosing San Jose for its strong reputation with fan-based events, he picked the city for its convenience of meetings amenities and entertainment.
"We believe San Jose is a great place for meetings," Ho says. "The hotels and convention center are capable of hosting both small, intimate events as well as large events. There are a number of auditoriums within walking distance of the hotels and convention center if you want to produce a show. Also, there is plenty of fine dining and entertainment within walking distance of the convention center and its hotels."
Smack in the middle of downtown, the 425,000-square-foot San Jose McEnery Convention Center is surrounded by hotels of every caliber and is connected directly to the recently renovated Hilton San Jose. Another major venue, the historic San Jose Civic Center, is currently undergoing a major overhaul. When it reopens in early fall, it will show off new seating, a new sound system and a total of $11 million in touchups.
Many of San Jose’s hotels have made enhancements within the last year or two, including the Crowne Plaza San Jose, which underwent a $7 million renovation; Fairmont San Jose, which unveiled the new Tova Day Spa; Dolce Hayes Mansion, which completed a $7 million renovation; San Jose Hilton, which wrapped up an $11 million renovation; and San Jose Marriott, which added the new TANQ nightclub.
Santana Row, San Jose’s main downtown avenue, is a pedestrian-friendly amalgamation of sidewalk cafes, upscale restaurants and high-end shopping. At its core is the trendy Hotel Valencia—an ideal choice for smaller groups looking to blend San Jose’s entertainment and nightlife into their event.
Santa Clara
Bordering San Jose to the north, the city of Santa Clara is in many ways its twin, offering the same advantages of weather, location, high-tech influence and modern restaurants and amenities.
The Santa Clara Convention Center, an award-winning facility, offers a total of 302,000 square feet of meeting space, after the addition of its brand-new 22,400-square-foot Mission City Ballroom. Nearby, Tech Mart’s IACC-certified Network Meeting Center provides state-of-the-art meeting space for up to 500 people.
And while new and newly renovated hotels like the Santa Clara Marriott, Hyatt Regency Santa Clara, Biltmore Hotel and Suites, and Hilton Santa Clara match the city’s clean and modern appeal, planners can still expect reasonable rates, particularly these days.
"This is a good time to meet in Santa Clara because we are a great value destination," says Steve Van Dorn, president and CEO of the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce and CVB. "Our convention center and hotels are flexible in meeting the planner’s needs. We’re also environmentally sensitive, having won the Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) Award for seven consecutive years for our recycling efforts."
Santa Clara offers several attractions that work well for even the largest of groups. California’s Great America theme park combines modern thrill rides with a full waterpark and has an incredible range of buyout options, from picnic areas for small groups to three different theaters for larger ones.
The Winchester Mystery House, while technically in San Jose, is worth consideration by any group meeting in the Bay Area. This strange, massive and ancient mansion, full of architectural quirks and inspired history, is difficult to describe, but has long been a favorite as a quick off-site adventure for smaller groups—and it definitely gets the mind thinking outside the box.
Another fascinating off-site venue is the NASA Ames Research Center at Moffett Field in Mountain View. Additionally, the Intel Museum offers a fascinating look at the history and evolution of the computer, the bread and butter of Silicon Valley.
Meanwhile, Santa Clara is moving closer to being the home of the San Francisco ’49ers football team via the recent approval to build a 68,500-seat NFL stadium. Construction could begin as early as 2012.
Palo Alto/Menlo Park
It’s easy to argue that Silicon Valley would not be the center of the world’s technology without Stanford University, tucked away in the small adjacent city of Palo Alto. The top-tier private university has churned out many of the founders of today’s modern technology behemoths, including Google. The campus itself is gorgeous, and can be a great location for some small to midsize meetings.
In combination with Menlo Park—home to dozens of premier high-tech companies, including Facebook—the area is even closer to San Francisco and provides a number of meetings-oriented hotels, such as the Four Seasons Silicon Valley at East Palo Alto, Stanford Park Hotel, Rosewood Sand Hill, Westin Palo Alto and Sheraton Palo Alto.
As far as off-site venues, a number of excellent restaurants offer private dining rooms for small groups, while the Cantor Art Center at Stanford makes for a beautiful setting for groups of up to 700 among its considerable collection of Rodin sculptures.
With its close proximity to San Francisco, coupled with top-tier restaurants and hotels, and Stanford in its backyard, this northwestern slice of Silicon Valley is ideal for all but the largest groups.
