A winning mix of heritage, history and American know-how awaits groups heading to North Carolina’s Triad region.
While the area has always been a stronghold for traditional American manufacturing, the three metros of Greensboro, High Point and Winston-Salem also benefit from the cutting-edge research in life science and information technology with Piedmont Triad Research Park. Throw in dozens of furniture outlet stores in High Point, historic sites from the Revolutionary War to the civil rights movement in Greensboro and the incredibly diverse arts scene in Winston-Salem, and planners have a destination perfectly balanced in business, shopping and entertaining diversions.
Greensboro
Centrally located in the state and along the Eastern Seaboard, Greensboro is a top pick among planners. The city offers excellent spaces for meetings, including the largest hotel in North Carolina, the 1,000-room Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons, which has 250,000 square feet of meeting space, and the Greensboro Coliseum Complex, which holds up to 23,500 attendees.
“We offer first-tier facilities in a second-tier city,” says Henri Fourrier, president and CEO of the Greensboro Area CVB. “We can handle from five to 20,000, and our markets include state associations and religious, education and youth sports [groups].”
Fourrier also notes an increase in amateur sports gatherings, thanks mainly to the Greensboro Coliseum Complex and new Aquatic Center for larger events, as well as the Greensboro Sportsplex, a 106,000-square-foot facility with multiple basketball courts, soccer fields, volleyball courts and even a roller hockey rink. The Bryan Park Golf Center, which features two 18-hole courses, a pro shop, banquet facilities and a golf practice area, is popular as a facility for amateur sports groups and as an off-site destination for conference meetings and receptions.
Other off-site venues tap into Greensboro’s historical side. The Empire Room and Regency Room are breathtaking, elegant spaces within a renovated downtown retail building that can each accommodate up to 800 people, and Revolution Mill Studios offers a cheery, open space reclaimed from the former Revolution Cotton Mill built in 1900. With 15-foot-high ceilings and rich maple floors, the facility is a top-notch setting for any event and offers more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space.
Just outside Greensboro is another historic, renovated property saved from time: Castle McColloch, a former gold refinery built in 1832 from stone. Located in Jamestown just a few minutes from Greensboro, Castle McColloch hosts festivals, weddings and corporate events.
Attendees can explore the long, storied history of the Triad area with attractions ranging from Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, a noted battleground of the Revolutionary War, to the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, located in the former Woolworth’s store where four students sparked a civil rights movement by sitting down at the lunch counter in 1960 and challenging the counter’s “whites-only” status.
In addition to the Sheraton Greensboro at Four Seasons, planners can also utilize meeting space at the Marriott Greensboro Downtown and the Embassy Suites Hotel Greensboro-Airport.
Winston-Salem
Dedication to the arts runs deep in Winston-Salem, all the way back to the city’s origins as a colony of German-speaking Protestants known as Moravians in the mid-1700s. The original settlers brought their love of music to this new world, forming some of the first community orchestras in all the colonies. Today, Winston-Salem’s title as the “City of the Arts” is well-founded, with numerous galleries, museums, the Piedmont Opera Theater, the Downtown Arts District, the RiverRun International Film Festival and the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Planners can incorporate Winston-Salem’s art scene into any meeting through workshops, special musical performances and receptions at facilities like the Delta Arts Center, which features African-American and Hispanic art; the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art; and the Stevens Center, a restored 1929 movie theater that serves as the performance center for the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. The center features a 1,380-seat theater plus a reception hall for banquets of up to 80 attendees. For a taste of history and art, planners can utilize the Sawtooth Center for Visual Art, located in a renovated textile mill. Named for its distinct, jagged roofline, the venue offers 3,500 square feet of meeting space plus an adjacent outdoor amphitheater.
The city’s history as a Moravian colony provides a rich backdrop for meetings and activities. The Old Salem Museums and Gardens, a must-see for any group, spans 100 acres of gardens and buildings.
The town of Old Salem has been meticulously restored, and costumed interpreters share the daily life of the town’s inhabitants from the 1700s to the 1800s. Even the gardens are historic and showcase how the Moravians combined natural beauty with practicality. Planners can hold a large meeting of up to 300 in the Old Salem Visitors Center, or plan a smaller meeting or reception at the Horton Museum Center, home to the Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts. While tours of Old Salem are self-guided, planners can arrange guided tours of the gardens or special twilight tours of the town after-hours.
Old Salem is historic, but it’s still easy to find. Like many attractions in Winston-Salem, it’s part of the greater downtown district. Other don’t-miss sites include the Winston Cup Museum, which features trophies, driver uniforms and other memorabilia from the cup’s proud 33-year history, and the Children’s Museum, a perfect stop for attendees who bring the family and take a few vacation days after the conference is over. The Children’s Museum is available for events and has a multipurpose space for luncheons or receptions. The staff will also help with downtime events like scavenger hunts for attendees.
At the core of the downtown district is the Twin City Quarter, home to the city’s main meeting facilities, the Benton Convention Center, with 100,000 square feet of space, and the Embassy Suites Winston-Salem and Marriott Hotel Winston-Salem. Both properties are adjacent to the center. Together, the complex features more than 170,000 square feet of meeting and event space and is within walking distance of the Stevens Center, Delta Arts Center, Sawtooth Center and many other off-site venues.
The Twin City Quarter also features entertainment within walking distance of the hotels, including Winston-Salem’s own Minor League Baseball team, the Winston-Salem Dash. For those who would rather see the flicker of independent film over the swing of a bat, Aperture Cinema offers the best in non-mainstream flicks. Tired of walking? Take a carriage ride and tour downtown Salem the old-fashioned way. The district is also filled with art galleries, trendy nightclubs, eateries and a diverse collection of shops, including a few of the furniture stores that have made the Triad famous around the world.
At the edge of the Twin City Quarter is the Piedmont Triad Research Park. History is a top attraction in Winston-Salem, but the park, in partnership with Wake Forest University, aims to make the future just as appealing. Researchers are breaking new ground in biomedical fields like regenerative medicine, which is the science of growing replacement organs in a lab. With more than 50 companies on the park campus, it is a major attraction for medical and science meetings, and its close proximity to downtown makes those meetings easy to organize.
High Point
When you spot the World’s Largest Chest of Drawers, you get the subtle hint that furniture is important to the city of High Point, a fact reinforced by more than 50 furniture factory outlet stores and a reputation as the Home Furnishings Capital of the World. Furniture-making is a longtime business in High Point, and the city is also home to the Biannual High Point Market, the largest home furniture show anywhere on the globe.
While the city’s heritage involves giving folks a comfy place to sit down, the history of High Point was driven by people who never stood still. Mendenhall Plantation, a Quaker homestead built in the early 1800s, served as an important link in the Underground Railroad, and native son John Coltrane sprang from his childhood home into musical immortality as a jazz legend. The High Point Museum and Historic Park memorializes these moments and more of the area’s history, including costumed interpreters performing living history workshops in the museum’s historic buildings. The museum also offers event space for up to 175 people.
Meanwhile, High Point’s infrastructure is improving. The 81-room Ashford Suites High Point and the 252-room Best Western Plus High Point wrapped up renovations this year, and the 99-room Courtyard High Point by Marriott added a new restaurant.
With the Best Western Plus High Point as the city’s downtown convention hotel, the ideal group size for High Point is 500 attendees, according to Nancy Bowman, marketing and communications director for the High Point CVB.
“We are a small city with big service,” she says. “You won’t receive the same service anywhere else that you receive here. That’s what keeps our groups coming back the most.”
A major off-site venue in High Point is the 450,000-square-foot Showplace facility, the home of the High Point Market. Planners can utilize the 100-foot-tall atrium for receptions and luncheons, or take advantage of 78,000 square feet of event space. Showplace is located directly behind the Best Western Plus, making it a convenient option for groups.
Another popular pick is the restored and rustic charm of Centennial Station, a former freight train depot built in the early 1900s and renovated in 2000. The station offers a stage and 8,000 square feet of meeting space.
Beth Bartlett is a frequent contributor to Meetings Focus South.
