A meeting in an unusual setting can spark creative thinking, boost morale and create a productive atmosphere.
With its mix of urban and rural destinations, the western U.S. has a wealth of new or recently renovated options for meeting venues that make inspiring settings. Here is a sampling of some of the west’s unique new off-site meeting venues.
Vancouver, British Columbia
Granville Island, a picturesque island just minutes from downtown Vancouver, offers planners many opportunities for creativity, says Diane Butt, general manager of Edible Canada, a marketplace showcasing the food and wine of British Columbia.
Edible Canada recently opened a private, glass-walled dining room with a demonstration kitchen, audiovisual capabilities and long communal tables. An in-house culinary team creates multicourse menus and a sommelier creates pairings of food with local wines and spirits.
The space holds seated groups up to 24 and standing receptions for up to 35. Buyouts of the adjoining bistro are possible: The total indoor space holds up to 75 people for a seated function and 100 people for a standing reception. There is also an adjoining 102-seat outdoor patio.
“We’ve done meetings in the private dining space that have been very successful,” Butt says. “As the group wraps up the meeting our chef does a cooking demonstration and everyone gets to taste. We definitely have gone outside of the box.”
Within a short walk is Improv Centre, which opened in late 2010 and can host meetings and events. The theater, home to the improv group Vancouver TheatreSports League, seats up to 186 with a mixture of traditional seating and cabaret tables and chairs. The adjoining bar and lounge, overlooking the island’s marina, also can be used.PageBreak
Washington State
The challenge of operating an auto museum is that cars don’t appeal to everyone, says Scot Keller, marketing and communications manager of the new LeMay-America’s Car Museum (ACM) in Tacoma, Wash. That’s the reason ACM, which has had a soft opening and will fully open June 2, was designed with non-car aficionados—and meetings and specials events—in mind, he says.
“We’ve designed a museum that is more than a car museum. We are the antithesis of a normal meeting space or banquet facility, with a lot of opportunities to do creative events in a unique environment.”
The 165,000-square-foot ACM offers 10 venues, including a three-and-a-half-acre field for events and an indoor hall that seats 224 for dinner or up to 300 theater-style, and which opens onto the outdoor field.
Exhibit galleries of cars double as meetings and events space and an intimate “man cave-like” Club Auto room—showcasing classic cars—serves as pre-event space or a reception venue for up to 70 people.
“Planners get excited when they see our space because they can get creative. It can be as straightforward as dinner in a gallery surrounded by cars or they can take over the entire facility, Keller says. “Each planner comes with their own sense of what they need.”
Northern California Wine Country
A small meeting in a room over vineyards can inspire guests because of the landscape, says Patrick Egan, marketing manager for Boisset Family Estates, which runs wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties.
That was the impetus behind the creation of Rutherford Education Room—at the Raymond Vineyard winery complex—which opened last fall to serve as a wine seminar venue and small meeting space.
“When you’re in the Wine Country, it feels like you’re on a retreat,” Egan says. “You can focus on core issues in a beautiful setting, have a meeting, perhaps a short wine seminar and tasting, and then walk outside and walk through rows of vines. It’s a place to relax and enjoy.”
The room, which can host up to 12 people, is one of several unusual venues at the St. Helena-based Raymond winery. Others include The Crystal Cellars, which has stainless steel walls, a mirrored bar and a collection of historical Baccarat crystal decanters displayed below a Baccarat chandelier. The walls of the opulent Red Room, usable for meetings of up to 40 people, are covered in red velvet.
Another Boisset winery with new meeting space is Sonoma County’s DeLoach Vineyards, which recently renovated its guest house.
“The guest house is in a lovely location,” says Egan. “Groups can meet in the house and then walk to the winery or have a glass of wine or lunch on the back deck, overlooking the vineyards.”
Boisset’s on-site chefs create menus for groups, with ingredients from the vegetable gardens at both Raymond and DeLoach wineries.PageBreak
San Francisco
Fort Mason, a bayfront cultural complex in a historic former military base, offers 28 venues spanning from 500 to 50,000 square feet. One of its most stunning buildings, the General’s Residence, recently underwent a renovation that made it into a meetings and events venue.
The Residence offers several rooms, including the lounge, which seats 100 for receptions, 60 theater-style and 70 for banquets, and has large curved windows offering panoramic views of San Francisco Bay and Alcatraz. The largest room is the ballroom, which holds 220 for standing receptions, 140 theater-style and 150 for banquets.
Nearby is the former military chapel, also recently renovated and now available for groups of up to 200.
“The chapel and General’s Residence are popular,” says Pat Kilduff, Fort Mason’s director of marketing. “People use the chapel for a keynote presentation before breakouts in the Residence a short walk away.”
Colleen McGarry, meeting planner for Get Satisfaction, a San Francisco-based company that has used the General’s Residence for meetings, has several reasons for liking the space.
“Our CEO is very fond of the space because it’s intimate, full of character and the views are amazing,” she says. “It doesn’t feel like a corporate environment. And, the rates are great for all that you get.”
Plus, McGarry added, the setting is unusual.
“You’re in the city but it doesn’t feel like it. The setting allows people to focus on each other and focus on the subject at hand.”
Palm Springs and Desert Communities
More owners of spectacular and architecturally-significant estates in the Palm Springs area are opening their properties for meetings and special events, says Joyce Kiehl, a spokeswoman for the Palm Springs Desert Resort Communities Convention and Visitors Authority.
“They are terrific places that reflect the relaxed atmosphere of the desert lifestyle and the beauty of the nature. You can do different types of meetings and events in these estates; they are really unique places,” she says.
The newest to open is Colony 29, a group of six estates located in a former artist colony on a hillside overlooking Palm Springs. Planners can rent one home or a combination of homes. A gate closes off the space, creating an intimate, compound-like environment.
The main house, which was built in the 1920s, is surrounded by landscaped gardens and stone pathways. Colony 29 provides a built-in stage and lighting to accommodate 30 or more tables. Another new area of the complex accommodates 200 for a reception or sit down dinner. The authority provides a list of caterers who specialize in working at the private estates.PageBreak
San Diego
With elephants and other wildlife just a few yards away, a meeting at the San Diego Zoo certainly qualifies as a special event. The 100-acre facility, with more than 3,700 rare and endangered species of animals, increased opportunities for planners in December with the opening of a 40-seat theater outside the entrance of the Elephant Odyssey.
“We can sell a whole experience to groups,” says Angie Kemp, the zoo’s director of event sales.
Groups can hold a meeting and meal function at Sabretooth Grill, where a covered terrace overlooks the Elephant Odyssey. It holds up to 250 theater-style and up to about 200 seated for a meal.
Groups can use the new theater for a break, enjoying a private screening of a 10-minute 4D animal-themed movie that hits all the senses, including touch by providing small splashes of water.
“It’s something that groups can do to rejuvenate their creativity,” Kemp says. “The theater is not meant for presentations but as more of a fun thing to include during, or after, a day of meetings.”
The zoo provides its own catering team, including an executive chef who oversees menus for meetings and special events at the Sabretooth Grill and several other venues. Animal keepers and zoo staff are available to give presentations.
“We obviously are a different kind of venue so there are many opportunities for groups to build in various activities,” Kemp says. “Some groups will have a day meeting and then enjoy the zoo grounds after hours. We have speakers who are experts on aspects of science, nature and animal life that can inspire innovation.”
Laura Del Rosso is a San Francisco-based freelance writer who often travels to off-the-beaten-path destinations.
