An array of scenic settings might not be the first thing that comes to mind when considering Wisconsin, but the landscape throughout the state is about as geographically diverse as it gets.
The Northern Highland region is made up of forests and glacial lakes. Wisconsin’s Central Plain is home to the Wisconsin Dells and its famous sandstone rock formations. The Eastern Ridges and Lowlands house the more metropolitan areas of Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay.
Along with the range of scenery in Wisconsin comes a multitude of culturally diverse meeting venues to match. Travel Wisconsin recently launched its new Meet in Wisconsin website to spread the word about all the facilities available.
“What we’re really trying to push out there is that there are meeting facilities throughout the state that aren’t currently in the average planner’s consciousness,” says Dawn Zanoni, special events director at the Wisconsin Department of Tourism.
The following is a look at some of Wisconsin’s distinctive meeting and event venues.
Greater Milwaukee
Milwaukee is the largest city in the state and home to the Wisconsin Center, its recently renamed conference facility with 189,000 square feet of exhibit space and 28 meeting rooms. It’s also within easy access of General Mitchell International Airport, located just 10 minutes outside of downtown.
“All of the attendees of conventions and even leisure travelers that come to the city say it’s a surprise,” says Brent Foerster, vice president of sales and marketing at Visit Milwaukee. “It’s a positive, very walkable city, with a combination of preserved history and a lot of new developments.”
Beyond the big-city appeal Milwaukee provides, planners will find a diverse lineup of venues that offer memorable opportunities for functions and events.
Discovery World, a 120,000-square-foot lakefront science and technology museum, has plenty of function space, including The Pilot House, which offers attendees a 360-degree view of downtown Milwaukee and Lake Michigan. The building also contains the 10-tank Reiman Aquarium and Les Paul’s House of Sound, honoring the famous guitar maker who was born in nearby Waukesha.
The Milwaukee Art Museum neighbors Discovery World and provides stunning architectural backdrops in its meeting spaces, such as the Burke Brise Soleil’s wing-like sunscreen in the glass-enclosed Windover Hall designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. It can house up to 800 guests.
More original off-sites include the Harley-Davidson Museum, which offers special historian-led group tours of its extensive archives; the recently renovated Pritzlaff building, with four separate event spaces surrounded by Victorian-era arched windows and “Cream City” brick; and the outdoor Henry Maier Festival Park, a permanent lakefront festival space spanning 10 acres and 11 stages. PageBreak
Madison
Because of its status as the capital of Wisconsin and a top-tier college town, Madison provides a number of amenities to make it stand out in the meetings market.
“There are a lot of resources that come along with the University of Wisconsin-Madison,” says Rebecca Ramsey, director of sales at the Greater Madison CVB. “There are also a lot of local restaurants and shops here, so there’s very much a Madison feel throughout the area.”
Madison is the birthplace of Gaylord Nelson, U.S. senator and two-time Wisconsin governor who started Earth Day and introduced bills that influenced current national environmental laws. It has since become a hot spot for environmental and scientific groups to meet.
The LEED Silver-certified Monona Terrace convention center, designed by Wisconsin-born architect Frank Lloyd Wright, sits on Lake Monona and is just a few blocks from the state capital. The Society for Ecological Restoration recently held a conference that utilized its 37,000-square-foot exhibition hall.
For those looking to connect more directly with nature, the Olbrich Botanical Gardens combines 16 acres of outdoor gardens with a vaulted glass ceiling indoor atrium, glass-wall commons and a windowed upper-level meeting room for smaller groups.
The Thai Pavilion, a gift to the University of Madison-Wisconsin from the Thai Government and Thai Chapter of the Alumni Association, is a highlight of the outdoor space with its gold-leaf etchings, lacquer finish and intricate decoration.
Wisconsin Dells
Many planners associate the Wisconsin Dells with its abundance of enticing waterpark resorts, including Glacier Canyon Lodge, Kalahari Resort, Chula Vista Resort and Great Wolf Lodge, but there are also plenty of options for those looking to break away from the resort environment.
“There are some great facilities available that fall into a category that we see as being unexpected ideas for planners,” says Tifani Jones, director of sales for the Wisconsin Dells Visitors and Convention Bureau. “We will often suggest these spots to those who have planned a previous annual event in the Dells and are now looking to put together a smaller meeting or function.”
The Cold Water Canyon Pavilion is a historic 800-square-foot stone building located in a shady glen of the Wisconsin River that is accessible only by boat and ideal for corporate retreats. A large tent can be reserved for extra outdoor space.
Perlstein Resort & Conference Center overlooks Lake Blass on the outskirts of the Dells and has 20 wooded acres of sports facilities for group activities, a full-size gym and 12 indoor meeting spaces. PageBreak
Sheboygan
Planners will be surprised at the amount of cultural options available in Sheboygan, a city in eastern Wisconsin that sits along Lake Michigan, about an hour’s drive from Green Bay or Milwaukee.
“Being located where we are, we almost accidentally gathered a number of really well-trained chefs from different venues such as Trattoria Stefano, Field to Fork and Black Pig,” says George Twohig, communications director for Sheboygan Tourism. “Sheboygan is also a great freshwater surfing and sailing spot, with weather-driven waves that have people driving in from all over the Midwest.”
Many of the restaurants mentioned by Twohig can host tastings and cater out for group events. In addition to what is arguably some of the finest food in Wisconsin, planners will also discover interesting locations for their next meeting.
Blue Harbor Resort & Spa sits along the Lake Michigan shoreline with the most public beach access in the state. It’s located close to dining, shopping, entertainment and activities, with an indoor waterpark and Reflections spa. The resort has 182 guest suites and 64 two- and four-bedroom villas, along with 16,800 square feet of function space.
The John Michael Kohler Arts Center includes a rotating lineup of exhibitions and an outdoor sculpture garden. Group tour options are available in addition to hands-on workshops for adults.
Green Bay/Door County
With around 105,000 residents, Green Bay is the smallest populated area in the U.S. to house a major professional sports franchise, the Green Bay Packers.
“Sports fanatics all around the world know Green Bay, and cuisine lovers clamber here in July to visit for restaurant week,” says Brenda Krainik, director of marketing at the Greater Green Bay CVB. “Given its diverse business base, Green Bay is a popular location for corporate and association meetings and conventions.”
Lambeau Field is the most iconic of spaces in Green Bay that is available for meetings, where small groups can meet in a luxury box with a view of the field, or larger groups can use the atrium for dinners, awards ceremonies and even trade shows. Stadium tours can also be booked.
The nearby National Railroad Museum allows for a themed dinner option for small groups and serves as an ideal setting for catered events or cocktail hours.
Northeast of Green Bay is the popular tourist destination Door County, which features nearly 300 miles of shoreline and riverfront villages that set the stage for small meetings or corporate retreats. PageBreak
Fox Cities
The Fox Cities is a group of 19 communities along the Fox River, which flows from Lake Winnebago to Green Bay in the north. The area’s largest cities are Appleton and Nina.
“We’re kind of known as Wisconsin’s shopping space, with the largest concentration of retail in the state,” says Kelly Ann Hekler, convention sales manager at the Fox Cities CVB. “We also have a thriving downtown area with tons of restaurants, attractions and nightlife.”
The building materials used in the construction of the 107,000-square-foot Warch Campus Center at Lawrence University were locally sourced from within 100 miles of the campus (and so is the food it serves). It’s LEED Gold-certified and there is plenty of green space around the property in addition to a variety of informal and formal gathering spaces within the building itself.
The Fox Cities Performing Arts Center is another highlight of the area. It can accommodate up to 2,100 people in its Thrivent Financial Hall performance venue.
Elkhart Lake
Situated about an hour from both Milwaukee and Green Bay in Sheboygan County, Elkhart Lake resides within the Northern Kettle Moraine State Forest.
“Elkhart Lake offers a beautiful setting, first-class accommodations and facilities with effective group activities,” says Kathleen Eickhoff, director of tourism for Elkhart Lake.
The Osthoff Resort is a popular stop for regional, association and corporate groups. The property will unveil an additional 10,000 square feet of meeting space by next spring, bringing its total square footage of meeting space to 38,000. Meeting attendees can take some time out to relax at the award-winning Aspira Spa or participate in a French cuisine group cooking class at L’ecole de la Maison.
Stretching across 640 acres, the Road America course in Elkhart Lake can host a number of team-building events, including karting, geocaching, paintball and other activities. PageBreak
Lake Geneva
With origins as a popular summer retreat for the wealthy elite of Chicago, Lake Geneva has always had an air of class in its meeting venues, including the Grand Geneva Resort (Hugh Hefner’s original Playboy resort) and The Abbey Resort, noted for its iconic 80-foot-high A-frame structural design.
“[Lake Geneva] is very cosmopolitan overall, but it also has an incredibly laid-back feeling, where people come across the state line and just feel their shoulders relax,” says Grace Eckland, director of marketing and public relations at the Lake Geneva Area CVB.
Step outside of the larger resorts and you have a number of elegant small-to-mid-sized venues that represent the luxury of the area, with some additional Wisconsin charm.
The Riviera Lakefront Facilities include a 7,200-square-foot historic swing-era ballroom with a panoramic view of Geneva Lake. Horticultural Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and features a beamed Great Hall reception area and garden courtyard. Meanwhile, Geneva Lake Museum highlights the rich history of the area and can be rented out for meetings and other events.
La Crosse
La Crosse sits at the western border of Wisconsin on the banks of the Mississippi River. This historic natural setting makes for an inviting backdrop for many of the city’s meeting facilities.
“When people are at a conference center and don’t know each other as well, it can be hard to strike up that initial conversation,” says Clarissa Erickson, director of group sales at the La Crosse Area CVB. “Our attendees can meet in a more relaxed atmosphere at a venue like the Weber Center and check out views of the Mississippi River and feel more open to conversation.”
The Weber Center for the Performing Arts in the heart of downtown La Crosse consists of a two-story lobby with floor-to-ceiling windows, the 450-seat Lyche Theatre, the 125-seat Veterans Studio Theatre and 2,000 square feet of classroom space.
Myrick Hixon EcoPark has indoor and outdoor classroom spaces with an emphasis in learning and team building, with access to hundreds of miles of hiking, biking, running, skiing and snowshoeing trails.
Another engaging event space is the Dahl Auto Museum, which features the collection of the Dahl family–an established automobile dealer in the area–and plenty of reception space. mf
