Meeting News - March 23, 2009 - (Page 14)

MIDAMERICA REGIONAL Perspectives Midamerica Regional, March 2009 Editorial Rayna Katz, Co-Editor Phone: (646) 654-4421; rayna.katz@nielsen.com William Ng, Co-Editor Phone: (646) 654-4451; william.ng@nielsen.com Michael J. Strong, Art Director Phone: (646) 654-7471; michael.strong@nielsen.com Matt Alderton, Writer; matt@logolepsy.com Michael Goldstein, Writer; mgoldstein@aol.com Terri Hardin, Editorial Advisor Phone: (646) 654-7360; terri.hardin@nielsen.com Making Their Case Known When it comes to travel in the U.S., the Midwest may not retain the glamour of California, New York, Las Vegas, or Florida. With the exception of Chicago, the destinations that dot Ohio to as far as Kansas are mainly second-tier cities. But when it comes to meetings travel, Midwestern cities offer facilities and amenities that are not only comparable but competitive. For instance, plenty of Midamerica’s infrastructure, big and small—from airports, to convention centers, to hotels, to arts and cultural facilities—is just as green, if not greener, than that elsewhere in the country. As MeetingNews correspondent Michael Goldstein attests in his cover article, a number of venues sport LEED certification, including McCormick Place West—the largest new-construction facility in the U.S. to be LEED-certified—as well as Indianapolis’ new Colonel H. Weir Cook airport terminal. Speaking of Indianapolis, the city will soon boast what no other place has: a four-hotel ubercomplex by Marriott, next to the Indiana Convention Center. Called Marriott Place Indianapolis, and featuring 1,600-plus guest rooms and 100,000-plus sf of group space, it is going up right along with a convention center expansion due in two years—you could call it “Convention Central.”And, with Lucas Oil Stadium (the new home of the NFL’s Colts), Indy is realizing its “first-tier features, second-tier prices”aspirations. Then, there’s Kansas City, with its year-old but already successful Power & Light District. Eight blocks of new restaurants and event venues supMinot Corporate/Sales Nella Veldran, Vice President Travel Group Phone: (646) 654-7325 Southeast/Mid-Atlantic/Ohio Larry Mischik, Ad Director/Account Manager 3054 Four Oaks Drive, Atlanta, GA 30360 Phone: (770) 604-9641 NY/NJ/New England/Bermuda/Caribbean Diane DiMaggio, International Advertising Director 770 Broadway, NY, NY 10003; Phone: (646) 654-7332 Florida/Cruise Arthur Hyman, Associate Publisher/Account Manager 1267 Via Fiume, Boynton Beach, FL 33436 Phone: (561) 736-5374 Midwest/Texas/Louisiana Patrice Carman, Account Manager 200 West Jackson Blvd., 27th floor, Chicago, IL 60606 Phone: (312) 583-5522 CA/HI/Colorado/Arizona/Nevada/NM Sharon Freeark, Account Manager 2950 31st Street, Suite 100, Santa Monica, CA 90405-3037; Phone: (626) 578-0700; Fax: (626) 578-0720 port the Kansas City Convention Center, which after 2007, became a lot bigger, thanks to a $135 million expansion. Along with continuing discussions to bring both NBA and NHL franchises to play in the new Sprint Center arena, and with a just-completed feasibility study for a 1,000-room convention hotel, KC is speaking “first-class” for its business and leisure package. For another destination looking to create a first-class feel, try Michigan City, IN, where Boyd Gaming’s Blue Chip Casino, Hotel & Spa resides. With a new hotel tower sporting a large spa and meetings center, the Blue Chip may roll the right numbers for planners going after that Vegas vibe without having to travel as far. Finally, in what correspondent Matt Alderton dubs “Midwest Meetings 2.0” in his cover story, the region’s group facilities are on top of their games technologically. It should be of no surprise that McCormick Place leads, with enough Wi-Fi infrastructure to serve 8,000 websurfing attendees and staff simultaneously, plus access to an ultra-high-speed version of the Internet. As these examples show, the Midwest doesn’t take a backseat to anyone for group spaces and services. Learn more as you flip through MN’s first Midamerica Regional report. IN THIS SECTION Venues Go Green . . . . . . . 13 High-Tech Facilities . . . . . 13 Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Indiana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Ohio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Kansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Kansas Music . . . . . . . . . . 24 Cleveland Pro Sports . . . . 25 william.ng@nielsen.com NORTH DAKOTA Bismarck Grand Forks MINNESOTA Grand Rapids Duluth Sault Ste. Marie Fargo SOUTH DAKOTA Spearfish Sturgis Rapid City Pierre St. Cloud Aberdeen St. Paul Bloomington Rochester Sioux Falls WISCONSIN Eau Claire Sturgeon Bay Green Bay Fox Cities La Crosse Wisconsin Dells Brookfield MICHIGAN Mackinaw City Minneapolis Traverse City Midland IOWA Sioux City Sioux City Scottsbluff Perry Des Moines Omaha Lincoln Davenport Dubuque Cedar Rapids Madison Milwaukee Delavan Lake Geneva Lake Bluff Schaumburg Rosemont Chicago Oak Brook Grand Rapids Lansing Detroit Ann Arbor South Bend Toledo Cleveland Youngstown Akron Canton NEBRASKA North Platte St. Charles ILLINOIS Bloomington INDIANA Indianapolis Nashville OHIO Dayton MISSOURI St. Joseph Champaign/Urbana Springfield Bloomington Columbus Marietta Cincinnati Covington Frankfort Louisville Lexington KANSAS Topeka Overland Park Kansas City Lawrence Lake Ozark Jefferson City St. Louis E. St. Louis Dodge City Wichita Springfield Branson Bowling Green KENTUCKY 14 MeetingNews March 23, 2009 www.meetingnews.com http://www.meetingnews.com

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Meeting News - March 23, 2009 Contents What’s Up @ MeetingNews.com Meetings Mean Business As 'Meeting Matter' Marriott Unveils Promo Columbus, OH, Addresses Convention Hotel Issues People Making News Orlando Strives for Cost Transparency Is Biz-Class Air Travel Dead? Greenest Planner Awards Mid America Insider Report: Conference Centers Destination Insider: Mississippi Gulf Coast Las Vegas Destination Insider: Cleveland Ad Index Live from the Forum

Meeting News - March 23, 2009

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