Tag Archives: Meeting venues

Great Meeting Hotels

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Cvent recently came out with their rankings of the top hotels for meetings.  While we cannot validate all of their findings, we know what our GovEvents' members look for in choosing hotels and other venues for meetings.

  • Consolidated management - does the hotel offer A/V and catering as part of the full package? If not, they usually have a list of preferred providers. It is important to see if the hotel will coordinate with those preferred providers or if you will have to mange multiple points of contact. Ideally, members like dealing with a single point person at the hotel for all services offered.

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Way Beyond the Beltway: Hosting Events in Hawaii

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In an age of austere budgets and travel restrictions, you may think we are out of our minds to suggest planning a meeting in Hawaii. Hear us out....

According to Gallup nearly 3 out of 10 workers in Hawaii work for the government. Location-wise it is a good draw for attendees from the pacific rim or even from the west coast. On our website we've had 14 events listed so far this year on the islands of Hawaii with another four happening between now and the end of the year.

Hawaii has a high military concentration as it is the headquarters of the United States Pacific Command (USPACOM). USPACOM comprises Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force service components, all headquartered in Hawaii. The Coast Guard, providing unique services to the islands, also has a large presence. If you are looking to host a smaller event catered to the military or even a larger event that will appeal to the unique needs of that region you may want to consider some of these venues.

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Beyond the Beltway: San Antonio

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Continuing our Beyond the Beltway series, today we'll take a look at some unique event locations in San Antonio Texas. As we've posted before, downsizing and holding more events is a smart response to travel budget and time pressures government employees face.

San Antonio's relatively central location in Texas makes it an accessible location for attendees throughout the state and in neighboring states. Texas has the third highest concentration of federal employees in the nation. The state boasts 20 military bases spanning the Air Force, Army, and Navy. In addition to DoD personnel, there are large operations for Veterans Affairs, Treasury Department, and NASA.

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Beyond the Beltway: San Diego

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As part of an ongoing series, we're looking at unique event locations in cities nation-wide. With government travel budgets cut, holding smaller events in multiple locations is a prudent way to continue to reach people with live events.

San Diego has a huge population of military personnel and employees. The metro areas boasts three Marine Corps bases, three Navy installations, and a large Coast Guard presence. The military presence is so large in the area, that the professional baseball team, the San Diego Padres, wear camouflage uniforms for every Sunday home game. The city is also within easy driving distance from Los Angeles and is easily accessed from Nevada and Arizona.

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(Not) Strictly Ballroom: Unique Meeting Spaces in DC Metro Area

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To get people to your event of course you need a great speaker and great content, but a new and different environment can help as well. Everyone tires of the same old hotel ballrooms (not that there is anything wrong with them). While hotel facilities are great for many types of events, if you are not hosting a major exhibition or tradeshow-type event, your options for venues in the DC-area can really open up to some unique and (dare we say) fun spaces. Below is a quick list of locations we've discovered.

Washington, DC

Powerhouse - Located in Georgetown, the location was once home to the DC Paper Manufacturing Company. The open, soaring space is best suited to networking and cocktail functions. We could see it being a great venue for a product launch event.

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