Tag Archives: event venues

Overcoming Charm City Challenges

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The recent unrest in Baltimore, MD forced the cancellation of a number of large conferences as well as many smaller events. For our GovEvents audience the most significant cancellation was the AFCEA Defensive Cyber Operations Symposium. The event has now been rescheduled for June 16-18 in Baltimore.

Now that the city is in a more stable place, we wanted to take a look at what these cancellations mean for event planners, attendees, and the city itself.Overcoming Charm City Challenges: The effect on event planners, attendees, and Baltimore. #GovEventsBlog Click To Tweet

For attendees there is the rearranging of schedules and the disappointment of not being able to attend the conference. Typically in these situations refunds will be given by conferences and hotels and should always be asked for. If refunds are granted, attendees can show their understanding and appreciation by re-registering for rescheduled events and patronizing (if possible) the hotel and other facilities that have waived any financial commitment. Continue reading →

Break from the Norm: Unconventional Event Spaces

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Last week we talked about when it is time to revisit the format of an annual event. If that post got you thinking, we're going to challenge you a bit to really make a dramatic change to your event by thinking of unconventional venues.

Earlier this year, we provided some ideas to get your events out of the ballroom. Then we read this article on the Event Manager blog and it got us thinking even more out of the box. While some of their suggestions may not be the best fit for the government-centric/professional development events (Food trucks in an urban parking lot, for example), it does provide some food for thought.

There is a certain well-known rotation of venues that the government community is used to. When your attendees know all of the secret parking areas, make a beeline for the beef wellington, and know the exact location of outlets for recharging phones and laptops you may be at a place that is overdone. If you're looking to make a change, simply thinking outside the box when it comes to a venue may provide the breath of fresh air your event needs to grow its attendee base. Continue reading →

Beyond the Beltway- Great Spots for Government Meetings: Atlanta

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The next city in our Beyond the Beltway series is Atlanta, Georgia. Looking at the federal employee population across the country, there are some interesting concentrations that lend themselves to some targeted events. Atlanta is the home of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as well as offices for many related Health and Human Services agencies. There are over 44,000 federal employees in the Atlanta metro area. The largest military presence is the Army with seven bases in Georgia. Atlanta is also an easy hub for travel from anywhere in the country, particularly east coast cities.

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Breath of Fresh Air: Outdoor Event Spaces in DC

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With it being so hot and sticky now, thinking about outdoor events may be a bit painful, but for event planners looking to book space for spring 2015 events outdoors may be the place to be. We've compiled a list of some of the hot spots that provide outdoor space for networking, cocktail receptions, or even lunch.

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Beyond the Beltway: Colorado Springs

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As we mentioned last week, we will be looking at cities nation-wide that are great options for hosting events for the government audience. We picked locations with a high concentration of federal employees in reasonable travel proximity. Today, we highlight Colorado Springs, CO.

Colorado Springs has approximately 55,000 federal workers in the immediate metro area working at military installations including Fort Carson, the Air Force Academy, Peterson Air Force Base and Schriever Air Force Base, and U.S. Northern Command as well as large numbers of employees working for the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Geological Survey and federal prison system.  The city is a reasonable travel distance from Denver as well as a number of major western/central cities.

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