Nashville, TN has two new developments in the works. Music City is soon to have their own medical mart for permanent medical trade shows and a new convention center. The Mart, which will also have conference facilities, is scheduled to be open July 2010. The 1.2 million square foot convention center is still a few years away but events are already booked in 2013.

Anchorage, Alaska is now home to the Dena'ina Civic & Convention Center. Combined with the Egan Center two blocks away (which offers 45,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space) it is accessible via temperature-controlled walkways. The convention center can accommodate groups of up to 5,000.

Jackson, Mississippi Convention Complex opened this past January boasting 330,000 square feet. The new facility can accommodate groups of up to 6,000.

Santa Fe, New Mexico Convention Center opened their center with 72,000 square feet. The convention center features 11 meeting rooms, a 17,925 square foot ballroom, 3,139 square feet of prefunction space within the lobby and 11,139 square feet of outdoor event space.

Raleigh, North Carolina opened their convention center September 2008 with 500,000 square feet.

August 2009
This business of planning meetings never ceases to amaze me. I have negotiated thousands of hotel contracts and worked with thousands of hotel personnel. Most are trained very well and are systematic in their approach to getting the job done right within the confines of the rules and regulations their hotel has developed for them. Some chains I like better than others. Some hotel chains in certain geographical areas are better than others. Regardless of what I like or don't like, when selecting meeting venues, the venue has to always meet the needs of the program. Pre-qualifying meeting venue options and selecting the right one for your meeting is a very time-consuming task if it's done properly. The venue is the logistical foundation you build your meeting on. Select the wrong venue and your meeting could very possibly crumble right under your feet.

That's why I am as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof when the client selects the venue and tells me a site inspection is not necessary. I remember the meeting I did in Bruno, a small town 3 hours outside of Prague. The program committee selected the hotel and said a site inspection was not necessary. In our research the hotel looked to be the best one there. But when I physically checked in to the hotel, one day earlier than my group, I actually took the hotel brochure outside and compared the picture with the real thing. A walk down the street turned up the second best hotel in town that had banquet tables setup in the "lobby" with computers on it. That was the front desk. As it turned out, the meeting was fine but our American four star rating is quite different  than in other countries. Pictures can certainly be deceiving! How about the time I was checking out a hotel in Berlin? I took the train from Paris to Berlin and got a taxi to the address printed on the sales kit brochure. It was a vacant lot with a trailer set-up that was the temporary office. I was stunned that they would put this glorious hotel picture on their brochure and try to sell an empty lot.

Even in the good ole USA site inspections are a pretty good idea. Hotels conveniently forget to tell you about ongoing construction projects or forget to put obstacles in meeting rooms on floor plans or even print the square footage correctly. I had a minor anxiety attack showing up at a hotel in Washington, DC only to find that our meeting room was a half-circle with brass banisters all around and steps down into what looked like an orchestra pit to me. It didn't look like that on the floor plan. Funny how no one mentioned to me in the logistical planning that the room could not be set the way I wanted it. Funnier still was the fact the client selected the hotel and refused to allow a site inspection and approved the room prior to seeing it. I wasn't laughing. We made it work and we had fun doing it but really, when it comes to meetings, no one likes surprises regardless of whose fault it is.

So, to all clients, when your meeting planner suggests a site inspection, take them seriously and get it in the budget. Meeting planners ... beg your clients if you have to. Everyone will be better off in the long run.

Hope to meet you soon,

Roxanne Hall
President, Meetings Plus