Grand Rapids, Why Grand Rapids?

Every city has buildings, places and people. So what makes Grand Rapids different?

The Art of Collaboration. Grand Rapids boasts an unprecedented level of cooperation between public, private, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors – a partnership fueled by an innovative, pioneering spirit that moves the city ever forward in new and dynamic directions.

When you hold your event in Grand Rapids, you benefit from the results of this collaboration: A meetings infrastructure rivaling that of much larger cities. Leisure Select Recognitions: options that are nationally and internationally recognized. And a commitment to • #1 U.S. Travel Destination for 2014 marshal all the city’s resources to support your success. • America’s Best Beer Town • Top 10 Most Exciting City Don’t take our word for it. Talk to the leaders of the nation’s largest metropolitan • Top 15 Emerging Downtown areas, who attended the CEOs for Cities National Meeting here in 2013. • Midwest’s Best-Performing City Grand Rapids is the first “second-tier” destination ever to host this prestigious event – chosen because organizers and attendees wanted to see first-hand how collaboration can make a city soar.

It can also make your event soar. We invite you to collaborate with us to make it happen.

1 Downtown Convention Campus

We know you want a Walkable Attractions convention campus that’s • 100+ restaurants, nightclubs and convenient, accessible, safe entertainment venues and enjoyable. Downtown • Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum Grand Rapids delivers all of + 4 more world-class museums this within a 10-minute walk: • 5 breweries, including the world’s 3rd best DeVos Place Convention Center • Outstanding collection of public art • Parks and boardwalks along the • State-of-the-art meetings design Grand River and technologies Weatherproof Comfort • One of the nation’s finest historic • 162,000 sq. ft. column-free No need to stress about weather in home districts exhibition hall Grand Rapids: • 40,000 sq. ft. ballroom • Climate-controlled skywalk connects Convenience & Safety • 26 individual meeting rooms convention center with hotels and • Travel by bus, cab, trolley, pedicab (32,000 sq. ft.) attractions and horse-drawn carriage • 12 spacious loading docks • Snowmelt system keeps • Roaming Safety Ambassadors and sidewalks clear Certified Tourism Ambassadors® Downtown Hotels • Lake Michigan keeps us cooler in • GOSite visitor information center • 5 hotels and 1,436 rooms summer and warmer in winter • America’s 2nd most secure large city • 1,233 rooms connected by skywalk (per Farmers Insurance) to DeVos Place • 2 of the Midwest’s top 10 hotels (per Condé Nast) • #1 JW Marriott for guest satisfaction in all of North America

2 Meeting Around Town

Perhaps you want a different • Professional baseball and kind of meeting experience – basketball teams more budget flexibility, • Berlin Raceway stock cars ample free parking and • Meet in a brewery, ballpark or the even closer access to specific area’s 2nd largest convention center attractions. Grand Rapids fits the bill with 100+ hotels Southeast and meeting facilities • Gerald R. Ford International Airport outside downtown. • Abundant shopping and dining Select area highlights: includes 3 malls • Indoor water park, ice rink & Northeast excellent golf • Frederik Gardens & Sculpture • Meet on a college campus, at a Park, a “top 30 must-see world golf club, in a brewery museum” Every section of Grand Rapids is • Robinette’s Apple Haus & Winery Southwest “Pure Michigan” – as seen in the • Rogue River fishing & canoeing • Rivertown Crossings Mall, nationally broadcast TV ad that • Meet in a movie theater, ski lodge or Tanger Outlets Mall, Cabela’s promotes our ability to deliver Victorian greenhouse • 2,000+ animals at John Ball Zoo “an artful experience.” • Quick access to Gun Lake Casino Northwest (south) and Lake Michigan (west) • Alpine commercial corridor for • Meet in a hilltop “treehouse,” a brand-name shopping paddlewheel riverboat or one of America’s largest urban parks

3 After the Meeting

You want to make sure every magazine called one of the world’s top attendee has a great after- 5 festivals – as well as three exceptional hours experience during your art museums and a downtown teeming event. Grand Rapids offers with outdoor public art. world-class experiences for every interest: Performance Patrons Professional theatre, symphony, Craft Beer Lovers ballet and opera companies share area stages with comedy troupes and touring Voted Beer City USA and named Broadway shows. America’s Best Beer Town by USA Today, the city is home to 40+ Live Music Lovers breweries, cideries and distilleries. Local venues host a diverse slate of Fresh Foodies musical acts most every night – from local favorites to superstars like Acclaimed as America’s #2 most Fleetwood Mac. Outdoor summer affordable foodie city, Grand Rapids concerts are the best! offers fantastic dining, food shopping and educational opportunities – Sports Fans City Twist all at incredible prices. Professional baseball, basketball Our innovative digital planning tool makes it easy for attendees to find Art Enthusiasts and hockey teams share the spotlight with twice-yearly Olympics-style events and attractions catering to 18 Grand Rapids hosts ArtPrize – the competitions. specific interests – via smartphone, annual art competition Time tablet or computer.

4 Outdoor Explorers Health Nuts There are hundreds of places to run, Paved “rail-to-trail” pathways, bike, boat, swim, fish, golf, skate and nationally recognized mountain ski, all within minutes of downtown. biking and an abundance of fresh, healthy food will help your attendees Chic Shoppers maintain their fitness regimens. From Cabela’s to West Elm stores, upscale malls to outlet malls, brand History Buffs names to one-of-a-kind boutiques, From museums filled with historical Grand Rapids is a shopper’s paradise. treasures to one of the nation’s top historic home districts, Grand Rapids Fun Families is a perfect place to explore the past. America’s Best Place to Raise a Family (per Forbes magazine) is also the best Wine Connoisseurs place to bring the kids along – they’ll Grand Rapids is the gateway to find plenty to do while mom or dad is Michigan’s Wine Coast, with 30+ in meetings. wineries and tasting rooms stretching from the city to the lakeshore. Eco Advocates Named “America’s Greenest City” by Fast Company magazine, Grand Rapids has received worldwide recognition for its sustainable efforts, including “green” lodging and attractions.

5 Time Well Spent

Your attendees won’t waste • , Breton Village Mall, Money Well Spent time in traffic jams and Rivertown Crossings Mall Affordability is always a top concern endless lines here. Everything for your organization and your is close and convenient in Within 15-20 minutes: attendees. These per diem rates* Grand Rapids, so your • Gerald R. Ford International Airport prove Grand Rapids is a great deal: group can experience more • Rockford, picturesque shopping village Grand Rapids $139 in less time: on the Rogue River Columbus $155 Detroit $156 • Art Van Sports Complex – baseball & Indianapolis $159 Within a 10-minute walk of softball Las Vegas $163 Sacramento $163 downtown hotels: • 30+ breweries, cideries & distilleries Orlando $164 • 100+ restaurants & 50 retail stores • 30+ golf courses Cleveland $167 • 7 theatre & concert stages St. Louis $174 San Antonio $176 • 5 museums Within 30-45 minutes: Atlanta $189 • 5 breweries • 18 public beaches on Lake Michigan, Austin $191 Portland, OR $192 • 1 food emporium with 20+ artisan one of the world’s top 25 shorelines Charleston, SC $206 food vendors (per Condé Nast) San Diego $210 Denver $222 • Four beach towns, each with its own Philadelphia $223 Within a 10-minute drive of unique character and charm Chicago $245 , DC $271 downtown: • 20+ wineries and tasting rooms • John Ball Zoo Grand Rapids also boasts lower hotel • Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture taxes than theses cities – in fact, our Park, one of the world’s 100 most rate is lower than all but 18 of the visited art museums nation’s 150 largest urban centers**. • Millennium Park, 1,500 acres of That’s a huge plus for your attendees! greenspace, hiking & biking trails, swimming & canoeing lake • Fifth Third Ballpark, home to a Detroit Tigers Class A baseball affiliate, outdoor summer concerts and a mammoth Winter Beer Festival

*Fiscal year 2015 per diem rates – including lodg- ing, meals and incidental expenses – determined by the U.S. General Services Administration. **2014 HVS Lodging Tax Report - USA 6 Getting to Grand Rapids

We know you want to • Airfare prices trending downward make it convenient and • 15 minutes from downtown Nonstop Flight Service: Grand Rapids Atlanta cost-effective for attendees Baltimore/Washington to reach your meeting Charlotte destination. Grand Rapids Amtrak Chicago – O’Hare Cincinnati is easily and affordably Daily service between Grand Rapids Dallas/Fort Worth accessible by plane, train and Chicago, with convenient Denver Detroit connections to other cities. and automobile: Fort Myers (seasonal) Houston Gerald R. Ford International Car Travel Las Vegas Minneapolis Airport (GRR) Grand Rapids is located within a day’s – LaGuardia Airports Council International named drive of half the U.S. population, at New York – Newark Orlando International Airport the junction of two major expressways. GRR one of the world’s top 5 airports Orlando – Sanford serving 2 million to 5 million passen- Sample drive times: Philadelphia Phoenix – Mesa gers a year – the only U.S. airport on • Detroit 2.5 hours St. Louis the list. • Chicago 3 hours Tampa International Airport • 120+ daily nonstop flights to/from • Indianapolis 5 hours Tampa/St. Petersburg – Clearwater International 20+ major market destinations • Toronto 6 hours Washington - Dulles • 6 air carriers including • Pittsburgh 6.5 hours Southwest Airlines • Minneapolis 9 hours • Astonishingly fast and easy check-ins/departures

Milwaukee Grand Rapids Detroit

Chicago

7 Collaborate With Our Team

Planning a meeting involves And just about anything else you might an endless series of details need – including an assist with brain- that require your attention. storming creative new approaches to We’re here to help. make your event stand out.

Our Grand Response™ convention Our online, on-demand suite of services team will act as your planning tools and services will help you personal assistant before and research and select local facilities, service during your event, doing much of providers and off-site events. You can the legwork for you. We want you access all the maps, diagrams and travel to take advantage of our years of information you need with the click of planning experience and in-depth a mouse. And be sure to follow our Our Grand Response™ convention knowledge of the Grand Rapids Meeting Minds blog, a site that provides services program – so unique we market to make your job easier. tips, articles and thought leadership on branded it – is every bit as all things meeting planning. collaborative, pioneering and We can help you: innovative as the city itself. And like • Plan and organize site inspections All of our services are complimentary – the city, we can deliver more than • Create attendance building- just one more way Grand Rapids is a you ever dreamed possible. Just ask! promotions superior value! • Arrange attendee welcomes • Organize on-site activities and entertainment

8 Client Testimonials

“Grand Rapids was the perfect “ We may not have been a big player host city for our convention. in the realm of conference events, Join the conversation Our attendees were treated but Grand Rapids made us feel as about Grand Rapids: to outstanding hospitality and if we were.” enjoyed the friendly atmosphere Jon Rice, especially from the staff and the National Association of County Engineers general public.” Gary Anderson, “Shocked at the city, was not USA/Canada Lions Leadership Forum expecting such a vibrant town, friendly, good restaurants.” ”I was impressed with the Gwen Mathis, SPE Thermoforming friendliness and cleanliness of Division Conference & Expo the city and it offered several culturally diverse activities. “The setting by the river was I give the experience 5 Stars.“ lovely and even two years later Ms. Melanie Dungan, we continue to hear comments National Farmers Association about how perfect Grand Rapids was for our meeting.” “Lovely city. Feels safe walking Edith A. Guffey, Associate General Minister, downtown. Even the alleys United Church of Christ are clean.” Rod Crittenden, Michigan Floral Association

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