| November 2006 • Volume 26 • Number 11 • The Meeting Professional |
Evergreen Enchantments
Your Spotlight on Washington
By Kevin Woo
As a region, the Pacific Northwest may be the most beautiful in the United States. Lush greenery, majestic mountain ranges, inland waterways and big city sophistication make the area a popular meetings and events destination.
Forget rumors of constant rain—such reports are greatly exaggerated. Annual rainfall in Seattle is about 36 inches, far less than the annual total of New York (45 inches) or Miami (60 inches).
The area is perfect for meeting planners who want to combine outdoor activities such as hiking, fishing, biking and boating with elegant dining, theater and musical events.
SEATTLE
Seattle is a vibrant city, a perfect blend of East Coast culture and West Coast attitude. Known widely as the “Emerald City” for the lush green hills that surround it, Seattle is popular among those who enjoy art, music and major league sports.
The city’s most famous landmark is the 605-foot Space Needle, built in 1962 for the World’s Fair. At the top is a rotating restaurant that provides visitors with breathtaking 360-degree city views. More than 700 events take place at the Space Needle annually, and the facility can accommodate up to 1,000.
Pike Place Market is another Seattle icon. Founded in 1907 as a farmer’s market, Pike Place is populated by 250 merchants and artisans who set up shop and sell a variety of fresh foods, fish, vegetables, arts and crafts. Tours of the market are available Wednesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., giving visitors an opportunity to learn about the market’s history and daily operations.
Live fish are on display at the Seattle Aquarium. Located a short walk from Pike Place, the aquarium helps visitors get an up-close view of the underwater world of Puget Sound. Playful river and sea otters and a gigantic coral reef are among the most popular exhibits. The aquarium can accommodate up to 1,000 for events, and a smaller onsite auditorium can be used for groups of up to 150.
For many years, Boeing was Seattle’s biggest employer, but in the last quarter-century the area has been transformed from a manufacturing-based economy to one that is identified worldwide with information technology and double decaf lattes. Two companies in particular, Microsoft and Starbucks, symbolize the new local economy.
In the early 1980s, Paul Allen and Bill Gates founded Microsoft. Nearly 30 years later, it has become one of the world’s most powerful companies. Allen left the company in 1983 but has remained actively involved with the local community, contributing millions to help transform the local higher education and the art and sports scenes.
One of Allen’s most ambitious local ventures is the Experience Music Project, an interactive museum that tells the story of the creative, innovative and rebellious through the use of interpretive and interactive exhibits. There are more than 80,000 artifacts on display at the venue, including guitars and costumes that once belonged to rock-n-roll greats such as Jimi Hendrix, Bo Diddley and Elton John. The venue is available for group functions.
Safeco Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners, offers several unique areas within the stadium for special events. The home and visitors clubhouses, VIP suites and the field are all available for group use. Similarly, Qwest Field, home of the National Football League’s Seattle Seahawks, offers 425,000 square feet of usable space, making it the largest facility for trade shows in the Pacific Northwest.
Seattle’s most famous brand export is its coffee. Locals take their coffee very seriously, as evidenced by the espresso bars, cafes and coffeehouses that can be found throughout the city. If you can believe it, at one time there was only one Starbucks in the entire world. It is still open today—at Pike Place—and visited daily by those who want to see where the phenomenon began.
A warm cup of joe and a leisurely shopping trip can sound like a perfect day when the weather isn’t cooperating. Seattle is also home to one of the world’s great retail stores—Nordstrom. John W. Nordstrom, a Swedish immigrant, founded Wallin & Nordstrom, a downtown shoe store that would eventually become Nordstrom Inc. The company’s downtown flagship store is located on Pine Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues. On the fifth floor is the John W. Nordstrom room, where fashion shows, seminars and specials events are held.
TACOMA
Thirty-five miles south of Seattle is Tacoma, a city with vast open spaces, museums, 19th-century buildings and bold outdoor art that reminds many visitors of Europe.
For years, Tacoma and Seattle have had an intense rivalry over which city is the cultural capital of Washington. Tacoma’s recent efforts in this battle include the opening of two new world-class museums.
The Museum of Glass, which was inspired by famed Northwest glass artist Dale Chihuly, features a worldwide collection of glass art. Meanwile, the Tacoma Art Museum opened in 2003 and has quickly gained an impressive reputation among the artist community. The museum features works from local artists, and its permanent collection includes more than 3,200 works from 19th-century European and 20th-century American artists. Both museums are available for group events.
Local history comes alive at Fort Nisqually, a living history museum that transports guests back to the 1830s, Washington’s fur trade era. The fort was built by the Hudson Bay Company and was the first European settlement along the Puget Sound. All volunteers and staff dress in period clothing, and throughout the year special events such as a re-enactment of the arrival of the fur brigades, annual candlelight tours and spooky Halloween celebrations attract scores of visitors.
SPOKANE
To offer further proof that not all of Washington suffers from gray, overcast skies, one need only look 300 miles east of Seattle to discover Spokane. The city boasts an average of 260 cloud-free days per year, and its very name means “children of the sun.” Spokane’s blue skies encourage visitors to partake in a variety of outdoor activities. It is also Washington’s second-largest city.
The Spokane Convention Center is located along the Spokane River and offers stunning views from each of its three separate event centers: a 40,000-square-foot convention center, an 18,000-square-foot International Trade Center and a 270-seat conference theater with 14 meeting rooms. A fourth event venue—a 100,000-square-foot exhibit hall—opened in July and a new ballroom and new breakout rooms will be available by summer 2007.
In summer months, several food festivals take place throughout Spokane. The events were originally designed to protect local growers from outside competition and have grown to be community-wide affairs. Strawberry, cherry and apple festivals take place from May through September, and people from throughout the region pick fruit, listen to live music and eat fresh baked goods.
In January 2007, Spokane will play host to the State Farm U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The event will be held at the Spokane Arena, which is currently undergoing a major expansion that will increase its square footage from 58,000 to nearly 160,000 square feet.
OLYMPIA
A one-hour drive south of Seattle is the capital city of Olympia. The city’s downtown area is quaint with its Romanesque and Beaux Arts buildings, and a 12-block area—roughly bounded by State Avenue, Eighth Avenue, Columbia Street and Franklin Street—was designated a National Register Historic District in 2004. City parks and wide-open spaces dot the local landscape.
Washington’s history is preserved at the State Capital Museum, which features two floors of exhibits that include regional Native American history, gardens with indigenous plants and several exhibits that chronicle major events in U.S. history. Among the museum’s permanent presentations is the Lewis & Clark exhibit, which celebrates the journey of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark from St. Louis to the Pacific and back.
The Washington State Capital Museum offers a variety of spaces that can accommodate up to 300 for receptions and 200 for seated conference presentations. The Ben Cheney Mezzanine, which offers beautiful views of the grand lobby, and the Peter Simpson Boardroom, with its views of Mount Rainier, are two of the museum’s most popular meeting spaces.
KEVIN WOO is a freelance writer based in San Francisco.
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Destination Details
GETTING STARTED
Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater Visitor and Convention Bureau
www.visitolympia.com
Seattle CVB
www.seeseattle.org
Spokane Regional CVB
www.visitspokane.com
Tacoma Regional CVB
www.traveltacoma.com
WASHINGTON BY THE NUMBERS
Olympia
Rooms: 1,700
Prominent Meeting Facilities: St. Martin’s University Worthington Center (35,750 square feet), Red Lion Hotel Olympia (16,500 square feet), Washington State Capital Museum (11,000 square feet), Olympic Flight Museum (10,500 square feet), Lucky Eagle Casino (10,260 square feet)
Seattle
Rooms: 25,000
Prominent Meeting Facilities: Qwest Field & Events Center (425,000 square feet), Washington State Convention & Trade Center (310,700 square feet), Puyallup Fair and Events Center (122,000 square feet), Bell Harbor International Conference Center (100,000 square feet), Lynwood Convention Center (54,000 square feet), Meydenbauer Center (48,000 square feet), Sheraton Seattle Hotel & Towers (42,000 square feet), Fairmont Olympic Hotel (26,780 square feet), Grand Hyatt Seattle (25,000 square feet), Seattle Marriott Sea-Tac Airport (18,500 square feet), Westin Seattle (18,030 square feet), Doubletree Hotel Bellevue (17,360 square feet), Hyatt Bellevue (17,000 square feet)
Spokane
Rooms: 6,700
Prominent Meeting Facilities: Spokane Convention Center (372,570 square feet), Spokane County Fair & Expo Center (148,000 square feet), CenterPlace (54,000 square feet), The Davenport Hotel (36,000 square feet), Red Lion Hotel at the Park (30,000 square feet), Doubletree Hotel Spokane (19,150 square feet), Mirabeau Park Hotel and Convention Center (16,000 square feet), Red Lion River Inn (6,430 square feet), Shilo Inn (5,350 square feet)
Tacoma
Rooms: 4,500
Prominent Meeting Facilities: Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center (76,000 square feet), Sheraton Tacoma (28,000 square feet), Tacoma Dome Exhibit Hall (28,000 square feet), Tacoma Dome (22,500 square feet)
WHAT’S NEW IN WASHINGTON?
- An 8.5-acre, $60 million expansion of the Seattle Art Museum is under way, and the museum will reopen in spring 2007.
- The Sheraton Seattle Hotel expanded its ballroom space in July. The Grand Ballroom now has an additional 4,200 square feet for a total of 18,200 square feet.
- The $7.2 million renovation of the Best Western Tacoma Dome Hotel was completed in March 2006.
- The Courtyard by Marriott Downtown Tacoma, located across the street from the convention center, opened in late 2005 and offers more than 4,000 square feet of meeting space.
- The 207-room Paragon Hotel Bellevue reopened in March and offers 4,500 square feet of meeting space.
YOUR MPI CONNECTION FOR WASHINGTON
MPI Washington State Chapter
Julie Merken, CMP
253.924.3446
www.wscmpi.org