Convention and Meeting Services

The Sacramento Convention Center teams with Classique Catering to provide your Sacramento meeting group with top-notch customer service and food. Vickie Housholder was promoted last year to General Manager with Classique Catering.  She has worked in sales and operations for 10 years with Classique and is excited to lead the charge for Sacramento’s award-winning full-service caterer.

“We pride ourselves in making art out of food while working within your budget,” she said.

Classique Catering is part of the internationally recognized Centerplate Company, which manages food and beverage service at convention centers, arenas and stadiums around the world.  It is the exclusive caterer at the Sacramento Convention Center and Memorial Auditorium.  Classique Catering also caters for events throughout the greater Sacramento area. Classique has been voted "Best Caterer" by Sacramento Magazine for the past 11 years. 

While Classique does an excellent job planning for your convention or meeting, there is sometimes some food left over, but it does not go to waste.

“A lot of times, there will be events where a company plans on 800 people showing up, and they pay for food for that many, but maybe only 600 show up, leaving us with 200 extra meals,” Housholder said in a Sacramento Press news story.

As a good-neighbor business interested in being green and being a part of the community, any leftover food items that aren't claimed are sent to local homeless shelters and soup kitchens.

Meet Vickie here to learn more about Classique Catering and the services offered for your Sacramento meeting or convention.

We all know the value of a positive travel experience.  It means repeat business and new business generated from referrals.  We want our tour operator clients to succeed.  As tour operators and travel professionals, we are in the business to create unique, memorable and enjoyable experiences for our clients and visitors in Sacramento.  We want visitors to enjoy Sacramento attractions and accommodations.  And we want these visitors to share their positive feedback with others. 

We are in the business to make sure they are so happy with their Sacramento tourism experience and your company that they come back and bring their friends, family and colleagues.  This is where our relationship with tour operators is very important to us.  We know that you, as tour operators, are always looking for that extra value add-on that might convince potential customers to sign up for a tour or an unexpected “perk” that makes them remember Sacramento and your tour company as one of the best tourism experiences they have had.

Here are five “extras” the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCVB) sales team can provide for your groups.

For Adult Groups:

1. A “meet and greet” with our knowledgeable staff
2. Wine and cheese receptions at the hotel
3. Professional reenactment groups and characters that bring Gold Rush history to life can meet your motorcoach or guide you through your tour
4. Gold nugget pins and other Sacramento souvenirs
5. The best deals and amenities at Sacramento recreation, accommodations, restaurants and attractions

For Sacramento Student Travel Groups:

1. Sacramento backpacks (the students love them!)
2. Gold nugget pins and other Sacramento souvenirs
3. Cookie and juice receptions
4. Sacramento Student Activity Books
5. Meet-and-greet services with our tourism professionals and costumed reenactment groups

Of course, we will do anything in our power to make your group tour a success.  We are in the business of creating wonderful experiences in Sacramento, and we are willing to do what it takes to help our tour operators offer these experiences to our guests. 

Please contact me at LEldred@cityofsacramento.org, Sacramento Tourism Sales Manager, to learn more about our FREE SCVB services and how I can help you plan your next Sacramento tour.

Read part 1 of the story.

After Chef Oliver Ridgeway's personal tour of the farmers market at Cesar Chavez park, our 'Follow the Chef' entourage was seated adjacent to the open-plan kitchen, allowing half of our party to watch back-of-the-house activities while we mingled. The rest enjoyed comfortable banquette seats allowing them to observe a working lunch at the community table or meeting in the upstairs boardroom. All soaked up the sunlight streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

 

If you haven't been inside Grange, you may wonder what decor with 'urban sophistication' means. Unlike the lavish judicial chambers feeling of grandeur The Citizen Hotel evokes next door, Grange has an approachable, under-stated air of maturity. Concrete beams and wrought-iron embellishments are softened by the organic grain in the dark wooden floor and medium-finished tables. Soft lighting from modern fixtures and bright colored furnishings impart a humble character to the cavernous space.

 

All this to say the decor truly lets the food and drink speak for itself.

 

I was pleased our server offered chardonnay and pinot noir from area winery, Bogle Vineyards. (When matriarch Patty Bogle was diagnosed with leukemia, I remember joining the marrow donor registry. That's what good neighbors do.) For the expecting mother, a bubbly strawberry spritzer (seltzer-based) was brought to the table. 

 

Chef Oliver returned to the front-of-the-house (FOH) to present the first course: a light salad of English peas, pea leaves and sliced heirloom carrots. Integrated well not heavy-handed which causes wilting, the dressing found a rich flavorful complement in the micro grated mezzo secco, a partially dry monterey jack cheese.

 

The second course was a flash-fried Mt. Lassen trout on a bed of green fava beans (fresh from market) and white coco beans -- not cocoa chocolate but the inspiration more common to French cuisine. The texture was phenomenally crisp without drying out the delicate flaky fish, a nice contrast to the tender legumes. 

 

This romesco will have you talking for days.

 

Chef's FOH appearance delighted us since the sauce was causing such a scandal! His version included garlic, olive oil, scallions, tomatoes, peppers... a lemon pimenton vinaigrette and paprika. Nuts were excluded due to allergies in the group. 

 

Showcasing the best in seasonal ingredients, a buttery, flakey tart with fresh strawberries. Tangelos, sourced directly from the farmers market, were used in the citrus sauce and infused into the freshly whipped sweat cream. 

 

Remember those relationships with growers at farmers markets on Wednesdays and Sundays? 

 

Well, somebody loves Grange a whole lot. There was delicious Meyer lemon curd, under the berries, waiting for us to enjoy like guests indulge in luxurious Egyptian cotton. 

 

You can't tell by the looks of it; experience it for yourself. 

A few meals later, I'm not certain I've adequately described my own Follow the Chef experience. What I do know is I'm more confident that I'm buying fresh vegetables and fruits, and preparing them in bolder ways at home. Most of all, I'm happy to put a name, face, and an essense of Sacramento to the ingredients.

 

Thank you to the five-star service at Grange -- from Chef Oliver to Amy, Natalie and Ashley -- who made my heaviest lifting, literally, my fork and phone. Call +001 916 492 4450 to make reservations. The 2-hour lunch is limited to a maximum of 15 guests; it's worth every cent of the $39 per person price, which includes the wine pairing.

 

{Don't forget to thank Andrew, your bartender with the handlebar moustache, who recently bested Los Angeles and San Diego mixologists in the Hangar One vodka challenge with his West Bengal cocktail. Even the citrus zests he uses are local!}

 

Whether you're planning a convention or group tour, an incentive trip or leisurely weekend, the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau is your concierge to the best in Sacramento dining and 'farm to fork' restaurants in the capital. Contact us at tourism@discovergold.org for free assistance.

Last year, the Sacramento's very own Nick on the Town (second from right) raised awareness about social issues like domestic abuse that affect our neighbors in the capital community. Local hospitality partners -- Chef Patrick Mulvaney and downtown real estate developers -- weren't shy. In fact, they recruited more friends to increase more awareness and funds to help WEAVE Inc.: Women Empowered Against Violent Environments, formerly Women Escaping A Violent Environment.

This past weekend, Hell on Heels 2 even won an award to further advance education to end sexual assault. It raised the most funds as a non-corporate team. Moreover, it featured more SCVB staffers than ever: Jeff and Matt (third and fourth left), and team leader Nick (fifth from right).

The Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau can help out-of-town visitors give back to the  community. Local service projects and fun runs build camaraderie among conference attendees, and create a unique memory of the host city. If you are a meeting planner who is interested in voluntourism, visit discovergold.org to learn more.

Last issue, we looked at using a convention center. This month, we look at using self-contained properties, particularly those located away from the downtown core.

The advantages of a one hotel conference are obvious, number one being that your attendees typically need only travel down an elevator and the length of a hallway to get to their meeting rooms and events. Two, if your budget is tight rates may be lower and parking is either free or lower cost because these properties aren't located in the downtown core.

One such example is Sacramento Point West Marketplace, a collection of Sacramento area hotels - Hilton, Doubletree by Hilton, Marriott, Woodlake (former Radisson) - all with substantial meeting space under their roofs, and Cal Expo, a 350-acre venue. The properties have plenty of parking available. They're located next to shopping, low to mid-price dining options and family-friendly attractions.

Furthermore, the area is a 10-minute drive to downtown Sacramento, nearby attractions and Sacramento International Airport.

Hobby, fraternal, social and similar type groups are often good fits for the all under one roof conventions. For example, Sacramento has hosted several model train groups at hotels. There's ample space to display working model train displays, retail items and hold seminars.  Plus, there are comfortable sitting areas throughout the hotel for the members to congregate and socialize.

This doesn't mean, of course, your attendees never leave the property. Fraternal and social groups often look for fun things to do in Sacramento for day trips, such as winery visits, or post convention trips to places like Yosemite.

If you're not sure what kind of meeting space you need or don't have the time and resources to research hotels, contact the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau for assistance. We'll find out what your needs are and help you select the right hotel. Also, we can provide convention and meeting services, such as custom microsites to help build attendance or promotional materials to round out your conference.  

Contact Sarah Atilano (satilano@cityofsacramento.org) to help you create a great conference under one roof. 

You don't need to be a CEO or CFO to debate whether a conference app justifies its cost. We recently received estimates from $750 to $20,000! Like you, your convention delegates want meeting information that is convenient and easy to find.

The Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau (SCVB) has collaborated with Lambda Alpha International to create a microsite that communicates logistics, schedules, off-site events, and interactive maps for its upcoming Land Economics Weekend. The page is optimized for PC users... but smartphone users -- both iPhone and Android fans -- can access the same beneficial information about your event!

Our microsites cost much less than apps; planners simply book a minimum number of room nights. More importantly, our microsites save planners time. These customized sites are immediately viewable across all platforms.

In contrast, apps need to be re-designed to meet requirements of each platform or operating system. Then they go through a lengthy process to get approved for display in app stores... and delegates have to search for them.    



More and more planners are finding value in this convention service. The one-stop source draws together details about downtown Sacramento hotels, dining, tourist attractions, maps, and the calendar of events Sacramento365.com.  

Contact the Convention Services Dept. to learn more about developing a microsite to spur a gold rush to your next conference or trade show in Sacramento!

With four different major freeways that flow into downtown Sacramento, the Sacramento Convention Center is a very popular meeting facility among meeting planners who have a significant proportion of drive-in attendees.

Unfortunately this can create a parking and transportation puzzle. Dare I say, 'Nightmare?' While Rush Hour may be a fun board game, such logistics issues are no laughing matter. 

Organizers of a series of eight annual citywide conferences sought the expertise and services of the Sacramento Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB).

These meetings have gathered more than 40,000 delegates over eight (nearly consecutive) weekends. This requires about 3,000 parking spaces a day! The SCVB works closely with city parking services, private operators, and motorcoach companies, to ensure these delegates are sitting in productive educational sessions -- not traffic.

Have a specific problem during the planning of your meeting, convention or trade show? Don't fret! Ask about the convention and meeting services the SCVB can offer you and your delegates.