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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. 

Our favorite mom from sacramentokids.net wrote this blog last week and wanted to share in time for the River Cats "Mommy and Me Day" this Wednesday, 10 am-1 pm. Enjoy!:

Last year, my daughter and I visited Raley Field during their “Mommy & Me Day”, and we both had such a great time that she continues to talk about “Dinger” the River Cats Mascot and how she wants to go back and visit the baseball field.

One area that can seem like a relatively simple process, but you soon discover that the coordination can be time-consuming, daunting even, with results that can be less than desired, is the RFP (request for proposal) process. Primarily, the response rate for proposals can be slow in coming or not at all, causing planners to question if hotels value their business.

The short answer is YES. Hotel sales managers place a premium on meeting planners and their business, as it is often the bread and butter for their properties. 
 
Corporate Meetings & Incentives ran a very good article in its February issue on the RFP process and why it does and can break down.

The writers (Katherine Markham and David Markham) presented some worthwhile reasons why properties don't respond promptly, including hotel sales executives inundated with inquiries, incomplete RFP's and hotels waiting to hear about a better piece of business. 

They also presented solutions for planners to make the process better for both sides, such as ensuring that all the information is covered in the RFP, doing your homework, creating a realistic deadline.

A large part of the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau responsiblities is securing hotel RFP's (request for proposals) for the planner. When you work with a CVB, your sales manager will help you avoid some of the pitfalls and serve as the liaison to the hotel sales managers to get you the best possible service, including prompt responses.

Furthermore, we're the meeting experts on Sacramento meeting facilities and Sacramento area hotels, plus we offer the added bonus of convention and meeting services which are typically free.

We are an extension of your meeting planning department, whether you're a department of one, five or 20, or even a part-timer who slips in meeting planning between a host of other responsibilities.

A convention & visitors bureau role is pretty straightforward - we work on behalf of the customer (i.e. meeting planner) to find suitable hotels, meeting facilities and amenities to ensure a successful convention/conference/meeting in the destination of choice.

The Sacramento region attracts 15 million visitors per year. Thousands of them call, email or stop by the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau main office and our Visitor Center in Old Sacramento to help with their trip planning. Most questions are simple and routine: help me find a hotel room, where can I eat dinner near the Convention Center, how can I meet Arnold and so on. 

We've compiled the best - or worst - of the ones we answered everyday, the ones that made us smile, and the ones that left us shaking our heads in 2010 to share with you. 

Travel is good. Visit someplace new in 2011. 

Happy New Year!

Many people travel to Sacramento for the holidays to visit family and friends. Here are five little tidbits about visiting Sacramento that will make your trip affordable and more enjoyable:

• Sacramento holiday hotel packages. They are in abundance. You don't want to sleep on the couch or in a too-small twin bed surrounded by Justin Bieber posters. Combine your hotel stay with a Sacramento Gold Card, only available at participating Sacramento area hotels, and you'll get special offers at Sacramento attractions, restaurants and shopping centers. Simply ask for your free Sacramento Gold Card when you check in.

• Sacramento International Airport. It is so easy to navigate and pleasant that you'll forget you may have paid extra for your bags. To brighten your mood even further there's live musical performances bringing you the sounds of the holidays. If you fly into Terminal A, enjoy what is my favorite piece of artwork in Sacramento, "Samson." Two towers of stacked luggage reach 23 feet high. It's very cool. When you're returning home and waiting for your flight, you get free Wi-Fi. Gotta check your Facebook.

• Old Sacramento. Locals have a love-hate relationship with Sacramento's best-known landmark and favorite Sacramento tourist attraction. Listen up. Old Sacramento, especially during the holiday season, is well worth the visit. The second annual Old Sacramento Theatre of Lights show this year has a true 'wow' factor. Thursdays through Sundays, there are two 20-minute shows at 6 pm and 7:30 pm. Wrap up the kids, grab yourself an overpriced decaf-low fat-mocha-soy-cino-something and walk from a nearby hotel (see how easy that it is) and feel the holiday spirit.

• 12 Days of Midtown Christmas. Midtown is Sacramento's hip, cool 'hood without the pretension. Now through Dec. 12, it's everything from karaoke to wine and jazz to a crafts fair. And if you come after Dec. 12, there are still plenty of things to do. Um...you can walk to Midtown from one of the downtown Sacramento hotels - think hard about sleeping on that couch.

• Fog. Why fog? Because it's not three feet of snow you have to shovel. It's  mildly irritating (unless it messes up your hair), but it gives you that gray, brisk feeling of Christmas without really being cold, nor nervous about driving in snow, or just being on the road with eggnog-fueld drivers in bad weather. Plus, the fog usually burns off just enough to keep the irritation level low. 

What is perhaps one of the premier Sacramento weekend events takes place every Memorial Day Weekend - Sacramento Jazz Festival & Jubilee. As much fun and excitement  there is during the weekend, the Festival holds a special place in the hearts of Sacramento Convention Center employees, but for a different reason.

In 2007, Senior Events Supervisor Betty Lucchesi was inducted into the Jazz Festival Hall of Fame due to her hard work and dedication over the years.  Betty has helped the Jazz Committee with the planning, logistics and set ups for the past 20 years, making sure each room was just right for the various musical talents and spectators alike.

As a special thank you to Betty for her many years of service, the Jazz Committee named a venue after our very own Betty Lucchesi called Betty’s Bistro. 

Be sure to stop by Betty's Bistro inside the Convention Center this weekend and enjoy the music and maybe do a little dancing to bands such as Shelley Burns & Avalon Swing and Loose Marbles.

Who knows, maybe YOU will have the chance to run into the actual Betty at Betty’s Bistro. 

This post was supposed to be about Spring in Sacramento. That's when the buds begin to bloom on the city's tree-lined streets, Sacramento nightlife really comes alive, and flip flops become the unofficial shoes of the masses.

Instead, consider this a detour post before Spring arrives. Why? Because it's been raining... really, really raining. (As a Californian, I'm obligated to say the following: "But we need the rain." Okay, I said it.) Besides, everyone loves a good weather story. So, here's mine.

A lot of the rain from Sunday's storm ended up in my office. I (literally) walked into a nice little puddle this morning. If it was anything like the last time rain found its way into my office, it must have been a doozy of a sight. During the last storm, streams of water trickled down the walls and heavy drops hit the edge of my desk and sort of plopped everywhere. There were four to five wastebaskets and something that might be kind of an ugly vase collecting the rainwater. The best part was the fleece jacket in the window absorbing the drips before they hit the ledge, ricochet like a projectile and take out the eye of an unsuspecting co-worker. I can only surmise that it was a similar scene last night as judged by the layer of water found floating through my paperwork and office supplies.  

So, that's it...it's raining. Very shortly it won't be. And this will all be a distant memory. The City of Trees (one of Sacramento's many monikers) will bloom again and people of all ages and backgrounds will find themselves strolling on the Old Sacramento boardwalk, biking and enjoying nature along American River Parkway, and just enjoying this pretty cool California city.

Until then, I gotta go get a towel and soak up the water.