Just so you know my bias up front, I love my adopted home, the San Francisco Bay Area, and especially its crown jewel of a city. I’ve got a lot of company worldwide. “Everybody’s Favorite City”® is so widely held an opinion by visitors that, as you can see, the city has successfully registered it as a brand.

IT’S SMALL AND GORGEOUS
Chalk it up to San Francisco’s scenic beauty, its diversity, its culture, its icons…that certain something it has in the atmosphere, plus the climate and that billowy fog that “comes in on little cat feet, overlooking harbor and city, on silent haunches, and then moves on,” to borrow from Mr. Sandburg. Just being here is an upper for people,” says Laurie Armstrong, vice president, public relations for the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. Maybe that’s because it’s so cozy.

At 47 square miles—like the tip of a thumb, bordered on three sides by water—it’s the most compact city in North America. Nearly 800,000 devotees live within the city limits, willingly paying lots every month for the privilege. Visitors pay to be here, too; sales tax is 8.5 percent and hotel occupancy tax is 14 percent—let’s get that out of the way right now. Even so, the average daily expenditure per convention delegate per day is a not-whopping $275.76, according to the latest data (2005) from the SFCVB’s research arm. (Somebody’s been getting great rates!)

IT’S FULL OF SMART AND FRIENDLY PEOPLE
It’s a major center of the Creative Class: geeks (standouts in their frayed jeans and Ferraris), artists, musicians, writers, designers, architects, scientists and others whose creativity is crucial to their job performance. It’s certainly home to optimists who daily straddle two slipping continental plates while fervently believing that brilliant ideas will find a rewarding market and save mankind.

“Glittering generalities,” my ninth-grade, Stanford-educated English teacher would have scribbled on the above paragraph, but they’re all true, Miss Ferrar. And if you don’t believe me, name me one area’s bankers anywhere else on earth in the 1960s who would have given a pair of hippie kids with long scraggly hair the investment capital to start that little company now known as Apple.

“We pride ourselves in being different and quirky,” says Joe D’Alessandro, president and CEO of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. “We’ve been tolerant and accepting of people for 150 years. You don’t have to fit in any neat box to be welcome here.”

Accordingly, San Francisco particularly attracts cultural, medical and scientific meetings, not surprisingly, considering the world-class universities around here like Cal, UCSF and Stanford. Did I mention that the region is also Cutting-Edge-Central for a brain-stimulating matrix of the biotech, computer and Internet industries?

“San Francisco comes from a place where hospitality is at a very high level,” says Armstrong. It has to be; by the SFCVB’s own count, in 2005 some 15.74 million visitors mingled with the 800,000 locals during 365 days and nights. Math’s not my strong suit, but I think that works out to nearly 20 people potentially showing up on each resident’s front door during the year. Thank GOD for hotels.

The CVB touts the city’s ability to accommodate your group’s needs. For Oracle, as an example, not only did the CVB hang out the welcome banners for the 70,000 or so attendees from around the world, but they closed streets encircling Moscone Center for Oracle’s Convention Village. That helpful attitude is working to attract groups Big Time. The SFCVB reports that the city is just coming off a record-breaking year (but they still want you anyway). “We’re back to pre 9/11 levels,” confirms D’Alessandro.

IT’S FUN, PLUS YOU EAT WELL
Great restaurants are a given here. The homegrown cuisine is deservedly world-renowned. It’s based on the freshest ingredients from the surrounding farms, orchards, rivers and the bay, and it’s simply but artistically presented. Incidentally, if you’re here in the winter months, Dungeness crab season is at its peak. As Emeril Lagasse said “You can’t have a bad meal in this town.”

And with an urbane, youthful and highly affluent population, SF abounds with nightclubs, lounges and bars. Some are the stuff of legend like the Redwood Room (1933) at the Clift and the Top of the Mark (1939) at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins, but the CVB lists some 28 other pulsating chic spots in their purse-size Visitors Planning Guide. There’s the old speakeasy reborn, Slide Ultra Lounge; The Bubble Lounge, where your group of 350 can sip some 300 champagnes and sparkling wines, and also Mezzanine for go-for-broke dancing for 1,000 of your night-crawlers (call me when you’re in town).

Shopping is huge here and an integral part of SF spousal programs. Not only are the establishments surrounding the famed Union Square and located inside the gorgeous and just enlarged Westfield San Francisco Centre major attractions, but the immediate area is also home to San Francisco’s own ultra retailers. There’s the more-than 150-year-old Gump’s for the home, where you can hold a reception for 500. There’s Wilkes Bashford for UNBELIEVABLY luxurious clothes and home furnishings. Scheuer Linens, Arthur Beren Shoes and the five floors of delight that is Britex Fabrics are other notables. Niketown (415-392-6453) can accommodate 700 of your sports fans, plus there’s a cool new nightclub called Vessel underneath it. Oh, and Barney’s New York is opening a block south of the square this fall.

But exceptional local stores are also found amid the city’s various neighborhoods. Boutiques along Fillmore Street, Polk Street, Hayes Valley, Union Street, Noe Valley and Sacramento Street reflect the city’s unique sense of style. I would be remiss not mentioning the famed offerings to be found along Haight Street and in Chinatown, the Mission and the Castro. Also, lest we forget, the Bay Area is where Williams-Sonoma, Banana Republic, The Gap, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Smith & Hawken hatched. We know retail.

The city’s exquisite, painterly light and acceptance of bohemian lifestyles has attracted artists and patrons of the arts since the Gold Rush era. The yield has been not only a body of glorious California paintings, sculpture and mixed media up to the present day, but also renowned works from around the world amassed by astute, moneyed collectors over the past 150 years or so. The city’s museums have benefited. Visit or have a reception for 2,500 in San Francisco’s headline-grabbing, quintessentially 21st-century museum, the de Young—now that the uproar over its design has died down. Or cultivate elegance with a seated soiree for 500 amid the classically proportioned Legion of Honor. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a huge draw with its five-story atrium and stunning collections only steps across Third Street from the convention center. The refined galleries of the Asian Art Museum in the Civic Center underscore the city’s unbroken connection with the Pacific Rim. Take a look at SFArts.org for schedules and Web sites of the city’s amazing selection of cultural resources.

There’s cycling, biking and skating in Golden Gate Park and in the Presidio. Crissy Field and Marina Green, side-by-side skirting the bay, are both flat and scenic. Worth a special excursion is a trip north, about a half hour’s drive from the Golden Gate Bridge, to go hiking in Marin County’s breathtaking Muir Woods. The majestic redwood trees there—related to ferns, actually—can predate Jesus Christ and possibly even Yoda. If this weren’t enough, the Napa and Sonoma wine country and the Monterey Peninsula and Carmel are all nearby. Overnights in these areas, complete with winemaker events and spa treatments, are often packaged into San Francisco programs, according to the CVB’s Armstrong.

IT’S EASY BEING GREEN
With all this frenetic activity going on, one would think the city burns fossil fuels with abandon; in response, I only need to write one word: Enron. “We haven’t thought about promoting it (how green SF is) because it’s part of our nature,” observes Armstrong. There are solar panels on the roof of the convention center. They were installed in mid 2005 and at the time, Moscone was the largest public building in the country to have them. Moscone recycles and it also redistributes leftovers.

Armstrong also cites the brand new 86-room Orchard Garden Hotel (theorchardgardenhotel.com) as an example of the city’s intrinsic environmental-sensitivity. “It’s the first LEED certified hotel from the beginning,” she says. “Additionally, the San Francisco Marriott turns its garbage over for composting to a winery in Napa which in turn produces the hotel’s own “Trashy Wine.” (There’s a reason the CVB’s URL is onlyinsanfrancisco.com.)

COSTS
By now you’re wondering “Can we afford it?” Well, last month, the Floor Covering Installation Contractors Association, LifeWay Christian Resources, the Chinese American International School, the American Student Dental Association, the Thurgood Marshall Scholarship Fund, the Teen Mania Ministries and the National Association for Humanities Education all found ways to meet in San Francisco. You can too. “There are soft rates and soft areas for the budget-sensitive,” says Oleg Nakonechny, who is the CVB’s convention services manager. “It’s all about the timing, and the city gives discounts on the convention center at certain times.”

In the end, as Nakonechny correctly observes, “What everybody cares about is record-breaking attendance.” There’s very big business generated by people adding on stays and the fact that almost every single meeting has spousal programs. So, when you announce your next meeting here, there will be plenty of pillow talk at home along the lines of “Honey, don’t even think about going to San Francisco without me.”

MOSCONE
San Francisco’s convention facility, The Moscone Center is situated about four blocks south of Union Square. Three components make up its 1.2 million sq. ft. of total space. Moscone South, which is linked to Moscone North, and then the newest, the free-standing, Moscone West, located right across the street. “Moscone West is self-contained, designed for small to medium meetings,” says Nakonechny. “It has 300,000 sq. ft., with 100,000 sq. ft. evenly distributed on three floors. As a rule, only one group at a time can use Moscone West; it’s a flat rate.” There’s a big demand as it’s filled with natural light and has a friendly, welcoming ambience, along with the latest tech gadgets.

You don’t just call up and rent the place. Your group’s ability to use Moscone’s facilities is strictly derived from its potential number of San Francisco hotel peak nights. Using West, according to Nakonechny, requires 1,800 on-peak for dates within the 18-months to 5-years-out window; likewise for Moscone North. The larger South requires 3,000 room nights to reserve with the same lead time. You’ll have some choice in hotels, though. San Francisco has approximately 34,000 rooms in the working pool allotted for conventions. Interestingly, 2008 is “packed” already, with more bookings than 2007, says Nakonechny. And 2006’s surging comeback will be exceeded by 2007.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH
YERBA BUENA/SOUTH OF MARKET
Yerba Buena spans out from The Moscone Center and takes its name from a five-acre urban park of greenery, waterfalls and terrace cafes as well as ice-skating and bowling centers. It also includes METREON, a 350,000-squarefoot cinema, IMAX, shopping and dining complex. From May through October, the park hosts 100 free public events from its perch above street level, on top of Moscone North and South.

The area is also home to some of the city’s most prominent hotels, all within walking distance of the convention center. The next to come will be the Intercontinental San Francisco with 43,000 sq. ft. of flexible meeting space. It’s scheduled to open in early 2008, adjacent to Moscone West.

Seven different museums are within walking distance, principally the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SF MOMA) and the Museum of the African Diaspora, which opened recently as part of the St. Regis Hotel complex, and the Cartoon Art Museum, where you can host a group of 225. Innovative restaurants and even a wine-tasting room have sprung up.

You’ll hear the term South of Market, or SoMa, frequently used, especially in conjunction with the dot-com boom/bust. The name refers to this area’s location south of San Francisco’s major eastwest boulevard, Market Street. About a mile south of Moscone, as the crow flies, is the Concourse Exhibition Center, 120,000 sq. ft. of multi-use space in a former railway station, and, a block and a half away, the Galleria is set in the heart of The San Francisco Design Center complex. It’s a four-story atrium space that can hold up to 900 for banquets and 1,600 for receptions, complete with retractable skylight for gazing up at the stars.

EMBARCADERO
San Francisco’s waterfront neighborhood, known as Embarcadero, starts where the end of Market Street meets the wide, divided boulevard known as The Embarcadero. The area goes north to abut Pier 39 and Fisherman’s Wharf. But not to be overlooked in the immediate area is charming Steuart Street, just south of Market, which has some great restaurants with group space. The Ferry Building Marketplace is Embarcadero’s magnificent 19th-century centerpiece. It was revitalized a few years back, and today it’s a vibrant meeting place for epicurean San Franciscans who are drawn to the fascinating specialist shops. These are all related to the preparation and enjoyment of fine foods and wines.

The building’s second-floor meeting space is flooded with wonderful natural daylight and offers unobstructed views of the bay and the Bay Bridge. It’s a fit for about 100 to 140 people for daytime events. At night, you can do a reception for 600 in the overall building. One of the city’s best caterers, Paula LeDuc handles the Ferry Building exclusively.

Across The Embarcadero—with its rows of grand Royal Palms and the passing streetcars collected from all over the world—is the massive Embarcadero Center. This multibuilding complex encompasses more than 100 retailers, restaurants, a cinema and is adjacent to the architecturally striking Hyatt Regency San Francisco. The hotel’s 67,000 sq. ft. makes it the largest meetings facility in the neighborhood. Pier 3, just up from the Ferry Building, is the home berth of Hornblower Cruises and Events, whose nine distinctive yachts—including the San Francisco Belle, with 20,400 sq. ft. of dockside or cruising meeting space—can accommodate 20 to 2,000 for an array of dining cruises. The chance to float under the Golden Gate Bridge, around Alcatraz and gaze back at the San Francisco skyline adds up to an unforgettable experience.

At Pier 29, your group of 150 can succumb to the irresistible trifecta of “love, chaos and dinner" at the Teatro ZinZanni. The CVB also notes that the Old Federal Reserve Building is a very handsome venue in the Embarcadero area.

PIER 39/FISHERMAN’S WHARF
This area ranges from Pier 39, which encompasses The Aquarium of the Bay on the east, to Fisherman’s Wharf with its tempting stands of fresh-caught seafood at the center, to the Hyde Street Pier at the west end of Fisherman’s Wharf. The latter is the home of the world’s largest collection
of historic ships, part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. Although a world-famous visitor area, Fisherman’s Wharf is actually the home port of San Francisco’s fishing fleet and a great place to get your group on the water. The Red and White Fleet tour boats leave from Pier 43½. Adventure Cat Sailing Charters has two 99-passenger catamarans that sail from Pier 39, and the Blue & Gold Fleet also makes its home at Pier 39, with bay cruises and ferry service.

CIVIC CENTER
Clustered around the Civic Center Plaza area are several of the city’s popular event and meeting locales. The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium San Francisco seats 7,000; the arena floor offers 31,140 sq. ft., plus it has nearly 22,000 sq. ft. of meeting space in 36 individual rooms. The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco—one of the largest museums in the world solely devoted to Asian art—can accommodate a reception for 1,500 or 40 to 600 for a seated dinner. The San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center can arrange your reception for up to 2,500 at the grand War Memorial Opera House or for 1,200 at the strikingly contemporary Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. Another stunning venue for receptions of up to 2,500 and dinners of up to 1,200 is San Francisco City Hall. It is regarded as one of the premier examples of Beaux Arts civic architecture in the world.

NORTH BEACH, CHINATOWN AND THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT
North Beach, known as San Francisco’s Little Italy, lies immediately north of Chinatown. There, sidewalk cafes and three-star restaurants line the area’s main thoroughfare, Columbus Avenue. Passing strollers are lured in with cool jazz and the garlic and wine aromas of osso bucco and pasta con le vongole (clams).

Uniquely San Franciscan is the area’s famed Beach Blanket Babylon, an award-winning, zany musical review with lots of well-placed and very timely political and social barbs. It is the longest-running musical review in theater history. In Chinatown, just to the south, both old and new buildings express the architectural ornamental style of the Far East. Store signs are in Chinese, the windows are filled with exotic goods and produce in a neighborhood that dates back to the 19th century. This is no Disneyland recreation, but rather a vital part of the city where residents throng the sidewalks, going about their daily routines. At the center of these three adjoining neighborhoods, The Hilton San Francisco Financial District offers beautiful new meeting space, including 17 meeting rooms and a ballroom, most with natural light. Another just-refreshed option is the boutique Galleria Park Hotel.

The nearby Financial District’s gem is the Julia Morgan Ballroom at the Merchants Exchange Club, Imagine a dinner for up to 400 atop a 1907 vintage building designed by the architect of Hearst Castle. There your tables are surrounded by mahogany paneling interrupted only by sparkling skyline views and a floor-to-ceiling fireplace.

SOUTH BEACH AND MISSION BAY
This once-industrial area is undergoing major development; rumor has it that more than 30 major high-rise condominium and office buildings are proposed for construction in San Francisco right now, many for adjacent Rincon Hill and here. These areas conveniently flank the San Francisco Bay Bridge, offering beautiful views across the water. One of South Beach’s primary lures is AT&T Park home of the San Francisco Giants. The 70,000-seat waterfront stadium has been called the most beautiful venue in baseball and has multiple spaces appropriate for meetings or events. Located next to AT&T Park in McCovey Cove, Rendezvous Charters, offers complete sailing and motor-yacht chartering services for groups of up to 1,000. A little over one-half mile to the south is the IACC-certified Mission Bay Conference Center, UCSF, which offers full-day and half-day packages for the use of its 12,500-square-foot facility.

The CVB produces a handsome, meeting and event planners guide, but for immediate gratification, go to onlyinsanfrancisco.com to get started. Touching upon the essence of San Francisco’s allure, Joe D’Alessandro relates a story from around 1908, the year his grandfather first arrived in the city from Italy. “I just read a story about A.P. Giannini during that time (founder of Bank of Italy, which he built into Bank of America). He gave rebuilding loans right from a tabletop, to people who had lost their homes in the 1906 earthquake and who had no collateral. That’s a kind of San Francisco way of doing things. That’s because the city casts a spell on you; you come away a different person.”

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Getting There

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) has nonstop service from more than 60 U.S. and 30 international destinations. In addition to taxi service, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train links SFO with downtown San Francisco. AirTrain connects the various terminals with the Rental Car Center. When arranging for charter-bus pickup, confirm that the company is permitted to operate at SFO.

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Not To Be Missed

• The National Historic Landmarks known as cable cars
• The Golden Gate Bridge, over, across & under; get upclose and really see it!
• The San Francisco Bay, go boating, if only to gaze back at the city, especially at night
• The Ferry Building Marketplace, especially during the weekend Farmers Markets
• The de Young Museum to see the gutsiest metropolitan museum ever built
• AT&T Park for the love the grand old game
• And, if you can arrange it, take the time to get out a bit and explore the neighborhoods, advises Joe D’Alessandro, president and CEO of the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Mission, the Fillmore, Haight Asbury, the Castro. If you don’t, he says, “You’ve not seen San Francisco. You cannot understand how the city clicks; that’s what’s not to be missed.”

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