Outdoor Events
Author: Carolyn Koenig
April 2007
Features
Imagine your toes snuggled in fine white sand...
...or the aroma of coffee perking over a campfire, or a gourmet lunch in the middle of the desert. They’re each part of the West’s distinctive, almost boundless outdoor opportunities providing experiences that will enhance your meetings and give them a memorable take-away.
True, when you’re planning outdoor events and activities, there may be tradeoffs and challenges to consider. You may need to balance additional costs, such as transportation, versus the benefits, such as an alluring incentive reward, a more-focused retreat or a terrific team-building opportunity.
Often there are weather and climate concerns, ranging from rain to heat. But there are also ways to control the risks. “We have Plan B and Plan C,” says Heidi Bianchi, director of sales for Hartmann Studios, a San Francisco Bay Area event-production company. The plan may include tents, floors and “what’s the next available thing that’s close and indoors.”
Or, when climate is a factor—such as mid-summer in Arizona—you can hold the event in the cooler high desert or in the evening, poolside under the palm trees.
Knowing your group—always important—becomes critical. Are they up for adventure? Or are they more comfortable in a ballroom? Does the event or venue fit their corporate culture? Or do they want to break out of their box to inspire creativity?
First-hand familiarity with the site is also critical. “It’s a good idea to walk the space at different times, especially the same time of day that your attendees will be there,” Bianchi says.
But once you’ve covered the bases, the experience is worth the effort. So, make your plans, then enjoy the ocean breeze, the soft whinny of your horse or the sight of Joshua trees that grow nowhere else in the United States. Here are details for these and other exciting options throughout the West.
BY THE SEA
The Sea of Cortez, a brilliant blue splash of ocean hugging the Baja Peninsula, is the backdrop for Esperanza, a new Auberge resort four miles from Cabo San Lucas. The resort features 50 casita suites and six luxury suites, which complement three appealing outdoor meeting spaces: an ocean-view lawn/terrace area by the hotel’s main pool, a white-sand beach and the main restaurant, which has a series of terraced areas that segue down to the sea.
Cabo’s great winter weather was one reason David S. Cassel, senior vice president-key accounts for Galactic Meetings and Incentives in Arlington, Texas, chose Mexico for a client’s meeting with top customers last January. “It’s one of the few places in the world that we would have an outdoor function without indoor back-up space,” Cassel says.
But he also chose Cabo because of Esperanza, due to the resort’s high level of service and the fact that “there is no more spectacular setting in all of Mexico for an outdoor event.”
For his recent technology solutions client—which chose Esperanza for an unprecedented second year in a row—he arranged a welcome Mexican fiesta spread over two terraces overlooking the pool and ocean, complete with bar service from under a palapa, Mexican lights interspersed among colorful streamers, a tequila-tasting station with a tequila master, both Mexican and European food specialties and live music. (Mexican fiestas can also be arranged on the beach; fireworks can be arranged to cap the evening with a spectacular show.)
The Five-Diamond Grand Velas All Suites & Spa Resort, a new oceanfront property just 15 minutes north of Puerto Vallarta International Airport on Banderas Bay, is another south-of-the-border possibility. In addition to 267 suites, it features 13,000 sq. ft. of meeting space plus a convention center with a grand ballroom for up to 700 guests. Hold your reception and/or dinner here by the pool and enjoy the relaxing ambience of ocean waves, sunset and palm trees. The resort can also customize special theme parties, or you can choose from a variety of pre-planned theme nights such as Zapata Party, Crescent Moon Night on the Beach and Jazz under the Stars.
BACK TO NATURE
North of Santa Barbara, on the Gaviota coast, El Capitan Canyon reflects a new trend: luxury camping. Forget rainflys and Coleman stoves—this year-round property features luxury cabins and canvas tents in a beautiful natural setting, with catering services and more than 4,500 sq. ft. of meeting space, which is divided among seven yurts and three outdoor meeting areas. Ideal for groups in the 100–150 range, El Capitan is a destination in itself, but can also serve as a base camp, with easy access to the Los Padres National Park, El Capitan State Beach and Santa Barbara’s wine country.
Land Rover recently held the product launch of its LR2 Land Rover at El Capitan, hosting about 100 dealers and members of the media throughout five successive waves during a 12-day period. “We took over two meeting spaces and created a dining hall in one, where we did all the meals, and a hospitality suite in the second, with a big-screen TV, sound system, comfortable chairs and wireless Internet,” says Deborah Sanford, Land Rover’s communications and public affairs manager.
“We chose El Capitan because of the brand DNA of Land Rover,” she adds. “It’s a global brand known for being able to do anything and go anywhere—you can go to the opera and also drive across the Kalahari Desert. We try to incorporate the duality of our brand into our events. El Capitan offered a unique outdoor location. It’s camping—but very luxurious camping; it suits our brand.”
Speaking of deserts, Joshua Tree National Park encompasses 585,000 acres of wilderness where its namesake Joshua trees—unique to the Mojave Desert—reign in solitary splendor. Palm Springs-based Elite Land Tours will put your group (up to 25) into climate-controlled, all-terrain Hummer H2s and take you on a backcountry adventure to a remote area of the park with a knowledgeable guide and a surprising stop for a gourmet lunch with silverware and white-linen service. (Spring is wildflower season––and sensational.) “It’s a great contrast to the meeting room and convention center,” says Mark Farley, president. “We take you away from the computer and all that formality...it really connects you with nature again.”
The tours operate year-round, not only to Joshua but also to the San Andreas Fault, where you see California’s geology in the making, and other destinations. Summer tours head for the high desert, and its higher elevation, where it’s cooler; in winter, they trek into the low desert.
Or, board a ferry for a 45-minute scenic ride on Puget Sound from downtown Seattle to Blake Island State Park, a 475-acre, densely wooded island where the traditions of the Pacific Northwest come alive at Tillicum Village. At this enclave, based on First Nations culture, you’re greeted with the aroma of salmon baking on open alder-wood fires as you step off the boat. Later you’ll feast on a traditional dinner in the longhouse dining room, capped by a performance of authentic Northwest Coast Native dances. The back of the longhouse opens to a large garden, which can be used for outdoor events, says Roberta Greer, CAO and senior vice president of Tillicum Village. “We’ve had small incentive groups that have dined outside under the fir trees, and we’ve also had as many as seven small float planes fly them in to our harbor.” Although Tillicum’s ideal group size is 300–500, the venue can accommodate up to 1,200.
WAY OUT WEST
Tucked into Montana’s spectacular Paradise Valley, about an hour from Bozeman, Mountain Sky Guest Ranch brings out your inner cowboy around the campfire or the dining room table. The 30-cabin ranch, available for business groups up to 80 in spring and fall, has three meeting spaces, including a newly constructed conference center for 40. “It’s easier to focus in an environment like this. There’s less going on; it’s a private setting, a little more remote than a hotel,” says Yancey Arterburn, general manager.
Colleen Lane, conference coordinator for PERC (The Property and Environment Research Center) in Bozeman has booked numerous groups at the property. “Generally, when we go to Mountain Sky, they’re academic conferences. What makes the ranch a perfect venue for us is we’re taking busy people out of busy, hectic lives...It’s a drop-dead gorgeous place, and their Western hospitality disarms the most harried traveler.”
Lane always includes a horseback ride with her meetings. “People who have never been [riding] go to the magical boot closet, find a pair of boots and get on a horse,” she says.
Also in Montana is The Resort at Paws Up, a rustic-yet-luxurious four-season enclave tucked among 10,000 acres of wilderness (think fly-fishing, horseback riding, snowmobiling and geocaching). Stay at the farmhouse, a large timber home or one of the canvas tents, which are outfitted with feather beds, fine linens and art. They also provide essentials
like hot tubs, flat-screen LCD TVs, Internet access—even a “camping butler.”
Perhaps the resort’s most intriguing adventure—perfect for incentives—is The Encampment at Bull Creek, arranged through Paws Up Outfitters. You experience the Montana high country through a 12-mile, four-hour horseback ride that delivers you to a wilderness camp just outside the rugged Bob Marshall Wilderness. But this is no ordinary wilderness camp: once again, there are tents with feather beds, hot showers, fine wines and gourmet cuisine—as they say, not your pork ’n beans camping.
POOL PARTY
If you’re familiar with Caleo Resort & Spa in the heart of downtown Scottsdale, hold on to your hat. Just this month, Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants is launching the hotel as FireSky Resort & Spa, after a re-branding and a wall-to-wall revitalization that has earned it a Four-Diamond award. This boutique hotel, with 204 guest rooms and 14,000 sq. ft. of function space, features bold, contemporary decor and lagoon-like pools amid lush, tropical landscaping.
Adele Gianino, with the meetings and travel department of the Catholic Health Association in St. Louis, Mo., recently brought her board of trustees, a group of C-level executives of Catholic hospitals or Catholic healthcare systems, to Caleo for the second time. A Mexican-themed buffet set the tone for the evening’s reception and dinner, which were held poolside. “We had cocktails, then when the sun [began to set], we started the dinner buffet,” she says.
Gianino chose the location due to the climate—“The [January] weather is so agreeable: it was cold in the Midwest and Northeast and such a pleasure not to have to go anywhere in coat and gloves”—and the property’s size. “Caleo is very quaint, not necessarily small, but it still gives you the feeling that your room isn’t far away. It’s very accessible...you never get that high-rise feel,” she says.
DOWN ON THE FARM
Culinary tourism has moved up to the front burner, so to speak, and San Mateo County (part of the greater San Francisco Bay Area) has launched a culinary campaign with opportunities to tour farms, nurseries, a goat dairy and fishing docks, then meet the farmers, nurserymen and fishermen who work them. “Our CVB is willing to work with our food-producing partners to make a meeting planner’s off-site special event one of a kind,” says Anne LeClair, president and CEO of the San Mateo County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
One choice is Harley Farms Goat Dairy in Pescadero, where groups explore the facility, mingle with the amiable goats, watch them being milked, then taste the dairy’s gourmet goat cheese (which looks like a still life with its home-grown edible flowers on top). At the tour’s conclusion, you can enjoy a catered meal upstairs in the former hayloft, which has been transformed into a dining room.
Heidi Bianchi of Hartmann Studios chose Daylight Farms, in Half Moon Bay, for two events where her group toured their well-known pumpkin farm (others feature produce, herbs or flowers in season), then dined on a catered lunch in a private area out in the fields (you can also have dinner in the owners’ farm home). “It’s grassroots, down to earth—an organic experience,” she says.
CITY SIDEWALKS
When you’re in Los Angeles, nothing grounds you to the location like the iconic Hollywood sign anchored on its prominent hillside perch. And speaking of “location,” you can immerse your group in the Hollywood mystique with an event on a movie backlot at NBC Universal. Your choice of lots includes 30 locations, from Brownstone Street to European Street to Mediterranean Square (sets can be combined for larger groups). Rent historical movie props and costumes for a themed event, add a 35-minute tram tour (50–500) of the studio grounds, or make your own movie with Feet First Entertainment, a corporate team-building company. In this scenario, your group divvies up filmmaking duties during the day, then screens the end result in the evening, which you can then follow with an awards-ceremony reception at the world-famous Studio Restaurant Grill and Cafe.
