Smart Meetings

Located about 90 miles from Crater Lake, the only national park in Oregon, Medford is surrounded by green, rolling hills dotted with wineries, many of which can host events.

Medford is about midway between Portland, 273 miles to the north, and San Francisco, 373 miles to the south. Medford is the industrial, medical, and service center of Southern Oregon (and much of Northern California, as it is just 27 miles north of the California border).

There are more than 2,000 hotel rooms and 110,500 sq. ft. of meeting space in the city, including a conference center on Main Street that has three meeting rooms available, including the Skylight Room, an auditorium that can seat up to 100 people. For more information, check out the Medford Visitors and Convention Bureau (visitmedford.com), which has excellent resources for planners coming to the area (visitmedford.mind.net).

While considerably smaller than Portland, Medford offers a variety of quirky alternatives for planners. For example, Medford may be the only place in America where your group can hold a meeting inside an airplane. That’s right: a restored Boeing KC-97 aircraft at the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport, a plane used by the U.S. Air Force as a troop transport and an in-air refueling tanker, can be rented for meetings and parties for up to 50 people (call Jackson Airport Authority at 541-776-7222).

Medford’s Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater (named after the film star, who lived in Medford for many years) is one of the area’s leading performing arts centers; various rooms are available for business meetings (541-779-8195).

Main 2 Center for the Arts (vibesmain2.com) has two meeting rooms, the largest able to hold up to 550 delegates. And the Smullin Center has 12 meeting rooms that can accommodate up to 396 (visitmedford.org/www.asante.org).

Also, Medford has several historical sites that can host events, including Hanley Farms (541-773-6530), a historic farm with re-enactors, and the U.S. Hotel, built in 1880, which has a ballroom capacity of 200 and various other properties (sohs.org).

Getting There

Portland International Airport (PDX), which is served by 17 international and domestic airlines and offers direct or nonstop service to more than 100 cities worldwide.

Not To Be Missed

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is the largest expanse of coastal dunes in the United States, spanning 40 miles from Florence to North Bend (near Coos Bay).

Sand Dunes Frontier (sanddunesfrontier.com) and Sandland Adventures (sandland.com.) 

River Drifters (riverdrifters.net) which has been in business for 26 years.

Wine Tours (oregonwines.com)