The meetings industry in Grand Rapids is alive and thriving.

Grand Rapids hosted 261 meetings in 2023, bringing 175,914 attendees to town to spend money in local shops, restaurants, attractions and more. These meetings helped Kent County hotels achieve record sales and revenue in 2023: 21.7 million rooms sold and more than $258.9 million in revenue.

That economic impact is one of many reasons area residents are eager to lend Experience Grand Rapids a hand in booking meetings, conventions, conferences, tradeshows and reunions. “Historically, about 70% of these events booked into Grand Rapids were the direct result of local leads,” reports Mary Manier, EXGR’s Vice President of Sales & Services. “Covid disrupted that a bit but it’s still between 50% and 60%.”

More than a decade ago, Manier helped craft a formal program for soliciting local leads: Bring It To GR asks Kent County residents who belong to a group or association that holds regional or national meetings to let us know about their affiliations.

Everyone belongs to something. Are you involved with a trade association or faith-based organization? Do you work in government? Are you a military veteran? Were you a member of a college fraternity or sorority? Do you participate in an organized hobby or sport?

Chances are good that the group you belong to regularly brings people from different cities and states together to share ideas, discoveries, products, memories and fellowship. If that’s the case, we ask you to fill out a short form providing basic contact information.

We’ll use that information to reach out to your group’s organizers, prepare bids, make presentations and host a successful meeting. You can be as involved in the process as much or as little as you like.

Sheriff's Association Registration
Sheriff's Association Conferfence

The National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) Annual Conference came to Grand Rapids in June 2023

Matt Kolenda and Maria Orr played key roles in bringing the American Glass Guild (AGG) conference to Grand Rapids in July 2024

Bringing Glass Enthusiasts & Artisans to Grand Rapids

Kent County residents Matt Kolenda and Maria Orr took the path of greater involvement when they helped EXGR bring the American Glass Guild (AGG) conference to Grand Rapids in July 2024. With good reason: Kolenda, owner of Kolenda Art Glass, served as Conference Chair for the event, and Orr, a glass artisan and graphic designer, has been Marketing Chair for the AGG since 2021.

EXGR learned of the local connection to AGG, and asked Kolenda and Orr if they’d be willing to help bring the 2024 conference to Grand Rapids.

“We met with Experience Grand Rapids and had a discussion, and it was just great,” recalls Orr. “They said, ‘We’ll fly people here if we need to fly people here, put them up in a hotel and show them what Grand Rapids is all about.’” That helped give Kolenda and Orr the confidence to pitch Grand Rapids to the AGG Board.

It also helped that Grand Rapids fit the organization’s criteria for a conference city. “The American Glass Guild is a volunteer-powered nonprofit, and we like to go to cities where we have boots on the ground, that have interesting vibes and that welcome us,” says Kolenda.

Kolenda’s pitch got the board to visit. “When everyone first came to Grand Rapids, many of them had never heard of Grand Rapids and were instantly surprised by the size of the city,” says Kolenda. “The art we have to offer, how clean it was, the trees. I’ve just heard a variety of reactions to how great it is.”

Orr says the board was also “blown away” by the help they were going to get from Experience Grand Rapids. “You don’t have to go yourselves and get hotel estimates on what it’s going to cost and whatever. They’re doing the legwork for you.” EXGR continued to impress Orr once AGG officially selected Grand Rapids: “They’ve just been a wonderful resource and completely at our disposal for any questions that we've had and helping connect us with other resources around town.”

Those resources included the Grand Rapids Art Museum, which worked with the AGG to curate American Glass Now: 2024, a juried exhibition including work in a wide range of techniques including stained glass, fused and kiln-formed glass, and etched and painted glass. AGG attendees were invited to a special reception to tour the exhibit, which ran for three months.

I just really appreciate everything that Experience Grand Rapids has done to help us put this event together. And everyone that's in attendance seems to be having a great time,” says Kolenda. “It makes me proud because I’ve been a resident my whole life.”

That’s another reason local residents are glad to help EXGR book meetings – they want to show off the city they call home. “People are proud of what this community has become,” says Manier. “They know that their fellow group members are going to enjoy themselves here.”

When in Doubt, Think “Bring It”

Not everybody knows that Grand Rapids is ready, willing and able to host events of all sizes, though. EXGR Director of Sales Kelsey Helstowski says local connections also played a role in bringing the Gideons International 2025 Convention to Grand Rapids – but in a rather roundabout way.

“I met with a Gideons planner who said they’d never thought of meeting in Grand Rapids, but they’d recently heard from two Michigan ministries who wondered why Gideons had never met in our state. That gave me the perfect platform for making a bid.”

Kelsey and the EXGR team won the bid – but it may have been even easier (and happened sooner) if the lead had originated through Bring It To Grand Rapids.

Need more reasons to help us Bring It To Grand Rapids? It can add luster to your resumé, extend your contact network and boost your national profile. It can also get you officially recognized as a Grand Host – someone who has made a major contribution to the vitality and prosperity of Grand Rapids and Kent County.

Why not provide your group’s contact information today? There’s no obligation to do anything further, and the upside for you and Grand Rapids can be tremendous!