Looking for a convention city where attendees can easily walk to hotels, restaurants, shops and attractions? Look no further than downtown Grand Rapids – WalkScore.com gives it a 98 out of 100 for walkability and Trips to Discover named it one of the top 14 walkable destinations in the U.S. Downtown…
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A great outdoor event can be a spectacular experience that your guests will be talking about for days afterward. Whether the stories they tell are positive or negative will depend a lot on how much planning you put into it. Unlike indoor events, outdoor venues require a few extra checkboxes on your…
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Just half a mile north of the city’s main convention campus sits another spot that is great for hosting meetings and events. It’s ideal for those who want to be close to downtown and have downtown amenities, but without as much hustle and bustle as the city center. Often referred to as the North…
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Grand Rapids was first dubbed Beer City USA in 2012. Since then, its reputation, and the reason for it, has only grown. Experts and readers of USA Today voted Grand Rapids America's Best Beer City in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025. The good news for meeting planners and conference attendees is…
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As a meeting planner, it’s a wonderful thing when your convention center has everything you need for your event – true one-stop shopping. But sometimes it’s nice to take a meeting off-campus and enjoy the host city. The new environment might spark new ideas. "Every time I host an event or meeting…
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Many destinations have “signature events.” If you go to Hawaii, chances are you’ll attend a luau. Headed to Orlando? An event at Disney is likely in your future. But what about Grand Rapids, Michigan? That’s the question Amy Young, president of Destination Consultants, asked herself. “I realized…
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One of the best things about meeting in Grand Rapids is the abundance of dining options within a casual stroll of our convention center. We’ve compiled a list of eateries located a half mile or less from the intersection of Monroe Avenue and Lyon Street, at the south end of DeVos Place Convention…
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Offsite conferences already shake up the routine and lend themselves to new ideas and discussion. But sometimes it’s good to get attendees out of the convention center and hotel conference rooms, and into your host city for even more inspiration. We've already collected a list of walkable…
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If your organization is meeting in Grand Rapids, which has been known as Beer City USA since 2012, it would be a shame not to visit one of its many breweries. Fortunately, six of them make it easy to mix business with some pleasure by offering meeting space within a short walk of the city’s downtown…
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You know the drill. There's a meeting, there's a budget, and you need to find the most effective venue to deliver the message. One of your first decisions is whether to take part of the meeting offsite from the host hotel or conference base. There are lots of advantages to doing so, says Amy Young…
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