It’s no challenge to find a resort in the Midwest, hundreds of facilities exist and offer numerous services. The challenge for meeting planners is to discover a resort that fits their meeting or event the best. In this article, Midwest Meetings highlights the Kalahari Resort - Sandusky OH, The Abbey Resort - Fontana, WI and Cragun’s Resort and Hotel on Gull Lake - Brainerd, MN to help meeting planners find their ideal venue.
Midwest Meetings: Many people think of going on a vacation when they hear the word, “resort”. Why is your resort also a great meeting destination?
Maris Brenner: By design, the meeting space in Ohio’s Kalahari is separated from the recreational and resort amenities. As such, when the agenda is all business, all business can be accomplished. And, as important, when any group or organization wants to add some fun and creativity to the agenda, it is just steps away.
Midwest Meetings: Many people think of going on a vacation when they hear the word, “resort”. Why is your resort also a great meeting destination?
Maris Brenner: By design, the meeting space in Ohio’s Kalahari is separated from the recreational and resort amenities. As such, when the agenda is all business, all business can be accomplished. And, as important, when any group or organization wants to add some fun and creativity to the agenda, it is just steps away.
Taking advantage of teambuilding options available only at unique properties like a Kalahari is not uncommon. The zip-line, ropes course, in-the-water basketball, pizza making challenges and scavenger hunts that weave through the resort are quite popular additions to programs.
Being a resort, we are a complete destination, all-under-one-roof and because of that we have multiple restaurants to choose from of varying cuisine. In addition, we have great bars, a night club, a luxury spa that always captivates the attendees on their free time, all season recreation options and my favorite, the Safari Animal Park.
Rob Sheets: Since meetings are all about communicating and relationships - the tranquil setting that resorts can offer is as important, if not more so, than the meeting facilities themselves.
The Abbey property in WI offers a destination location just far enough away from the city to feel like you’ve actually gone somewhere (90 miles from Chicago and Madison, 50 miles from Milwaukee) yet for most meeting attendees we are no further time wise than their nearest airport.
Being in WI and on Lake Geneva, with access to the lake activities (including group boat cruises through Geneva Cruise Lines with pickup at the nearby municipal pier), it’s a destination many think of in warmer months. However, we are not just a six month destination… The Abbey is a terrific year-round destination as well. Bonfires with s’mores, sledding, cross country skiing and ice skating fill out our other resort activities in colder months.
Kathryn Stotka: Cragun’s offers much more than a typical urban conference center, our resort is an all-inclusive facility dedicated to great meetings. We have the perfect location to provide a distraction-free, work-supportive environment.
With over 60,000 sq. ft. in meeting and exhibit space, it supports most conferences in their needs for meetings and vendor display areas. We work together to provide families, groups and golfers with the best experience offering warm hospitality and memorable meetings since 1940.
MM: What are some excellent services your resort provides, that especially benefits meeting attendees?
MB: We have an onsite conference service team, as well as certified teambuilding specialists, who can work on everything from meeting room set-up to creating over-the-top unique functions to fit the group’s theme.
The spa offers passive pampering, as well as fitness and teambuilding sessions for groups, including refreshment break aerobics.
Our audiovisual and IT team is also onsite and, because we opened in September of 2006, our capabilities are state-of-the-art and include wireless access as well as drop-down/built in audiovisual and new interactive whiteboards.
Other services to note include: satellite check-ins, added luggage assistance on heavy arrival or departure days and stay-over rates that encourage families to join the attendee after the meeting days are over.
RS: The Abbey Resort offers 40,000 sq. ft. of meeting space for serious business, yet situated on 90-acres with a beautiful lawn and patio overlooking a 400-slip marina.
Meeting planners typically look for function space for business meetings and, of course, we offer all that and more, but planners typically want something extra to offer their attendees to foster relationships and add an element of fun. Our property offers the best of both. Outdoor reception space on the lawn or patio overlooking the marina, the 35,000 sq. ft. AVANTI Spa, featuring a private indoor adult pool, full fitness center featuring Life Fitness© exercise equipment, restaurants, The Fontana Grill, The Waterfront and our Porto restaurant specifically reserved for private dining events. What we don’t offer onsite is only minutes away, including four terrific golf courses, which also enable us to offer clients a golf experience suited to their budget.
KS: Our resort offers 203 rooms and 42 cottages on almost a mile of prime sandy shoreline on Gull Lake. We have 34 meeting rooms accommodating groups ranging from four to 1,100 attendees. Our indoor Sports Centre facilities allow for guests to play tennis, volleyball, basketball, run track or take advantage of our fitness center. We have a full-service marina, snowmobile center and outfitter.
In addition, we have one of the largest and most complete meeting planning staff of any conference resort in the Midwest. It’s our level of comprehensive planning services that really makes us stand apart from other venues.
Our specialty children’s programs and teambuilding exercises are available as well upon request. Meeting planners can choose from one of our ten teambuilding packages that range from Mystery Dinners to Wacky Olympics. We provide the entertainment and equipment and you provide the participants.
MM: Is there an exceptional service or discount that meeting planners should know about at your resort?
MB: At Kalahari, we have our best rates midweek and especially in September to early December and May and early June. Weekends, because of high leisure and getaway demand, can actually be the highest rates. This is the opposite of many cities that host the larger meetings.
RS: Being in WI and on Lake Geneva, we have access to lake activities, including group boat cruises through Geneva Cruise Lines with pickup at the nearby municipal pier.
KS: We have quantitative proof of Return on Investment (ROI) that resorts are a better value for our meeting planners. On average, groups at Cragun’s meet for 8.5 hours per day. Studies show downtime restores energy levels, improves concentration, revitalizes attendees and makes meetings more productive. The secret is not spending too much time or energy getting to the fun. We provide all of the necessary tools to refresh, re-energize with teambuilding and networking at Cragun’s. You sign only one contract at Cragun’s, which greatly reduces the potential for mistakes. Small things mean big savings and less stress for our planners.
MM: Have you had any memorable meetings or events?
MB: We do an Indoor Duck Derby for charity every year and the 5,000 numbered plastic ducks are escorted into the park with police and military escort, and a drum and bugle group before they are tossed into the lazy river for a race that lasts just 5 minutes. Of course... the prize is a car so that keeps everyone’s attention. It raises about $100,000 for charity.
Ohio Fire Chiefs celebrated their 100th anniversary with us and we helped them create a Black Tie, Dress Uniform Event with fireworks set to music over the parking area that was filled with hook and ladder trucks.
My favorite special activity is when we suggest Breakfast at the Zoo and we incorporate an outdoor function just steps from our animal park and before attendees head back to the meetings, they spend some time feeding the giraffes, kangaroos or any of the 345 animals. This is truly unique to this resort.
At the resort, we do a ‘Beyond the Slides Tour’ which features meeting with our managers in areas not seen by most guests.
We have teambuilding pros on property who have created scavenger hunts that included the unique parts of this themed resort and woven the corporation’s messages and question and answers into the event.
RS: The Abbey has a complete in-house activities department that offers a full menu of teambuilding activities for our group guests. Our activities director and her team are also available to customize activities for each individual group. Recently we had a group from the liquor ‘spirits’ industry. They were looking for a dynamic teambuilding event, so our activities director developed a mixology and videography event.
Using various liquors, mixers, garnishes and mixing tools, each group collaborated to create their own unique drink, gave it a name and determined the key demographic to which they would market. Each group then received a video camera and further instructions to direct them in developing and filming a commercial to promote their drink. Culminating in a round of drink tasting and evaluating with prizes for the winning team, the event reached a peak as the teams viewed their final commercial creations heightening the camaraderie and hilarity of the experience. As you can tell we take teambuilding seriously!
KS: We host one of the largest annual events for our soldiers and their families Memorial Day weekend with assistance from Camp Ripley and others. Silent auction tables line our meeting rooms, which raises over $30,000 for the families in the state of MN. Cragun’s is also the first official drop site for the military families in MN.
MM: Do you have any plans or goals for the future to draw more meeting planners to your resort?
MB: We recently announced a 120,000 sq. ft. addition, which will bring Kalahari’s convention center total sq. ft. to 215,000 and will include a 38,000 sq. ft. grand ballroom/expo center, a 12,000 sq. ft. junior ballroom, 14 meeting rooms, a 4,000 sq. ft. themed outdoor plaza connected to an indoor ballroom and 30,000 sq. ft. of pre-function space. The expansion is scheduled to open in December 2011.
RS: We offer meeting planners familiarization (FAM) visits throughout the year. We also would like to continue to host annual meetings with Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the Wisconsin Society of Association Executives (WSAE) when we can in the future.
KS: Cragun’s has completed renovating all lodging rooms. We have a newly installed phone-reservation system that adds efficiency to incoming calls and confirmation responses, which aids calls from attendees quickly. Our 24-hour security, welcoming and guarding the only road into the resort, is staffed with experienced, trained staff. We offer enclosed facilities with walkways to lodging, meeting rooms and the Sports Centre. We also have expanded the free, high-speed wireless access to all areas of the resort. Also, for our first quarter conference media program, we are introducing the iPad giveaway to attract new planners to Cragun’s resort.
Being a resort, we are a complete destination, all-under-one-roof and because of that we have multiple restaurants to choose from of varying cuisine. In addition, we have great bars, a night club, a luxury spa that always captivates the attendees on their free time, all season recreation options and my favorite, the Safari Animal Park.
Rob Sheets: Since meetings are all about communicating and relationships - the tranquil setting that resorts can offer is as important, if not more so, than the meeting facilities themselves.
The Abbey property in WI offers a destination location just far enough away from the city to feel like you’ve actually gone somewhere (90 miles from Chicago and Madison, 50 miles from Milwaukee) yet for most meeting attendees we are no further time wise than their nearest airport.
Being in WI and on Lake Geneva, with access to the lake activities (including group boat cruises through Geneva Cruise Lines with pickup at the nearby municipal pier), it’s a destination many think of in warmer months. However, we are not just a six month destination… The Abbey is a terrific year-round destination as well. Bonfires with s’mores, sledding, cross country skiing and ice skating fill out our other resort activities in colder months.
Kathryn Stotka: Cragun’s offers much more than a typical urban conference center, our resort is an all-inclusive facility dedicated to great meetings. We have the perfect location to provide a distraction-free, work-supportive environment.
With over 60,000 sq. ft. in meeting and exhibit space, it supports most conferences in their needs for meetings and vendor display areas. We work together to provide families, groups and golfers with the best experience offering warm hospitality and memorable meetings since 1940.
MM: What are some excellent services your resort provides, that especially benefits meeting attendees?
MB: We have an onsite conference service team, as well as certified teambuilding specialists, who can work on everything from meeting room set-up to creating over-the-top unique functions to fit the group’s theme.
The spa offers passive pampering, as well as fitness and teambuilding sessions for groups, including refreshment break aerobics.
Our audiovisual and IT team is also onsite and, because we opened in September of 2006, our capabilities are state-of-the-art and include wireless access as well as drop-down/built in audiovisual and new interactive whiteboards.
Other services to note include: satellite check-ins, added luggage assistance on heavy arrival or departure days and stay-over rates that encourage families to join the attendee after the meeting days are over.
RS: The Abbey Resort offers 40,000 sq. ft. of meeting space for serious business, yet situated on 90-acres with a beautiful lawn and patio overlooking a 400-slip marina.
Meeting planners typically look for function space for business meetings and, of course, we offer all that and more, but planners typically want something extra to offer their attendees to foster relationships and add an element of fun. Our property offers the best of both. Outdoor reception space on the lawn or patio overlooking the marina, the 35,000 sq. ft. AVANTI Spa, featuring a private indoor adult pool, full fitness center featuring Life Fitness© exercise equipment, restaurants, The Fontana Grill, The Waterfront and our Porto restaurant specifically reserved for private dining events. What we don’t offer onsite is only minutes away, including four terrific golf courses, which also enable us to offer clients a golf experience suited to their budget.
KS: Our resort offers 203 rooms and 42 cottages on almost a mile of prime sandy shoreline on Gull Lake. We have 34 meeting rooms accommodating groups ranging from four to 1,100 attendees. Our indoor Sports Centre facilities allow for guests to play tennis, volleyball, basketball, run track or take advantage of our fitness center. We have a full-service marina, snowmobile center and outfitter.
In addition, we have one of the largest and most complete meeting planning staff of any conference resort in the Midwest. It’s our level of comprehensive planning services that really makes us stand apart from other venues.
Our specialty children’s programs and teambuilding exercises are available as well upon request. Meeting planners can choose from one of our ten teambuilding packages that range from Mystery Dinners to Wacky Olympics. We provide the entertainment and equipment and you provide the participants.
MM: Is there an exceptional service or discount that meeting planners should know about at your resort?
MB: At Kalahari, we have our best rates midweek and especially in September to early December and May and early June. Weekends, because of high leisure and getaway demand, can actually be the highest rates. This is the opposite of many cities that host the larger meetings.
RS: Being in WI and on Lake Geneva, we have access to lake activities, including group boat cruises through Geneva Cruise Lines with pickup at the nearby municipal pier.
KS: We have quantitative proof of Return on Investment (ROI) that resorts are a better value for our meeting planners. On average, groups at Cragun’s meet for 8.5 hours per day. Studies show downtime restores energy levels, improves concentration, revitalizes attendees and makes meetings more productive. The secret is not spending too much time or energy getting to the fun. We provide all of the necessary tools to refresh, re-energize with teambuilding and networking at Cragun’s. You sign only one contract at Cragun’s, which greatly reduces the potential for mistakes. Small things mean big savings and less stress for our planners.
MM: Have you had any memorable meetings or events?
MB: We do an Indoor Duck Derby for charity every year and the 5,000 numbered plastic ducks are escorted into the park with police and military escort, and a drum and bugle group before they are tossed into the lazy river for a race that lasts just 5 minutes. Of course... the prize is a car so that keeps everyone’s attention. It raises about $100,000 for charity.
Ohio Fire Chiefs celebrated their 100th anniversary with us and we helped them create a Black Tie, Dress Uniform Event with fireworks set to music over the parking area that was filled with hook and ladder trucks.
My favorite special activity is when we suggest Breakfast at the Zoo and we incorporate an outdoor function just steps from our animal park and before attendees head back to the meetings, they spend some time feeding the giraffes, kangaroos or any of the 345 animals. This is truly unique to this resort.
At the resort, we do a ‘Beyond the Slides Tour’ which features meeting with our managers in areas not seen by most guests.
We have teambuilding pros on property who have created scavenger hunts that included the unique parts of this themed resort and woven the corporation’s messages and question and answers into the event.
RS: The Abbey has a complete in-house activities department that offers a full menu of teambuilding activities for our group guests. Our activities director and her team are also available to customize activities for each individual group. Recently we had a group from the liquor ‘spirits’ industry. They were looking for a dynamic teambuilding event, so our activities director developed a mixology and videography event.
Using various liquors, mixers, garnishes and mixing tools, each group collaborated to create their own unique drink, gave it a name and determined the key demographic to which they would market. Each group then received a video camera and further instructions to direct them in developing and filming a commercial to promote their drink. Culminating in a round of drink tasting and evaluating with prizes for the winning team, the event reached a peak as the teams viewed their final commercial creations heightening the camaraderie and hilarity of the experience. As you can tell we take teambuilding seriously!
KS: We host one of the largest annual events for our soldiers and their families Memorial Day weekend with assistance from Camp Ripley and others. Silent auction tables line our meeting rooms, which raises over $30,000 for the families in the state of MN. Cragun’s is also the first official drop site for the military families in MN.
MM: Do you have any plans or goals for the future to draw more meeting planners to your resort?
MB: We recently announced a 120,000 sq. ft. addition, which will bring Kalahari’s convention center total sq. ft. to 215,000 and will include a 38,000 sq. ft. grand ballroom/expo center, a 12,000 sq. ft. junior ballroom, 14 meeting rooms, a 4,000 sq. ft. themed outdoor plaza connected to an indoor ballroom and 30,000 sq. ft. of pre-function space. The expansion is scheduled to open in December 2011.
RS: We offer meeting planners familiarization (FAM) visits throughout the year. We also would like to continue to host annual meetings with Meeting Professionals International (MPI) and the Wisconsin Society of Association Executives (WSAE) when we can in the future.
KS: Cragun’s has completed renovating all lodging rooms. We have a newly installed phone-reservation system that adds efficiency to incoming calls and confirmation responses, which aids calls from attendees quickly. Our 24-hour security, welcoming and guarding the only road into the resort, is staffed with experienced, trained staff. We offer enclosed facilities with walkways to lodging, meeting rooms and the Sports Centre. We also have expanded the free, high-speed wireless access to all areas of the resort. Also, for our first quarter conference media program, we are introducing the iPad giveaway to attract new planners to Cragun’s resort.
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