Kentucky: A Meeting and Incentive Guide
by Flo Conner
Blessed with a central location, a rich and racy history, diverse cities and recently upgraded meeting and convention infrastructure, Kentucky is reaching out for a greater share of the meeting market. Smart planners build on the state's horses-and-bourbon reputation to create surprisingly sophisticated events.
Louisville
Horse racing put Louisville on the map; Churchill Downs and its distinctive twin spires play host to the sporting world's most exciting two minutes during the annual Kentucky Derby. Groups can experience the Derby or attend regularly scheduled race during the spring and fall. They can enjoy a buffet lunch in one of the enclosed boxes that offer panoramic views of the course and visit the paddock area to check out the horses and jockeys before placing bets. A more personalized way to enjoy the event is to sponsor a prize for the winner of a particular race.
When races aren't scheduled, groups can take over nearby Kentucky Derby Museum, which can host events for up to 1,000. A popular event for groups during Derby week is "Dawn at the Downs." A group can have breakfast in the track kitchen and then watch the trainers work with horses in the early hours.
Downtown Louisville is also home to the Louisville Slugger Museum and Bat Factory, which produces bats for professional baseball players. Hands-on displays show the history of the bat and its importance to the game. There is also a model of Wrigley Field and a bat used by Sammy Sosa during last year's home run battle. Groups can schedule tours during working hours or hire a craftsman to hand-turn a bat during an evening function.
"Believe it or not, we get a lot of wedding receptions," says Mica Patton, director of education and development. "We even had one couple get married in front of the Wrigley Field display --- and it was the bride's idea."
The Commonwealth Convention Center has 100,000 square feet of meeting space but will grow to nearly 300,000 square feet when a $72 million expansion is finished late this year. The Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center, which has more than 1 million square feet on one floor, is undergoing a $1 million renovation scheduled to be finished in 2004. Greater Louisville has more than 12,000 hotel rooms.
Just outside Louisville is Whitehall, a 19th century farmhouse museum. Built by early Kentucky settlers, the house and nearby museum chronicle Kentucky's rise from outpost to state. Groups of 200 for receptions and 100 for seated events are routine here, and evening events in the elegant Florentine gardens are popular.
In Versailles, a 45-minute drive from Louisville, is the elegantly restored Labrot & Graham Distillery that hosts public tours and group events. Its small meeting rooms are perfect for board meetings, while the main building and grounds are often used for evening cocktail events. Because of local ordinances, public tours are not allowed to taste the select bourbons produced at the distillery, but if the entire distillery is booked for an event, liquor may be served.
Lexington
They may race horses in Louisville, but they breed them in Lexington, located in the hear of Bluegrass country. Some of the world's most famous horse farms stretch out in every direction, each lined with distinctive black or white wood fencing. Groups can be introduced to thoroughbred breeding and racing by first visiting downtown Lexington's Thoroughbred Park, which pays tribute to the area's most famous horses. Outside the city, groups can tour the farms and see how the horses live, with central heat and air, private breeding facilities and elaborately decorated stables.
Although Keeneland Race Course is open only twice a year for racing, groups can watch trainers and jockeys take horses through their paces year-round. As in Louisville, breakfast at the track is a popular event, especially for groups on their way out of the city. Adjacent to the course is The Keene Barn and Event Center, with 10,000 square feet of meeting space, for a combined capacity of 1,200 people. Nearby, the Old Stone Barn is a popular spot for picnics for up to 600.
Downtown, an expansion that will take the Lexington Center from 144,000 square feet to 285,000 square feet will be finished in December. A walkway connects the convention center to the Hyatt Regency, with its 365 rooms and 20,000 square feet of exhibit space. The Radisson Plaza Hotel, also connected to the center, has another 367 rooms and 15,000 square feet of meeting space. It recently completed a $5 million renovation of all guest rooms, the ballroom and lobby. Lexington's newest hotel is the 230-suite Embassy Suites located on the University of Kentucky Coldstream Research Campus. It has 13 meeting rooms, including five executive board rooms. Marriott's Griffin Gate Resort, a 409-room property, recently completed its $3.5 million renovations. Guest rooms were upgraded to include workstations, modem hookups and adjustable chairs.
About 25 miles from Lexington, Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, located near Harrodsburg, gives visitors a different view of Kentucky. The Shakers, a utopian religious sect, built a community away from a society that considered their practices too severe. Their legacy lives on in the peaceful village restored to its mid-19th century quaintness. The village's four meeting rooms, the largest seating up to 75 people, are perfect for board meetings and retreats, says Ann Voris, meeting group sales manager. Eighty-one guest rooms are scattered in 15 restored Shaker buildings.
"We have all kinds of groups," says Voris. "Because we're close to several colleges and universities, we have educational groups, but we also have meetings for state agencies, associations and corporations. There aren't all the amenities you'd expect at a luxurious resort, but we make up for it in atmosphere. Each room is furnished in simple Shaker style, but there are all the modern conveniences, although most guests tell us they don't even feel like turning the television on."
In the evening, groups often arrange for a music performance, held by candlelight in the meeting hall. "Music was an important part of Shaker worship, and they wrote more than 30,000 hymns. We have an expert staff music interpreter," Voris says.
The Pleasant Hill property covers 2,800 acres along the Kentucky River. The village operation includes the riverboat Dixie Belle, docked about a mile and a half from the village. The boat can be chartered in the evening for a private cruise that includes a narrative about how the Shakers used the river.
The only drawback to meeting in Pleasant Hill? "Planners need to make note of the fact that we're in a dry county," Voris says. "It's funny that 90 percent of the world's bourbon is made in Kentucky and 90 percent of the state is dry. It's not a major problem, but one that planners need to be aware of."
Covington and Northern Kentucky
New seems to be the operative word in northern Kentucky, with a host of new hotels, meeting facilities and tourist attractions, all vying for meeting business. Northern Kentucky's main city of Covington is just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Planners for small and medium meetings can bask in the attention that comes from a smaller city, yet take groups across the river to attend big-city events.
Central to the growth in the area's meeting industry is Covington's convention center that opened in February. The $30 million center is part of a $200 million riverfront development that overlooks the Cincinnati skyline. The 204,000 square-foot-center caters to small and medium conferences.
Although spaces are large within the convention center, intimacy was the goal of design and construction, says Charles Wheeler, executive director. "We didn't want the barn-like atmosphere that's beginning to pervade a lot of new convention construction. To keep large spaces from feeling cavernous, we used color and texture to create intimacy and depth. In the banquet hall, we used smoked glass to reflect candlelight --- the effect is like a skyline."
Intimacy is also evident in the service, Wheeler says. "Despite state-of-the-art technology, meeting planners can dial one number and be connected to the manager on duty who can solve a problem quickly," he says.
A 326-room Marriott that opened in April is linked to the center by a pedestrian walkway. It is part of the Madison Place Complex that combines hotel and convention space, offices, retail stores and condominiums. Across the street is the RiverCenter business complex and the Embassy Suites hotel. A few blocks west, a 151-room Hampton Inn opened in 1997.
One of Covington's landmark hotels, the distinctive Quality Hotel Riverview is spending $3 million over the next three years on renovation. The hotel's round, 6,000-square-foot ballroom divides into four sections, and the entire 16th floor, with great views of the city and the river, is reserved for meetings. The view is ever-changing at the hotel's top-floor revolving restaurant.
The area's newest attraction, a $40 million aquarium, opened in April. A 3-D IMAX theater, theme restaurants and shopping will surround the riverfront attraction.
Covington benefits from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, which is Delta's second hub. In 1996, Delta spent $375 million on expansion, adding gates, a concourse, a terminal and an automated baggage system that handles 21,000 bags per hour. International airlines include Air France, Sabena, and Swissair.
Elsewhere in Kentucky
Louisville residents like to quiz newcomers on the spelling of the state's capital, which is Frankfort, not Louisville. Visitors can be forgiven a lapse in middle school geography. This charming, unassuming capital is located between Lexington and Louisville. Frankfort and Franklin County tie their marketing efforts to historical themes. After all, thousands come here to visit the gravesite of fabled 18th century frontiersman Daniel Boone (referred to locally as Dan'l Boone) and see the place where Aaron Burr was charged with treason.
The main meeting venue is the Farnham Dudgeon Civic Center Complex, which can seat 800 for a banquet or 5,000 for a sporting event. A 180-room Holiday Inn and a retail center are adjacent.
The $29 million Kentucky History Center, which opened in April, houses the historical society's archives and a new museum with interactive displays and hands-on exhibits. It has a room for small meetings. Nearby, the Buffalo Trace (formerly Ancient Age) Distillery has been operating for more than a century. Group tours can be arranged.
Kentucky's system of 49 parks showcases the state's diverse natural beauty but not at the expense of modern luxuries. Family reunions and corporate getaways are consistent clients of the state park resorts, says Lois Glover, regional sales manager. "We're away from the hustle and bustle, and groups can go directly from a meeting to the golf course or the lake," she says.
State parks are a natural fit for church and family groups, but Glover says corporate planners are attracted to the full-service resort amenities, which include indoor pools, tennis facilities, meeting space, fitness centers and airstrips. "What meeting planners need to keep in mind is that most of our parks are located in rural areas," Glover says. "One church hosted a convention for 2,000 and filled up the mom-and-pop hotels for miles around, but you won't find too many major properties nearby."
FLORENCE CONNER, a freelance writer based in Chattanooga, Tenn., bet $6 on Tacky Tourist to win, place or show during her day at the races at Churchill Downs. The horse came in last.
Published in Meeting Professional