Meeting Places, Spaces and More

New Jersey’s flexible meeting, conference and event centers aim to meet corporate clients’ needs, wants and wallets.

By Anthony Bucci, Assistant Editor On Dec 21, 2015

According to many professionals who work in the corporate meeting and events industry in the Garden State, business has been picking up year-over-year since the Great Recession. However, the size, length and budget for corporate meetings and events have changed compared to what they once were.

“Our corporate business has been growing every year,” says Linda Alloco, regional sales director of Crystal Springs Resort in Sussex County. “But the difference is, 10 years ago, before the recession, companies used to hold longer meetings and events. Instead of planning something that is five days long like we used to see, now [events] are much shorter.”

Robert Klein, area director of sales for the Renaissance Meadowlands Hotel in Rutherford, shares Alloco’s notion that meetings are still happening today, but are held over the course of fewer days.

“Most companies seem to get what they want done in a couple of days, rather than the four- or five-plus days that seemed typical at the Renaissance Meadowlands,” Klein says. “And for us, we see most meetings starting mid-week, whereas in the past, we would see a Sunday arrival and a Monday morning meeting start.”

The aforementioned changes do not mean companies are expecting any less when holding a meeting or event at any of New Jersey’s top-notch facilities.

“Companies are just looking to do more with less,” Alloco says. “Agendas seem to be sterner and more focused today. Part of the reason for this is companies are putting aside less in their budgets for these types of things. However, we work with them to provide the best bang for their buck.”

Alloco’s Crystal Springs Resort can host groups from 3 to 500 persons with more than 32,000 square feet of meeting space that includes two ballrooms and 10 different breakout rooms, along with 250 guest rooms at its Grand Cascades Lodge in Hamburg. At its Minerals Hotel in Vernon, it has more than 9,000 square feet of enclosed meeting space with three breakout rooms and 175 guest rooms.

“Companies come to us because it’s such a fantastic atmosphere that sets you apart from the fast-paced corporate culture out there,” Alloco says. “It is basically like a getaway to get individuals recharged from the corporate life, all while staying focused on the task at hand.”

Alloco says one of the key reasons companies come to Crystal Springs for meetings and events is because of its team building exercises.

“We have things like Iron Chef competitions where teams will prepare meals and be judged on things like taste, presentation and teamwork.” We also have something called FootGolf, which is like golf and is played on courses with soccer balls and oversized holes. So, we provide some very unique experiences for businesses of all types.”

Meanwhile, at the Renaissance Meadowlands Hotel, a $7-million renovation was recently completed, including work on 167 guest rooms and 3,300 square feet of meeting and event space. The venue now has a capacity for eight breakout rooms and its grand ballroom can hold events for up to 240 people.

“The recent renovation delivers more options for our clients,” Klein says. “And that was important for us, because not only do we hold corporate events and meetings with companies from New Jersey, but because we are located near major roadways like Route 3 and the New Jersey Turnpike, and are a few minutes from New York City and other major transportation hubs, we deal with business from all over.”

The Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus is another facility that sees business from all over the country due to its “prime” location in Secaucus, only a few miles from New York. The center has 61,000 square feet of unobstructed space that can hold any type of event, along with 3,578 square feet of carpeted meeting space.

Robin Cuneo, executive director of the Meadowlands Exposition Center, says that besides corporate meetings and events, the exposition center sees business from many different markets due to the nature of its open exhibition space.

“Over the past couple of years, we have started to see more pop-culture-related events from ‘fan fest’ and ‘Comic-Con’ type conventions to video game exhibitions,” Cuneo says. “These things seem to be very popular and are on the upswing right now.”

Cuneo says that because of the nature and layout of the Meadowlands Exposition Center, the facility can “only hold so many meetings and events,” so its business has remained fairly steady for many years.

“We have had the same number of events as we have had historically,” Cuneo continues. “The events and meetings are still happening, but they aren’t as extravagant and as large as they used to be.”

Her statement plays into Crystal Springs’ Alloco’s sentiment in which businesses do not allot the amount of money they once did for these types of ventures. And, there’s “nothing wrong with that,” Cuneo says. “Here at the Meadowlands Exposition Center, we make sure we give our clients the best service and attention to detail, no matter how long of an event they are holding, or how much they are spending. Because, having them return in the future is important to the business model in this industry.”

Like the Meadowlands Exposition Center, the 260,000-square-foot Wildwoods Convention Center at the Jersey Shore sees business from most markets because of its open and flexible space. Its 75,000-square-foot exhibition hall can be split into two 37,000-square-foot rooms. Additionally, the convention center has 20,000 square feet of ballroom and meeting space, a 6,600-square-foot oceanfront deck and 30,000 square feet of lobby and pre-function space.

“It’s a really great building with respect to where our location is on the beach and the flexibility it gives us to be a multi-functional facility,” says John Siciliano, executive director of the Wildwoods Convention Center. “To be able to have the space and flexibility to have multiple things going at the same time is a key asset for us.”

Having flexible space seems to be a recent “trend” that businesses and other entities are looking for when choosing a facility to hold a function, according to Mike Tidwell of the Stockton Seaview Hotel & Golf Club in Galloway, which has 270 guest rooms and more than 34,500 square feet of meeting space, including 21 different rooms.

“A meeting is not just a meeting in one room and that’s it,” Tidwell says. “A typical meeting, especially today, has moving parts. For instance, there might be a general session where 100 people are subject to a lecture or a presentation and then they break out into groups by discipline. Having those different options is one of the major advantages we have here.”

Another “trend” that comes into play for meeting, conference and events facilities is having the latest technology for its clients that can range from state-of-the-art audio/video equipment, to lighting and of course, high-speed and wireless Internet connectivity.

“Having all of the up-to-date technology is nice, but what I see is that some properties fail to realize how much bandwidth and capacity they need to give their clients the best connectivity,” Tidwell says. “Today, people have multiple devices they use to connect to the Internet. There can be 100 people in a meeting, but there may be 250 devices. So, that is a reality that we have had to face over the past couple of years, and we have succeeded in dealing with it.”

What else are meeting and event professionals seeing in the industry today?

“Besides venues that are equipped with the latest technology, clients look for experienced and creative banquet professionals and well-equipped health and fitness centers,” says Catherine Mullen, president of New Providence-based Meeting Logistics, which specializes in strategy, design and production of all types of meetings, events, conferences and tradeshows. “People are more health conscience today, so that seems to be a big thing they look for. … Other things I am seeing are short lead times for planning, a larger focus on expected outcomes and active attendee engagement.”

No matter what trends are coming into fruition in the corporate meetings and events landscape, the overall consensus moving forward seems to be a positive one, especially with renovations of many of the Garden State’s existing properties and the opening of new ones, including the recent grand opening of Harrah’s Atlantic City Waterfront Conference Center, a $125.8-million, 100,000-square-foot facility. According to Ceasars Entertainment, with the addition of the conference center, there has been an increase of 90,000 advance room bookings for the upcoming year at Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City.

“Companies are always going to be holding meetings and events and I don’t see that going away any time soon,” the Renaissance Meadowlands’ Klein says. “It’s just a matter of meeting client needs, all while remaining flexible and fitting in with what they can spend.”

 

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