Revving Up the Fun Factor: Strategizing a Corporate Retreat in Park City

The Park City Free Trolley is a great way for guests to get around the city.

Planning an event in Park City? Last time we talked about event planning in Salt Lake City and mentioned one did not need to go to the mountains to have a good time. But what if you do want to go to “the mountains”?

Nestled in the Wasatch Range, the westernmost reach of the Rocky Mountains, Park City is the high-elevation playground of Utah and much of the West. The former mining town was “discovered” in the 1980’s by people attracted to its natural beauty and opportunities for outdoor recreation. Park City became world-famous with the Sundance Film Festival, a yearly event that attracts the rich and famous. And the area’s famous and abundant snow entice skiers and snowboarders from all over–in fact, the US Ski Team is based here!

We lead retreats

We just facilitated a corporate retreat in Park City, a gathering for chief technology officers who wanted to get together to not only learn from each other, but also enjoy the fine powdery snow the city is renowned for. This event was a success! And Park City was chosen as a destination due to its proximity to Salt Lake City. Utah’s capital and largest city’s international airport makes getting to Park City via air much easier (and cheaper!) than other mountain town destinations like Sun Valley, Jackson Hole, or Aspen.

Park City Event Venues

A theater/ballroom at Deer Valley that can accommodate a couple hundred people.
Photo from their website

Deer Valley Resort. Rising on the mountains above Park City, this resort consists of two lodges with sleeping rooms that total 425 (The Lodges at Deer Valley and Silver Baron), plus three day lodges (Snow Park, Silver Lake, Empire Canyon). With many different rooms and restaurants available across the properties, we see Deer Valley as a great spot for either an intimate retreat or for a conference of several hundred people. Do note that the Deer Valley ski areas do not allow snowboarding, so if you have a lot of boarders in your group, plan accordingly and possibly use the free trolley or lodge shuttles to get folks into town to the Town Lift.

Wasatch Brewing in Park City. We mentioned Wasatch in our Salt Lake City roundup, but Park City has its own location as well, located right in the heart of the city on Main St. There are two different private venues, The Loft Bar (capacity 60/125 depending on sit-down or cocktail style) and The Tap Room (capacity 30/40), located on the pub’s second floor.

These glass “pods” at Montage Deer Valley make a romantic place for a engagement proposal!

Montage Deer Valley. High above Park City, Montage offers rooms from a couple hundred to several thousand square feet, great for meetings, special events, and weddings. One room even has a bowling alley!

The Church of Dirt. We hate using the overused descriptor “unique” when describing a location, but we feel it deserves it in this instance. Located near the top of Empire Pass, this is a simple outdoor space with a few rows of wooden benches and an altar created by lashing branches together. There are no other amenities. To reserve a date, write your name and wedding date on a rock or piece of wood and stick it in the pile of other “reservations”. That’s it. What you get is an epic backdrop for your wedding! This video gives a good overview of the “church”.

A word about elevation

We mentioned Utah’s byzantine liquor laws in our Salt Lake City write-up. What’s worth mentioning about Park City is how high up it is. The base elevation in town is around 7,000 feet (2,130 metres). That’s a couple thousand feet higher than Salt Lake, and probably several thousand feet higher than what you are used to. The ski resorts are even a thousand or more feet higher than that 7,000 feet. Acclimating to this high elevation can take time. The lower oxygen levels may make the simple feat of walking up a hill seem Herculean. Make sure you stay hydrated, especially if you are there in summer. And don’t overdo your drinking!

We hope that you found this post to be informative. And we hope it helps you find the right venue for planning an event in Park City!

Planning an event in Salt Lake City

Red Butte Garden’s Orangerie, photo from Visit Salt Lake.

Planning an event in Salt Lake City? We recently had the opportunity to visit Utah’s capital and largest city, which is also the largest urban area in America’s vast Great Basin, where no water flows to the ocean. (It’s the reason why the Great Salt Lake is so saline!) Salt Lake City lies on the edge of the lake and at the foot of the Wasatch Range, the westernmost reach of the Rocky Mountains. The mountains rise sharply from the relatively flat valley floor, making for a spectacular backdrop. For many visitors, the mountains and the recreation they provide are the reason for coming here. But Salt Lake City has plenty of urban amenities, so one does not need to “go to the mountains” to enjoy being here. Here is a selection of Salt Lake City event venues for you to peruse.

McCune Mansion, from flickr user Emily Allen
Gilded Ballroom at McCune Mansion, from their website
Executive Boardroom at McCune Mansion, from their website

Venue 6SIX9. Located downtown, the interestingly spelled 6SIX9 offers the ability to host events “from corporate parties, seminars, church gatherings to weddings and more!” The venue includes an 8,400 square foot ballroom plus breakout rooms, totaling  20,000 square feet in total available space. Tables, chairs, linens, and centerpieces are also available from the venue.

McCune Mansion. One type of venue we’re always on the lookout for is a historic property. The McCune Mansion is a Shingle-Style estate built in 1901 and in between Temple Square and the Utah State Capitol. The mansion promotes itself as a good venue for business meetings or retreats, weddings and receptions, and for photography shoots as well. The mansion can accommodate up to 300 people in winter and 500 in summer.

Wasatch Brewing. We love event venues in breweries, because the availability of tasty beer is guaranteed! Wasatch’s Salt Lake City location is located in the hip ‘n’ happening Sugar House neighborhood. The brewery offers two event spaces, The Landing Room which can hold 40 and The Tasting Room which can hold 30. Both rooms can be rented together, too! Wasatch has a full kitchen, and meals can be done buffet style.

Beehive Distilling
The event space at Beehive Distilling, Salt Lake City, Utah. From their Instagram.

Beehive Distilling. Located a couple miles south of downtown in South Salt Lake, this bar can host up to 180 in its 4,000 square foot space. Beehive’s event focus is on “corporate meetings, non-profit organizations, weddings and parties”, with an active distillery as your backdrop. Because of the nature of the business, all guests must be 21 and over.

Getting around: Salt Lake City’s light rail system, TRAX, has expanded greatly over the past twenty years, extending from downtown to the Airport, the University of Utah, and southern suburbs. All of the event venues above are within a ten minute walk to a light rail station or S-Streetcar, which connects to TRAX. If you want to get around by bicycle, you’ll see several GREENbike bikeshare stations around town. Amtrak’s California Zephyr stops once a day at Salt Lake’s Intermodal Terminal west of downtown–someday we hope direct service to Portland via Boise resumes.

A word about liquor laws: Utah’s liquor laws are infamous across the United States. Thankfully the stricter regulations have loosened in the past twenty years: You are no longer required to become a member of a “private club” to enjoy adult beverages in a bar, thank the 2002 Winter Olympics for that. And the notorious “three point two” alcohol by volume limit on beers was raised to five percent in 2019–you can get stronger beer, too, but it’s not as easy. You still can’t get more than one shot (1.5 fluid ounces, or about 45 ml) in a mixed drink, something Emee learned the hard way during a recent visit. But you can buy spirits directly from a distiller like Beehive, even on Sunday when state-run liquor stores are shuttered. For more info, check out these two articles.

We hope that you found this post to be informative and hope it helps you find the right Salt Lake City event venue for you!

Anatomy of a Business Event – Through the Eyes of A Guest

photo: MaxPixel

I’m an event planner, but often I’m also an event guest. I wanted to share a recent experience I had with you, as a sort of case study, and would love to get your feedback.

I received an invitation to come to a sales event for a brand of event software. This event promised lunch and networking. It seemed like a great idea: Check out a possibly helpful software tool, have lunch, and meet other event and meeting planners. To top it off, the event was being held in a popular downtown venue. Sounds great! I signed up online for both myself and my event manager, and put the event in my calendar.

Continue reading “Anatomy of a Business Event – Through the Eyes of A Guest”

5 ways small businesses can test the event sponsorship waters

A silent auction setup for a school auction at the Portland State University Smith Memorial Ballroom.

The investment into event sponsorship can be very rewarding for an organization, but it can also feel risky. While sponsoring an event can be a valuable way for a business or an organization to connect with a community or interest group, for small businesses, the dollar amounts involved can be daunting. Does that mean that there’s no room for small businesses to take part? Absolutely not – here are some ways small businesses can “test the sponsorship waters” before launching into larger (higher dollar amount) sponsorships of events:

  • Donation of gift cards to silent auctions
  • Participate in more intimate, smaller-audience events
  • Buy a table and invite business colleagues to dine out for a cause
  • Sponsor a teacher or attendee scholarship so an under-served population can attend an event
  • In-kind sponsorship: Providing the business’s service or product for use at the event
  • Offer volunteer perks/meals/lounge areas to support the volunteers of an event
It’s always important for the business to be clear about the goals and objectives of sponsoring an event and to make sure they are SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Equally important is to have a written sponsorship agreement that outlines the responsibilities of each party and the benefits the sponsor will receive.
By being clear about the objectives, and measuring the results of a small, trial-run sponsorship, even small businesses can see benefits; and eventually, hopefully realize gains that previously they only thought large organizations could achieve.

Portland Retro Gaming Expo

As wedding season moves indoors and gets quieter, conference and expo season surges forward! This weekend we’re happy to help Portland Retro Gaming Expo coordinate their hotel logistics as they welcome 10,000 attendees to the Oregon Convention Center to enjoy hundreds of retro arcade and console games. Did you know EJP Events is a member of American Express Global Business Travel’s Meetings Expert program? I love helping groups find the best hotel venue for their needs. We were thrilled to match PRGE up with the Crowne Plaza Portland, Doubletree Portland, Jupiter Hotel and Residence Inn Lloyd Center this year. Let me know if I can help your group!

Portland Retro Gaming Expo - Convention Planning and Venue Sourcing

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