Revisiting Boise Event Venues

JUMP Center

In September 2022, the EJP Events team found ourselves in Boise, Idaho again, this time to take part in Connect Northwest. This was our second time in Boise for business, we were also there in September 2021. We wrote a blog post about Boise event venues back then, and it still has a lot of good information. Thinking about event locations in Boise, Idaho? Here are some more event venues we discovered!

JUMP Center

“JUMP” stands for “Jack’s Urban Meeting Place”, Jack being J. R. (Jack) Simplot, the founder of Idaho based potato processor Simplot Industries. Originally envisioned as a museum for his tractor collection after he passed away in 2008, JUMP evolved to a hybrid indoor/outdoor event space based around a park with: “an outdoor amphitheater, sweeping terraces, rooftop parks, meeting areas, play areas, and all with unique views of the city and the surrounding mountains.” (Oh yeah, there’s still vintage tractors!) JUMP will rent space for events that “create an environment for inspiring human potential”. This means it’s a perfect spot for non-profit conferences or meetings. A variety of indoor (their Pioneer Room is 3,790 sq. ft.) and outdoor (like their Loft deck) spaces can be rented. Oh yeah, they also have a giant five-story slide! (Emee really wants to try it.)

The JUMP Slide (from their website)

Old Idaho Penitentiary

Most people do all that they can to stay out of jail. But what if it’s a fortress-like edifice that hasn’t been an active prison in years? The Old Idaho State Penitentiary was an active reformatory for a century, but it has not seen prisoners in almost fifty years. Instead, the grounds are now a museum and can be rented for events large and small. Interior spaces can hold 50-225, while the Main Yard and Grounds can comfortably accommodate up to 1,000 people! A wedding inside a jail will not be forgotten, that’s for sure.

Linen Building (from their website)

Linen Building

Housed in the former American Laundry Building built in 1910, the Linen Building is owned and operated by The Idaho Coalition Against Sexual & Domestic Violence (IDVSA). They moved into the Linen Building “with a vision to transform the commercial steam laundry building with a history of harmful, toxic working conditions for girls and women to a space that stands for what is possible when everyone is valued, safe, and can thrive.” The IDVSA has offered the Linen Building’s space at a discounted rate or free for organizations focused on social justice and/or uplifting marginalized communities, and any space rental helps a non-profit organization. The space rental includes the Main Room and Mezzanine (3,900 total sq. ft.), which can hold 328 standing or 190 seated.

Check out our original Boise post for information on places to stay and how to get around.

We hope that this gives you some good ideas on event locations in Boise, Idaho!

Boise skyline, Idaho Capitol Building (dome) in center

Group Travel – Plan Now for Future Events

COVID may have drastically changed the way we do group travel, but our needs for new experiences and gathering remain. As we slowly return to travel and events, it’s more important than ever to know where you can gather safely.

With safety as the number one priority, we’re highlighting this list of three amazing destinations for you and your colleagues to visit later in 2021 or 2022. Bend, Oregon; Park City, Utah; and Palm Springs, California. And no need to roam too far – all of these locations are less than a 3 hour drive or flight from Portland, Oregon.

Please note: Stay up to date on the latest public health guidance in Oregon by reviewing Guidance from Oregon Health Authority found at this website. At the time of this writing, only outdoor events of up to 50 guests are allowed in this area. For more detailed guidance on weddings, our colleague Elisabeth Kramer has written a helpful article, found here. State-to-state meetings guidance can vary. Consult with the local and state health authorities for what is permitted. At the time of this writing, a 14-day quarantine is required for persons traveling or returning to Oregon from out of state.

Need to Host a Meeting? – Try Bend, Oregon

If you’re looking to shake things up a bit and get out of town, Bend is an excellent choice, highlighting adventure without being too far off the beaten path. Bend not only offers unparalleled views and outdoor activities, but it also boasts many options for your next meeting.

The Oxford Hotel

  • A view of Oxford Hotel's street sign facade in Bend, Oregon
  • Photo of a bed and pillows in Oxford Hotel, Bend, Oregon
  • Photo of meeting room with screen at the front
  • Photo of the Oxford's door panel

This four diamond, eco-chic hotel is the perfect place to bring the team! With its downtown location everyone can walk to Bend’s many attractions and shops.

It even includes over 2,400 square feet of meeting space – so you can spread out while still getting work done.

Safety Policies

Mount Bachelor Village Resort

  • Vista view of Mt Bachelor Village Resort showing snow-capped mountains in the distance
  • Exterior view of resort building
  • Interior view of hotel room showing Central Oregon views

If you’re looking to have your next meeting nestled in the forest, the Mount Bachelor Village Resort is for you! Once the meetings are over, there are numerous outdoor activities available and downtown Bend is only a short walk away.

Their dedicated Events Center offers more than 5,000 square feet for indoor and outdoor meetings.

Take a virtual tour of the Event Center to get a feel for the space.

Need to Collaborate? – Try Park City, Utah

Let’s face it – it can be difficult to move ideas forward without in-person collaboration.

Getting out of your normal space can help spark creativity and get the team excited again. Park City is perfect for social distancing – together! There are so many options for outdoor activities, from zip lining to horseback riding to fly fishing. You’ll almost forget you’re there to work.

St. Regis

  • Aerial view of Park City Resorts with snowy mountains in background
  • A bedroom view at St. Regis Hotel Park City
  • Photo of boardroom meeting setup
  • Photo of boardroom meeting setup
  • Photo of meeting room setup
  • Outdoor photo of round tables with floral centerpieces

Tune in to nature at St. Regis: This resort offers unmatched luxury in the picturesque Wasatch Mountains. Utilize their private ski valet for convenient ski-in/ski-out access or take in the beauty during a breathtaking hike.

With over 16,000 square feet of event space and 11 different venues, there’s something for everyone.

Montage Deer Valley

  • View of hotel lobby at Montage Deer Valley
  • View of hotel bedroom
  • View of meeting boardroom
  • View of indoor bowling alley
  • View of small group meeting area

This elegant mountain lodge is the ideal setting for your next team meeting! It also offers unrivaled ski in/ski out access and many other year-round activities.

With over 60,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space available the sky is the limit for your next meeting. Once it’s safe to do so, try renting out their private bowling alley for a bit of fun for you and your team.

Group Travel at Deer Valley Ski Resort

  • A group of skiers smiling at Deer Valley Resort - Group Travel
  • View of meeting room boardroom
  • Evening view of Deer Valley Resort exterior

This Ski Resort offers more than just the ability to hit the snowy slopes! It also hosts a number of event spaces large and small. Try getting the team together to tackle business in the morning and follow that with an afternoon in the snow – there are options for all skill levels and interests.

Need to Build Relationships? – Try Palm Springs, California

Everyone needs a break, and Palm Springs is the perfect place for a getaway that still involves connecting over business.

Whisk the team away to sunny Palm Springs to recuperate while strengthening bonds. In a less than a 3 hour flight, you’ll be gathering under the desert sky and palm trees.

The Ace Hotel + Swim Club

  • Aerial view of Ace Hotel Resort Palm Springs - Group Travel
  • View of an Ace Hotel bedroom suite
  • Aerial view of Ace Hotel Resort swimming pool
  • View of Clubhouse event space
  • View of outdoor meeting space

With private outdoor fireplaces, a spa, and a private pool for events – your group travel event can stay safe and distanced while having fun! And if you do end up leaving the property, it’s only a short walk to downtown.

The private event space offers over 3,000 square feet for flexible indoor and outdoor meetings and events.

360 Tour of Event Spaces

Safety Policies for Group Travel

Avalon Hotel + Bungalows

This beautiful historic property will make it so you never want to go home! With luxurious guest rooms, three pools, a spa and 4-acres of manicured gardens there is plenty of space to relax and recharge safely.

When you’re ready to hold group travel again, there are plenty of indoor and outdoor options available. From courtyards to cabanas, there are lots of fun locations on site to host your meetings and events.

Health + Safety Policies

Don’t Wait!

Many groups are now re-scheduling their 2020 postponed travel and events. This means that for some 2021 dates, there will be double the demand. Most locations offer a very flexible cancellation policy, so why not start your sourcing now, before the pressure is on. You can fill out this form for a free venue sourcing consultation with EJP Events.

Katherine O’Brien is Lead Events Coordinator at EJP Events, and also the brains behind food blog What’s On Kate’s Plate.

Virtual and Hybrid Event Showcase at Skyrise

a hybrid event attendee listens to a sommelier from a distant tableA virtual and hybrid event attendee listens to a wine sommelier explain wine pairings at a small hybrid event. Additional attendees view remotely and are connected to the event on a big screen. Photo: Tom Cook Photo

 

Virtual and hybrid events have been on the upswing since the 2008 recession, but 2020 pushed them to the forefront. As EJP Events fielded many requests to move events online this year, we employed our existing knowledge and pulled in technical production teams, as well as software platforms like Whova, Eventsquid, and vFairs, in order to create compelling virtual and hybrid event offerings.

a table set for a virtual wine dinnerThis table is set for a virtual at home wine experience, complete with charcuterie box, bottles of wine, notebook, and the computer with which to participate in the event.

 

The challenge, however, was how to relay our vision to new clients. As much as we love to dial in every detail and think critically about the attendee experience (have you ever thought how many physical items an attendee will need to gather in order to be on camera at a virtual wine dinner? We have!), it’s hard to convey that to someone who has never done this before. And it’s not like we could go into our existing clients’ living rooms and take photos of them attending our events during a pandemic, let alone the privacy issues!

 

video camera recording a hybrid event
Livestreaming and video-recording of events has become de rigeur due to the pandemic-created virtual and hybrid event requirements starting in 2020. Photo: Tom Cook

So we put on our creative agency hats, and put together a content shoot (or styled shoot as it’s known in the weddings world). Emee and Katherine spent many hours in the fall brainstorming over Zoom, which best practices would make a virtual event shine; as well as what needs to be done to make your small hybrid event not only fun and memorable, but over-the-top in safety. We even experienced the now-common pandemic phenomenon of having everything scheduled and ready to go for our shoot event, only to have Multnomah County go into a four-week freeze and have to re-schedule the entire event and all its vendors.

We’re happy to note that because of this team and their experience and professionalism, it reinforced our faith in the event process and things went off without a hitch. (Unless you count that Emee forgot her on-camera outfit and had to send someone back for that.) And we now have this wonderful content to share with you, that I hope tells the story of how EJP Events would envision a safe, engaging, delightful, and productive virtual or hybrid event where everything is dialed in, from the food and drink, to the individual sanitized microphones on each attendee. Check it out in the gallery below. Our main ideas are:

  • Tell people what to do. Pre-COVID, people didn’t need a lot of instruction at a networking event or a happy hour. During COVID, however, structure and format is needed. Open networking leads to too-close gathering. Offer each attendee their own seat, table, or area and provide a program of activities. 
  • Speaking of program, make sure to explain the program to everyone through multiple channels: Pre-event communications, on-site signage and directionals, live staff offering directions and guidance, and audible instructions through the use of announcements.
  • If people are attending remotely as well as in-person (a “hybrid event”), ensure that the home viewer is not left out of the action by creating an online, digital broadcast that is just as interesting as the in-person experience. Make sure audio is good, not just of the speaker but of the in-person attendees, to give home viewers the feeling of “being there”. Offer opportunities for the home viewer to be “seen” at the in-person event and interact with the in-person guests. It’s a two-way street!

There are so many more details I could share, so I hope you’ll follow up with us if you have questions. For those of you who believe we’ll be back to normal and there’s no reason to keep perfecting virtual and hybrid events, here are a few headlines and quotes from news around the world:

Virtual Events, Other “COVID Trends” Likely to Continue to Mid-2021, Meetings and Events Director Says

Health expert predicts concerts, sporting events won’t return until ‘fall 2021 at the earliest“;

“Once my family and I are vaccinated, I would change behaviors, except I can’t imagine being in a crowd or attending any crowded events until at least 80 percent of the population is vaccinated.”Julie Bettinger, associate professor, University of British Columbia

David Nash, M.D., who serves as dean emeritus at Jefferson College of Population Health, anticipates that large in-person events could return with enhanced safety measures “deep into 2021 — the last quarter.”

Location: Skyrise / Remote.ly
Catering: Charcuterie Me
Photography: Tom Cook Photo
Planning: EJP Events
Florist: Mix Mod
Dessert: Missionary Chocolates
Rentals: The Party Place
Wine: Domaine Roy + fils
Signage: The Fresh Hues
Plates: Dtocs
Stylist: What’s On Kate’s Plate

Destination: Tacoma

Tacoma skyline, Tacoma Dome in background. Photo: Shawn Granton

Recently we found ourselves in Tacoma, Washington, a city about 2 1/2 hours north of Portland and just south of Seattle. Tacoma has had a reputation in the past of being a place that you skip over on your way to Seattle or Portland. But that perception has been changing over the last decade or so. We spent a day here to check out what’s going on, thoroughly enjoying ourselves while keeping an eye out for meeting spaces.

We decided to spend the night at Hotel Murano, conveniently located in the heart of downtown and adjacent to the Tacoma Link Light Rail which connects downtown to the Tacoma Dome. (Alas, we didn’t have a chance to ride the streetcar on this trip. Next time!) The Murano is a boutique hotel with an impressive view of the city. It’s named after Murano Island off the coast from Venice, Italy, an island considered to be the center of Old World glass art. That name is significant, as Tacoma is now a New World center of glass art, with the nearby Museum of Glass just a few blocks from the hotel. The Hotel Murano features glass art throughout, with a different featured artist on each of its floors.

tacoma-museum-of-glass-events
photo via https://www.museumofglass.org/private-events

Hotel Murano is not just a great place to stay, but it’s a great space to have an event! Their 30,000 square foot flexible use space can host corporate events, executive retreats, association meetings and leadership seminars.

Continue reading “Destination: Tacoma”

Thoughts on creating community within a large, international alumni association

I had the opportunity last fall to attend the Association of Yale Alumni’s annual Assembly* in New Haven, CT.

As an alumna and an AYA volunteer, and especially as a meeting planner and association manager (I do event planning and contract association management for a couple of regional associations in the Pacific Northwest); it was an exciting opportunity to see the inner workings of a large, international, global association encompassing more than 160,000 members around the world.

The theme for the event was “Creating Community at Yale” and attendees came from all eras, from The Silent Generation to the newest “Gen Z”ers from Yale’s graduating class of 2017.

The entire 3-day conference was packed so full of activities, I hardly had any time to document, but I did put together this short slideshow to give you a glimpse of what attending the AYA Assembly is like:

AYA Assembly 2017
Click for Flickr Slideshow


And how do you create community in such a massive organization, spanning so many age groups, interest groups, and regions? Certainly the answer can’t be contained in a short blog post, but I’ll try to cover a few points that I saw being discussed at Assembly:

  • Recognize Shared Interest Groups (SIGs) and give them a voice at the Assembly
  • Survey the membership for their preferences in what the AYA should be delivering to them; report on the results of the survey, and allow it to inform decisions moving forward
  • Acknowledge the need for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; and create a Task Force to study the issues and challenges of D/E/I at Yale and in the AYA

It was a great experience for a first timer to see the massive operation that is the AYA. I’m hoping I can take a lot of what I learned that week back to the other associations that I help to manage and coordinate conferences for, and see if any of these ideas about creating community also apply to other organizations.

*(For the Yalies out there, I was officially an alternate delegate from the class of 1995, and unofficially representing the Yale Club of Oregon and SW Washington in order to accept the “Outstanding Mid-Size Cities Award“.)