A vital surge of development and redevelopment is driving Atlanta, which swings open the doors to new venues and sites for visitors every day. Making their grand openings most recently: a new wing of the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) in 2002; the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) in 2003; the Georgia Aquarium in 2005; and the New World of Coca Cola in 2007. Even a brand spanking new airport runway debuted this year. By 2012, there will be several new hotels, new transportation access to the airport, a civil and human rights museum, and a new international airport terminal.

"The Olympics in 1996 started the catapult going forward," said Mark Sussman, Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) director of trade show sales. "Atlanta was once considered a business destination. Now, the city offers attractions and entertainment for people of all ages." Mark Zimmerman, general manager of the GWCC, adds, "Our clients are impressed with what is opening." One new development feeds another: According to Chris Anderson, CMP, director of sales and marketing for the Atlanta Marriott Marquis hotel, "The Georgia Aquarium really provided the spark that lit the fire for downtown Atlanta. This helped us support our decision to invest in a $138 million renovation."

For planners, these new developments "are important for building meeting attendance," said Connie Bergeron, CMP, vice president, global sourcing, Benchmarc360°, a meeting management firm that has brought more than 300 meetings to Atlanta. "They encourage excitement for coming to Atlanta. It is important to our client base and the global destinations we source for those clients that Atlanta is part of their mix. Also, Guidelines-Atlanta, our DMC business unit, uses these and other venues to design some of the most creative events for groups wanting a unique experience in Atlanta."

Georgia World Congress Center
The Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC), the fourth largest convention center in the United States, offers more than 3.9 million square feet of meeting and exhibit space, including 12 exhibit halls with 1.4 million square feet of prime space, and 106 meeting rooms spread over three contiguous wings. The 33,000-square-foot Thomas Murphy Ballroom is divisible into four sections and the 25,772- square-foot Georgia Ballroom is divisible into three sections. One of three auditoriums, the Sidney Marcus Auditorium offers 1,740 fixed seats and concert-quality audio systems. Several groups can be accommodated at one time and not interfere with each other. Quality gourmet catering is provided by Levy Restaurants. The walls are adorned with art, including "Impressions of Atlanta," created by students as part of a long-term art partnership with the GWCC.

Georgia State University's (GSU) Hospitality Learning Center, located at the GWCC, enables students to immerse themselves in high-tech teaching and research in the hospitality industry. This is a boon for meeting planners, who can take advantage of the opportunity to have students work as session monitors, distribute literature, or conduct statistical data collection studies.

"The GWCC is not just about bricks and mortar," Zimmerman said. "We provide true Southern hospitality, training our staff to be customer-focused." Ayuko Kimura-Fay, CMP, director of meetings for the American Society of Hematology (ASH) confirms that sentiment: "We were truly treated to Southern hospitality at our 2005 meeting. Our attendees are looking forward to returning in 2007."

Georgia Dome and Centennial Olympic Park
The GWCC Authority manages the convention center and the adjacent George Dome and Centennial Olympic Park. The three facilities comprise one of the largest convention, sports, and entertainment complexes in the world.

The Georgia Dome, the world's largest cable-supported domed stadium in the world and home to the NFL Atlanta Falcons, can be utilized for conventions when not hosting sporting events. It features 102,000 square feet on the stadium floor for exhibits, with utility grids on 30-foot centers, and 71,250 fixed seats. Additional seating on the stadium floor can boost the capacity to 80,000 seats theater-style. Five meeting rooms range in size from 838 square feet to 2,431 square feet.

The 21-acre Centennial Olympic Park continues its Olympic legacy as a gathering place - perfect for both monumental and intimate special events. The Park features the world's largest interactive fountain incorporating the Olympic Ring symbol, which can play customized announcements, a 1,200-seat outdoor amphitheater, Olympic tributes, and acres of open green space.

The GWCC complex is within easy walking distance of hotels, restaurants, and attractions and a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) station is located at the complex.

The Georgia Aquarium
The World's Largest Aquarium was designed with planners in mind. "Bernie Marcus and the Aquarium design team worked with a focus group of planners to learn what they wanted in a special events site," said Will Ramsey, director of group sales for the Aquarium. "That's how our ballroom came to be. They said they wanted space that could be dedicated to meetings and special events, day and evening."

The spectacular 16,413-square-foot Oceans Ballroom features a private viewing area of the 6.3 million-gallon Ocean Voyager exhibit and the 800,000-gallon beluga whale exhibit. Attendees can watch their own aquatic show. The ballroom is divisible into three sections and accommodates 1,000 for a seated meal or 1,500-2,000 for a reception.

Individual aquarium galleries can be rented in the evening for functions of 150-200 for a seated meal or 200-300 for a reception. You can also buy out the Aquarium in the evening for groups up to 5,000. Aquarium staff can arrange for docents in each gallery. All galleries are entered from the vast central lobby. The Ocean Voyager Theater offers 250 fixed seats, a stage, and screen.

Catering is provided by Wolfgang Puck Catering. "All of our dishes are made from scratch on site; there are no hot boxes," said Cathy Delpozo-Taylor, director of catering. "We take pride in providing restaurant-quality dining prepared by a world-class chef." Meals are served on Rosenthal porcelain, and there is one server for each table of 10.

The Aquarium gets high praise from planners. "I wish I could pack up the venue and staff and take them with me to every convention," said Elizabeth Asplin, convention and meetings manager for the American Urological Association. "The staff covered every detail. They thought outside the box. It would be hard to recreate the entire experience for our attendees anywhere else."

Other Special Event Venues
The Carter Presidential Center - located on 37 acres, and offering a variety of meeting and special event spaces for groups from 10 to 1,200. Full-service meeting facilities include wireless Internet access throughout the facility. The Cecil B. Day Chapel seats 450 theater style for meetings and presentations. Other rooms in the facility can accommodate banquets for 50-210 guests, and receptions for 50-1,200 guests. Catering is provided exclusively by Proof of the Pudding.

Inside CNN's Prime Time Events - three distinctive event spaces for evening events. The largest space, The Atrium, accommodates up to 400 guests for a cocktail reception and up to 200 guests for a seated dinner. The Terrace comfortably seats 50 guests for a seated dinner and 75 for a cocktail reception.

For smaller receptions and meetings, The Globe and Theater space holds 20 guests for a seated dinner or 50 guests for cocktail receptions and meetings. With Prime Time Events, you will have access to CNN's exclusive event spaces and the opportunity to experience news behind-the-scenes by taking the Inside CNN Atlanta Studio Tour. Prime Time Events also offers After Hours Tours without space rental for groups of 40 or more.

103 West - a former restaurant converted into a full-service private event facility. The first floor offers a piano bar and the Buckhead Ballroom, which seats up to 160 people for a meal.

A section of the ballroom, the Paces Room, can provide additional private space for up to 40 people. Downstairs, the Grand Ballroom, divisible into two sections, accommodates 250 for seated meals or 350 for receptions. The Club Room, located right outside the Grand Ballroom, is perfect for smaller groups, and can accommodate up to 30 people seated.

The entire building can be reserved for "meet and eat" under one roof, and can accommodate up to 600 reception-style. Two groups can be in-house at the same time, neither disturbing the other, since both levels have private entrances. 103 West provides its own in-house AV, and its own gourmet executive chef.

A plus for planners on a budget: Flower arrangements are complimentary, no rental fee, and there is no minimum food and beverage guarantee for daytime events.

Restaurants
Atlanta has 450 restaurants in the respected Zagat Guide - the fourth most in the United States. "Our members (medical doctors) were impressed with the number of upscale culinary offerings," Kimura-Fay said. Following is just a smattering of those that welcome groups.

Sear - the new fire-inspired American restaurant in the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, is a modern space that showcases the talents of a world-class chef, Executive Chef Chris Chadwick. Private rooms, set apart by floor-to-ceiling wine walls, can seat groups from eight to 100. Close by is High Velocity, a next-generation sports bar that accommodates up to 75 people for private functions in its media room, often used for team-building sessions. The adjacent small Sweetwater Room is often used for VIP receptions.

Repast - the brainchild of husband and wife chef team Joe Truex and Mihoko Obunal, serves innovative Southern cuisine, and offers two spaces - the 54-seat dining room and the 40-seat loft. "We're eager to work with groups," said Truex. "Depending on the timing, planners could buy out the restaurant," he added.

The Atlanta Fish Market - displays fish flown in daily from all points on the globe in refrigerated cabinets in the main dining room. The restaurant offers several private spaces for groups from 50 to 150 for a seated function, or 180 for a reception. Although the restaurant does not sell out the entire space, they will accommodate groups up to 350 on a slow night.

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (H-JAIA) is the busiest passenger airport in the world. It has five parallel runways, all of which can be operated simultaneously. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on August 7 that for the first six months of 2007 the fifth runway improved on-time performance. Other good news for air passengers: A new taxiway opened April 2007, so that planes exit active runways quicker, providing more safety; the airport offers an executive conference center with 23 rooms of various sizes.

Georgia International Convention Center

Twenty-seven hotels with 8,000-plus guest rooms make up the Atlanta Airport Hotel Council, all of which are convenient to the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC) - soon to be the only U. S. convention center connected to an airport.

Owned and operated by the city of College Park, the GICC offers 151,200 square feet of column-free contiguous exhibit space. Each of the four halls, with 37,800 square feet, has a show manager's office and its own café. Close to the exhibit halls are six International Meeting Room Suites of 2,080 square feet - each divisible into four sections. The GICC boasts the largest ballroom in Georgia: the 40,300-square-foot International Ballroom, divisible into eight sections. In response to planners' requests, the ballroom ceiling has multiple rigging points. Catering, by Proof of the Pudding, provides white-tablecloth restaurant quality.

"The exhibit halls and meeting rooms are easily accessible. There is no place where you have a bottleneck," said Hoke Wilcox, logistics chair for the Georgia Education Technology Consortium, Inc. (GaETC). Karen Keegan, event manager, Interweave Press, LLC, who organizes Bead Fest, agreed. "Our attendees aren't always experienced travelers, and sometimes get overwhelmed going from point A to point B in a facility. But at the GICC, we dispensed with our own signage. There was no getting lost." Wilcox also marveled at the superior acoustics, which block out any airport noise. "In the meeting rooms you are not disturbed," he said. "Plus, I can't say enough good things about the staff. They are professional, organized, and bend over backwards to meet your needs. I felt I was in partnership with the GICC."

Keegan echoed his sentiments. "We were offered a pre-convention meeting for our 2007 event, but I didn't think we needed one. We had worked with the staff in the past; they knew our event very well. The GICC is one of my favorite venues as a show manager," she said.

The catering staff also gets high marks for "thinking outside the box," according to Wilcox. "Our attendees must live within the government per diem, so the caterers opened up the cafés and brought in well-known vendors such as Chick-fil-A. Registrants purchased their own lunches. Everyone at GICC was vested in the success of our event."

The proximity to the airport was also important to Keegan. "Our attendees were pleased that they didn't have to rent a car," she said. "We ran a shuttle bus from the Hilton, our headquarters hotel; there was no worry about transportation."

Coming in the future: a 400-room flagship hotel and a 150-room suites hotel on land adjacent to the GICC, scheduled for fall 2009; and a complimentary people mover, direct from the airport, scheduled for spring 2009.

Atlanta's destination marketing community stands in sync, ready for the new developments. "We have one of the best working relationships of a convention center and a CVB in the country. Other cities are considering the 'Atlanta model,'" said Zimmerman. The relationship extends to attractions, as well. "We're all in this together; it's a team effort," said the Aquarium's Ramsey.

Contributing Editor Sara Torrence, CMP, is the presi-
dent of Sara Torrence & Associates, a meeting and events
planning consulting firm in Gaithersburg, Md. She is the
author of How to Run Scientific and Technical Meetings.