The best industry updates from the week to keep your spirits up during the pandemic. This week, planning an event in Wisconsin and Atlanta gets easier with GBAC accreditation and helpful new online resources—plus art inspires a new DC hotel opening and next year’s summer itinerary in Indianapolis.
Wisconsin Center District Earns GBAC Accreditation
Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Center District (WCD) is growing bigger and safer. The convention center received financing approval for its expansion as well as GBAC STAR Facility accreditation this week, signifying its commitment to sanitization and safety practices amid the pandemic. WCD is fully reopened and welcoming guests, thanks to heightened COVID-19 guidelines for visitors and staff, including health screenings and mask requirements. The property has also released a helpful video series for event planners that showcase its physically distanced room sets, touchless catering and hybrid-event-approved Wi-Fi capabilities.
“All of our research shows that two-thirds of people considering travel in the near future are looking at a destination’s safety and cleanliness policies and procedures before making their decisions,” said Visit Milwaukee Vice President of Sales Leslie Johnson. “GBAC accreditation helps position the Greater Milwaukee area as a safe place to visit and conduct business.”
See also: SGN 10/9: Wine Country, Black Meetings and Nashville
Discover Atlanta Launches New Planner-Friendly Website
If you’re eager to start planning meetings again but don’t know where to start, clap your hands. Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) launched DiscoverAtlanta.com on Oct. 14 in order to inspire and lend a hand to visitors and meeting professionals booking a trip down South. Planners will find a wealth of resources, including an online venue catalog, virtual site visits with 360ATL and a suite of event planning online products. The site also offers the latest COVID-19 regulation updates regarding masks, cleaning procedures, social distancing protocols and hours of operation for venues and attractions.
Hotel Zena Celebrates Female Empowerment in Washington, DC
Viceroy Hotels and Resorts’ new Hotel Zena opened last week in D.C. with 191 guest rooms, 3,726 sq. ft. of meeting space and more than 60 pieces of art celebrating female accomplishments throughout the nation’s history. The self-dubbed cultural hub and interactive venue is dedicated to women’s empowerment and inclusivity through provocative art and design, including a portrait of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and an installation of 12,000 protest buttons from generations of female marches.
“As our second hotel to open in Washington. D.C. this year, we are looking beyond the power and politics of the city to better position our nation’s capital as a hub for culture, unity, and empowerment,” Bill Walshe, CEO, Viceroy Hotels & Resorts.
Get inspired and book for your group at the link.
Indy’s New Art Exhibit Uses Technology to Put You Inside a Painting in 2021
No quarantine needed. In June 2021, you can travel into a three-dimensional Van Gogh painting at a new, 30,000-square-foot art exhibit inside the downtown Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields. The Lume will feature floor-to-ceiling, high-definition projections of around 3,000 moving images of Van Gogh’s artwork that will transform the museum’s fourth floor into an unparalleled experience for visitors and groups.
“The cultural scene is vastly changing as visitors demand new experiences,” said Bruce Peterson, founder of Grande Experiences, which has partnered with the museum to run the exhibition. “We are engaging new audiences to appreciate the arts in a different way, and we know from our work internationally that it will encourage more people to visit places like Newfields with renewed appreciation,” he said.
Tickets are available next summer. Shake up your itinerary at the link.
