Making Miami Memorable: 6 Planner Ideas
Chris Weinberg, founder and chief experience officer at Chris Weinberg Events, says that her company’s corporate and incentive events always include a combination of several days of events both at the host hotel and off-site experiences around Miami.
Some of Weinberg’s Miami favorites include the following:
A day or night on a party yacht cruise on Biscayne Bay. Great food and drinks and a DJ or band, combined with a slow ride to see the Miami skyline or view the stunning homes of the rich and famous on the islands near Miami Beach is always a hit.
Having a private experience at one of Miami’s world-class sporting venues, complete with players hired to interact with the attendees, using the player locker rooms and stadium facilities is a memorable experience. Major League Soccer (MLS) football club Inter Miami was cleared last year to commence construction on its $1-billion stadium, called the Miami Freedom Park. The new complex will transform a city-owned golf course near Miami International Airport into a complex featuring a 25,000-seat stadium for Inter Miami, a retail village, a 750-room hotel, and other structures.
Wynwood Arts District, home of the famous Wynwood Walls, is filled with art galleries, graffiti walls, and a plethora of breweries and restaurants. A guided walking tour appeals to all types of groups, as well as a mini food and wine festival at the Wynwood Walls.
Little Havana is another area where art and culture meets food. Attendees, Weinberg says, “can experience a walking food tour, or a history and cultural tour, to learn all about one of the oldest neighborhoods and how the Cuban diaspora built this area into what it is today.”
The Florida Keys is a chain of islands a couple hours drive from Miami, where attendees can enjoy snorkeling and diving, ecotours, walking trails, world-class sport fishing, great food and amazing sunsets, flanked by the Gulf of Mexico to the west and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.
The South Beach area in Miami Beach offers a variety of beach-themed day activities for large groups as well as night time “club experiences,” where one can rent an entire club for an experience with DJs, musicians and performers (such as aerialists), combined with amazing food and beverages. This is another great experience for a large group.
“We have world-class venues in Miami to bring a large group and this is a must if the budget allows,” Weinberg says. Examples include a themed dinner at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables or The Alfred I. DuPont Building in downtown Miami, which can host a 1920s prohibition or Great Gatsby themed party. There’s also the Perez Art Museum or the Knight Concert Hall at the Adrienne Arsht Center for an evening of art, entertainment and formal dining.
