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Riding in a cab into Manhattan, Sherry Huss got a call that would forever change The Freeman Company’s strategy for its annual leadership summit. On the other line was Ken Holsinger, the company’s senior vice president of industry research and insights, pitching his hometown of Boise, ID, as an ideal destination for a new style of retreat.

Rather than huddling in the woods or a posh resort, The Freeman Company transformed downtown Boise into its own summer camp in 2023, Camp Buck, complete with group songs, memorable storytelling and experiences worth writing home about.

The results were everything Huss, Freeman’s head of community, could ever dream for. But truth be told, Huss may cherish even more the memories of planning the event than the grand results.

In taking over the whole city, Huss relied upon her uncanny ability to nurture relationships and build connections. She and Holsinger walked the streets together, imagining Boise’s unique venues as hubs for their camp. Introductions to venue operators would open doors to speakers, students, community members and organizations that became integral to the entire experience.

The team at Visit Boise presented ideas and facilitated the logistics for the new-look summit, which attracted 263 Freeman members to the mountain town and set the standard for leadership conferences going forward.

“If the community gets involved in an event, it’s going to come out better,” Huss says. “That philosophy has helped me in everything I do.”

Here, we showcase how simple partnerships can have a big impact on events.

Understanding the audience is crucial to a successful event, such as this Victoria’s Secret event held by Distinct Event Planning.

Partner Up

Lucretia Williams, president and CEO of Distinct Event Planning, LLC, has been a force in the Midwest events scene for 27 years. Her entrepreneurial spirit has made the Columbus, OH-based Williams a favorite of corporate groups like Victoria’s Secret, the NBA, Ohio Wealth and more.

Williams’ secret to maintaining a level of excellence across meetings is that she works with vendors she can trust — not just to provide quality F&B and amenities, but also to cater specifically to a group’s preferences.

For instance, a health care company is going to favor education over activations while other industries aim for a high-energy atmosphere.

“It’s very rare that I work an event where I don’t have a relationship with that vendor,” says Williams. “When I partner with those who I have relationships with, I know they care about my client just as much as I do.”

Among her favorites are Cameron Mitchell for catering; Bell Tree Productions for AV and ZenGenius for event design and activations.

“We collaborate together as one big family to produce an amazing event that the client would have never been able to do on their own,” says Williams.

Understanding the audience is crucial to a successful event, notes Williams. She had a fresh reminder of that principle recently when organizing The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council’s convention in Cleveland, OH, an event dedicated to women business owners like Williams. In the case of this event, the planner was also an attendee.

She leaned on partnerships with Mills James, a local AV company, and also local catering for the event at the Huntington Convention Center that also included an excursion to MGM Northfield Park for a music and gaming themed reception.

Williams is active in industry organizations, including MPI and previously the Industry Live Events Association, to build connections with partners. “Being members of those associations is very important; that’s where I start with building those relationships,” she says.

The Freeman Company coordinated with Visit Boise to create a summer camp atmosphere downtown for their Camp Buck event.

Taking Over Boise

Back in Boise, Huss likens each visit of her tour to peeling back an onion until she reaches the core principle of Camp Buck.

The city may not have the biggest convention center in the United States, nor are its hotels anywhere near as large as the skyscrapers in the Big Apple. But there’s an experience to be had by embracing Boise’s vibe, which Huss compares favorably to Austin, TX with its vibrant businesses and community members.

“Why don’t we treat this as a downtown campus?” asked Huss, noting event professionals like those at Freeman are used to walking a lot at a meeting, just in a convention center or hotel.

So rather than saving Boise’s unique venues for an off-site excursion, Huss flipped the script and went exclusively with important sites within the city.

Naturally, the journey starts with a nod to another food that needs peeling: The potato. Named after Jack Simplot, the famed “old farmer” who concentrated on the spud, Jack’s Urban Meeting Place — or JUMP — takes what could have been a tractor museum and transforms it into an interactive creative center and community gathering place.

Huss jumped at the idea of taking over the five-story venue that mixes indoor and outdoor gathering space. It became the home for breakout sessions, happy hours and the closing reception in a variety of large, open meeting spaces. The five-story Spiral Slide only added to the summer camp feel.

From there, the blueprint was in place to create a truly citywide event. Notable venues and experiences included:

• Basque Block – a Spanish-inspired street where attendees enjoyed dancing and paella during the opening night party. Freeman’s staff was able to explore The Basque Museum & Cultural Center at their leisure.
• The Egyptian Theatre – a historic home to music and opera performances that was transformed into the general session stage. Attendees snacked on popcorn and candy just like they would do as kids.
• Treefort Music Hall – which annually hosts a popular music festival, was fittingly used for an after-hours event complete with musical performances. The venue has several bars and lounge spaces, as well as an arcade.

Attendees feasted at local F&B venues, including Warehouse Food Hall, where they got a gift card to pick their own meals, and three other notable restaurants. Freeman leadership hopped from restaurant to restaurant to mingle with the staff, notes Huss.

“Freeman’s event was a game changer for Boise,” says Andrew Heidt, vice president of sales at Visit Boise. “While we’ve certainly seen events utilize various venues around the city, Freeman took it to the next level by seamlessly integrating all that Boise has to offer — from its truly walkable downtown, inspiring venues to the vibrant local culture.”

The Exhibitionists band performed after hours at The Tree Fort Music Hall in Boise during the Camp Buck event.

Making Connections

The emotional backdrop of Camp Buck can’t be overstated. Freeman, one of the event industry’s top general service contractors, felt the effects of the pandemic internally and from the hit the industry took as a whole.

With the pandemic ebbing in 2023, there was a need to connect in meaningful ways — a yearning that has hardly diminished since, with remote work, older workforce retirements and corporate restructuring, including layoffs and downsizing.

Organizations like Freeman may only have a few opportunities per year to gather in-person. Huss, as head of community, knows better than most how important it is to take advantage of such opportunities. Sitting around a boardroom or in a meeting space can’t build the same type of camaraderie as, say, huddling over a campfire.

It’s incumbent on planners to create environments that naturally provoke conversations, goal-setting and teamwork. Huss may be a veteran planner but knows she can’t do it alone.

That hands-on attention from Visit Boise, as well as the connections that the CVB made on Freeman’s behalf, helped Huss accomplish her goals to motivate, integrate and inspire attendees.

A mix of alternative formats, thoughtful networking and balanced content programming brought the event’s storytelling theme to life.

Activities included a downtown scavenger hunt created by Feed First Events, yoga and hiking opportunities, typewriter poetry and create-your-own screen-printed T-shirts led by Brigade Screen Printing & Embroidery.

“I would do anything for Visit Boise,” says Huss. “They definitely care about their city. We’re still able to grow together, and that doesn’t happen enough in our industry.”

Arguably the highlight of the three days came when no less than 56 team members participated in a garage band concert where Freeman’s leaders showed off their outside-of-work talent. The willingness to share a different side of their lives is a testament to the effectiveness of the summit.

Freeman’s post-event survey results reveal:

• 99% of attendees (a healthy mix of long-term employees and those with Freeman for less than 10 years) left the event with a strong sense of excitement to be a part of the company, reflecting a shared sentiment of inclusivity
• 97% of attendees left optimistic about the direction of Freeman
• 90% of sessions had a positive sentiment rating of 50 or higher
• 60% agreed that the alternative event venue contributed to a positive Camp Buck experience, and 74% said the same about session content.

Richmond Region Tourism has a hands-on approach when highlighting the benefits of Richmond, VA. Photo courtesy of f11phot

Moving into the Motor City

A proactive CVB can introduce a planner and subsequently, his or her organization, to a region they’ve never visited before and provide an authentic experience to attract repeat visits.

For instance, Visit Detroit made for a smooth transition from Las Vegas to the Motor City for Siemens’ Realize LIVE event over the summer, says David Taylor, the software company’s vice president of industry strategy, marketing and global execution.

Detroit, MI’s location in the Midwest made it appealing for the users and companies that rely on Siemens’ software for everything from phones to planes and even race cars. Attendance grew about 30% from the previous year to 3,000 participants. Taylor expects a similar increase when the event returns next year for the second of its two-year contractual agreement.

Visit Detroit’s team helped guide Siemens on the right hotels, venues and experiences to make Realize LIVE feel like a top-tier tech event, Taylor says. Properties included The Detroit Foundation Hotel, Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center and The Courtyard by Marriott Detroit Downtown, all of which are close to Huntington Place, Detroit’s convention center.

Recommendations for off-site venues include:

• Social Brews for the employee party after Realize LIVE
• The Apparatus Room (inside Detroit Foundation Hotel) for group dinners and both the VIP Advocacy reception and Mendix’s social gatherings
• Union Assembly for group dinners
• The Yard at Corktown for a sales workshop dinner and for the global events team’s gathering
• Detroit Tigers Suite, which was hosted by Visit Detroit as part of the Realize LIVE workshop
• Museum District, Midtown for VIP and spousal activities, including tours, wine tasting and workshops

“It’s the knowledge of everything going on in Detroit that’s there for you to take advantage of,” Taylor says of the CVB’s value. “I live in the Detroit area. I know the great places for my wife and I to go for a meal, but I don’t know the great places to take 100 people.”

The timing also worked out that Siemens incorporated the 2025 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, an Indy Car race featuring teams (Penske and Andretti) sporting vehicles powered by the company’s technology, into the event.

“It was a well-oiled machine,” Taylor says of the event.

Southern Hospitality

The Midwest is not alone in making attendees and planners feel welcome. Just ask the team at Richmond Region Tourism. Richmond, VA, is among the country’s most historic state capitals, let alone cities. Yet Clymer Berry, executive vice president of the International Motorcoach Group, hadn’t experienced it firsthand until planning the organization’s strategic alliance meeting for 300 tour operators and industry vendors and suppliers.

About a 90-minute drive from Washington, D.C., and a little over four hours from Charlotte, Richmond is a promising location for tourism entrepreneurs. IMG has members in the Mid-Atlantic region, adding to the appeal.

Sensing the opportunity to increase exposure and visitation via travel companies, Richmond Region Tourism, as the CVB is known, successfully placed a bid on the summer 2025 event.

Due to the event’s relatively small size, IMG prefers second-tier destinations so attendees can get a true sense of the city without feeling overwhelmed. Berry was impressed by the Richmond CVB’s hand’s-on approach on the site visit that extended to the conference itself.

Because the attendees create tour packages, it’s important that the annual gathering highlights the entire destination and not just the host hotel, Berry says. To that end, there are four off-site events, including a tailgate luncheon with buses parked in and around the party. The Westin Richmond served as the host hotel.

Attendees got a taste of Richmond during an evening reception at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, a setting that provided historical context to attendees. As per the RFP, the CVB sponsored the reception, which served a variety of Southern-style dishes.

Berry cites a custom luggage tag collaboration and assistance creating a custom wine-pairing dinner as two other noteworthy collaborations with the CVB.

“We do these meetings every year and that was probably one of the biggest hits I’ve ever seen,” Berry said of the customized luggage tags. “People were looking for leftovers. If there’s a giveaway and people are really looking for it afterwards, that says something.” C&IT