San Francisco. Photo courtesy of San Francisco Travel

Maria Hernandez, head of events for Ticketmaster, admits up front she might be slightly biased. “I was born and raised a true native Californian,” Hernandez prefaces. “California is not just a state, it’s an experience.”

“From beaches and lakes that people see on postcards, to mountains that take your breath away, to deserts with surreal beauty and serenity, to world-famous amusement parks, to food and drink — California has it all,” Hernandez proclaims. “California is an ideal meeting destination because it offers amazing year-round weather, accessibility, diversity and so many cities to plan memorable events. No matter what the goal of the meeting, there’s a location in California that aligns with the tone, purpose and personality of the event.”

San Diego

No matter the politics of the moment, California remains an undeniable economic powerhouse — the state recently became the fourth-largest economy in the world, eclipsing that of Japan, which trails behind only the United States, China and Germany in global rankings. It has the busiest port in the nation (Los Angeles), the world’s entertainment hub (Hollywood), the center of the global tech industry (The Bay Area) and it shares its massive agricultural bounty with the nation. California is also home to the most Fortune 500 companies in the U.S. — 58 in all — and it’s the main gateway to Asia, for planners seeking to draw attendees from the Pacific Rim.

No wonder California is positively catnip to corporate and incentive planners looking for a dose of fresh air on the meeting circuit. For the last two years, leading cloud-based CRM software company Salesforce has chosen the San Diego Convention Center as the base for its Tableau Conference.

“We’re excited to return next year,” says Robin Smith, director, strategic events for Salesforce. “The conference is Salesforce’s annual gathering of data enthusiasts, and selecting a location that matches the energy and enthusiasm of the #DataFam can be a challenge. San Diego immediately felt like a slam dunk — it has great weather, a robust convention center with so many event and activation possibilities and a variety of nearby hotels and social spots for attendees to enjoy.”

The most recent event drew 8,500 attendees. “The venue’s updated aesthetics and flexibility in accommodating a variety of events, group sizes and setup parameters also stood out to us,” Smith says, adding that the convention center also stands out for being within walking distance of hotels and restaurants. “In particular, the culinary team is top-notch and truly sets the standard for food quality, presentation and … use of local vendors and fresh ingredients.”

Tableau also lauded the hospitality and services provided by the San Diego Tourism Authority. “We worked very closely with them for our past two events and have built a longstanding partnership together as we continue to develop our program strategy,” she adds.

Smith recommends that planners should not underestimate how busy the downtown area can be. “Not only do venues and social spots book earlier than we had anticipated, but we’ve also learned that San Diego is constantly hosting sports, concerts, festivals and other events that tend to make downtown more crowded,” she says. “My advice is to plan accordingly and think through your start and end times, crowd control and to make contingency plans as needed.”

In terms of new facilities in California, perhaps the biggest news was the recent opening of the bayside Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center, located in Chula Vista, around 12 miles from the San Diego airport and about 8 miles from the Mexico border. The $1.3 billion project features 1,600 rooms, 12 distinct culinary venues and over 477,000 sf of meeting and event space, including the largest convention center of any hotel in the state — the California Ballroom & Exhibit Hall, which measures 140,049 sf. There is also a 4.25-acre outdoor waterpark with waterslides, a lazy river, wave pool and private cabanas.

Some 30 miles north of the San Diego International Airport, in Carlsbad, Omni La Costa Resort & Spa completed an extensive renovation in 2024, in time for the property’s 60th anniversary.

BJ’s Restaurants held its General Manager Conference at La Costa last year, and Stephanie Atencio, vice president, talent acquisition and development, hails the resort’s amenities and great food, as well as the Omni team for its gracious hospitality.

“We are a restaurant company,” says Atencio, who brought in 550 attendees for the conference. “We typically meet at a four-star hotel that combines great spaces for learning and connection, along with exciting locations to explore. La Costa felt more like a top-performer incentive trip versus a national sales meeting.”

BJ’s used branded signage across the 400-acre property to guide attendees to the various events. “It was outstanding,” Atencio says of the conference facilities. “With every request, the team figured out how to get to yes. We stayed on property for meals, including our VIP dinner at Bob’s Steak & Chop House, to a private dinner in the villas, to a welcome reception with a live band, to a stunning awards banquet. The catering and service was excellent.”

Although most attendees stayed at the resort for a round of golf, a spa treatment or a private pool party, BJ’s also offered an off-property activity day — which included a hosted tour of the San Diego Zoo and a visit to the Stone Brewing World Bistro & Gardens for a private brewery tour and lunch. “The spa and championship golf course were first-class, and Stone Brewing was a huge hit — the food was amazing and fresh,” Atencio says.

Palm Springs

For her company’s executive conference, Ticketmaster’s Hernandez selected the legendary La Quinta Resort & Club, which continues to exude old-Hollywood charm as it nears its centennial year. Situated in the city of La Quinta, one of the communities that make up Greater Palm Springs, the property recently completed a renovation honoring the hotel’s Spanish Colonial Revival architecture while introducing modern upgrades to elevate the guest experience. Enhancements include a revitalized lobby celebrating the resort’s storied past, guestrooms brightened with contemporary furnishings and modernized bathrooms and a reimagined adults-only retreat, Plunge at the Renker Pool. In all, the almost 800-room La Quinta features 190,000 sf of indoor/outdoor meeting space, including two ballrooms that are each about 16,000 sf, as well as a smaller one.

“La Quinta Resort is an exceptional choice for a conference,” Hernandez explains. “It brings together history, luxury and functionality in one stunning desert location.” What makes the property ideal for corporate events is the versatility of its meeting spaces, from executive boardrooms to large ballrooms and beautiful outdoor courtyards, she says, adding: “There’s a venue for every type of session or experience, and the flow between indoor and outdoor makes it easy to design dynamic agendas that keep people engaged.”

“Service is another standout,” Hernandez says. “The events [staff] and their legacy team members are incredibly experienced and proactive, making planning seamless from start to finish. They anticipate needs, offer thoughtful solutions and ensure everything runs smoothly.” Hernandez notes that her group of 125 attendees benefitted from a midweek sweet spot, visiting between the two weekends when the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and Stagecoach Country Music Festival were taking place.

“The hotel was able to find a creative way to fit my group in, and some of our attendees were able to add the festivals to their experience,” Hernandez explains. “It was a perfect fit. For those who stay away from the month of April in Greater Palm Springs because of festival season, I would say it’s one of the best times to book — and the weather in April is impeccable.”

Long Beach. Photo courtesy of Long Beach CVB

Long Beach

Dscoop (Digital Solutions Cooperative) is the name for the idea-sharing community of 20,000 Hewlett Packard (HP) industrial print and large format customers and partners. To help foster a collaborative environment for its recent training and networking event — known as Edge — HP chose Long Beach, in part due to the city’s manageable size.

“A group of 1,300 attendees has the opportunity to take over the entire city,” says Tyrell Syms, events & global trade show manager for HP. “Having the Long Beach Convention Center in proximity to multiple hotels allowed us to have it all under one roof. The weather, the walkability and, honestly, the pricing made the city very attractive for us. It’s very compact, easy to navigate and the meeting rooms are relatively nearby — it was a tight-knit package.”

Syms notes that the Long Beach Convention Center didn’t impose F&B minimums for the event. “F&B minimums can be a killer,” Syms says. “Most meeting planners can’t explore other options for entertaining, but for us, having the ability to host events offsite was key.” The restaurant 555 East Steakhouse was used for a private keynote for top customers, and some groups enjoyed a tour and reception with hosted drinks, held on the famed Queen Mary, a retired British ocean liner docked nearby. “We also used BO-beau kitchen + roof tap, which has an amazing rooftop view overlooking the water. We did heavy hors d’oeuvres and desserts, but they can customize the menu to your liking. Getting people outside and into the city is essential.”

Although most events were held at the convention center, HP used The Westin Long Beach as its host hotel, a property with 42,221 sf of event space — sufficient for smaller gatherings. Otherwise, attendees were spread across a range of nearby hotels — Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt Regency and Hyatt Centric, all within a half-mile of the convention center.

Palos Verdes

Just up the coast from Long Beach is Palos Verdes, home to Terranea, a 582-room resort situated along coastal bluffs on 102 acres. In addition to 135,000 sf of indoor/outdoor event space, the Mediterranean-inspired property features eight dining options, an award-winning golf course, four swimming pools and The Spa at Terranea, which recently underwent a $4.5 million renovation. Of particular note is the 18,000-sf Palos Verdes Grand Ballroom, which offers an unrivaled setting beneath 24-foot ceilings, flowing seamlessly to an outdoor terrace overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

Salesforce selected Terranea to host its recent annual CEO summit, Elevate. “Once you visit Terranea, the beauty of the Palos Verdes coastline really stays with you,” says Trista Myers, head of events, Salesforce Ventures. “We place a lot of value on being able to host attendees outside, or indoor-outdoor, and Terranea has many meeting spaces and ballrooms with patios and lawns directly connected. That was a huge advantage, and something that is very hard to find.” Salesforce also wanted a location where outdoor networking opportunities could be incorporated for the 140 guests. “We took advantage of the golf course, an e-bike tour and a guided hike, offering the activities to guests on the first day, which allowed everyone to network and get to know each other.”

Myers says she pushed Terranea hard on dining. “We spent a lot of time talking to the culinary and banquets team to achieve the vision we had for F&B during our event,” Myers says. “The hotel graciously accommodated our tastings, feedback and collaboration to build custom menus and worked with us to place F&B stations in some new locations, based on our program flow.”

“The sales and leadership team at Terranea are really hands-on, in a way we don’t see at all properties,” she adds. “You see them out walking the property, taking shifts to welcome guests at the entrance, lending the bellman a hand and helping [to] facilitate event requests with the CSM during busy or pivotal times in the program. Having golf onsite and a dedicated excursions team was also valuable, allowing seamless transitions between the activities.” Although Elevate took place in April, usually a good month for outdoor activities, rain arrived during the event. “The hotel helped us pivot and accommodated overnight room flips, changes to our [banquet event order] and tight deadlines to maximize attendee time outside. It all worked out beautifully — maybe even better than our original plan.”

Anaheim Convention Center. Courtesy photo

Anaheim

For human resources software firm ADP, Anaheim wasn’t the original choice for its sales conference — Pasadena was the location chosen for the event, held earlier this year. However, after wildfires tore through residential neighborhoods of Altadena and Pasadena, Abbey Herman, CMM, the company’s director, special events, was forced to pivot quickly, as much of Pasadena’s hotel stock was being used to house displaced families.

“As a corporation, we felt we couldn’t have a meeting someplace where people had lost their homes and didn’t have any place to live,” Herman explains. With rooming lists completed and flights booked — and the event less than two weeks away — ADP needed to relocate, despite the challenges involved in finding rooms for a meeting of 130 on such short notice. “I thought, where could we go where it’s easy to get in with flights, or by driving. I picked up the phone and called Maribel Denner — whom I’ve known for 25 years — on her way in to work.”

Denner, the director of sales and marketing for the JW Marriott Anaheim Resort, worked quickly. “She called me back an hour later, and she had moved the entire meeting,” Herman says. While having a relationship with the hotel from two previous events no doubt helped speed the process, just 90 minutes later, she had a new contract.

“What normally takes three to six months of planning, we accomplished in two weeks. The support, the professionalism and the can-do attitude of the JW team — they have pride in their work,” Herman adds. “This was our third time working with the JW — we’ve found our group size fits really well at the hotel,” Herman says. “All the meeting space is compact, on one level, and you go right out the doors and there are so many things within walking distance. It’s accessible to places like Newport Beach, where we arranged a harbor tour for our group, and two years ago we partnered with the Disney team to do an event at California Adventure.”

Speaking of Disney, this year marks the 70th anniversary of Disneyland Resort’s opening, and the park will continue to celebrate the event all the way through next summer. Corporate groups can take advantage of the anniversary by capping off a day of meetings with a themed dinner, dessert party and viewing of “World of Color Happiness!” — a unique nighttime entertainment spectacular. Alternatively, for a private experience, planners can arrange for an after-hours buyout event at Mickey’s Toontown in Disneyland Park.

This year, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa is refreshing all of its more than 940 guestrooms. The décor will complement the existing Arts and Crafts motif, adding new bold colors with accents inspired by the beautiful California wildflower blooms often found in Impressionist plein air paintings. The hotel also features 20,000 sf of meeting space, including the 11,900-sf Sequoia Ballroom, as well as 18 dynamic breakout rooms. Meanwhile, across Disneyland Drive, the Disneyland Hotel offers more than 970 rooms and an additional 137,000 sf of flexible meeting space.

Monterey

According to Sherry Huss, head of community for global events company Freeman, several factors led the company to choose Monterey for its annual leadership conference last year.

“We love having our attendees outside as much as possible,” she says. “Monterey was ideal because it’s walkable, it offers a variety of health and wellness options, world-class spas are available, there are memorable activities for attendees and there’s a focus on sustainability.”

“We wanted a coastal climate, with mild, refreshing weather,” Huss continues, adding that the two previous destinations used were quite hot for outdoor events. “We were looking for somewhere that was cool — both in temperature and aesthetic.” However, the time zone offered another advantage.

“Folks traveling from the East have time to make it to the West Coast for an evening welcome reception. It’s a great way to kick off an event and have people ready for a morning start,” she says, adding that the state’s inspirational settings and intrinsic personality were major assets for the event. “There is a deep sense of culture and community in California cities, and we always try to tap into this when we bring our group of leaders to an area.”

For the 300-attendee event, Freeman checked into the 379-room Portola Hotel & Spa at Monterey Bay, the California central coast’s largest and most diverse conference facility. However, while the property offers over 60,000 sf of flexible indoor space and almost 60,000 sf of outdoor space — including two newly renovated ballrooms — Freeman chose the adjacent Monterey Conference Center (MCC), which features 85,000 sf of total meeting space.

“The Monterey Conference Center space is beautiful and architecturally sophisticated,” Huss says. “It was recently renovated, using salvaged material as much as they could, and has a lot of glass that brings in the light and creates spaces that are welcoming and modern.” Although she notes that, like many urban venues, the MCC lacks a traditional loading dock setup.

“With careful coordination — including securing permits for our trucks, aligning with the load-out of Monterey Car Week and working closely with both the MCC and See Monterey teams — we ensured a smooth delivery process without disruption,” Huss says.

Freeman made good use of the area’s attractions with a welcome reception at Monterey Beach Station, dinner at Monterey Bay Aquarium and a picnic lunch in a state park catered by The Portola, as well as a range of activities that included whale-watching, kayaking, e-bike rides and a team-building wine experience. Huss notes that Monterey requires a bit of planning because there are multiple airport options. Five minutes from the hotel, Monterey Regional Airport (MRY) has connections to and from western U.S. cities, with a robust schedule of flights available into both San Jose and San Francisco international airports.

Huss concludes: “We partnered with CCM&E Destination Services for shuttles, and with proactive coordination and the right local support, we were able to offer flexible options while keeping the attendee experience top of mind. The folks at See Monterey are very helpful, knowledgeable and fun to work with. My tip is to include them from the beginning.”

The Hyatt Regency San Francisco overlooks the city’s port. Courtesy photo

San Francisco

San Francisco-based HR software company Lattice regularly uses the Hyatt Regency San Francisco for events and did so again earlier this year. “We [selected] it because of the consistently outstanding experience they provide,” says Jazmin Cox, formerly a senior executive assistant with Lattice. “The hotel is exceptionally clean, the staff is warm and attentive and their responsiveness to every detail sets them apart. They’ve always gone above and beyond to ensure a seamless experience.”

“For our event, Lattice Strategies, there were several last-minute needs — guest food deliveries, reissuing room key cards, assembling care packages and fulfilling accessibility requests such as accommodations for mobility concerns,” Cox says. “The Hyatt Regency San Francisco handled each of these with speed, professionalism and genuine care.”

In recent years, San Francisco has been tainted by a reputation for homelessness, drug addiction and rampant crime. Derrick Guzman, a senior director at HelmsBriscoe, acknowledges that while these issues do exist — as they do in many major cities — they are not pervasive, and the situation is often exaggerated on social media.

“While San Francisco, like any major city, faces challenges, the reality is far more nuanced than what’s often portrayed,” he says. “Many areas of the city are vibrant, clean and welcoming, with ongoing efforts by city officials and local organizations to address these concerns. Visitors are often surprised by how much the city has improved and how safe and enjoyable it is to explore.”

Historically, a bigger challenge for meeting planners considering San Francisco has been cost, but Guzman says the city’s hotel rates are highly competitive right now. “The city has yet to return to pre-COVID pricing levels, making it a cost-effective option for corporate groups,” he says, adding that two primary factors contributing to higher event costs are labor rates and local taxes. “Compared to cities in the Midwest or Southeast, your dollar simply won’t stretch as far. That said, there are practical ways to manage budgets without compromising the overall experience.”

Guzman suggests that rather than eliminating elements entirely, planners should optimize existing resources, by doing things such as:

• Shifting desserts from lunch to the afternoon break, to reduce duplicate offerings
• Offering iced tea or infused water instead of individual canned sodas
• Limiting coffee service to specific time windows — such as two hours in the morning and two hours in the afternoon

Says Guzman: “San Francisco offers a rich and diverse cultural experience. Often considered a cultural melting pot of California — and even the U.S. — the city’s global cultures blend seamlessly into everyday life. For the most accurate and up-to-date information, I recommend reaching out to San Francisco Travel. They can provide honest, on-the-ground insight and help guide you to the right areas and venues for a successful event.” C&IT