To get people to your event of course you need a great speaker and great content, but a new and different environment can help as well. Everyone tires of the same old hotel ballrooms (not that there is anything wrong with them). While hotel facilities are great for many types of events, if you are not hosting a major exhibition or tradeshow-type event, your options for venues in the DC-area can really open up to some unique and (dare we say) fun spaces. Below is a quick list of locations we've discovered.
Washington, DC
Powerhouse - Located in Georgetown, the location was once home to the DC Paper Manufacturing Company. The open, soaring space is best suited to networking and cocktail functions. We could see it being a great venue for a product launch event.
FHI Conference Center - The FHI Conference Center in Dupont gives you the amenities of a large conference facility with a bit more intimacy and personality. Don't be put off by the bland building exterior, inside the space is very modern and can be used in a number of different ways. FHI features a large lecture hall as well as small meeting rooms for breakout sessions. Plenty of open space work for exhibit tables and/or networking.
District Architecture Center - Located in Penn Quarter, the District Architecture Center provides (as the name implies) a space that is highly designed to meet meeting functions. The space is flexible to meet needs from multiple room events to single small spaces.
Virginia
Convene Tysons - Convene is an interesting company with meeting spaces in a number of cities. They take over unused space in office buildings (The Tyson's space took over the location once occupied by a restaurant.) and transform it into high tech meeting space (outlets at every seat, wifi, video recording equipment etc..). This space is slated to open April 1 and may quickly become a regular location on the Northern Virginia Networking scene. You could be one of the pioneers!
Gannett Building - The Gannett (publishers of USA Today) building in Tyson's (you've likely seen the impressive glass structure from the beltway) offers a variety of meeting spaces. From an open ballroom (with views of beltway traffic on one side and a peaceful pond on the other), to small meeting rooms, to a seated lecture hall, this space can meet almost any event need.
Artisphere - Just across the Key Bridge in Rosslyn, Artisphere lives a double life as a showcase for contemporary art and as a quality corporate meeting space. The venue has seven different meeting spaces that range from large theaters, to studios, to smaller lab spaces.
Maryland
National 4-H Youth Conference Center - Built for youth-centered activities, this facility also caters to the business crowd. Meeting spaces range from 15-person meeting rooms to a 525-seat auditorium. The Youth Center, located in Chevy Chase, also includes on-site hotel rooms for a going off to camp feel for attendees.
Universities of Shady Grove - This campus space located in Rockville offers a variety of meeting spaces including computer labs, a ballroom, and lecture hall. On-site catering, state of the art AV are part of the packages offered.
Imagination Stage Bethesda - Located on the edge of downtown Bethesda with easy parking, Imagination Stage may help attendees get creative juices flowing. They offer theater space as well as smaller lab rooms for breakouts. There is also ample space for networking and exhibit tables.
There are many more options out there. What are some of your favorite off-the beaten-path venues?
Image from amazon.com
