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StumbleDowntown events center celebrates grand opening
Facility outfitted to accommodate range of conventions, seminars
Wednesday, March 17, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.
MEET Las Vegas, a three-story events center downtown equipped with innovative lighting and technology, celebrated its grand opening Tuesday.
Jodie Rocco, 51, of Las Vegas said she has been waiting for the facility at South 4th Street and Bridger Avenue to open for four years.
“It’s just a beautiful thing,” Rocco said. “It’s Vegas but classy.”
Each floor has different accommodations for conventions and seminars. The first floor has a lounge, while the second and third floors feature meeting rooms and multimedia training areas.
MEET has two computer classrooms with 48 work stations, as well as 2,782 square feet of meeting space. It is decorated with artwork by clients of Opportunity Village, a charity that serves people with intellectual disabilities.
CEO Dan Maddux said he had a vision 10 years ago to create the center downtown.
“I see Las Vegas as the gee-spot,” Maddux said. “People say, gee, its hotels are fabulous and, gee, wasn’t that meal delicious.”
He said the project took three years to complete, but he is excited about its opening.
Some of the facility’s best features are its lighting and technology, Maddux said. It allows guests to use almost any type of electronic device, he said.
The lighting fixtures on the exterior can also be customized.
Maddux said the center was built with Illumivision Light Wave fixtures so people can change the color of the building for branded events. Lights inside the center also change colors and can be customized, he said.
On Tuesday afternoon, Mayor Oscar Goodman joined Maddux and other dignitaries for a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Holding a martini, Goodman addressed the crowd and raised his glass to the new venue.
He said the Medical Tourism Association will be holding its annual convention in Las Vegas this year instead of Los Angeles because of new center.
Chamber of Commerce member Fafie Moore said she hopes the center will generate more jobs and increase tourism.
“What happens in Vegas stays Vegas, and we’re going to hope that what happens, happens at MEET,” she said.
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Congratulations Downtown Las Vegas.
My wife and I will be staying Downtown this coming week, and we look forward to checking out this new facility.
Downtown Las Vegas is the world's BEST entertainment bargain in my humble opinion. The hotels, restaurants and the Fremont Street Experience are perfect for the budget traveler.
"innovative lighting and technology" = outdated lighting and technology in a year or two.
Most meeting/convention centers are hollow boxes so meeting planners can create what they want for their event.
Sounds like they created a niche market by limiting what kind of meeting will be held there. Having said, I wish them luck and hope it helps the downtown area.
Two classrooms and less than 3,000 square of space is very small and won't compete with the strip properties, (their bathrooms are bigger than that). It is being marketed for local businesses only? Not sure how much money local businesses can bring to the other downtown businesses, certainly not room revenue.
STV -
Are you a meeting and convention expert? First - unless you have a rate sheet in front of you don't say this facility can't compete with Strip convention areas. It may be way more affordable to do business there. Second - spilling out to the Fremont street area is more conducive to having a general good time for a group then spreading out all over the Strip. Third - there are over 180,000 nusinesses in LV. How many of them do you think they'll need on an annual basis to keep afloat?
I'd have liked to have learned more from the article such as what size groups was this set to generally accommodate? What, if any, is the kitchen and banquet facility like? What, if any, things are available to rent such as podiums chairs, etc. What are the rates supposed to be like to do all the audio/visual the place is trumpeted to sport? And is that the main reason to go there or are there other primary reasons to use this facility? What is their website address to learn more? Do local businesses get a discount? Was an expansion ever planned? Are the originators interested in doing other facilities - have they done any in the past in other places and based this facility on their experience? Do they have connections to pre-existing facilities in the LV area?
Also, was this facility part of an economic redevelopment future for downtown? Are other things planned for the area? Being that construction started three years ago, how is the current recession going to halt or drastically delay the facility's bottom line? Who were the major financial players?
Yet again - unless there is a big difference between the print and online editions of the "Sun", another incomplete story. I don't live in NV - but will be moving there - otherwise I'd subscribe to the print edition to see if there are more column inches in print then what's presented here.
I have seen them renovating this building for some time and I have to say it looks spectacular. They didnt cut corners on this development. I wish them all the best.
It would seem to me that MEET is going to have a hard time in this market. While the interior and exterior of the space are quite beautiful the actual size of the space is very small and requires a very specific size event. I also think the downtown location is going to be a hindrance, nobody will want to spend the extra money on transportation to shuttle their guests to and from the strip hotels. Only time will tell if they can keep afloat! Good Luck!
Strip hotels? Why would anyone stay there when going to MEET for an event? Have you looked at the refurbished Golden Nugget lately?
And let's not be short sighted about the current market. Markets change - they always do. Even the LVCVA has said their future bookings have gone up. But yes - still like to see an apples to apples comparison for meeting space with the strip places.
And then again - has anyone thought that maybe people wish to come to an event NOT in a casino like in the rest of the country? Not every event in Vegas has to have at least 5,000 people!
It's great to see that downtown has such a beautiful new facility! Too bad there is no mention of the contractor's that worked hard to make this vision a reality.
I'm sure the room rates here will be easier on the budgets for smaller companies that don't have the money to rent rooms at the larger casinos. I hope it does well. A previous poster was right, not everyone wants to walk through a casino to get to their meeting room. Sometimes simplicity is key.
I was at the opening of MEET and I think it's a wonderful compliment to downtown and everything Las Vegas has to offer meetings and conventions.
The Las Vegas Convention Center is not on the strip and everyone attending conventions don't just stay at the Hilton! :-) Have you seen the stats of how many visitors rent cars? Downtown has plenty of parking just like everywhere else.
Groups won't even walk from Paris to Caesars. They have to be bused. At least when buses drive to MEET they will off load directly into the facility without having to walk through another lobby and casino. MEET just adds to our options and options help the whole Las Vegas ecconomy.
Downtown has the Golden Nugget, Symphony Park, the World Market, the historic 5th Street School with meeting space, and a number of other hotels and restaurants.
There are two hotels planned for Symphony Park, which will probably be well-supported by the World Market, Jewelry Market as well as convention groups and tourists, just like the Hard Rock, Palms, M Resort and Redrock to name a few.
Groups have always had to pass downtown on buses to get to Cashman Center.
From the Convention Center, to Mandalay Bay, to Downtown and all the off the strip resorts; we're all the same product.
Every convention has more than several exhibitors who entertain their clients.
How many posh banquets and events do you think Las Vegas hosts a year? Goodness, not everyone wants to use a ballroom in a huge casino hotel. I thought MEET's opening party was fantastic! It's hip and fresh. I used the valet located inside their gates and then I walked right into the building. They've got a great outdoor space too. I didn't have to walk a mile from the valet or parking either.
I also want to note that MEET had signs in several locations thanking people and companies, including my company that sponsored. Rosie, the contractor's name was on the signs. This Rosey person needs to get her facts straight. I think it was awfully classy that they thanked someone that got paid to do construction work. Rosie, where you there? lol