Branson
Branson has just shy of 12,000 residents, but its reputation is much bigger. The city is known as a music mecca that boasts hundreds of big-name concerts, world-renowned shows and long-standing theaters.
“We have more than 100 live shows in 45 theaters, and that is the differentiator between us and most other beautiful lakeside destinations,” said Lynn Berry, director of communications for the Branson/Lakes Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Attendees coming to Branson for conventions and conferences often bring their families and extend their stays, which planners say helps with registration and attendance, according to Berry.
The 220,000-square-foot Branson Convention Center features a 47,000-square-foot exhibit hall, a 22,700-square-foot ballroom and meeting rooms that range from 1,200 to 5,500 square feet. The Keeter Center at College of the Ozarks is a massive log-cabin-style lodge with another 95,000 square feet of event space.
Chateau on the Lake Resort Spa and Convention Center sits on the shores of Table Rock Lake, and “it’s just gorgeous,” Berry said. Its 43,500 square feet of meeting space includes the 31,750-square-foot Great Hall, which can be split into seven rooms. Just two miles south along the shoreline, groups can board the Showboat Branson Belle for a dinner show cruise and three-course meal.
Though the city is home to long-running shows such as Branson’s Famous Baldknobbers and Presleys’ Country Jubilee, shows are constantly rotating, so there is always something new.
Hannibal
It’s not many places where conference attendees can meet Mark Twain or two of the author’s beloved characters, Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher. But they can in Hannibal, where author Samuel Langhorne Clemens, aka Mark Twain, lived between the ages of 4 and 17.
The Hannibal Convention and Visitors Bureau can arrange for actors playing Tom and Becky to be at events, said assistant director Megan Rapp, and groups can watch Richard Garey perform “Mark Twain Himself” at the Planters Barn Theater or see Jim Waddell perform “Mark Twain Live” in a theater cave at the Mark Twain Cave Complex. At the complex, Cave Hollow West Winery can also host receptions for up to 100 people.
Downtown is packed with one-of-a-kind venues, Rapp said. The renovated 1937 Rialto Theater can seat 400 and has two smaller event areas for groups of up to 150 or 250. The Star Theatre is a restored 1906 vaudeville venue for gatherings of up to 400. Also in downtown, the Mark Twain Brewing Co.’s second-floor event space overlooks the Mississippi River.
The Mark Twain Riverboat is a replica paddle wheeler that cruises the river from May to November and is available for group bookings or private charters.
At the Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum complex, the Museum Gallery is housed in an 1850s department store and can be used for galas or receptions, and the museum’s conference rooms work well for smaller meetings.
A new 83-room Holiday Inn Express and Suites opened in April with meeting space for up to 80 people and an outdoor patio.
