Two outstanding outdoor events at the 2026 Small Market Meetings Conference held October 6-8 in El Paso, Texas, revealed much of what meeting planners needed to know about bringing their delegations to this popular Southwestern city.

Under bright, clear skies and illuminating starlight, planners and destination representatives from across the country dined on authentic Mexican cuisine and enjoyed superb entertainment that defined the western aura of El Paso.

“We had a great turnout of more than 250 attendees in El Paso, and our hosts did a masterful job of highlighting their local culture,” said conference general manager Jennifer Ferguson. “We drew many new planners and destinations by meeting in Southwest Texas, which was exciting. We can’t say enough about the cuisine, entertainment and hospitality we enjoyed compliments of Visit El Paso.”

The first event was the toe-tapping Pechanga on the Patio held at the convention center plaza. The Texas state champion Franklin High School Mariachi Band from El Paso performed while delegates dined on beef and chicken tacos, refried beans and lots of fresh sides. The plaza was decked out in brightly trimmed tables and chairs, and the mariachi band highlighted the culture and “corazón” of El Paso.

The following night, delegates gathered in Arts Festival Plaza for the Boots and Bebidas event that captured El Paso’s spirit as the “Boot Capital of the World.” Beverage offerings featured the spirits, craft beers and wines that define El Paso, and attendees dined on authentic brisket barbecue, hamburgers and sides while enjoying live Texas-style rock by a great local band. 

“El Paso is a second home for many people,” said Janel Trejo, convention sales manager for Visit El Paso. “People feel at home here — we’re one big family, one big party. We are considered the ‘Boot Capital of the World.’ There are many bootmakers headquartered here. I’m having good meetings here with planners who are very interested now that they’ve visited El Paso.”

Brian Jewell, CEO and executive editor of Small Market Meetings magazine, delivered the keynote address, “Meeting Planning for Mortals,” at the opening session. He highlighted the myriad details that arise for meeting planners that can be beyond their control, like weather, cancellations, audiovisual or technology issues, and other challenges. All these moving parts make planners’ jobs among the most stressful in the hospitality industry, Jewell said, and he offered specific remedies for overcoming stress-related burnout. 

Hundreds of six-minute appointments between meeting planners and destinations took place in two marketplace sessions over three days. Several themed sightseeing tours were offered by Visit El Paso, including wineries, Black history, a downtown walking tour and salsa making. Major meal or reception sponsors included Visit El Paso, Discover Durham, Legends Global, Visit Berkeley and Visit Quad Cities.

Four convention properties within just a few blocks of the El Paso Convention Center — the DoubleTree Downtown, Courtyard Convention Center, Aloft El Paso Downtown and Hotel Indigo — hosted delegates who either shuttled or walked to the convention center in sunny Southwestern weather. 

For information on the 2027 Small Market Meetings Conference, visit smmconf.com.   

visitelpaso.com

What Planners are Saying

“I have been attending this conference for 10-plus years. FED-COMM plans meetings for attendees with careers in weapon systems, defense industries and military organizations; we also plan meetings for healthcare companies through Red Mountain Systems. We just did a meeting for MacDill Air Force Base in St. Petersburg, Florida, for 200 soldiers, including hotel for three days and two nights. We recently managed a four-day, three-night meeting for 150 National Guard members in Fargo, North Dakota. Companies you might recognize include Boeing and Grumman. For me, this conference has become a reunion of sorts.”

Jason Morrison

Red Mountain Systems

Birmingham, Alabama

“We’re an independent event consultation company. Our clients are primarily in the technology and retail industries. A name you’d recognize would be Sephora in the beauty and skin care industry. Our meetings are designed to be enjoyable; we’ll do two full days of instruction in a warm weather location. It’s all about relaxation for our attendees. I just had a meeting here with Stonewall Resort, and they might work for us for a future meeting. We met recently in San Jose, California, which also fits our destination profile.”

Isabella Ursos

Rhanee Palma & Co.

Sacramento, California

“We do a lot of meetings for groups of 100 or so. We have government workers who are on per diems, so we don’t charge them for early checkouts; we make a point of that with our hotels for them. We have USPS workers whose meetings we manage. In that sector, we also do postmasters’ meetings, and those are upscale. They expect good properties, and we work to get them suite upgrades. We recently did one of those meetings in Indianapolis. We held a recent meeting in a Hilton Embassy Suites in Granbury, Texas. We worked with the CVB in Granbury. I’m excited to find this conference for smaller cities.”

Lauren C. Jay

CMP Meeting Services

Granbury, Texas

“I’m the founder of this company, and we started in 1984. We hold meetings and events that feature education and instruction for athletes who cheer. We run 20 events annually including local, regional and national cheer or cheer/dance competitions. We hold our annual national events at Universal Parks in Orlando. We have competitors from the U.S., Chile, Columbia and Canada. We are also instrumental in teaching cheerleaders about motivation and intensity — how to be their best on game day. I have nine staff people including three meeting planners. I’m here to find new cities and venues for our company.”

Elizabeth Rossetti

AmeriCheer

Westerville, Ohio

“We are a national denomination that was founded by a slave. We have 275 congregations. We also have 12 districts that all run their own meetings. I attend this conference and send all my contacts and recommendations to all 12 districts. I also manage our annual convention of 1,200 members. In the past several years, we’ve met in Denton, Texas; St. Louis, Missouri; Orlando, Florida; and Frisco, Texas. Most of our attendees are from the South. We are also starting a new women’s empowerment conference later this month.”

Rex Waddell

Church of the Living God

Fairview Heights, Illinois

“We manage events and receptions for the medical industry. We have 26 different specialties we plan events for. Some of our larger events are for conferences of as many as 4,500 attendees. We also plan events and receptions for medical board meetings, which are much smaller, and have worked with board meetings in the past year or so in places like Oxnard, California, and Riverside, California.”

Tonya Greene

Need An Event Planner

Los Angeles

What Suppliers are Saying

“I’m in the business development division of Southwest Airlines. We have an active discounted airfare program for meetings and groups. We can also offer them bonus Rapid Rewards points and status upgrades. I’m here to explain programs like Southwest Business Accounts, our Southwest Service Portal and Southwest Business Assist. These are specifically for meetings and business travelers like the travelers represented here at Small Market Meetings.”

Ryan Catanzarita

Southwest Airlines

Dallas

“We are a tier-two destination. We handle a lot of meetings with 300-600 rooms on peak nights. We have the historic Peabody Hotel and numerous major brand hotels for delegates. Memphis is filled with superb venues for off-site events, places like the National Civil Rights Museum, the STAX Museum, Sun Studios, Graceland and Beale Street. And nobody has a meeting here without enjoying Memphis barbecue. Small Market Meetings is a fit for us.”

Joshua Rubin

Memphis Tourism

Memphis, Tennessee

“We focus on smaller meetings. We have three distinctive full-service hotels. The magnificently restored Yorktowne Hotel is downtown; it offers 123 guest rooms and 15,000 square feet of meeting space. The Heritage Hills Resort is outside of town and offers 103 guest rooms and 15,000 square feet of meeting space. The Wyndham Garden York is close to I-83 and offers 177 guest rooms and more than 15,000 square feet of meeting space. BWI airport is slightly more than an hour away. We host sports events and drive-in meetings from Washington, D.C., Maryland and New York City.”

Morgan Madanick

Explore York

York, Pennsylvania

“We are an authentic cowboy destination in Texas; we’re about two hours from Fort Worth. We are cutting edge and offer 153,000 square feet of meeting space. Our sweet spot is 200-300 people, and sports events are about 60% of our profile. We do a lot of Air Force meetings, and agricultural meetings are huge for us as well. Government and student business are also big for us, things like high school rodeo events. We have regional service with American and United Airlines and do a lot of drive-in business as well.”

Kim Bosher

Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau

Abilene, Texas

“I’m here to sell motorcoach and shuttle business to these meeting planners. We operate out of Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Chicago is a huge source for meetings in our region. Cities outside Chicago like in DuPage County are big for us, as are airport shuttles for associations using all the airports in the area. HelmsBriscoe planners like those here are big meeting sources for us. I’ve already had a half dozen appointments here that have been good for me. I am planning to do Quad Cities with you all next year.”

Cory Mace

Badger Bus

Madison, Wisconsin

“We are a large casino resort in Durango, Colorado. We host meetings for a lot of fundraising groups, associations and government agencies. We offer discounted rates to first responders’ meetings, like the Colorado Firefighters Academy and the Colorado State Patrol. Our sweet spot is groups between 200 and 400. This is our niche — we are a small market. We’re secluded, so you have your delegates’ attention when you’re here. Our Seven Rivers steakhouse is known statewide.”

Brian Lundstrom

Sky Ute Casino Resort

Ignacio, Colorado