Hosts on Deck
South Bend, home of the venerable University of Notre Dame, will be hosting SMMC in 2017. The Downtown South Bend Convention District, anchored by the 75,000-square-foot Century Center, will be the delegates’ home for the three-day meeting. The 291-room Double Tree by Hilton South Bend is connected to the center by a convenient climate-controlled green bridge. There are also outstanding meeting facilities at Notre Dame and its neighbor, St. Mary’s College.
One pleasant activity is touring the Notre Dame campus and sites like the Main Building, with its beautiful Golden Dome; the Basilica of the Sacred Heart; the Joyce Center; the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes; and Notre Dame Stadium. Being a college town, there are myriad places to eat and enjoy adult beverages. The South Bend Foodie Trail is one source to check for directions to and information about the best eateries in the city. The Studebaker National Museum also makes a fun stop. The museum displays American wagons and carriages from the 1800s and beautiful Studebaker automobiles up to the mid-1960s.
When the SMMC comes to Ontario, California, in 2018, it will mark the first meeting held in the western United States since Mesa, Arizona, in 2014. Ontario, located 37 miles west of Los Angeles, has many attractions to entice meeting planners, such as the high desert, vineyards, horse country, river trails, Spanish-American history, NASCAR and Route 66.
Green Bay, site of the 2019 SMMC, is known for much more than the NFL’s Packers. It is a year-round sports mecca and features tours of the Oneida Nation Reservation, train rides at the National Railroad Museum, wine tours and much more.
