The Small Market Meetings Conference in Buffalo, New York, September 16–18, continued its steady growth since the COVID pandemic five years ago.
“Our attendance was up 12 percent with meeting planners and 8 percent with the industry over last year,” said Jennifer Ferguson, general manager of the conference. “We had a lot of new planners; a lot of new faces this year. They came from all over the country, and we even had a couple of international planners.”
The 16th annual SMMC at the Buffalo Convention Center drew more than 250 attendees, who spent three days holding business appointments, listening to informative speakers and sampling the many options Buffalo, which is also on the rebound, has to offer meeting planners.
The opening night included a warm welcome at the Hofbrauhaus Buffalo, with a German band, a beer-mug-holding contest, chicken dancing and plates of hearty German food.
The next night was a 1990s-themed event at RiverWorks, a redeveloped entertainment center at former grain silos along the Buffalo River. Attendees rocked to a band playing ’90s music and socialized on the outdoor patio while large grain barges passed by within touching distance.
Four sightseeing tours the afternoon after the opening marketplace on Wednesday took attendees to Niagara Falls; on a double-decker bus tour of downtown’s rich architecture; on a bar hop to experience the city’s famous wings and breweries; and to the Buffalo Bills’ Highmark Stadium. Some stayed over to attend the Bills’ Thursday night football win over the Miami Dolphins.
“Buffalo hit it out of the park,” said Ferguson. “They gave a taste of the city and a warm welcome.”
“I like the hospitality,” said Darryl Cohen of the North American Law Summit in Atlanta. “I only knew the city by word of mouth. Everyone was hospitable.”
“It was my first time in Buffalo,” said Donna Masiulewicz of Timeline Meetings and Events in Mesa, Arizona. “It is a big city that feels like a small city. I enjoyed it.”
“I was here 11 or 12 years ago, and it has really changed,” said Jeanne Escher of Eerie Expos in Winter Garden, Florida. “I was pleasantly surprised. It pays to have been here and seen it in person instead of just looking at photos.”
The delegates were equally complimentary of the conference.
“I love it 100%,” said Patricia Stinson of SEEvents in Atlanta. “To be in one room with so many suppliers at one time saves so many trips to scout locations.”
“I like the face-to-face and networking and connecting with friends you have met along the way,” said Masiulewicz.
“Buffalo is my favorite,” said Brenda Glass, an independent planner from New Port Richey, Florida, who has been attending SMMC since it started 15 years ago. “Small Market Meetings Conference is big enough you meet new people but small enough you see people from the past and keep up with them.”
“A lot of thought went into the planning.” said Ferguson.
The delegates were able to use a covered walkway to the convention center from the host hotel, the Hyatt Regency Buffalo Downtown, to register and attend conference functions.
Sponsors also played a key role in making the conference a success. Meal functions were sponsored by I Love New York, Legends Global and Visit Berkeley.
The opening session featured Ally Meyers, a certified executive and positive psychology coach from Saratoga Springs, New York, who outlined her five building blocks to build resilience.
The first is managing negativity — don’t assume that people are having negative thoughts about you.
“Catch it, question it and reframe it,” she said.
The other building blocks are mindfulness, cultivating the positive, investing in relationships and setting goals.
Many attendees were decked out in their favorite football team’s jerseys for the final day’s marketplace to keep in style with the theme. The most popular jerseys seemed to be the Pittsburgh Steelers and the hometown Buffalo Bills.
Destination El Paso, Texas, the host of next year’s Small Market Meetings Conference, sponsored the closing luncheon. Janel Trajo, convention sales manager for Destination El Paso, extended a warm invitation to the attendees and promised an unforgettable Western experience October 6–8, 2026.
To register for the 2026 Small Market Meetings Conference in El Paso, Texas, go to smmconf.com.
What Planners are Saying
We have one single annual festival. 700 jugglers with 1,300 room nights, Monday to Saturday. Boston and Miami don’t need us in July.
— Jake Darrow
International Jugglers Association, Kissimmee, Florida
I did 64 meetings last year, $17 million in room nights. I have booked 33 so far this year. I do corporation and financial, some associations. I book all over. Small markets offer better prices, more support from the CVB, less traffic, and are safer, etc.
— Emiko Beck
HelmsBriscoe, Orlando
We meet all over. I have sports. Rodeo, corporate and international groups. I do 15 to 20 meetings a year. My corporate meetings will be from 80 to 120. I do some small markets because of the personal touch. They respect groups and you get more attention. You get called back.
— Jen Totten
MeetUs, Eagle, Idaho
I do a lot of product launches and training luncheons. About half domestic and half international. They are two to three days with an average of 200 people.
— Jason Morrison
FED-COM International, Washington, D.C.
Right now, I have eight corporate accounts and nine churches, and I do a lot of family cruises. Just had a meeting in Branson with 294. I have a few around 160. I meet all over the place.
— Jackie Wilson
New Journeys 2 Travel, Irving, Texas
I have been an independent planner for 21 years. I plan all types of events all over. I do corporate and association events. I focus on the design, strategy and production of events. I do 10 to 11 a year with average attendance of 500 to 750.
— Patricia Stinson
SEEvents, Atlanta
I am responsible for all of our national conventions and some district meetings. I do five national meetings and four to five district meetings. The attendance varies from 40 to 2,000. We have four missions — mentoring 8- to 18-year-olds; education; health and welfare; and economic importance.
— Kevin Patterson
100 Black Men of America, Atlanta
I do small associations up to Fortune 500 companies. I average 100 a year with an average attendance of 200 to 250. We meet all over the world.
— Ariel Adam
HelmsBriscoe, Port Washington, New York
What Destinations are Saying
We have been seeing bleisure for a while. We have a lot of recreational scenes and agriculture scenes that a lot of people don’t have at home. We also have Penn State, which for meetings is a hook.
— Dave Gerdes
Happy Valley Adventure Bureau, Pennsylvania
We see a lot of bleisure, especially in our neck of the woods, the New Orleans area. We see a substantial number of people who travel with their families and explore the area. Big thing is food. Also swamp tours. Some will stay if it is a Saints weekend. It’s a big thing for sure.
— Randall Michel
Visit Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Since COVID, we have seen quite a bit of bleisure. We have a huge waterpark in the summer and lots of history museums, including the U.S. Marshals Museum. The Bakery District is in an old foundry that was saved from destruction. It now has a bakery and coffee shop.
— Amy Jones
Discover Fort Smith, Arkansas
In our area, they do [bleisure] a lot since we are so close to Branson. I do military reunions and they often bring children or especially grandchildren and they are definitely looking for bleisure. In the Springfield area, we have the headquarters of Bass Pro Shop and the original one. It has more than 1 million square feet (the average Bass Pro Shop has 180,000). It includes an aquarium and meeting space. We have Fantastic Caverns, the only drive-through caverns in the country, and a Route 66 museum.
— Melissa Martelli
Visit Springfield, Missouri
They do bleisure in Daytona Beach — come early, stay late. It is a different feel; a good place to have a meeting and have time at the beach. One thing about Daytona Beach, you can stay here and drive an hour and be in Disney World, or one hour south and be at the Kennedy Space Center or north and be in St. Augustine. In Daytona Beach, we have the Speedway, the Smithsonian-affiliated Arts Center and a turtle rehab center.
— Brenda Redmon
Daytona Beach Area CVB, Florida
Since COVID, meeting attendees spend time at the beach, and we have Pinehurst golf and Raleigh. We have a lot of groups book shoulder days.
— Isaiah Griffin
Fayetteville Area CVB, North Carolina
We do get bleisure a lot. We always recommend private horse farm tours. In April and October, we have racing at Keeneland. Bourbon lovers can visit distilleries. And, if there is interest, there is the Kentucky Castle. And there is the Bite of the Bluegrass, a walking culinary and history tour.
— Becca Rogers
VisitLEX, Kentucky
We are seeing some one- to two-day upticks, especially with smaller meetings. About 25 to 30 percent come in a day early. It’s a pretty good trend. They can do the Toledo Museum of Art, the zoo, the National Museum of the Great Lakes and Hollywood Casino, which is just across the bridge.
— Eric Heinemann
Destination Toledo, Ohio
We see a lot of bleisure, especially since we are a tourism town. If they want to stay over, we can do a little itinerary for them or tell them places to visit. We have Magic Springs theme park, which has concerts on Saturday. There are Duck Boat tours on the lake. One of the off-the-beaten path sites is the Mid-American Science Museum. In the national park, dad can do something with the kids while mom is at a spa and then switch off. We have Thoroughbred racing from the first of December and ends in April. Oaklawn also has several other things besides racing. Northwood has mountain biking and hiking trails.
