Kristalyn J. Loson will tell meeting planners how to prevent contract problems at the Small Market Meetings Conference.

A former horse barn is now a 3,000-square-foot ballroom at Normandy Farm Hotel and Conference Center in Blue Bell, Pa., near Philadelphia.

Courtesy Normandy Farm 1401 Morris Road Blue Bell, PA 19422 215-616-8500 (hotel) 215-616-8507 (sales) www.NormandyFarm.com What’s new: The Farmer’s Daughter restaurant and bar/lounge opened in February. The Manor House and its 12 suites opened in 2007. New events on...

Courtesy Normandy Farm At the far end of Normandy Farm’s Silo Ballroom, a big barn door conceals a television production-quality demonstration kitchen. The kitchen is a good clue to the importance of food and the versatility of the culinary staff there. “We feed and...

The opening of casinos inspired improvements in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Courtesy Council Bluffs CVB It’s been a nerve-wracking summer for western Iowa. The Missouri River has flooded many areas as water is released upstream to relieve pressure on the Gavins Point Dam in Yankton, S.D., caused by above-average snowmelt and rainfall. By...

Courtesy Travel Iowa Council Bluffs CVB 149 W. Broadway Council Bluffs, IA 51503 800-228-6878 www.councilbluffscvb.com What’s new: The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, the longest pedestrian bridge to link two states, connects Council Bluffs and Omaha, Neb. Named in...

Courtesy International Quilt Study Center/Museum Three years ago, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln finally unfolded hundreds of quilts in its collection, the largest publicly held quilt collection in the world, and displayed them in a new 35,000-square-foot museum...

Many renovation and expansion projects are under way at smaller convention centers across the country.