The association for associations in Michigan has selected Michigan State University’s Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center as the site for its 2024 conference. Representatives of both Kellogg Center and Choose Lansing are excited the Michigan Society of Association Executives selected East Lansing this year.
“We are the convention and visitors bureau for the greater Lansing area so we basically worked with the hotel to solidify [a proposal],” says Stephanie Wohlfert, director of sales and state accounts for Choose Lansing. “Anytime we have a group interested in coming to the greater Lansing area, we put the bid out to hotels that are large enough to be able to accommodate a program. That’s what I did on the back end and worked with Kellogg Center directly on our overall bid.”
The Michigan Society of Association Executives conference will run Dec. 2-4. Rhonda Bucholtz, Kellogg Center’s sales and event manager, says that while the venue has been the site of smaller Michigan Society of Association Executives member meetings in the past, this will be the first time Kellogg hosts an event for the group as a whole. Hosting this large association event will allow Kellogg to showcase what it has to offer to other associations looking to schedule events in the future.
“We are expecting around 220 guests of which about 50% will be account executives from the association market,” Bucholtz says. “Others include association staff, meeting planners, and representatives of hotels and CVBs.”
A new component for the society’s gathering this year includes plans for a “microimmersion,” which Choose Lansing’s Wohlfert describes as a pre-conference educational element to familiarize participants with the local community. “As an attendee, they would be able to learn things to take back and use in their own meetings and events,” she says.
The Michigan Society of Association Executives last held their annual conference in Lansing in 2015, Wohlfert says. At that time, participants were given an in-depth look at highlights and attractions around Lansing. This time, the focus will be specifically on East Lansing, she says.
“We’re hoping to host dine-around options for attendees when they’re on their own the first evening, so they’ll be able to experience the downtown East Lansing nightlife and restaurants,” she adds. “The skyline’s changed quite a bit in the last couple of years.”
