Famous for succulent lobster and a historic working waterfront, Portland, Maine, provides planners a fresh take on meetings by the sea. A history buff’s delight, the city was founded in 1786, with its harbor serving as a hub for freighters, ferries, fishing, marine research, and more for over 350 years. And there are plenty of ways for groups to get a taste of Portland’s distinctive culture, whether it’s through a cruise around the islands of Casco Bay, savoring tasty lobster-bake cuisine, or discovering the stories of Irish immigrants at the Maine Irish Heritage Center. Greater Portland offers 6,595 hotel rooms across prominent meetings hotels, including The Westin Portland Harborview and Holiday Inn Portland–By the Bay, among others. Portland International Jetport is the city’s airport, and Portland is a two-hour drive from Bangor, Maine, and Boston, and 5 1/2 hours from New York City.
Maine is considered one of the safest states in the country, ranking No. 2 in the public safety subcategory of U.S. News & World Report’s “Best States 2025” list,
and also is touted for its welcoming culture. “It’s very much a community,” says Maine native Ashley Virgilio, events and marketing director at Portland’s Boone’s Fish House & Oyster Room. “For example, when I first got my driver’s license, I slid into a snowbank in the middle of a snowstorm, and three people stopped to help me. That’s the energy of this state.”
Melissa Carl, director of business development, career, and member services for the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), based in Washington, D.C., helped plan IEEE’s Innovation, Workforce, and Research Conference (IWRC) Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit at the University of Southern Maine’s Portland campus in May. The summit was an educational event for policymakers, academics, and business owners to network and learn about federal and state AI tech initiatives.
For Carl, the city’s friendliness didn’t go unnoticed. She says, “The vendors were nice to work with and patient with our questions; we had our local leader [assisting us], who is so dynamic and helped with getting speakers and sponsors; and the people at the hotel and university were very willing to walk us through what we should do and what we could do and give us options—it’s just a very welcoming city.”
Spaces That Shine
Portland’s universities offer turnkey venue options full of energy. The IEEE IWRC AI Summit took place at the University of Southern Maine’s McGoldrick Center, which opened in 2023. “The building was gorgeous,” Carl says. “Provided audiovisual was top-notch, and a lot of it was baked into the room.” She says the school worked with IEEE to provide parking codes for attendees to park on-site, something that proved helpful due to the limited street parking in the city. Sodexo Live catered the summit, and attendees stayed at the nearby Aloft Portland Downtown Waterfront ME. Carl says while the Aloft hotel did not provide free on-site parking, she was able to work with its staff to negotiate a discounted rate for valet parking.
The University of New England’s (UNE) Portland campus has welcomed students for over a century, and it also serves as a four-season meeting destination. The school offers a one-stop shop of professional meeting-planning services, and its Arthur P. Girard Innovation Hall holds up to 400 attendees at rounds or 1,100 theater-style. Cindy Juskiewicz, the university’s conference director, says, “With nearly all our health professions programs on the Portland campus, events often draw upon UNE’s faculty and student expertise, and they benefit from having that within an arm’s reach.” She notes planners and organizations also can partner with UNE on educational and community-based initiatives, such as the recent Meals for Maine event, during which students packed 150,000 meals for Maine residents facing hunger.
Opened in 1915, the James A Banks Sr Portland Exposition Building, known locally as The Expo, is the city’s largest multipurpose venue, with 25,000 total square feet of function space. It also is a center for entertainment and sports, as the home of the Maine Celtics NBA G League and Portland High School Bulldogs basketball teams. Not too far away in the West End neighborhood, the Maine Irish Heritage Center houses three gathering spaces, all located within the grand building that was the former Sacred Heart/St. Dominic Parish.
“One of the huge bonuses is our space is enormous,” says Lauren Stockless, Maine Irish Heritage Center events and marketing coordinator. The center’s mission is to preserve Irish tradition, as well as connect other immigrant cultures through sharing the Irish immigration story. Its upstairs Great Hall, the former sanctuary, is best suited for stationary events (the pews remain in place), while its downstairs area is more flexible, holding 450 standing. The third space is a library comfortably fitting about 20 attendees, which Stockless says is popular for board meetings. For planners who want to incorporate a little cultural learning into the meeting agenda, the center also helps facilitate educational sessions at events.
Dive Right In
Immersing attendees in Portland’s sea-focused atmosphere is not difficult—many businesses that embrace the ocean also host groups. Casco Bay Custom Charters leads tours such as its “All Inclusive Lighthouse & Sightseeing Charter” and dining cruises like the “Bottomless Mimosas & Croissant Brunch,” during which attendees can relax aboard the historic wooden passenger cruiser Marie L and enjoy croissants, bagels, smoked salmon, drinks, and more while taking in Maine’s picturesque rocky coast. Cruises accommodate up to 16 passengers and drift past landmarks like the 1791 Portland Head Light, Maine’s much-admired and oldest lighthouse.
Boone’s Fish House & Oyster Room in the bustling Old Port neighborhood was the first to serve baked, stuffed lobster, a dish for which Portland has become famous—it was created by Boone’s original owner and chef Alexander Boone when the restaurant opened in 1898. Today, after its extensive restoration in 2013, the eatery is still a staple, accommodating in its main event space, the Oyster Room, groups of up to 125 people standing. “On the space’s left side, you have a full wall of retractable doors and windows that lead out onto our beautiful Brazilian-wood upper deck,” says Virgilio, noting the other side overlooks the Harbor Fish Market, which is iconic in Portland. Chef stations for events can include raw bars with fresh oysters shucked to order and shrimp cocktail platters, while dishes like Boone’s baked lobster are among plated-meal options. Boone’s also helps planners organize group experiences, including oyster-shucking demos.
Planners also might give attendees a feast to remember by setting up
lobster-bake catering with companies like The Maine Lobsterbake Co. Similar to a clam bake, a lobster bake is a traditional method of cooking lobster and quahogs (thick-shelled bivalves) in pits on the beach, and typically also includes sausages, potatoes, and corn on the cob. The Maine Lobsterbake Co. partners with many venues in and around Portland but also can bring a lobster bake to you in cities across coastal Maine. Island Lobster Co., a fisherman-owned restaurant on Peaks Island (accessible from Portland via ferry), offers similar lobster-bake fare on its menu, along with lobster rolls, burgers, fish and chips, and more.
For landlubbers who prefer not to dabble in the aquatic, tour company Portland by the Foot offers group walking excursions that delve into the stories of some of Portland’s most influential people and pass by stunning public art, historic landmarks, and more. Portland-based Pizzeria Otto’s has two Portland locations that cater pizzas, salads, desserts, and drinks, while Eighty 8 Donuts can bring trays upon trays of its handmade, gourmet, bite-size doughnuts to events. Doughnut flavors include Cinnamon Sugar, Maine Maple, Bamm Bamm (topped with Fruity Pebbles cereal), and Boston Cream, among others.
