Spokane: The Sun Shines Bright on Washington's Second City

Mention the state of Washington, and you're likely to imagine a gray and most likely, rainy, place. That reputation may hold true in Seattle but not in Spokane, which is about an hour flight and a five-hour drive east of Seattle.

"We get lots of sunshine," says Visit Spokane Communications Manager Peyton Scheller. "It's drier and sunnier here, and we're on the opposite side of the state. We have about 260 days of sunshine on average."

Sunny weather was promised for Bruce Caldwell's Northwest Division of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) biennial conference, held this past February, and the city of Spokane delivered -- in more ways than one. "It's a great place for a meeting," says Caldwell, who serves as the NAfME Northwest Division conference manager and executive director of the Washington Music Educators Association. "We were guaranteed sunshine in February, and it was there."

Approximately 1,800 people attended the conference, a meeting for music teachers concurrently held with All-Northwest and All-State honor groups for high school music students (a total of 2,300 in 16 groups). The newly expanded, 500,000-square-foot Spokane Convention Center and its connecting DoubleTree by Hilton Spokane City Center hosted the convention, which rotates among Spokane, Bellevue, and Portland every six years.  

"The expanded convention center, coupled with the DoubleTree, let us hold all our teacher-related events under one roof," says Caldwell. "That is not doable in either Bellevue or Portland. We were extremely impressed with the facilities, the staff, and the overall services of all the venues. We will be back in 2021, for sure."

The Spokane Convention Center underwent an extensive 17-month, $55-million expansion that was completed just this February. It included the addition of dramatic floor-to-ceiling windows that offer incredible views of the Spokane River and 10-acre Riverfront Park.

"The convention center expansion was huge," Scheller notes. "The Riverfront Park, our city gem, in a way, is also undergoing a $60-million renovation as well."

Access to natural settings is a major draw for Spokane. "That's something that really sets us apart -- that proximity to the outdoors," says Scheller. "We have an official mantra -- 'Near Nature, Near Perfect' --  and it's so appropriate." From hiking and mountain biking to skiing and kayaking there is no shortage of outdoor activities for groups to take advantage of when they meet in Spokane -- and no shortage of incredibly scenic vistas.

Another misconception -- or little-known fact -- about Spokane is its burgeoning food and wine scene. "The Wall Street Journal recently listed Spokane as one of six great smaller U.S. [cities for] food lovers," says Scheller. "We even have a Cork District, which is this cluster of downtown tasting rooms. And there's an Inland Northwest Ale Trail of about 27 breweries throughout downtown and beyond. People don't expect that kind of culinary scene from a city of our size."

Within the downtown core, which is also home to the convention center, a new connected convention center hotel -- The Davenport Grand Hotel -- is expected to open this June, adding an additional 716 guest rooms and more than 64,000 square feet of meeting space. The eight-block radius currently has 3,200 hotel rooms.

Getting to Spokane is also fairly easy, with approximately 120 flights with more than 11,000 seats per day and six of nine major airlines servicing the airport. Amtrak service and easy driving connections to Seattle and Idaho, as well as Canada, only add to meeting transportation options for groups.

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This article appears in the May 2015 issue of Successful Meetings.