Venues

Fairplex officially opened its high-tech Sheraton Fairplex Conference Center on March 14. The new center is I.A.C.C.-certified and Silver LEED-engineered. The project was funded by $28 million raised in conjunction with the Economic Development Administration, Small Business Administration, county of Los Angeles, and city of Pomona, resulting in more than $155.6 million in economic impact during construction. The new 85,000-square-foot center is intended to be a highly versatile space, with spacious seminar rooms and breakout rooms with interactive digital whiteboards, video conferencing, and high-speed Wi-Fi. Catering options at the space, which includes a ballroom with a capacity of 1,000 seated for a meal, include fresh farm-to-table produce grown at the on-campus FairView Farms.

Beginning in January, the 1.6 million-square-foot, LEED-certified Anaheim Convention Center began offering free Wi-Fi to all visitors. The tech upgrade was meant to give the facility a competitive edge in the marketplace, as it’s the only convention center in the western region of the U.S. to offer the service throughout the facility. Recently, the center partnered with Aramark to introduce a compost program. And slated for a January 2013 opening is a 100,000-square-foot open-air Grand Plaza, right for all sorts of alfresco meetings and events.

Downtown’s L.A. Live is the city’s newest massive multi-use development, packed with high-tech meeting and event venue offerings over 5.6 million square feet—like the 7,100-seat Nokia Theatre, the sprawling adjacent Nokia Plaza, and Club Nokia, with colorful LED bars illuminating 59,000 square feet of flexible space. The “Gallery Collection” at the JW Marriott Hotel Los Angeles includes more than 77,000 square feet of indoor meeting space, including three floors of stacked ballrooms. The property shares space with the Ritz-Carlton, which was designed by Gensler and is one of the tallest mixed-use buildings downtown.

In October, the Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites completed comprehensive upgrades. It’s L.A.’s largest convention hotel with 1,354 guest rooms, and more than 110,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space including the city’s largest ballroom.

A mile west of downtown and now available for events and unstuffy meetings is Carondelet, a 7,600-square-foot home with two courtyards and capacity for 500 overall. Furnishings are available, as is JBL sound equipment, wireless mics, and Wi-Fi throughout.

Grauman’s Chinese Theatre has recently undergone a major renovation. The main theater seats more than 1,000 guests and, also located in the Hollywood & Highland Center is the new high-tech Chinese 6 Theatres, which offer new sound systems and a luxe environment with room for more than 1,000 guests in all.

For an airy (ahem) meeting, Santa Monica's Museum of Flying opened in late February, and is available for buyout. The main floor has a maximum seating capacity of 350, or holds 700 for a reception. The Douglas Aircraft executive suite includes the Douglas boardroom (a replica of the aircraft company's boardroom), a reception parlor, and a screening room with a capacity of 50. The aviation museum's preferred caterers are Schaffer’s Genuine Foods, Bon Mélange Catering, and Gourmet Celebrations.

A bit farther afield, take a meeting group to Lorimar Vineyards and Winery, a newly opened Tuscan-style winery created by Mark Manfield and Lawrie Lipton. The 6,000-square-foot winery with spacious verandas and terrazas offers a variety of meeting and event options, which can include tastings.

For a nontraditional meeting against a blank-slate backdrop for branding, take a group to the new Kesspro Studios, a new photo studio space with 5,600 square feet of available stage area, and curtain systems for backdrop or studio partitioning. There's also on-site office equipment and high-speed Internet, plus on-site gated parking and a kitchenette.

The newest bar from John Terzian, Brian Toll, and Adam Koral adjacent to the Will Rogers State Beach, ShoreBar specializes in complex and creative cocktails, created by mixologist Vincenzo Marianella. Take a stylish, unstuffy meeting amid relaxed decor, including a nautical theme and a beachy feel. Artwork, knick-knacks, and photos are all vintage from the area. Each booth has its own personality based on the decor—Santa Barbara, Newport Beach, and Catalina Island—and is identified by a map paired with a photo of the place.