Downtown America is as popular as ever for religious meetings. Downtown meetings can be expensive, but there are ways for budget-conscious planners to save money. Here are 20 cost-cutting ideas.

Entertainment

1. Use universities

   Cities such as Boston are teeming with universities and college students. Contact the music or theater department to inquire about hiring a student or instructor to perform at events or functions.

2. Find local discounts

   Not-for-profit organizations such as museums, art institutes, or historical societies often offer reduced rates for groups. And in Washington, D.C., the museums on the Mall are open to the public, free of charge. Entertainment venues such as aquariums, planetariums, city tours, sporting events, and theaters may have generous group packages.

3. Let attendees entertain themselves

   One reason downtown destinations are popular is because there's so much to do, all within walking distance of hotels! So let attendees have an evening to themselves.

4. Cater to your needs

   The sidewalks may roll up earlier in some smaller cities, but shops, services, restaurants, and attractions are often willing to be flexible to accommodate a group's specific needs.

5. Find out who's in town

   Look for appropriate entertainers who are scheduled to perform in the city the week you arrive and see if they are available for your function. You can save money on travel costs, hotel accommodations, and meals.

6. Go straight to the source

   Book acts and entertainers through CVBs and avoid the fees of booking through an agency.

7. Keep it all under one roof

   Some downtown convention centers encompass more than one venue under their roof, such as the Oncenter Complex in Syracuse, N.Y. The Oncenter combines a convention center, conference center, theater, and arena, which means that, along with lots of meeting and exhibit space, it is also home to the local symphony, opera, and a minor league hockey team. Groups that book meetings at the complex can get discounts on games or concerts.

8. Look for good deals

   Planners may be able to find savings through the local CVB via coupons or discounts on area attractions that can be passed on to attendees. In Cleveland, for example, the CVB of Greater Cleveland is offering free passes to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum to groups that book meetings in downtown Cleveland in 2004 to 2005.

   Food and Beverage
9. Eat out

   Downtown areas have an abundance of restaurants — often within walking distance of hotels — so let attendees sample the local flavor. By skipping a catered meal, your organizations saves money and attendees can eat on their own — and on their own budget.

10. Pass the hors d'oeuvres

    Have waiters serve appetizers as opposed to offering them buffet-style. People tend to grab fewer samples when the food is passed around on a plate.

11. Piggyback onto another event

    If another group is meeting at the same time and place, find out what they're eating. You may be able to negotiate a discount on food and beverage by simply asking the chef to make more of what the kitchen is already preparing.

12. Do lunch

    Lunch is always less expensive than dinner. For a group function, consider having a major presentation in the middle of the day with a plated lunch, which is usually about half the price per person of a lunch buffet. Dinner is usually twice the cost of lunch.

13. Walk to dinner

    For your dining and entertainment pleasure, a variety of restaurants are within walking distance of many downtown venues in most cities.

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14. Get sponsors

    Well in advance of the meeting, seek out local organizations as sponsors. There may be businesses headquartered in the city to which you're headed that may benefit from a relationship with your group.

15. Save on housing costs

    Check with the local CVB. Some CVBs assist planners with housing services.

16. Go off-season or on weekends

    A winter meeting in Detroit or a summer event in Miami might be a good time to find great deals on hotels and meeting space.

17. Book in bulk

    Groups that book multiple meetings with one hotel chain or at one facility will have more leverage for a better deal.

18. Use local speakers

    They may be less expensive than big-name presenters, and you'll save on travel costs.

19. Use fewer buses

    Instead of booking multiple minicoaches, reserve fewer large buses to transport attendees to events around town.

20. Find free shuttles

    In cities where the airport is not too far from downtown, many hotels offer complimentary bus service.

Downtown Headlines

Following are recent downtown developments across the country.

• The Milwaukee Theatre, a new concert and theatrical venue, has opened. This $42 million project, adjacent to the convention center, reconfigures the 1909 Milwaukee Auditorium and adds 38,000 square feet of meeting space for convention general assemblies.

• Also in Milwaukee, Pier Wisconsin will open in late 2005. The 65,000-square-foot complex will house the relocated Discovery World Museum and a nonprofit freshwater education center.

• Groundbreaking took place in April on the expansion of Cincinnati's Cinergy Center convention center, which will open in 2006. The completed facility will have 750,000 square feet of space.

• In Florida, the 350,000-square-foot Palm Beach County Convention Center debuted in fall 2003; the Greater Fort Lauderdale/Broward County Convention Center recently added 230,000 square feet of exhibit space, and the the $225 million Performing Arts Center of Greater Miami, which is slated to open in late 2004 or early 2005, will feature a 2,480-seat ballet/opera house, a 2,200-seat concert hall, and a 200-seat flexible space called Studio Theatre.

• The 358-room Seattle Marriott Waterfront opened in April adjacent to the 78,000-square-foot Bell Harbor International Conference Center on Pier 66.

• The new, 2.3 million-square-foot Washington, D.C., Convention Center opened in 2003. The largest building in Washington and one of the 10 largest convention centers in the United States, it has nearly 725,000 square feet of exhibit space and 125,000 square feet of meeting rooms — more than twice the exhibition space of the old center.