DeVos Place convention center just keeps growing. December 2003 marked the opening of this 1 million-square-foot facility in Grand Rapids, Mich., including three contiguous exhibit halls totaling 162,000 square feet. In January, the 2,400-seat performance hall was renovated and a 40,000-square-foot ballroom/theater was added, along with a riverside promenade running the length of the center.

Next door is the 682-room Amway Grand Plaza hotel, with 47,120 square feet of meeting space. The Imperial Ballroom, originally a bank, has massive columns, fabulous carved ceilings, and dramatic stairways. There are three other impressive ballrooms, the largest of which seats 1,216 theater-style.

Also near the convention center is the 214-room Courtyard by Marriott, with seven meeting rooms, as well as such event venues as the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park and the Van Andel Museum Center, where attendees can ride a 1928 carousel.