Plan Your Meetings

Santa Fe

Santa Fe: Meet with inspiration

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Watch for:

  • The 360-room Buffalo Thunder Resort opened in August 2008 with 66,000 square feet of meeting space.
  • The 72,000-sq. ft. Santa Fe Convention Center opened in August 2008 with indoor and outdoor event space for groups of up to 2,000 people.
  • In the Guadalupe Historic District, the Santa Fe Railyard (now open) is being transformed into a three-acre plaza with outdoor event space, performance space, retail, restaurants and underground parking. Currently anchored by the Santa Fe Museum, it also will house the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market and artists’ studios.
  • New, daily nonstop service into Santa Fe Municipal Airport include Dallas, Los Angeles and Salt Lake City on both American and Delta.
  • The Rail Runner, a new light rail system, begins service in December 2008. The trains will have bike storage areas and WiFi for business commuters.

Want artistic settings?

Progressive events through Santa Fe’s 250+ galleries and 16 museums are popular; in the Canyon Road Historic District alone, there are almost 100 galleries. Use the Art Van Go shuttle to get attendees to different settings or for gallery tours. The mother of American Modernism, Georgia O’Keefe, is honored with an eponymous museum that has gallery and courtyard event space. Surround your group with works by the Cinco Pinturas, the five painters who founded the Santa Fe Art Movement in the early 20th century, at the Gerald Peters Gallery, The New Mexico Museum of Art, the Zaplin-Lampert Gallery or Owins-Dewey Fine Art. Galleries of Native American art include the Morning Star Gallery and Ventana Fine Art; recommended museums include the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture.

Want inspiring seminars or speakers?

Southwest Seminars has close ties to local Native American tribes and specializes in developing multicultural programs, educational seminars and cultural tours. The Santa Fe Institute is a scientific research community emphasizing multi-disciplinary collaboration; it offers a lecture series, educational seminars and workshops on a variety of issues ranging from foreign relations and the physics of social interactions to virtual world role-playing and innovative cancer treatments.

Want to keep it green?

The new Santa Fe Convention Center is being built to LEED Silver-certification standards, using recycled and eco-friendly materials, water catchments, occupancy lighting sensors, skylights and rooftop gardens, and implementing extensive recycling programs. The Santa Fe Railyard also is an eco-conscious development coming online next year with multiple event venues. Working on that development is Blue Earth Ecological Consultants, a local, woman-owned consulting firm promoting the conservation of natural resources through comprehensive planning, efficient project management and application of sound science. Ecoversity is a non-profit educational center offering classes in topics such as beekeeping and biodiversity repair.

Want creative group activities?

Santa Fe Workshops and Tours puts together creative writing workshops. The Santa Fe School of Cooking offers tasty team-building programs. Geo-caching-based team-building and outdoors-based activities are available through Santa Fe Mountain Adventures. The Reel Life leads fishing tours. Santa Fe Greenhouses has gardening classes, and display gardens; it also sells drought-tolerant plants. Create an artistic encounter with The Darkroom Santa Fe’s photography tours, dance classes with Moving People Dance Santa Fe, or outdoor art classes with Art Adventures in the Southwest. Explore the landscape that inspired Georgia O’Keefe with tours offered by the Ghost Ranch Conference Center, which also offers high and low ropes courses, desert tours and classes at its Casa del Sol Spirituality and Retreat Center. During winter months, group lift tickets and ski lessons are available at Ski Santa Fe.

Want wellness retreats?

Spa Samadhi at Sunrise Springs Resort Spa is a eco-resort with meeting space offering organic menus; spa treatments; group yoga, pottery and Tai Chi classes; and Japanese tea ceremonies. Other wellness-focused retreats include the Upaya Zen Center, a Zen Buddhist compound with accommodations, organic menus, spiritual and social action workshops, and event facilities. Body Studio offers yoga classes and spa packages. Ten Thousand Waves is a mountain spa resort and bathhouse near the Santa Fe Ski Area with accommodations for small groups.

Want group dining?

Go upscale with private wine dinners at The Compound Restaurant, which is helmed by James Beard’s “Best Chef of the Southwest” Mark Kiffin. Casual Southwestern dining options include The Blue Corn Café & Brewery and Tomasita’s. La Plazuela serves up Latin gourmet cuisine in an enclosed courtyard. Cowgirl BBQ & Western Grill has nightly entertainment and also caters off-site functions. Bert’s La Taqueria serves new Mexican cuisine and unusual regional dishes; it also is a popular local hang-out.

photo by Santa Fe CVB
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What you should know
    Named one of the world's most creative cities by United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Santa Fe has been inspiring artists and writers for decades. History here is palpable, with nearly 2,000 rooms available in historic hotels. The city is known for its art scene, Native American and Hispanic heritage, and spiritual vibe. The new Santa Fe Convention Center is expected to open in October 2008 with more than 40,000 square feet of exhibit space (as compared to the previous center's 10,000 square feet).
What will surprise you
    Events celebrating the city's 400th birthday will continue through 2008 and 2009, ending with a big splash in summer 2010. Art and history penetrate everything in the city, even the new convention center; it will have a permanent exhibit of Santa Fe's significant historic and cultural artifacts. Complimentary WiFi Internet access is available throughout the city, which is smaller than most people expect. Five compact historic districts are within walking distance of each other. Meeting during the winter months also means attendees are only 16 miles from the ski slopes of Ski Santa Fe, with 67 trails for skiers of all levels.
The 411:
  • • 5,700 guest rooms citywide
  • • 40,000+ square feet of exhibit space in Santa Fe Convention Center (October 2008)
  • • 1,500 rooms within walking distance of the convention center
  • • Average room rate: $119
  • • Best values November-March