When a corporation, association, or society is seeking the right destination for an upcoming meeting, staying within budget is as important a factor as the quality of the educational sessions and social events the meeting will offer.
Because of this, some destinations have a natural advantage: They are home to a strong base of human intellect and talent in the areas of business, science, arts, culture, and sport. This makes it much easier for event planners to find impactful speakers and presenters for their educational sessions, meal functions, and receptions without having to fly them in from around the country.
One place with that natural advantage is Northern Kentucky. Set right across the river from Cincinnati, Ohio, NKY has intellectual and cultural resources of its own as well as access to those in and around Cincinnati.
First, the Local Scene
Less than six miles from the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, and the Marriott Rivercenter, is Northern Kentucky University. In addition to having its Chase College of Law and Haile School of Business, NKU’s College of Informatics has faculty who could speak to an event group on everything from data analytics to cybersecurity to artificial-intelligence usage. And on the creative side, NKU has its School of the Arts, featuring hundreds of talented musicians and artists who could perform for or give demonstrations to an event group.
Even closer to the center and its main hotels is Newport Aquarium, which has ambassadors who can come into an event to speak about the aquarium’s marine life—or groups could easily host an event at the aquarium and listen to the ambassadors while observing the sea creatures firsthand.
Also right in the neighborhood is the Behringer-Crawford Museum, located in the Devou family’s 19th-century, four-story home. The museum includes local archaeological, cultural, and industrial history, and its curator could speak to a group at the museum or at the host meeting venue.
Interestingly, there are several bourbon distilleries in the area, whose proprietors could talk about Kentucky’s beverage heritage and fine craftsmanship, and perhaps conduct a group tasting too.
Another local attraction is Circus Mojo, which performs at the Ludlow Theater. The amazing circus performers could perform a private performance and answer questions from a group, while the circus’s owner could talk about how he built the operation from the ground up.
Local resident Rachel DesRochers is a motivational speaker on “the power to pursue” and “the gratitude collective,” and the founder of several businesses and social organizations. She also has connections to other local speakers on a variety of topics: mental health, finance, and more.
For an insightful business presentation, meeting planners could enlist an executive from Amazon Air Hub—the center of Amazon’s U.S. air-cargo operation—which is located at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.
Lastly, Aviatra Accelerators is a local business-development firm that’s geared toward female entrepreneurs. Its leaders would be perfect motivational speakers for any audience.
Many More Resources Next Door
In and around Cincinnati are several universities, each with their own strengths. Of course, there’s the University of Cincinnati, which features a nationally acclaimed College of Law, a College Engineering and Applied Sciences, and a College-Conservatory of Music whose student performers are among the best in America.
In addition, the University of Cincinnati Medical Center is the region’s only academic center and its only Level I adult trauma center—a perfect source of speakers and presenters for medical-meeting groups, or any other groups who want to hear inspirational stories of overcoming challenges.
Another source of inspiration that meetings and conventions can tap into: Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, named the top children’s hospital in America by U.S. News & World Report. Besides finding speakers there for their meetings, groups can host volunteer events at the hospital and bring happiness to its young patients.
Other colleges in the Cincinnati area include Mount St. Joseph University, Thomas More University and Xavier University, while Miami University and the University of Dayton are both less than an hour’s drive from the NKY Convention Center and its headquarters hotel.
Many more speaker and presenter possibilities come from the region’s corporate sector. Consumer-products giant Proctor & Gamble is headquartered in Cincinnati and could provide experts to speak on a wide range of topics: product development and innovation, marketing, manufacturing, leadership, and more.
GE Aerospace also calls Cincinnati home; it is just one of several firms that provides the region with a wealth of engineering, aviation, and aerospace expertise.
Also headquartered in Cincinnati is Kroger, one of America’s leading supermarket chains, as well as Totes Isotoner, the well-known maker of rain gear and cold-weather apparel. A presentation from an executive at either company would surely make an impact on attendees. And because of NKY’s central location in the country— 60 percent of the U.S. population lives within a day’s drive—logistics and commercial transportation are big business here. Total Quality Logistics is one of the largest companies in that industry, and its Cincinnati headquarters makes it easy for NKY groups to tap into the firm’s collective brainpower.
To hear inspirational stories related to local and national history, a group could have a curator from the city’s National Underground Railroad Freedom Center speak at an event. Another possibility: A group could bring in one of the animal ambassadors from The Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, which does pioneering work in the research and care of animals from around the world. In fact, an ambassador who speaks to a group in NKY might also bring along a resident of the zoo, which makes for a memorable experience and photo opportunity for attendees.
Regardless of whichever type of speaker, presenter, or performer an event group is looking for in the area, meetNKY – the Northern Kentucky Convention & Visitors Bureau – is the powerhouse resource for making those connections for event planners.