San Francisco, the “City by the Bay,” has long been a desired location for corporate events. The city’s moderate climate and renowned attractions provide an allure that BMPs simply can’t resist when planning meetings. However, it is the city’s abundant meeting facilities, available in every size imaginable, that makes the San Francisco Bay Area an irresistible draw to BMPs throughout the world.
When tasked with planning a meeting in San Francisco, the first challenge faced by most BMPs is determining which venue is just right for their event. The following pages of this edition of Meetings and Events San Francisco will help navigate the many choices the city has to offer. From the newest venues to traditional favorites, this article highlights some of the area’s key facilities and meeting spaces.

“Green” Meetings
The grand openings of two new event venues are symbolic of San Francisco’s effort to provide BMPs with “green” venues to host their corporate events. The 14,500 square-foot SPUR Urban Center opened its doors in May 2009. The center is located in the Yerba Buena District, an area widely recognized as a cultural and business epicenter. The central location assures easy transit access via Muni and BART.

The SPUR Urban Center is a LEED-certified green building that offers a variety of spaces including an assembly hall, galleries, private conference rooms and a penthouse apartment. Designed by San Francisco based Pfau Long Architecture, the facility boasts a contemporary design with high ceilings and an abundance of natural light courtesy of towering windows. There is a kitchen available for on-site catering and storage.

The meeting space available encompasses more than 3,840-square-feet and is suitable for 550 guests. There are many different configurations and options to consider when booking meeting space at this venue. The Storefront Galleries measures 1,428-square-feet and can accommodate 204 people, but can also be divided into several smaller galleries. The 295-square-foot Community Room offers BMPs an intimate space, whereas the 1,173-square-foot Public Assembly Hall offers a perfect spot for large events, product launches or workshops. The Public Assembly Hall features flexible seating and state-of-the-art audiovisual equipment. The most elegant space available, the Penthouse, lives up to its name and offers an adjacent outdoor terrace with impressive views of the city.

The other environmentally friendly facility is the Greenv Sustainable Center of South San Francisco. The 27,000-square-foot mixed-use facility can accommodate up to 200 people for private events. Newly remodeled with state-of-the-art green building products, the venue is home to 49 tenants and hosts educational workshops, seminars and training sessions on green topics such as renewable energy and green building basics. BMPs who choose to host their next event at the Greenv Sustainable Center of South San Francisco can introduce their attendees to a greener style of living and working.

Consummate Favorites
Located in San Francisco’s downtown district, the Moscone Center has long been recognized as the city’s premier meeting venue. Consisting of three separate facilities, the Moscone Center offers an abundance of prime meeting space. Moscone North consists of 53,410-square-feet of space that can be divided into 17 custom meeting areas as well as an additional 181,000-square-feet of exhibit space. Moscone South consists of 60,580-square-feet of meeting space that can be divided into 41meeting rooms as well as an additional 260,560-square-feet of exhibit space. Moscone West is a three-story convention center consisting of more than 300,000-square-feet of meeting and exhibit space.

If a visually stunning venue is required, then look no further than the Fort Mason Center. Comprised of nine Mission Revival buildings, the waterfront facility offers breathtaking views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Angel Island and Alcatraz. A total of 300,000-square-feet of space consisting of classrooms, galleries, meeting rooms, performance spaces and a large conference center is available. Two piers, which stretch far into the bay, are also available for corporate events. One of the buildings, the Herbst Pavilion accommodates 3,000 guest while the Festival Pavilion can hold 5,000. The 437-seat Cowell Theater provides state-of-the-art performance space and can accommodate all audiovisual needs.

The Mission Bay Conference Center, located on the University of California, San Francisco Campus (UCSF), is a new meeting destination, centered in UCSF’s new 43-acre life sciences campus for teaching and research that is located just south of downtown San Francisco. The facility is steps away from the SBC Ballpark, shopping, premier hotels and entertainment. The center has many notable features including 12,500-square-feet of space, 10 dedicated conference rooms, an auditorium and banquet room, teleconferencing, wireless Internet access, an extensive fitness center, rooftop swimming pool and a game room. The Mission Bay Conference Center also boasts onsite conference dining, including a well-respected pub restaurant.

Sporting Venues
San Francisco is home to the world famous Candlestick Park. Built in 1960, the park gained notoriety as being the place the Beatles played their last concert. The Park is currently the home of the San Francisco 49ers football team and the former home of the San Francisco Giants baseball team. More than 170,000-square-feet of exhibit space is available for private events and corporate meetings. Hosting events at Candlestick Park brings a touch of historical significance to any affair.

For 85 days out of the year, the San Francisco Giants call AT&T Park home. For the rest of the year every area of the park is available for corporate and social events. A perfect venue for any occasion, we’re proud that this 220,000-square-foot facility is now one of Meetings & Events San Francisco’s preferred partners and is discussed in-depth on page 24.

The Surrounding Areas
San Francisco is part of a vast region collectively known as the Bay Area. Some of the best event venues in the world can be found in the Bay Area, all in close proximity to the city. A mere 15 minutes north of the San Francisco International Airport is one of the most versatile convention spaces in the country. The Cow Palace consists of eight buildings and one main arena totaling 200,000-square-feet of building space. The arena’s seating capacity varies from 10,300 to 16,500 and offers 30,000-square-feet of floor space. The North and South Halls are approximately 48,000-square-feet each while the Exhibit Buildings are comprised of six 20,000-square-foot bays. The Exhibit Buildings may be rented in whole or in part. For larger events, the Cow Palace offers parking for up to 4,000 vehicles.

Located just across the Bay are the Oakland Convention Center and the adjoining Marriott City Center. The Oakland Convention Center offers an impressive 64,000-square-feet of exhibition and meeting space while the Marriott offers an additional 25,000-square-feet of meeting space including three grand ballrooms. One of the best aspects of this venue is the onsite hotel facility. After an event, attendees can enjoy the freedom of walking back to their hotel suites without needing to secure transportation.

Also in Oakland is the Oracle Arena and McAfee Coliseum. Best known as the home of the Oakland A’s baseball team and the Oakland Raiders football team, the venue can accommodate meetings in a wide variety of settings. The Oracle Arena’s elegant Courtside Club is ideal for luncheons, cocktail parties or fine dining for up to 200 people. The West Side Club is perfect for morning breakfast meetings or for team-building meetings of up to 1,000 people. The Smirnoff Club and the 880 Club can host meetings of up to 970 people while the largest space, the East Side Club, can host 3,000 attendees.

What’s Next?
Clearly San Francisco offers a spectacular selection of meeting and event spaces to choose from. However, the best may still be yet to come. With a constant pursuit of excellence in mind, the city is embarking on many innovations to assure it will remain a desired meeting destination. The well-known Bill Graham Civic Auditorium is currently being renovated and promises to be an incomparable venue. Located close to Market Street and part of the Civic Center, there is an abundance of parking and hotels nearby. Before the renovations began, the facility boasted an impressive 31,140-square-feet of arena floor space and 36 meeting rooms totaling 22,000-square-feet. With the renovations sure to impress, BMPs should keep the auditorium in mind for future events.

In addition, a preliminary proposal has been submitted to begin renovations on the Moscone Center. This proposal would replace three buildings east of the main convention area with several mixed-use towers that would include 180,000-square-feet of meeting space, a 100,000-square-foot underground convention structure and a new parking facility. The new Moscone East would constitute a nearly 25 percent expansion of the current 1.2 million-square-foot center.

With these new improvements and the excellence of the existing venues, San Francisco should be at the top of every BMPs list when choosing a location for their next corporate event. Recently ranked among the top ten greenest cities by the Mother Nature Network, business meetings in San Francisco can come to fruition in a clean and pristine city.

Lastly, remember that the highlighted venues in this article are just a sample of what San Francisco has to offer. There are plenty of other great meeting space possibilities that are covered in the comprehensive listings in this section of the magazine. Don’t hesitate to call local event coordinators and research additional venues and be sure to www.MeetingsAndEventsSanFrancisco.com for a complete directory of the city’s meeting facilities.