looking for a venue for a conference
Hi, I'm looking for a venue in the East Bay to host a conference. Ideally, there would be several rooms (with projector, screen, and AV) so that we can hold seminars concurrently and it needs to be large enough to accommodate 300+ people. We hosted this conference last year at the Oakland Scottish Rite, which worked out perfectly, but it seems we are running into problems securing a date for this year. Are there venues that are equivalent to the Oakland Scottish Rite? I am going to look into hotels in the area as well. We are open to any and all suggestions. Thanks, BPN!
Mar 23, 2017
Parent Replies
Maybe the Lawrence Hall of Science?
El Cerrito High? newly rebuilt, nice large theater. Albany Community Center has very helpful staff (recently had a seminar there), but not sure if main room can accommodate 300. East Bay center for the Performing Arts? (downtown Richmond) - again not sure of max capacity in the biggest room, but lots of breakout rooms. Gaia building downtown Berkeley? And then any of the local colleges/universities (Cal, Mills, St Mary's, Contra Costa College, Maritime Academy CSU in Vallejo...). Churches? UCC, Arlington Comm Church... I feel confident you'll find something!
I had one more thought - DeJean Middle School in Richmond. I have been to a conference there organized by the district (WCCUSD) and it worked well. The main room is also HUGE. Supporting a local school district by using their facilities is also a nice gesture. But it's not very BART accessible, if that's a concern (does have a couple small parking lots). ECHS (one of my earlier suggestions) is a short, safe walk from EC Plaza BART.
try peerspace.com...
Chabot Space & Science Center might work for your purpose.
If you are a not-for-profit, The California Endowment has beautiful space with a large room that holds around 120 people and other breakout rooms. I know they recently moved and are remodeling so you'll need to check and see if they'll be open on your date. The space is so nice that we schedule our yearly conference around when their FREE space is available.