From ArborWiki

A list of locations to have a meeting, from 12 people to 107,501 people. You can get professional event planning help from the Ann Arbor Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Arborweb's City Guide has a list of conference centers with additional details.

Ed wrote an article in January 2009 for AnnArbor.com about places to have a meeting.

Contents 1 Cafes and restaurants 2 Fraternal organizations 2.1 Union halls 2.2 Masonic lodges 2.3 Veterans organizations 3 Public and private schools 3.1 Ann Arbor Public Schools 3.2 Saline Area Schools 4 Places of worship 5 Corporate board rooms, conference rooms and cafeterias 6 Libraries, public and private 7 Clubhouses and common rooms 8 Coworking and corporate meeting space 9 Senior Centers 10 Private halls 11 City, county, and state parks 12 University spaces 12.1 University of Michigan 12.2 Eastern Michigan University 12.3 Washtenaw Community College 12.4 Concordia University 13 Hotels 14 Country clubs 15 Concert houses and theaters 16 Fairgrounds 17 Outside 17.1 Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum 17.2 Block party 18 Unsorted, unverified 19 Unused commercial space 20 Further Speculation

[edit] Cafes and restaurants

Most cafes and restaurants can accommodate small, ad hoc meetings of up to a dozen, as long as you are willing to buy a meal or coffee. Some have private dining rooms or private meeting rooms which provide more privacy. Listed alphabetically.

• Arbor Brewing Company
• Carson's American Bistro - lunch or dinner seating for up to 40, with A/V available for events.
• Chop House - dinner seating for groups of 10-15 or up to 40.
• Classic Cup Cafe on Jackson Rd. Call first to reserve it (free).
• The Common Cup - 1511 Washtenaw Avenue (in the front basement of the University Lutheran Church) -- large open space, good food (inexpensive), great service, free wi-fi.
• Conor O'Neills - Celtic room seats about 100; hosts LA2M
• Corner Brewery - hosted the Shadow Art Fair
• Frenchie's in Ypsi - free (as in beer) for your gathering
• Gratzi - lunch and early dinner (until 5pm) for up to 40.
• Palio - dinner seating for up to 40.
• Real Seafood Company - private rooms for 15-40 during lunch and dinner.
• Weber's

[edit] Fraternal organizations

Some of these venues are reserved for members, but others are rented to the general public.

[edit] Union halls

• UAW Local 892 in Saline, 3600 sq ft, seats up to 300.

[edit] Masonic lodges

• Zal Gaz Grotto Club

[edit] Veterans organizations

• Ypsilanti VFW
• Saline VFW

[edit] Public and private schools

Look for cafeterias, gymnasiums, and auditoriums to rent. You may have to pay custodian's fees.

[edit] Ann Arbor Public Schools

[edit] Saline Area Schools

[edit] Places of worship

Some of these locations are primarily available to coreligionists, but others are available to the public. Look for gymnasiums, church basements, and social halls if meeting in a sanctuary is inappropriate.

• Ann Arbor Friends Meeting
• Salvation Army

[edit] Corporate board rooms, conference rooms and cafeterias

Any company of size has a room large enough to fit its board of directors or management team, and some larger organizations have auditoriums or corporate cafeterias. You may need to have an employee of the company on hand for the meeting or it may need to be sponsored by the organization.

• AnnArbor.com - 301 E Liberty, Ann Arbor; front conference room space on 1st floor, free, reservation required
• Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce - conference room in their downtown offices, (apparently) available to a Chamber member to reserve for free

[edit] Libraries, public and private

Public and private libraries often have meeting spaces, either for reservation or for general ad hoc use. Your program may need to fit the purpose or goals of a private library.

• AADL FreeSpace - free meeting room at downtown library - reserve in advance online

[edit] Clubhouses and common rooms

Many apartment and condo communities have some sort of shared space, usable by groups for parties or events. You may need to have a resident of the community sponsor or reserve the space.

• Great Oak Cohousing - common house, 3 rooms of varying sizes. Used by groups like Go Tech, must be sponsored by a resident (donations welcome but not required--contact via form at www.gocoho.org).

[edit] Coworking and corporate meeting space

Free standing corporate centers offering meeting spaces for rent by the hour or day. Coworking facilities may have priority access and preferential pricing for members. Shared spaces run by non-profits may have restrictions on use to be consistent with the non-profit's mission.

• Ann Arbor SPARK - holds about 100 in its current configuration
• Boardwalk Creative Center - 160 people - $1500/day
• MITC - conference facilities for meetings from 6 to 145 participants
• NEW Center - 10-75, overlooking the Huron River, for non-profits; $110 for 909 sq ft for 4 hr
• Workantile Exchange - two conference rooms for small private meetings, and Training Loft available for larger groups of up to 80 - $250 per 4 hour block (discounted after hours)
• Workantile Exchange training loft: details on space and pricing

[edit] Senior Centers

• Ann Arbor Senior Center - the Unitarian Fellowship meets there.
• Chelsea Senior Center

[edit] Private halls

• Hathaway's Hideaway
• Elmo's Hideaway on Main St (basement underneath) - open room, (734) 994-9898 for inquiries

[edit] City, county, and state parks

• Independence Lake - meeting room with 35-40 people, projection screen, tables and chairs (and screened windows!), overlooking swimming beach and woods at the county park; $100/day or $20/hr
• Gallup Park - the Eli Gallup Meeting Room is $34/hr ($28/hr resident), 2 hr minimum, windows overlooking the Huron River.
• Cobblestone Farm

[edit] University spaces

Securing a place in University facilities can often be helped by having a contact within the organization make the arrangements. Many student groups have access to space that ordinary mortals find difficult to get at, so having your event co-sponsored by a student organization is a path to access.

[edit] University of Michigan

Listed separately; many student groups have access to these and other spaces at nominal rents, and host events open to the general public.

See http://studentorgs.umich.edu/guidebook/facilities for more details and many more venues.

• Mendelssohn Theatre (in the Michigan League)
• Arthur Miller Theatre (in the new Walgreen Drama Center)
• Stamps Auditorium (attached to Walgreen)
• Crisler Auditorium (in the Pierpont Commons)
• There are also two "meeting rooms" in the Duderstadt Center
• The Diag - seated 27,430 in temporary seats for the 2008 UM graduation.
• Michigan Union
• Michigan League
• The Kahn Auditorium (the "pringle") and 3 seminar rooms in the BSRB. Can probably be used by non-UofM groups but must be "sponsored" by a UofM employee. Scheduling: 936-2233
• Palmer Commons meeting space
• Blau Auditorium at the Ross School of Business; seats 500 on two levels
• Michigan Union: 6325 sq ft Michigan Union Ballroom, 600 people.
• Rackham Auditorium; seats 1117. rent for $800/day, half day $400; events w/paid professional artists extra.
• Power Center - seats 1368. rent $1515/day, lobby only (8 hrs) $665; events w/paid professional artists extra and must go through University planner.
• Hill Auditorium; seats 3530. Rent for $1700/day, or lobby for $450/5 hrs. Events w/paid professional artists must run through the U and cost extra.
• Crisler Arena - Michigan basketball, the Dalai Lama; programming by the Major Events Office at the U of M.
• Michigan Stadium - open for business; in addition to Michigan Football, events like the Big House Big Heart 5K use the stadium.

[edit] Eastern Michigan University

• Pease Auditorium - 886 seats main floor, 665 seats balcony.
• Convocation Center at Eastern Michigan University. Seats 9500 in center stage configuration, 7500 in end stage, 8800 for athletic events, or 20,000 sq ft of show floor.
• Rynearson Stadium - seats 30,200 at Eastern Michigan University

[edit] Washtenaw Community College

• Morris Lawrence Building at WCC; the site of arbcamp in 2007. 600 people.

[edit] Concordia University

• Earhart Manor House, Concordia University. 4090 Geddes Road, Ann Arbor

[edit] Hotels

• Ann Arbor Marriott Ypsilanti; 8992 sq ft of meeting space, room for 1100 people.
• Four Points Sheraton Ann Arbor: 6300 sq ft of meeting space, room for 600 people.
• Kensington Court Ann Arbor: 5586 sq ft of meeting space, 600 people.
• Holiday Inn Near The University of Michigan: 4600 sq ft of meeting space, 300 people.
• Weber's Inn: 4554 sq ft of meeting space, 500 people.

[edit] Country clubs

• Ann Arbor Country Club - groups of 20 to 170
• Stonebridge - 40 in bar and grille, 80 in outdoor tent, 185 in banquet room.

[edit] Concert houses and theaters

• Kerrytown Concert House
• Canterbury House (canterburyhouse.org)
• Yellow Barn

[edit] Fairgrounds

For your large scale outdoor event or one that needs sheds and barns.

• Washtenaw Farm Council Grounds, 8642 sq ft of display space in Building A
• Chelsea Community Fair

[edit] Outside

[edit] Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum

Rented for weddings and other events. See their rental page for more info. Rental fees for the Gardens, including 75 white chairs and indoor backup, start at $1100.

[edit] Block party

For a couple temperate months each year, you can move your event outside and have a block party. There are permits etc. that need to be requested from the City beforehand.

[edit] Unsorted, unverified

• the old Cygamz space in the showcase movie theater @ (734) 973-6360 (John Green or Kelly Mervyn).
• that long warehouse-y space attached to the Liberty Lofts might be available for renting.

[edit] Unused commercial space

See a vacant storefront that would be perfect for your event? Contact the landlord, make an offer. You may need to deal with permit issues.

[edit] Further Speculation

An Ann Arbor News article on the prospect of a new conference or convention center compares what's available now in Ann Arbor to other venues around the state.