Partner Spotlight: Destination Madison

Can you give us a brief overview of Destination Madison?

Madison is the capital city of Wisconsin and home to the University of Wisconsin-Madison, a top-ten research institution. Our downtown is situated between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, so visitors get all the beauty plus the perks of a city:

Efficient travel: Direct flights from D.C. get travelers to MSN in under two hours! Once you arrive, it’s less than a 15-minute ride from our airport to downtown.
Sustainable + walkable: Our Frank Lloyd Wright-designed, LEED-certified Monona Terrace Convention Center is located lakeside and is walkable from 14 downtown hotels, including the attached Hilton Madison Monona Terrace and Embassy Suites, located just steps away.
Safe + welcoming: Madison is a place where all are welcome, and attendees feel safe walking around our city. But don’t just take our word for it: we were recently ranked by WalletHub as #3 State Capitols for Safety.

What are some of the flagship products or services offered by Destination Madison? Could you highlight a few key features or benefits of each?

Our city offers more than 12,000 hotel rooms—1,800 of them within walking distance of Monona Terrace Convention Center, which offers 250,000 square feet of flexible space in a multi-level venue. Our convention center also offers unexpected specs that meeting planners and attendees love:

Coffee prices: When inflation is high and budgets are tight, our convention center coffee prices are just right, at less than $45 per gallon!
Top tech: Monona Terrace offers in-house staff support along with its state-of-the-art A/V suite of services.
Badger Talks: Save on speaker costs while tapping into expert researchers and faculty from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Sustainable: Monona Terrace uses 27% less energy than similar U.S. facilities and its water usage is 43% below the LEED benchmark.

What sets Destination Madison apart from other companies in the industry?

The people. Our sales and services team has 97 years of collective experience hosting meetings in key industries: STEM, biotechnology, education, environmental, healthcare, sports and more.

We pride ourselves on being fun, flexible and approachable. And we do our research so we can truly understand each planner’s needs, becoming trusted partners planners want to work with again and again.

How does Destination Madison prioritize customer satisfaction and ensure a positive experience for its clients?

When planners describe Madison, we hear these three words over and over: Friendly. Accessible. Safe. It’s why we consistently earn five-star reviews and testimonials like this one from William Cox Sr. at the Geological Society of America:

“Our satisfaction with the Monona Terrace, Hilton Hotel and Destination Madison was exceptional. The feedback I got from our attendees was very positive. I would love to bring this meeting back to Madison in the future.”

What are some of the current trends you’re seeing in your area of the industry? Is there anything you’re doing to adapt or react to those trends?

As a progressive city, we pride ourselves on being future-focused and in-tune with trends. A great example is the “2025 Event Trends to Watch” blog we just published to help our clients think about the best ways to design events that are both budget friendly and sustainable—two things we know are important to planners and attendees alike.

Can you share what your organization is doing to create diverse, inclusive and equitable meetings experiences?

Every day we strive to make Madison, Wisconsin a place for all—one where our visitors feel welcome, safe and respected. A natural extension of that vision was to add a Multicultural Sales Manager to our team. Ever since, Allison Aguilar Bultman has been building awareness about our city by attending events such as the the National Coalition of Black Meeting Professionals Annual Conference in Birmingham to hosting the Anesis Multicultural Therapy Conference in Madison.

What tools are your organization offering NextGen to support them in their career growth?

Madison is home to UW-Madison, Edgewood College and Madison College, so education is embedded in our city’s culture. Madison’s admiration for education—plus its regional tech hub designation—are just two reasons USA Today named Madison among the “Top Ten Cities Where Gen Zs are Moving.” That places us in the ranks among much bigger cities such as Washington, D.C., Austin and Atlanta.

Do you have any notable success stories you’d like to share with our members?
In 2024, we broke our record for most meetings booked at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center. Beyond the ways that keeps fueling our local economy and destination development, it also means more people are sharing their experiences about hosting in Madison, Last year, Future Partners research showed Madison’s Popularity and Overall Reputation grew by double– digit percentages.

What does the future hold for Destination Madison? Are there any upcoming events, partnerships, or initiatives that our members should be excited about?

Well, there’s one fun pop-culture piece of news: Madison is the first city in Wisconsin to have an official, licensed Monopoly game, which will launch in Summer 2025! In addition to all the important icons and landmarks featured in the board game, Madison will be welcoming two brand-new hot spots to visit IRL:

Madison Public Market, a year-round public marketplace with a focus on local foods and goods, plus inclusive spaces that support the growth of minority-owned and small businesses.
One 09, a public food hall, promenade and plaza that’s walkable from Monona Terrace and also overlooks the Lake Monona waterfront.

Finally, is there anything else you’d like to share with our members?
We are grateful for the PCMA Capital Chapter and all the people we have met who have become lifelong friends. Please be sure to stop into our booth to say “hi” if you’ll be attending any of the trade shows below—it’s a great chance to play our Lake-City-Lake Lucky 3s pull-tab game that was hugely popular at PCMA Convening Leaders in January!

Not attending these events? We’ve got more ways to win! Sign up for our Madison Meetings Insider e-news and be sure to check the “Lucky 3s Grand Prize Giveaway” box to enter for your chance to win a $5,000 event sponsorship PLUS your choice of a $500 personal gift: an airline voucher, hotel points, a VISA gift card or a luxury luggage set.