The Triangle, North Carolina

Don't let the down-home charm or the antebellum architecture fool you. North Carolina's Triangle—otherwise known as the cities of Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill—is one of the most tech-savvy regions in the world. It's home to several world-class research universities and medical centers, as well as an R&D hub for more than 100 corporations, including IBM and GlaxoSmithKline.

Think of it as the Ivy League of the South, only with wisteria vines instead of ivy (and, we might add, much better college hoops teams).

Though it's not equipped to host a Comdex-size megaconvention, the Triangle provides several excellent venues for small- to medium-size groups, as well as plenty of natural beauty and Southern hospitality. Best of all, it's easy to reach. All three city centers are located within 20 minutes of the Raleigh-Durham International Airport, which handles approximately 400 flights to 42 destinations each day.

Raleigh

The capital city of North Carolina combines historic charm with top-notch meeting facilities. At 130,000 square feet, the Raleigh Convention and Conference Center can handle 600 standard exhibit booths or arena seating for up to 4,000 people. The complex also includes the BTI Center for the Performing Arts, featuring four venues of varying size, from the 2,300-seat Memorial Auditorium to the 170-seat Kennedy Theatre.

Groups requiring more space can check out the RBC Center. The home of the NHL Carolina Hurricanes and North Carolina State's Wolfpack hoops squad offers more than 700,000 square feet of space and arena seating for 21,000 people.

RBC has hosted everything from conventions and trade shows to ice shows and circuses.

The North Carolina State Fairgrounds offers six facilities with flexible space that accommodates up to 20,000 people for shows, meetings and other special events, while the Jane S. McKimmon Center on the North Carolina State college campus provides an ideal place for corporate training, with 20 rooms that can accommodate groups of 10 to 1,150 people.

Raleigh serves up 122 hotels with more than 13,500 rooms, including most of the major chains as well as charming local venues such as the 172-room Velvet Cloak Inn, nestled in the woods near the NC State campus. The latest hotels to open include the 94-unit AmeriSuites at Raleigh-Durham airport and the Holiday Inn Express & Suites in nearby Wakefield.

Looking to soak up some Carolina culture? The city is home to the North Carolina museums of history, art and natural science, as well as the best (and only) Harley-Davidson drag racing museum in the world. Sports fans can take in an NHL match or ACC basketball game, while joggers and roller-bladers will appreciate the City of Oaks' 6,500 acres of parkland and 46-mile greenbelt trail system.

Serious meat eaters will want to book a table at the Angus Barn restaurant, where they serve the biggest slabs of beef you'll see anywhere off the hoof, or groups can indulge in some down-home Carolina barbecue (see sidebar).

The great thing about Raleigh is that it has something for everybody, notes Martin Armes, director of communications and marketing for the Greater Raleigh CVB.

"It seamlessly joins the new with the old as its high-tech industry blends with Victorian-era neighborhoods and relaxed Southern hospitality," Armes says.

Durham

As the home of both Duke University and Research Triangle Park, Durham boasts more Ph.D.s per square mile than any community south of Harvard Commons. In fact, the "City of Medicine" is a huge draw for scientists and medical researchers, says Shelly Green, executive vice president of marketing for the Durham CVB.

"We get a lot of business because of the Duke Medical Center and host a ton of medical meetings and events," Green says. "A physician-to-population ratio that's four times the national average also makes us a popular destination for meetings related to medicine."

Last year, for example, the city entertained the Society of Biomedical Engineers and the Oxygen Society, a group of 1,200-plus researchers and clinicians studying free radicals (organic molecules, not political activists).

Visitors have a healthy choice of meeting venues. The Durham Civic Center offers 108,000 square feet of exhibit space and a choice of auditoriums with seating capacities ranging from 80 to 1,000 people, but that's just the beginning, Green says. The Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center boasts 34,000 square feet of exhibit space, and another five hotels offer at least 5,000 square feet apiece—the Millennium, Hilton, Holiday Inn, Radisson Governor's Inn, and Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club.

Looking for an offbeat meeting site? Spend a lazy summer afternoon with the Durham Bulls, America's most famous Minor League Baseball team. (Sorry, Kevin Costner doesn't play for them anymore). Groups can also rent skyboxes on non-game days for small meetings.

Another unusual venue is the Magic Wings Butterfly House and Insectarium, part of Durham's excellent Museum of Life and Science. It's the perfect place for a small reception, as butterflies alight on your shoulders and the hissing Madagascar cockroaches, well, hiss. (Don't worry, they're behind glass.)

Groups with downtime in Durham can play any of 10 top-notch golf courses or visit The Streets at Southpoint, a massive regional supermall featuring a mock cityscape, a vast array of restaurants and North Carolina's one and only Nordstrom department store.

Chapel Hill

This classic college town is home to the University of North Carolina, so it's not surprising that much of the available meeting space is centered around the Tar Heel campus.

Like Durham, Chapel Hill has great appeal to the science and medical research communities.

"We get lot of medical and health-related groups because of UNC and its hospital," says Linda Ekeland, Director of Sales for the Chapel Hill/Orange County Vistors Bureau.

The city does not have a convention center of its own, Ekeland says, but other facilities fill the gap for groups.

"The closest we come to that is the William and Ida Friday Center for Continuing Education on the UNC campus," she says. "It has 25,000 square feet of meeting space, a beautiful atrium and a 425-seat auditorium with state-of-the-art audiovisual facilities."

Large groups can opt for the Sheraton Chapel Hill, which has a ballroom that is just shy of 7,000 square feet, or the historic Carolina Inn on the UNC campus, which provides 184 guest rooms and 12,500 square feet of banquet and meeting space. The elegant Siena Hotel features 80 rooms decorated with a European flair as well as several private meeting rooms ranging from 450 to 2,000 square feet.

Popular leisure activities include walking tours of the campus, visiting the Morehead Planetarium, strolling through North Carolina Botanical Gardens or enjoying Franklin Street's many shops and restaurants. Of course, basketball fanatics will be compelled to make a pilgrimage to the Dean Smith Center, home of the UNC Tar Heels and the mecca of college hoopdom.