Cape Cod and the Islands

When the pressures of business mount, it is often difficult to imagine a world beyond the office door, let alone the ocean breezes and laid-back nature inherent on an island. Yet most will agree that at some point it is completely necessary to escape the rigors of the daily grind and view tasks from a different perspective, perhaps even an island perspective. To that end, a growing number of groups are discovering the benefits of meeting on Cape Cod and its neighboring islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

"You get to Cape Cod and you have a different outlook on things," says Jay Gilman, director of sales and marketing for Sea Crest Resort and Conference Center in the Cape Cod town of Falmouth. "So for someone who works day in and day out in a city, it's a great place to get away, and yet it's very close to the city."

Gilman is evidence of the Cape's proximity to the city. He lives in a Boston suburb and commutes to the resort every day. All told, the drive takes about one hour. Gilman adds that Sea Crest is about a 70-minute drive from Boston's Logan Airport, and the drive from New York City is roughly four hours.

Getting to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket by air is also convenient, with regional carriers such as Cape Air offering service to each destination from major cities such as Boston, New York and Providence, R.I.

While Cape Cod is technically an island, it was only made so in 1914 when the Army Corps of Engineers dug the 17.5-mile Cape Cod Canal, allowing water traffic to more easily navigate between bays in northwestern and southwestern Cape Cod.

For those looking for the true island experience, the islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket can easily accommodate while still being easily reachable.

"[Martha's Vineyard is] a place where you get a sense of magic without going too far," says Susan Goldstein, owner of the Mansion House on Martha's Vineyard. "[The island] is defined by the water in a way that's insular without being a barrier. You can come here, plan you're meeting and still feel as if you've taken a journey without the rigor of other kinds of meeting travel."

And despite the area's laid-back nature, or maybe because of it, Cape Cod and the Islands offer no shortage of business inspiration. One need look no further than the area's two most famous commercial exports, Cape Cod Potato Chips and Nantucket Nectars juice drinks. Inspired by the fanciful ways of their namesake locales, the two companies have grown from remote operations to cult commercial success and finally into thriving businesses with products that are popular throughout the country. Despite the success, they still retain humble headquarters on quaint land surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean.

Shoulder the Season

During the past couple of decades, the region has grown into a hugely popular summer vacation destination for Americans and international travelers alike. As this summer approaches, the Cape and the islands are gearing up for the annual rush, a point of contention for many longtime vacationers who have seen their summer haven increasingly congested with auto and pedestrian traffic.

According to each destination's respective chamber of commerce, Cape Cod's year-round population of approximately 220,000 more than triples during the summer, sometimes reaching as many as 1 million. Martha's Vineyard, with a year-round population of 15,000, averages more than 100,000 in the summer. Meanwhile, Nantucket's year-round population of 12,000 grows to 50,000 during July and August.

As a result, the region generally does not pursue meeting and conference business during the summer. Instead, the area's properties and chambers of commerce are pushing the destination to groups as more than a summertime hotspot.

"We want [groups] to focus on the off-season and shoulder seasons, when the Vineyard is gorgeous and you don't have to fight all the people that are here during the summer," says Valerie Richards, executive director of the Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce.

"We are becoming more and more of a year-round destination," adds Patti Lloyd, vice president of sales for the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and CVB. "There are great rates in the winter and so much to do, and it's a great time to focus with minimal distractions."

Of course, a winter in Massachusetts can be a bit much for some folks to bear, and most properties on Nantucket still close for its coldest months, so the region is making a heavy push to promote its shoulder seasons for groups.

"After Labor Day through the end of October, the weather can be very mild, but most of the leisure travelers are gone for the season, and prices can be more affordable," Sea Crest Resort's Gilman says. "From April through the end of May is comparable, when again, the weather can be real nice and the rates affordable."

While numerous properties can offer the seclusion and meeting space many groups desire, small groups may choose to experience the island culture from the comfort of a rented house.

"Depending on your budget, you can rent houses with any type of view and location you want," Richards of the Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce says. "There aren't really any distractions when you rent a house."

Regardless of where a group stays—in a hotel or house on the Cape, Martha's Vineyard or Nantucket—many of the activities are the same. Preferred pastimes in the region include clam bakes or simply relaxing on the beach, whale watching, seal watching, golf, sailing and fishing charters, water skiing, kayaking, biking, and historical tours.

Cape Cod

Cape Cod has the distinction of hosting the first recorded meeting of the New World. On Nov. 11, 1620, 41 of the 102 passengers on the Mayflower signed the Mayflower Compact—"In witness whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape Cod"—and established the first basis for written laws in the New World. While many of the ship's passengers were separatists fleeing religious persecution in Europe, today groups can come to Cape Cod to escape the heavy pressures of the office.

"To a lot of meeting planners, arranging a meeting here is a lot more like play," says Lloyd of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and CVB. "We have 559 miles of coastline and almost 400 miles of terrain. We have 52 harbors, 115 beaches, 715 restaurants, 13 lighthouses, and 41 premier golf courses."

The Cape is comprised of 15 towns, many of which feature different villages. Hyannis, a village in the town of Barnstable, acts as the commercial hub of Cape Cod and was made famous by the Kennedys, who built their family compound there. Other popular towns include Falmouth, Mashpee, Yarmouth, Dennis, Truro, Chatham, and Provincetown. All are within easy reach of each other, and most are served by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority's shuttles and trolleys.

According to the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce and CVB, the Cape's 321 hotels and resorts and 252 B&Bs and country inns comprise a total of 19,000 guest rooms, 9,000 of which are located in properties with meeting facilities.

The Chatham Bars Inn, located in Chatham, is a popular group offering. In addition to its 205 guest rooms and three restaurants, the Chatham Bars Inn features 12,000 square feet of meeting space in seven rooms, the largest of which is the 4,500-square-foot, technologically advanced Monomoy Meeting House.

Larger group facilities include the 266-room Sea Crest Resort and Conference Center, with 30,000 square feet of meeting space, the 335-unit Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club, with nearly 15,000 square feet of meeting space, and the 224-room Sheraton Hyannis Resort, with more than 14,000 square feet of meeting space.

Martha's Vineyard

Seven miles off the coast of Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard is a six-town island measuring about 100 square miles and marked by long stretches of sandy beach and a variety of impressive architecture.

"The scenery is what makes us special," Richards of the Martha's Vineyard Chamber of Commerce says. "The architecture is amazing here. People come here because of the summer beaches, but we have an amazing wealth of art galleries and antiques and other attractions. They come for the scenery and beaches and get ready to go home and say, 'we didn't realize how much more there is to do.'"

"Each town has its own sensibility," says the Mansion House's Goldstein. "Edgartown is white picket fences, [and it is] where the whaling captains lived. Oak Bluffs has more action on the streets, and it's the historic home of other kinds of communities, [such as] the Methodist church grounds, with fabulous Victorian gingerbread houses."

Other notable towns include Aquinnah, where many descendents of the island's native Wampanoag Tribe live just as they have for hundreds of years, and Vineyard Haven, home to a bustling Main Street with numerous shops and restaurants.

"The Vineyard is like an undiscovered jewel for meetings," Richards says. "We aren't perfect for everybody. Our forte is small to medium-size meetings. A lot of our hospitality providers are starting to focus more on catering to meetings."

One such property is the Mansion House. Originally opened in 1794, the Mansion House burned down in 2001. According to Goldstein, it has been rebuilt in such a way as to recreate the feeling of its historic past while incorporating modern travelers' needs, including technologically advanced meeting space. Scheduled to open in July, the property will feature 32 guest rooms and two state-of-the-art meeting rooms, one measuring 810 square feet and the other measuring 475 square feet.

Larger groups can utilize the Harbor View Hotel for meetings. The 124-room, turn-of-the-century hotel features 4,700 square feet of meeting space, as well as numerous outdoor function areas.

Nantucket

"Nantucket by definition means 'far away land,'" says Lisa Reefe Johnson, public relations and marketing manager for the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce, citing the name's Wampanoag Indian heritage. "But we're fairly close to home, some 30 miles out from the mainland."

The island, once known as the whaling capital of the world, today sports a quaint atmosphere and simple sophistication reflective of its famous cobblestone Main Street.

"The nice thing about Nantucket is it's within itself, with no hustle and bustle of corporate America," says Meg Mahoney, director of sales for Nantucket Island Resorts, which operates property's including Harbor House Village, White Elephant, Wauwinet, and the Cottages at Boat Basin. "Everything is at its own pace, with the feeling of seclusion, but with all the luxuries of home and then some."

Of the Nantucket Island Resorts properties, Mahoney says the Harbor House Village offers the most meeting space. The property can accommodate groups of up to 140 people in meeting rooms with high-speed Internet access and audiovisual capabilities.

Groups can also take advantage of the Nantucket Inn and Conference Center for meetings. The property boasts 100 guest rooms and cottages, as well as four meeting rooms with 4,000 square feet of meeting space that can accommodate groups of up to 150 people.