ATE-CON Site Selection

We are excited to be hosting the inaugural year of ATE-CON in Phoenix, AZ, MATEC's headquarters, and have begun preliminary site visits to possible hotels. The dates under consideration are July 26-30 or August 3-6, 2009. Here are the potential sites thus far:

Sheraton Downtown
The Sheraton is a brand new hotel (opening at the end of this month) in the heart of Downtown Phoenix. With 1,000 sleeping rooms and over 80,000 square feet of meeting space, the Sheraton can easily accommodate ATE-CON, even if the conference expands to 1,000 attendees. They really thought outside the box when they designed this hotel with a mobile registration desk, electronic reader boards outside each breakout room, and plenty of comfy couches for taking a break and networking. Granted, the exhibits and/or keynotes may be on the second level in the Phoenix ballroom, but it's only a short escalator ride away, and for the most part all of the meeting rooms are centrally located on one floor.

With the light rail set to open in December 2008, transportation from the airport to the hotel will be extremely convenient and affordable ($1.25 per ride). You can also take the light rail to downtown Tempe. There is even a complimentary downtown shuttle, the DASH, that takes you around downtown. As if that wasn't enough, the hotel is right across the street from the Arizona Center, with plenty of shops and restaurants at your disposal.

Westin Kierland Resort
The Westin Kierland is an oasis in the desert. Twenty miles and a $50 taxi ride from the airport later and you will truly be glad that you found this oasis, even if you were the last stop on the $20 Super Shuttle. The Westin Kierland is a spectacular property with over 700 sleeping rooms and 175,000 square feet of meeting space. All of the meeting space we would need is contained in one central area using the Kierland Grand Ballroom, the nearby Merriam, Lowell, Powell, and Cushing meeting rooms, as well as the Trailblazers Terrace for the exhibits (there is an 11,000 square foot air conditioned tent on this terrace that is perfect for the exhibit space). There is even a built-in registration desk next to the ballroom with locking storage (every meeting planner's dream!). There is also a complimentary shuttle to the Kierland Commons for plenty of shopping and dining options in addition to their two onsite restuarants.

Arizona Biltmore Resort
The Biltmore is a historic Arizona hotel, dating back to 1929 with exquisite architecture by Frank Lloyd Wright. The property has over 700 sleeping rooms and 100,000 square feet of meeting space, but it is a little spread out with sleeping rooms and meeting space that you have to walk outside to access - not exactly a thrilling prospect in Phoenix in July. They are offering a more reasonable room rate than the other hotels, which includes free high-speed Internet access and a complimentary shuttle to the Biltmore Fashion Park.

Fairmont Scottsdale
The Fairmont is a bit further out from the airport than the Westin, $50 taxi and $20 shuttle again, but they have availability for both July and August. Their meeting space includes a 20,000+ square foot ballroom with breakout rooms surrounding the ballroom. There are only six breakout rooms that would be big enough to accommodate the workshops and sessions, so we would be limited on space and restricted in the number of workshops and sessions we could offer at any one time. Also, the exhibits would have to be out in the foyer outside of the ballroom. This hotel would fit us, but it could be restrictive.

We welcome your input on these potential sites for ATE-CON. Please take our poll on the right side of this page.