5 fantastic off-site venues in Tampa, Fla.

January 27, 2014

Tyler Davidson

The Florida Aquarium
With 200,000 square feet of air-conditioned meeting space, up to 3,000 attendees can network surrounded by a variety of aquatic life. A highlight is the 500,000-gallon floor-to-ceiling coral reef tank.

Tampa Bay History Center
This architecturally stunning two-story, waterfront Smithsonian Institution affiliate can accommodate up to 1,000, and features in-house catering. Exhibits cover 12,000 years of Florida history.

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Tampa Museum of Art
This waterfront venue can host events over 1,200, featuring boardrooms and audiovisual equipment for presentations. Spaces include a lobby atrium, a terrace overlooking Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park and a variety of private meeting rooms.

Tampa Theatre
On the National Register of Historic Places, this 1,400-seat landmark was resorted to its 1920s Mediterranean style. Meetings clients have included Verizon, IBM, Estee Lauder, the U. S. Postal Service and Bank of America.

The Vault
Built in 1923 as The Exchange National Bank, The Vault can host 500 for a cocktail reception and 200 for a dinner. Floor-to-ceiling windows and 35-foot-high ceilings provide views of Tampa’s skyline.

About the author

Tyler Davidson is the vice president and chief content director for Meetings Today, which publishes the meetings industry trade magazine Meetings Today as well as MeetingsToday.com, various newsletters, webinars, the in-person Meetings Today LIVE! Hosted-buyer events and other meetings and events industry B2B channels.

Tyler has covered the travel trade for nearly 35 years. In his role with Meetings Today, which recently won the prestigious FOLIO: Eddies Award for best magazine issue, Tyler leads the editorial team on its mission to provide the most in-depth meetings content in the industry. Previously, he worked as the Asia, Canada, Pacific Northwest and Western U.S. editor at Travel Weekly magazine and TravelAge West. Before joining the dual editorial staff producing destination sections for Travel Weekly and TravelAge West, Tyler was the Africa, Israel, Middle East, Switzerland and Pacific Northwest editor at TravelAge West. He also undertook general news and feature assignments while working at the magazines.

Besides reporting on the travel trade, Tyler has covered the real estate industry, held various editorial positions at the San Francisco-based national satire magazine The Nose, wrote freelance technology industry pieces and covered the San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders for a bilingual newspaper in San Francisco. He has a B.A. in Journalism from San Francisco State University, where he worked in various editorial capacities on its award-winning student magazine, Prism.

Contact: tyler.davidson@meetingstoday.com