More than 70 attendees descended upon Tucson, Arizona, for Meetings Today LIVE! West June 1-4, with a chance to make meaningful business connections, further their education in the meetings industry and dig into what makes this Sonoran Desert destination so captivating for events.
Here’s a recap of everything attendees experienced.
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Welcome Reception
As Meetings Today LIVE! West attendees collected their badges and toured the El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Hotel, rare gray clouds rolled in. Rain started to fall as our welcome reception began, but our hosts on the Visit Tucson and El Conquistador teams were all smiles.
“You are our good luck charm,” quipped Graeme Hughes, executive vice president for Visit Tucson, during opening remarks to the crowd. While Tucson is renowned for its sunny weather, enjoying on average more than 350 days of sunshine a year, rainfall was much needed in the region and is essential for the scenic landscapes to thrive.
Dressed in their best Western outfits, it was clear the minor weather blip wasn’t dampening any attendee spirits. Last Territory, a unique indoor-outdoor space that offers a taste of an Old Western town, hosted the welcome reception, and everyone embraced the venue’s theme. Line dancing lessons, F&B featuring classic Sonoran Desert dishes and drinks served by a beer burro were some of the highlights.
"The Last Territory is a unique space. It used to be a standalone restaurant venue, but, it was so much in demand for meetings, we ended up making it a meeting space," said Ann Vandehey, director of sales and marketing for El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Resort. "It's an indoor-outdoor venue and has a flair of the old West or Southwest."
Last Territory is just one of the many event spaces at El Conquistador. Nestled in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains and spread across 50 acres, planners will find more than 70,000 square feet of meeting space, including two 11,000-square-foot ballrooms, a conference center and various other outdoor venues that take advantage of the stunning Tucson landscapes.
Day One
As the sun rose over the mountains, Meetings Today LIVE! attendees gathered at El Conquistador’s upper poolside lawn to greet the day with a special Native American morning ritual. Exploring the concept of “Mitakuye Oyasin” and the inter-relatedness of us all, Larry Redhouse, who works with a variety of resorts in the area to perform morning rituals, led the group through making sage prayer ties and ending with an eagle feather blessing. As we contemplated in a few moments of silence save for the sounds of birds chirping above, our group departed the event with serene calmness.
The day continued with a productive morning full of one-on-one appointments and an illuminating education session from MPI’s Vice President of Consulting Jessie States on how meeting organizers can mindfully plan to prevent food waste. Eye-popping facts—like how food waste contributes more greenhouses gas than the aviation industry and the combined financial toll of food waste on the global economy is approximately $1 trillion—showed us there’s a lot of work to be done by both planners and venues in working to prevent food waste. States shared some helpful tips for navigating these discussions and finding solutions.
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Following productive one-on-one meetings between meeting planners and suppliers, our group journeyed to the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa for lunch and a site tour. The AAA Four Diamond property is also situated in the foothills of the Santa Catalina Mountains and debuted renovations of its 486 guest rooms in 2023. A complete redesign of the lobby, lounge and onsite restaurant wrapped in late 2024. As attendees arrived in the stunning lobby area, Westin La Paloma staff announced that on the same day as our visit, they were embarking on a full renovation of the 110,000 square feet of meeting and event space on the property, set to wrap in October 2025.
The theme of renovation announcements continued at the JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa, our last stop of the day for a site tour and dinner. The resort is gearing up to fully renovate its 575 guest rooms and suites, wrapping spring 2026, and will also be giving its meeting space a refresh this summer, set to be completed in September.
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We ended our site tour on the Tash Lawn, where the resort shared its oldest tradition, the nightly tequila toast and the “The Legend of Arriba Abajo.” Following, we explored a variety of activations on the lawn that gave attendees a true taste of Tucson. Whiskey del Bac, a local Tucson distillery, had a tasting station for sampling its spirits, including a mesquite-smoked whiskey.
Tucson is recognized as a Dark Sky community through DarkSky International’s International Dark Sky Places (IDSP) program—DarkSky International even calls the city home—and stargazing is a popular activation to bring into meetings. Our group had the chance to do so with an astronomer and telescope on site. A live falcon experience and a Sonoran spice rub station rounded out the only-in-Tucson activities.
We concluded the night with a delicious dinner on the lawn, sampling plates from JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass’ restaurants ranging from chicken tacos and brisket sliders to grilled scallops and octopus and mac and cheese with a Southwestern twist.
Day Two
Meetings Today LIVE! West started the next day with some authentic desert adventure. Attendees had the choice to participate in one of two activities: An open-air Jeep tour with Trail Dust Tours at the White Stallion Ranch, or a scenic tram ride at Sabino Canyon followed by a stop at the DeGrazia Gallery in the Sun.
Both activities provided a close-up look at the flora and fauna of the Sonoran Desert and the sweeping, mountainous landscapes surrounding Tucson.
Following our illuminating nature expeditions, we lunched at Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort, which has a rich history dating back to 1929 when it originally opened as a girls’ school for some of the country’s wealthiest families. In the 1940s, it was converted into a hotel and attracted Silver Screen stars such as Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, who used to hide away at the property. Now, this 97-room hotel is on the National Registry of Historic Places in Arizona and is a member of Historic Hotels of America, preserving its storied heritage. Groups can buy out the resort, or utilize its Casa Luna ballroom for up to 220, beautiful courtyards and other smaller rooms.
[Related: Meetings Today LIVE! West Visits Rapidly Growing Boise, Idaho]
Deborah Gardner, author, keynote speaker and competitive performance expert, kept the energy high during her afternoon education session, “Zest Up Your Life,” where she helped meeting professionals battle burnout. Through a variety of fun, interactive activities like charades, discussions about our biggest professional and personal dreams and a dose of self-reflection, we left the room with a renewed sense of wellness and self-care.
We wrapped up our afternoon with another successful session of one-on-one meetings, where meeting planners had the chance to sit down with a variety of suppliers in the West to discuss potential for future business, and then hopped on the bus to close out our Meetings Today LIVE! West program with a quintessential Tucson excursion.
Hotel Congress in downtown Tucson is one of the most historic landmarks in the city and hosted our final event of the day with live music, finger foods and a dose of spooky history. During a tour of the historic hotel, which originally opened in 1919, we learned about the alleged ghosts and haunted rooms onsite, the 1934 fire that led to the capture of notorious criminal John Dillinger and other fun tidbits from the 100-plus years of the hotel’s existence.
As we pulled away from downtown Tucson with the iconic neon sign of Hotel Congress above us, everyone left with a holistic view of Tucson and its authentic personality, plus the lasting connections to match.
Thank You to Our Sponsors!
- El Conquistador Tucson, A Hilton Resort
- Visit Tucson
- The Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa
- Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch Resort
- JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass Resort & Spa
- Destination & Conference Services
- The Brandit Agency
- Wandering Maverick Photo+Film
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