Bordering Chicago along Lake Michigan, Chicago’s North Shore offers exemplary meeting facilities in safe, open spaces in the most scenic part of Metro Chicago—close to O’Hare Airport and multiple expressways. Accessible lakefront, plentiful hiking trails and the amenities meeting and event attendees are seeking now for an optimal experience. Our full-service hotels and event spaces accommodate meetings from 10–1,000. Chicago’s North Shore is home to the Chicago Botanic Garden, Ravinia Music Festival, Northwestern University, North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, the Illinois Holocaust Museum, and the Baha’i House of Worship—the only one in North America.

Our lakefront communities feature independently owned restaurants and boutiques on treelined streets—a great respite after a day of meetings. A foodie paradise, dozens of restaurants offer unique dining experiences and rooftop dining during the warmer months. Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau offers custom complimentary planning assistance and lucrative incentives for booked meetings.

Nestled among rolling hills and woodlands in Northwest Illinois, Eagle Ridge Resort & Spa is the Midwest’s premier setting for meetings and events.
Boasting 15,000 sq. ft. of space, the resort can accommodate sales conferences, product presentations, and dinner banquets of up to 300 guests. Beautiful outdoor venues overlook Lake Galena or offer stunning views of the surrounding northern Illinois hills and woodlands, while sophisticated boardrooms set the stage for successful executive sessions or VIP gatherings. Our in-house capabilities include complete audio/visual services as well as banquet and catering services for breakfast, lunch, dinner, receptions, cocktail parties, and coffee breaks. Complimentary high-speed wired and wireless Internet access is available throughout the resort, insuring that your guests are connected at every moment.

Gateway Center’s team provides excellent event experiences every day.  Let us help you plan your next event that will impress your guests, increase vendors, and attract sponsors.  Planning complex events do not have to be difficult.  And it won’t be if you select Gateway Center! Our staff will become part of your team and work towards your event’s success.
Creating an exceptional event can be a huge challenge. We don’t just supply you with a venue; we help make your event a success from the start to the finish – whether it’s a meeting for 20 or a weekend consumer show for 10,000. Rest assured, our facility has successfully hosted a variety of complex events of all shapes and sizes.

Springfield, the capital of Illinois, offers friendly Midwest hospitality in addition to state-of-the-art meeting facilities and amenities. Meeting planners choose Springfield for its affordability, historic venues and authentic experiences, and accessibility.

Whether you’re an experienced planner or a volunteer organizing your first event, our full service staff will guide you every step of the way. We offer three convention regions; Historic Downtown with over 900 guest rooms and 130,000 sq. ft. of function space, the Southeast Corridor with nearly 1,300 guest rooms and 70,000 sq. ft. of function space, and the Illinois State Fairgrounds, a 366-acre site with a variety of options. Let us help make your next event legendary!