John Sheffield, Business Development Manager, Lake Ontario Event & Conference Center

Tell us about the Lake Ontario Event & Conference Center:  The family I work for has 2 hotels, 2 restaurants, 2 wedding venues, the conference center, and a health club all tied together. Pre COVID-19, my job was to get association groups from around NYS to visit our facilities, tour our venues, and break bread together. Post-COVID, with fewer hours, I’ve taken on the social media campaigns for all of the venues.  I still reach out to potential conference clients but for now my focus is more on empathy and less on business.

What’s New with the Hotels: We are in the middle of re-branding one of the hotels and in mid-construction of a $5 million attached indoor water park.  Both hotels are essentially empty with the exception of out of town nuclear workers & the occasional couple who rent a Jacuzzi room. Conference planning is in a holding pattern; we’ve had weddings, college graduation, alumni weekend, and conferences cancelled. It’s likely our city’s annual Harborfest will also be cancelled; all of which pack our hotels & restaurants.

What About Future Conferences: I’ve already had thoughts about how they may start out; the big unknowns are when will organizations feel comfortable gathering in large groups, and will “large” group be redefined from a numbers standpoint?  Cliché as it sounds, I believe, where the hospitality industry is concerned, it will take everyone in every aspect to work together including the people, organizations, and groups we cater to.