by Andrew Chalk
Which hotel will you use for your next wedding/charity fundraiser/corporate event? If you think it may not matter because of their similarity, and if you have already done the marvelous Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field, then consider moving south….to the Dallas Zoo. I attended a 100 person meeting there recently at the Flamingo Room. That picture above is the view. There is a deck outside and the zoo is taking advantage of its biggest draw — the animals. They bring well-behaved ones out where guests can get up close. You won’t find that at the hotel you were thinking about.
This Lemur creature likes the exercise
Who goes for the Flamingo Room? I think it will be event planners who want something achingly cool. The event that I attended was hosted by Hendrick’s, the gin distillers. They welcomed 100 of the city’s top bartenders and wanted to create a this-is-who-we-are kind of event. The zoo formed the canvas on which they constructed a timetable of carefully planned events over three hours. When the highs and lows of 2014 fade into a blur, nobody who attended this event will forget where it was, who organized it, what it was about, and what happened.
Pythons are people too
In case that snake looks fierce, don’t worry. He had already eaten three attendees so he is full. In practice, keepers supervise the animals at all times and are a knowledgeable source of information about the species they handle.
Friendly guy
What if you have too many people for the Flamingo Room (100 capacity)? The zoo hosts under-the-stars events for 3000 when they do summer concerts, and a large Fall fundraiser with tents, live and silent auctions, dancing etc. hosts over 1000 people.
So if you have an event from 100 to 3000, put the Dallas Zoo on your radar. Your guests will thank you.
Who’s cooking for these events?
I suppose the logical question from most event planners would be “What about the smell?”. To which the logical response would be “The animals will just have to get used to it!” That joke is at least forty years old, because that’s how long ago I heard it!