Meeting Professionals International (MPI) could not have timed their November 2018 article highlighting meetings in Montana any better.  At least for my blogging purposes.  Titled, Open Your Mind, author Maria Lenhart quotes Samantha Lange, National Sales Manager for the Resort at Paws Up, “For many people, Montana is a place they have wondered about and always wanted to go to.  It’s a great place to open your mind, disconnect and get back to what’s really important.”  We, at MNW Destinations, couldn’t agree more.

The article ran in MPI’s monthly membership publication, Meeting Professional.  It highlighted Western Montana including Glacier National Park, Helena – Montana’s capital city and the Big Sky/Yellowstone area.  All are areas served by MNW Destinations.

Featured in the Western Montana section was the relatively new Cedar Creek Lodge and Conference Center in Columbia Falls.  Open year around, the Lodge offers 3,000 square feet of meeting space and shuttle connections with both Whitefish Mountain (#10 ski resort in the west in SKI Magazine’s 2018 Resort Guide) and Glacier National Park (the very best National Park according to me).  Coincidently, I recently had the privilege of working with the talented folks at Cedar Creek Lodge.

The Glacier National Park Conservancy hosted the Friends of National Park Alliance Meeting in October and hired MNW Destinations to oversee all conference and field trip activities.  It was truly my pleasure working with the staff at Cedar Creek as well as the Conservancy.  The sense of camaraderie was apparent immediately.  We were showcasing not only a place we live, but a place we love.

Most remarkable was the hometown feel that was so distinct.  Doug Mitchell, Executive Director of the Glacier National Park Conservancy, had a vision for the event.  A vision that refreshingly did not involve large rounds surrounded by 10 chairs, buffet lines, long hours in the same room or a feeling upon departure that you could have been anywhere.

This was a conference where lunch was on your own in local restaurants named Gunsight Bar and Grill or North Fork Pizza.  Meeting rooms for breakout sessions were in banks, businesses and even churches.  Conference attendees walked to these locations enjoying the fresh, mountain air and were welcomed by local business men and women.  The Columbia Falls Chamber of Commerce supplied the podium for the event.  In short, the conference was truly a community effort and oozed in small town hospitality.  Much like how most of Montana operates every day.

As for the Cedar Creek Lodge and Conference Center, I was impressed.  The staff is excellent, the facility is well equipped, and their location cannot be beat.  We packed the ballroom and comfortably sat 175 attendees, classroom style.  Considering a meeting in Montana?  Consider Cedar Creek Lodge and Conference center in Columbia Falls.  Need more great ideas of alternative venues in Northwest Montana?  Check out unique locations in and around Kalispell at discoverkalispell.com.

About the Author:

Amy LuckeFlathead/Glacier Destination Manager
Amy has been lucky to call Montana home for almost her entire life. Growing up in Missoula fostered her love for hiking mountains and floating rivers. Her best memories are summer days spent just north on Flathead Lake and one of the reasons she now calls the Flathead Valley home.