Skamania Lodge in Stevenson, Washington, is generating strong repeat business from corporate groups by bringing creative flair to its Northwest locale.

“We have a really high return rate—70 to 80 percent for groups,” says Russell Owens, Skamania’s conference services manager. “That’s divided between groups that come back every year and others that come every other year because they split their time between two different properties. They come to us again and again because they know what we can do; we’ve already proven it to them.”

The 254-room mountain resort, on 175 wooded acres in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area 45 miles east of Portland, is capitalizing on the bounty of the Northwest and customizing memorable events by sourcing products locally, crafting imaginative meetings, and taking groups to the great outdoors. Skamania Lodge isn’t merely resting on its scenic laurels; it’s building on the natural beauty and attracting repeat business with attention to detail.

“A lot of our groups want to have the Northwest showcased, but they also want us to do something different for them,” Owens says. Playing up the bounty of the Northwest is key. “For instance, we had a dairy co-op group that came in not too long ago, so for the meeting we sourced artisan cheeses and other dairy products from the local area. The beef product we had was from local farms or ranches, so we really drew it into what they were going over. They brought in some of their own product as well.”

Another of Owens’ unique tweaks was for a group that wanted a team-building exercise scheduled between a one-hour reception and dinner in the same room. What Owens and his staff came up with was a Martini mix-off—an event commonplace among professional mixologists but novel and fun for laymen.

“We broke them into groups and had them come up with their own drinks,” Owens recalls. The exercise was based on the different themes participants had discussed and buzzwords they had come up with earlier in the day. “They had to incorporate the theme into the ingredients somehow.”

All the ingredients used were locally sourced, from garnishes and fruits to the spirits themselves. “We have 13 or 14 distilleries within 45 minutes of us. We brought in alcohols from those distilleries to use in this event to carry on that local theme,” Owens explains.

During the summer months, Skamania’s staff schedules locally sourced outdoor events, including barbecue and chili cook-offs. “Our chef comes up with local ingredients and we base them on the group’s program,” Owens says. “A lot of times it has to do with team building, but it can also be used to reinforce what they learned during the day.”

Executive Chef Ed Tippel says another way Skamania celebrates its local bounty is with its Friday night buffets, showcasing vertically roasted salmon on planks. “The Native Americans came up with it, and we have put our updated spin on it,” he says.

For those outdoor events, the foodservice staff uses a pair of large cast-iron barbecue units that measure five feet across. Also popular is vertically roasted Potlatch salmon, which is cooked on cedar planks. “It’s a side of salmon,” Owens says. “The cedar plank is propped up against a cone of coals that comes about two and a half feet off the barbecuer. We lean those salmon planks up against those coals so they roast vertically.”

Owens and his staff do plenty of other unique twists and different styles of service. For instance, consider what he describes as a “Brazilian-style two-foot-long miniature sword. We throw on sides of game hen, steaks, sausages, things like that. It’s almost like a large shish kabob, and you roast it that way and serve it tableside. The servers go around the table and actually slide them off onto each plate.”

The critical part to making any theme successful, Owens advises, is “to start off talking early with the client.” Another essential element is having the themed package “set up and ready so you can send them a proposal and let them hold it and feel it. Having something in hand up front not only saves time, it allays anxiety.”

Howard Riell is a veteran editor who has written for nearly 140 business and consumer magazines, e–zines, blogs, newspapers, and newsletters. He is based in Las Vegas.

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