Great Wolf Lodge has built a family-centric brand of indoor water park properties that delight kids, with unexpectedly grown-up food and beverage that also delights adults. But the Madison, Wisconsin-based company’s focus on attracting meeting and convention business might raise an eyebrow.

The idea, in short, is, “Come to a meeting—and bring your family along.” It’s a campaign built around bringing that amusement park sense of wonder into the adult world of banquets and catering. Marion Edwards, corporate director of F&B experience and concept development for Great Wolf Lodge, brings her focused, inspirational marketing approach to the challenge with gusto.

“The mission is focus, food, and fun; those are the three elements in all of our events,” Edwards says. “We do a lot of unique work with presentation. You can tell a really clean story just by showcasing the ingredients.”

And it’s no kids’ story. Stations pack a visual punch, from a deconstructed mushroom risotto station to a “super fruits” spatini station to a sleek, urban deli display.

“We did a Bangkok iced tea station where lemongrass was part of the story,” says Edwards. “So we had wheatgrass at the top of the buffet and lemongrass at a triangle with a sign on it that told guests what the ingredient in the tea was. I can’t tell you how many people took a picture of this lemongrass with the sign in it. Every little element is part of the story.”

The first Great Wolf Lodge conference center opened in Mason, Ohio, followed by properties in Grand Mound, Washington, and Grapevine, Texas. Each chef takes ownership of his or her property with a focus on “chef-crafted” food—comfort food by stealth gourmets. The deconstructed risotto station is the creation of Executive Chef André Natera at the Grapevine, Texas, property.

“Think of going to an event—the chicken, the risotto, an attendant, a nice cart, that’s what you expect,” Edwards explains. “We asked the question, ‘How could we do it so it’s amazing?’ It doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it has to be thought out.”

The result was a deconstructed display with huge glass vases layered with salt and herbs and trays showing off the mushrooms next to a mammoth hollowed-out wheel of cheese. “When guests come up, they don’t need to see a sign; they get it,” Edwards says. Guests particularly enjoy the cohesive culinary team sharing its enthusiasm and knowledge at stations, she adds.

With wallets still in recession-mode, Natera finds ways to keep it authentic and provide value along with the experience. “They may order the Mexican buffet as a value option,” he says, “but we’ll give them Mexico City flair with cilantro green rice and marinated flank steak. We keep it regional, but more authentic.”

Chef Natera extends the same ingenuity to meeting breaks, with a variety of themed encounters beyond traditional break options. “We do a nostalgic after-school break that caters to the senses and memories of coming home from school,” he says. The display features Hostess goodies alongside 20 varieties of chef-crafted cupcakes, including an exotic Mojito-flavored one. Guests get a kick out of Twinkies, peanut butter sandwiches, and milk. “It’s probably our best selling break,” Chef Natera adds.

Ethnic “street food” breaks are also popular. The curry market break is designed like an Asian street vendor with different Thai curries. “We do a Paris break where the room is decked out with artisan candies and chocolates, including truffles imported from San Francisco,” Chef Natera says. “You wouldn’t realize there is a water park just outside.”

Groups can invite families to banquets or let them choose from a variety of restaurant options, from the Grand Buffet reminiscent of Las Vegas to the Bear Paw Café nostalgic candy bakery. It’s certainly a coup to capture a whole family of diners for every meeting guest. But how do you communicate this somewhat unexpected meeting expertise and sell groups on the concept?

“There’s the challenge,” Edwards says, “How do we communicate what we are? People say: ‘I thought you were hot dogs and hamburgers.’ We’re getting into publications. We’re doing marketing events and inviting local business leaders and convention and visitors bureaus, hosting larger and smaller events to show off our capabilities. We’ll get someone dangling their toe in the water, and we’ll blow it out—have them meet with the chef, create menus. Three or four small meetings later, and it turns into a fullblown convention for a global event.”

A wise pack of wolves knows its prey. “With mom and dad both working 40-hour-plus weeks, there has to be time to decompress together. I can’t see us being the place of choice for a traditional business meeting, but we can definitely be a destination for companies open to a trend-forward work/play environment.”

John Paul Boukis helped develop the American Hotel and Lodging Association’s publishing division and is a founding editor of HOTEL F&B. He is based in Tampa.