State parks from California to South Carolina have quietly been adding Wi-Fi and convention space to appeal to the business class traveler. And, creative convention planners are paying attention.
It’s moved beyond wood paneled walls and outdated convention chairs at key state parks: For example, Lake Guntersville State Park in rural northeastern Alabama has undergone a $25 million, multiyear renovation that now features eight meeting rooms that can accommodate 14 to 360 people (half in theater style). The park's 112-hotel rooms and suites also were gutted. New additions to the lodge space include massive windows, stone fixtures, and a completely updated lodge style.

Lake Guntersville State Park Lodge

Lake Guntersville Convention Facilities

Some convention planners say this is the kind of upscale, modern environment in an isolated place that breeds a focused teamwork to bring their convention-goers home with an edge - and not a hangover.
And, as corporations and smaller companies pinch pennies, it’s a good buy for a convention: offering a convention in the $15,000 range instead of the $35,000 or $40,000 range in a larger city's hotel/convention facility, said Tim Wishum, Section Chief of Operations and Maintenance for Alabama State Parks.
"Why not go to a state park, where you can rent the space for a fraction of the cost of a big city space, and bring more of your people onsite as a result?,” Wishum said.
Aviagen, www.aviagen.com, the world's largest poultry breeding company located in 90 countries, decided to host its Asian-area convention at Lake Guntersville State Park in Guntersville, Ala. this April.
"It's a good place outside the hustle and bustle of the business world to focus on the agenda at hand," said Amy Boller, Aviagen's marketing and events coordinator.
"The isolation helps them draw into why they just traveled, whether it's 100 miles or 2,000 miles," Boller said. "They all tend to do things as a tighter knit group."
Lake Guntersville State Park planned carefully to attract conventions and business class travelers like Boller’s group.
"Many meeting planners probably haven't considered state parks as areas for conventions because they still see them as isolated places where people only hike and fish," Wishum said. "But that's changing, as state parks are starting to offer amenities such as large meeting rooms equipped with wireless internet access, small rooms for breakout sessions -- and the level of hospitality and amenities business leaders expect.
Boller has booked a convention for the company at a state park in the past and liked the experience and results; this convention brings in 50 employees from around the world, so the facilities needed to be top-notch, but without too many distractions.
"When you get into some of these places, you're not focused on the team just because of the novelty of it all," she said. "Some of the convention attendees want to shop, or they want to get out."
That’s the beauty of the experience, giving business travelers the quality they expect but without all the diversions.
"It's not Las Vegas, and it's not Miami beachfront -- and yet it works, because the setting helps teams stay focused on the actual reason for the convention -- to build and grow business, learn more about their jobs and solve issues,"  Wishum said.
State park convention space examples geared toward business travelers: 
* Alabama's Lake Guntersville State Park has around 14,000 square feet of meeting space. The eight main meeting rooms are adjacent to both the new $25 million lodge which opened in January and to 112 hotel rooms and suites.
Visit <http://www.alapark.com/parks/feature.cfm?parkid=5&featureid=9>for more information.

Virginia, Hemlock Haven Convention Center at Hungry Mother State Park:
<http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/hem.shtml>

South Carolina, Hickory Knob State Resort Park with convention center, conference center, meeting rooms, wi-fi:
<http://www.southcarolinaparks.com/park-finder/state-park/1109.aspx>

Pittsburgh, planned connection of Allegheny Riverfront Park to Point State Park on its west side and the city's new convention center on its east side:
<http://www.pps.org/great_public_spaces/one?public_place_id=603&type_id=

Tennessee, convention center at Montgomery Bell State Park:
 <http://www.state.tn.us/environment/parks/MontgomeryBell/index.shtml>

Kentucky, resort meeting facility at Dam Village State Resort Park:
<http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/resortparks/kd/>
with its photo gallery of meeting space:
<http://parks.ky.gov/findparks/resortparks/kd/meetinggallery/>

* Georgia State Parks' Brasstown Valley Resort, which is situated in a 500-acre valley in the Blue Ridge Mountains, offers a 14,300-square-foot conference center and a host of unique team-building programs.

 * DeGray Lake Resort State Park in Arkansas offers the same for business travelers:  <http://www.degray.com/>

Wi-Fi at State Parks
* California state parks and AT&T Wi-Fi partnered to bring high-speed wireless Internet access to the picnic tables, tents, RV spaces and cabins of more than 85 million visitors who enjoy the State Park system every year.
Here's the whole list of parks participating:
<http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=23780>

* Texas state parks have done the same:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/parkinfo/facilities/wireless_internet