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The Bradley Symphony Center in downtown Milwaukee will host several events during the 2024 RNC. Credit: Valerie Hill[/caption]
During its four-day stretch, the
2024 Republican National Convention will send a tidal wave of activity throughout the Milwaukee area, including at dozens of local venues where groups of delegates will gather for smaller-scale events ranging from breakfast meetings with keynote speakers to post-gavel cocktail receptions.
Ohio and Washington were among the first state delegations to finalize and disclose their convention week plans, with bookings at the
Bradley Symphony Center,
Harley-Davidson Museum and
Lakefront Brewery.
The Ohio GOP has contracted the Bradley Symphony Center in the Westown neighborhood for a 300- to 400-person nighttime reception. The event will gather the state's delegates and their guests in the center's gallery area for drinks and heavy appetizers following the evening's official sessions, taking place just a few blocks north at Fiserv Forum.
The Bradley Symphony Center's close proximity to the convention's main hub -- allowing the Ohio group to make a short trek on foot -- was among the venue's main draws for RNC groups, said
Rick Snow, vice president of facilities and building operations at the Bradley Symphony Center. There's also flexibility in the range of different spaces within the building.
The venue has been in talks with multiple RNC groups, which Snow declined to name, one of which booked the symphony hall for a symposium-style event. Others have been more interested in its reception or banquet spaces.
"We have some VIP holding areas and banquet areas as well that make us attractive when you have higher profile guests that you want to entertain," Snow told BizTimes.
"It's all about finding the right fit and then using that to support what our main mission is, which is to produce the (Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra)," he added.
The Bradley Symphony Center got connected months ago with the Ohio delegation -- and other RNC groups -- through a partner venue program facilitated by the RNC's Committee on Arrangements. All groups looking to host events during the convention were given a directory of more than 200 venues across the greater Milwaukee area, and the COA worked as a middle man to connect the participating venues with interested groups.
Snow said Ohio delegation representatives visited the symphony center a couple of times during the booking process to check out the space and discuss details.
"This is absolutely the right fit for us, the right time," he said. "... We're trying to maximize everything here to get as much out of this event as we can, as well as have the greatest exposure, and we believe we're well suited to do that. We'll find out."
The
Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley has also had success in attracting RNC groups. The Ohio GOP is hosting another delegation event there but neither entity agreed to disclose the details.
The Washington state GOP, on the other hand, says it's planning a plated lunch at the H-D Museum for its roughly 180 delegates on the first day of the convention. That will be followed by some time to check out the exhibits and gift shop. Later in the week, the group will visit
Lakefront Brewery in Brewer's Hill to enjoy a buffet lunch as well as a tour of its brewing operations -- a quintessential Milwaukee activity.
Those two venues were the group's top choice given their size -- and because they offer a taste of local culture, according to Marlene Pfeifer, national committeewoman for the Washington State GOP.
Pfeifer was on the national committee that selected Milwaukee's bid for the 2024 RNC, which she said gave her a leg up when it came time to select venues for her state's delegation.
"We visited Milwaukee, I think it was in February of 2022, and we were just treated royally and visited a lot of those sites, visited both the Harley-Davidson Museum and the Lakefront Brewery and several others," she said. "But the city itself, I mean, I think most of us just fell in love with it."
On her most recent visit to Milwaukee a few weeks ago, Pfeifer walked through both venues again to make sure they could execute her vision.
"That was really helpful," she said.
Experiencing the host city through various daytime events and excursions is part of the fun that comes along with convention week, along with opportunities to connect with fellow delegates and state party leaders. Pfeifer said it almost feels like summer camp.
"It is kind of just to bring us together and to bond, that's part of it, people get to meet each other," she said. "Our state is not huge ... there's a lot of the people that I don't know, that I've never met, that'll be going. So it's a time where we can all bond and get to know each other and have a lot of fun."
