For business meetings, Rosemont has the venues and the amenities

Looking for a place to hold your next business event which has offerings that make you think of the central city, but in a compact area without the parking hassles?

Rosemont offers a plethora of options for meetings, conferences, and team-building or post-event entertainment between its MB Financial Park entertainment district, its 15 major hotels, the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center and other potential venues. And it's all concentrated in a small geographic area minutes from major expressways, public transportation and O'Hare International Airport.

"My job is to assist everybody who comes into town," said William Anderson, general manager of the Rosemont Convention and Tourism Bureau. His perception is that business is booming, with corporate event planners especially liking some of the high-end restaurants such as Gene and Georgetti, Capital Grille and Gibson's Bar & Steakhouse. Here's a closer look at a few of the attractions in the village that either offer a potential meeting place, or opportunities for fun after business is done.

MB Financial Park

MB Financial Park offers visitors downtown Chicago excitement without the hassles. It can accommodate private events for groups from 10 to 600, or just provide a place to relax after a long day. It sports a dozen venues, ranging from bars and restaurants, live music, a comedy club and an 18-screen movie theater, to more physical pursuits such as bowling and indoor sky diving.

The park also features a 30,000-square-foot center space that is home to an ice rink in the winter and farmers markets and musical events in the summer.

Eateries range from Fogo de Chao and Adobe Gila's to Five Roses Pub and Hofbrauhaus Chicago.

Kings Rosemont features 20 bowling lanes, two premium bars and a full service restaurant. More than 50 big screen televisions and projection screens make it easy to catch the latest sports action.

IFLY Chicago is a state-of-the-art vertical wind tunnel that lets patrons experience human body flight. No experience is necessary.

Stephens Convention Center

Aside from hosting major trade shows, conventions and public events such as Wizard World Comic Con, the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center has 50 meeting rooms with 92,000 square feet of space, on-site general contractor, catering service for as many as 3,000 guests, and freight, electrical, furniture and decorating support for any size event.

Hotels

Rosemont is home to more than a dozen major hotels, with more than 6,000 rooms, plus a wide variety of conference and meeting venues, restaurants and lounges. They include the Hyatt Regency O'Hare with more than 1,000 rooms and 100,000 square feet of meeting space. The Loews Chicago O'Hare, Westin O'Hare and Crowne Plaza Chicago O'Hare all have about 500 rooms and 50,000 square feet of meeting space. Other hotels include the Doubletree, Hilton Rosemont, Embassy Suites, Sheraton, Marriott Suites and aLoft.

Things to do

• The Big Ten Experience has 13 interactive exhibits that showcase the conference's most notable games, players and coaches. Some exhibits include action like attempting to catch a football. Others allow visitors to listen to the radio broadcast of great moments in Big Ten games. Admission is free.

• The Ballpark at Rosemont includes the 2,000-seat home stadium to the Chicago Bandits and has a 140,000-square-foot sports dome for tournaments, leagues and individual games that is the largest air-suspended dome in North America.

• The Chicago Wolves play at the Allstate Arena, offering minor league hockey at less cost and more convenience than going downtown.

• Fashion Outlets of Chicago features more than 130 stores, a food court, fine dining, travel concierge, complimentary covered parking. The 500,000-square-foot outlet mall has goods at substantial savings over retail prices.

• The Donald E. Stephens Museum of Hummels is the largest display of the figurines in the world. The museum houses more than 1,000 rare M.K. Hummel figurines and ANRI wood carvings.

• Rivers Casino is just a few blocks away in Des Plaines. The highest grossing casino in the state, it also offers six food and beverage options and entertainment venues.

• The Rosemont Theatre and Allstate Arena both book big name entertainers and shows.

• Zanie's Comedy Night Club hosts nationally known headliners and is the third longest continually operating comedy club in the United States.