Gainesville, Florida offers meeting planners a truly unique and attractive destination with 4,600 hotel rooms and 200,000 square feet of versatile meeting space. Gainesville is a beautiful city, home to a world-class university situated on a stunning campus, surrounded by an amazing array of natural attractions. Our attractions page provides details on over 40 cultural, historical, and recreational opportunities - something for every taste and interest. We can design wonderful free-time itineraries for attendees, including our popular 'Historic Downtown Gainesville Dine-around' with a diverse selection of restaurants to accommodate any craving.

Our Spring 2008 Conference Grant Program will award a total of $40,000 to qualified meeting planners who conduct their event in Gainesville/Alachua County, Florida. This is in addition to our fall grant program which offers $75,000 in funding.

Grant funds can be use as reimbursements for a wide variety of meeting expenses, including transportation, program printing, marketing materials, audio-visual equipment rental, and spouse tours. Events must take place in Gainesville/Alachua County between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2011. Individual grants cap at $10,000 and are available to corporate, association, or non-profit, public or privately-funded planners.

Spring Grant Calendar
Grant Workshop: April 3, 2008, 10:00 AM Community Treasures Conference Room, County Administration Building 12 SE 1st Street, First Floor click here for map At the workshop you'll learn all the particulars of the Grant program. Though not required, the workshop can help you understand the entire grant process, and attendance may improve your ability to submit a successful application.
Application Submissions	April 1 - April 30, 2008
Application Deadline April 30, 2008 at 4:00PM.
Review by Alachua County staff	May 5 - 9, 2008
Review by TDC Subcommittee	May 12 - 23, 2008
TDC Subcommittee Final Meeting	June 2, 2008
TDC approval of Fund Allocations	June 18, 2008
Funds Available	Upon Execution of Agreement

Applications will not be accepted before the official opening of the grant cycle Tuesday, April 1.

All applications submitted before the deadline will be reviewed by Alachua County's Tourist Development Council Grant Subcommittee in May, with recipients announced at the June TDC meeting as per the calendar schedule above.

Please contact Nancy or John with any questions or for help with your application, or just to learn more about what Gainesville and our office have to offer meeting planners.

Download the Application Here

Depending upon how your web browser is configured, you will either get a prompt to save the file to your hard drive, or the file will automatically download and appear in your default download folder. If you need help or are on a Mac, please contact Nancy Fischer or John Pricher to receive your application as an email attachment or for further instructions: Nancy Fischer nfischer@visitgainesville.com, John Pricher jop@visitgainesville.com Toll-free: 1-866-778-5002   Local: (352) 374-5260