“They were fantastic!”

This was Elton Eisele’s response when asked about the staff and services at the Hilton Lisle Hotel. Elton was the 1998 Illinois National Convention Chair for the American School Band Directors Association. The 46th Annual Convention was held at the Hilton Lisle this past June bringing more than 350 people to the area from all over the United States. That number however, does not reflect the additional people in the 10 bands that came to perform throughout the 5 day convention.

The planning for this convention took a little more than one year. Elton had looked at more than 10 properties in the suburban Chicago area before selecting Lisle. Brenda Littell, the bureau's Director of Sales, worked closely with Elton and the Hilton sales staff for that entire time and throughout the 5 day convention with the help of the bureau staff. When I asked Elton why he chose Lisle he replied, “I was very impressed with the cooperation between the convention bureau and the hotel staff.”

The major obstacle to overcome was the selection of a facility large enough to host several band concerts which included the United States Navy Band with attendance open to the public. That concert was held at Nequa Valley High School in neighboring Naperville. Three other concerts were held at that location and the remaining 6 concerts were held in the Regency Ballroom of the hotel. Chamber music concerts were performed in various parlors adding to the ambiance throughout the hotel’s main floor.

Aside from use of several meeting rooms, A Family, Spouse and Guest Program was very thoughtfully planned. The following was taken from the daily itinerary schedule: a golf tournament at Settler’s Hill Golf Course, a spouse mixer in the Stone's Throw Lounge, a Brookfield Zoo excursion, a mixer featuring the Old Men Jazz Band in the Majestic Ballroom, a Chicago excursion to the Museums in the Park, an afternoon at the Michael Jordan Golf Center and an afternoon at Santa’s Village amusement park and Racing Rapids water park.

All of the luncheons and dinner banquets were held at the Hilton. Elton was extremely pleased with the food and said that everyone enjoyed all of the meals. He couldn't say enough about the hotel staff and when I asked, and I did ask, if there were any problems throughout this lengthy convention, he did say, “Yes, there was one problem but the hotel was not responsible. And that was the heat. It was unusually hot for June and we were using school buses for the excursions to the various attractions. Unfortunately, the buses were not air conditioned.” I suggested that next time they might consider using the air conditioned chartered motorcoaches.

Elton and I discussed the rotation of the future conventions for this association and he said that the annual convention may be back in this area around 2003. I asked if he had considered recommending Lisle as the host site and he enthusiastically said, “Definitely.”

At his suggestion, Elton gave his permission to be contacted by future meeting planners considering Lisle as a possible site for a conference or convention. Elton Eisele’s number may be obtained by contacting, Brenda Littell, at the Lisle CVB.