FAQs & Attendee Information

Proceed northbound on I-75, take exit 337, and follow the signs to Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry. The approximate driving time from Detroit is five hours, plus a 15-minute ferry ride to the island.

Delta Air Lines flies from Detroit Metro (DTW) to Pellston Regional Airport (PLN).

Guests can arrange ground transportation from Pellston to Mackinac Island by calling Mackinaw Shuttle at 888.349.8294. Advance reservations are recommended.

If you are interested in chartering a plane directly to Mackinac Island from Oakland County International Airport, call Calvin Ford at Pentastar Aviation at 800.662.9612. Advance reservations are required.

Electronic Ferry Ticket Only: Ferry tickets will be emailed a week prior to the Conference, on Monday, May 22, to the email address you used to register for the Conference. Ferry tickets will not be mailed. If you don’t receive an electronic ticket in your inbox, check your spam, junk, or clutter folders.

Conference attendees staying in Mackinaw City will not incur daily fees for Shepler ferry transportation. Attendees must pick up a complimentary ticket at the ticket office.

Shepler Ferry service will provide a complimentary roundtrip shuttle service between Mackinaw City hotels and Shepler ferry dock. Guests will need to request a shuttle and should plan to call Shepler (231-436-5023) 30 minutes before the ferry they would like to ride.

View the 2023 spring Shepler’s ferry schedule.

Valet Parking is Not Available: All parking options are self-parking.

$20 per night | Standard off-site parking: Shepler’s offers free ground transportation to and from the ferry dock.

$40 per night | Limited premium on-site parking: This option is limited and expected to run out.

Most Conference attendees are staying at other hotels. For convenience, each registrant at a hotel other than Grand Hotel will receive four complimentary taxi tickets when picking up Conference credentials. Taxis have also been secured to shuttle attendees staying at Mission Point to and from Grand Hotel with no taxi tickets required.  View the Mission Point/Grand Hotel schedule here.

Additional taxi tickets are available at the Grand Hotel front desk at attendees’ own expense. Driver gratuity is always appreciated. Taxis will be available at peak times for Chamber guests for transit to Grand Hotel. The average taxi rides are $4.75 to $6.75 for a one-way trip to Grand Hotel.

In case a taxi is not waiting when you need it, call Mackinac Carriage Tours/Taxi Office at 906.847.3323.

The Grand Hotel has slightly relaxed its dress code for the Conference. Throughout the week, attendees are encouraged to dress in business casual or resort attire. No ties are encouraged. However, comfortable shoes are a must as attendees will walk a lot throughout the Conference.

All receptions and many 2023 social events and meals will be held outdoors (weather permitting). Mackinac Island weather can be very unpredictable. June temperatures have an average range of 51° F to 70° F, and the sun will set at approximately 9:20 p.m. Be sure to pack a rain jacket or umbrella, dress in layers, and pack warm clothes for crisp mornings and cool evenings.

• Face masks are recommended in high-traffic areas when indoors at Grand Hotel.
• High-traffic areas are considered Conference registration, the Gallery, the corridor leading into the Theatre, and inside the Theatre.
• Face masks will be available to attendees throughout the Grand Hotel.

There are more than 1,300 hotel rooms on Mackinac Island, ranging from economical to extravagant.

To view a full list of available island hotels, please visit the Mackinac Island website. 

A short ferry ride away from Mackinac Island, Mackinaw City is a small, harbor village that has over 2,400 rooms available.

Check out recommended hotels in Mackinaw City HERE.

To make a reservation at Grand Hotel, please call 800.334.7263. Each caller is limited to one room reservation. A caller will not be able to reserve multiple rooms, only one room reservation per caller. If a company is trying to secure multiple rooms at Grand Hotel, multiple calls will need to be made.

Grand Hotel room reservations are available on a first-come, first-served basis. There is a three-night minimum reservation requirement. Rooms usually fill up in less than an hour of taking reservations. Once Grand Hotel reaches capacity, Conference attendees can be placed on a waitlist with the Hotel. However, it is strongly advised that attendees secure alternative accommodations.

Call-in Day for the Grand Hotel is Feb. 1, at 8 a.m. Other properties on the island will also be taking reservations on Feb. 1, 2023. 

In order to make reservations at an island hotel, a Conference confirmation number will be required. This number is found in the subject line of your confirmation email. If you did not receive your confirmation email, please contact Marianne Bogard at mbogard@detroitchamber.com.

Please note: Island hotels are encouraged to collect the full stay’s deposit upon booking. Please note your hotel’s cancellation policy before booking. Most island hotels will be requiring guests to cancel by Friday, April 28, 2023, if not sooner.

The Detroit Regional Chamber knows it has been a particularly challenging year for securing a room for the Conference and understands attendees’ frustration and concerns. Explore suggestions for accommodations in Mackinaw City and St. Ignace HERE.

Have a room and willing to share? Looking for a roommate? The Chamber can help. Learn more.

Your Conference registration fee includes:

Breakfast 

• Wednesday
• Thursday
• Friday

Lunch 

• Wednesday
• Thursday

Dinner Receptions 

• Tuesday
• Wednesday
• Thursday

The Conference registration fee does not include meals in the main dining room. You must have a meal ticket for any meal in the Grand Hotel dining room. If you are staying at Grand Hotel, you will receive a guest card at check-in. If you are not staying at Grand Hotel, tickets can be purchased by calling 800.33.GRAND or at the front desk. 

Upon arrival at Grand Hotel, stop at the Lobby Level of Grand Hotel, down the hall from the hotel’s front desk to pick up your credentials and Conference materials. Admission to sessions and social events will not be allowed without a Conference name badge.

Throughout the Conference, Grand Hotel access is limited only to registered and credentialed Conference attendees. Individuals attempting to obtain access to Grand Hotel property, events, and the porch who are not registered and credentialed will not be permitted access.

Attendees will be required to display their credentials to gain entry to all Conference functions including meals, sessions, and receptions taking place on the Grand Hotel properties. 

Attendees looking for a map of Mackinac Island or the Grand Hotel can view the maps below.

• Mackinac Island Map
• Grand Hotel Garden Terrace Map
• Grand Hotel Parlor Map

Attendees will be required to display their credentials to gain entry to all Conference functions, including meals, sessions, receptions, press conferences, and private events taking place on any Grand Hotel properties, including the Porch. Attendees who lose their badge during the Conference must pay a $50 badge replacement fee.

Attendees looking for business and communications services can utilize the Attendee Business Center on the Parlor level of Grand Hotel. Staff is available to assist you with your business needs.

The attendee list will be available to registered attendees via the Conference App.

The Conference App is available in the App Store and Google Play. If you have the 2022 Conference App downloaded, please delete it from your device and download the latest version. For more information, visit the Conference App page.

The Chamber encourages attendees to post about the Conference using the hashtag #MPC23 on all major social networks.

There is a Communication Center at Grand Hotel. The center will provide Conference participants with a message center, fax machines, access to a color printer, and computer workstations.

Grand Hotel properties offer many options for private meeting or event space. During the Conference, the Chamber oversees scheduling all property space. Scheduling unsanctioned Conference meetings or events is at the discretion of the Chamber. Meetings and events can not conflict with Conference programming and priority is given to Conference sponsors. For more information, call Jim Connarn at 313.596.0391 or email jconnarn@detroitchamber.com. 

Grand Hotel’s private golf courses and tennis courts will be available for your use. Tennis is available at no charge to Conference participants. Reservations are suggested. Call 906.847.3331 ext. 519.

The Jewel is Grand Hotel’s 18 holes of golf comprised of two nine-hole golf courses – the Grand Nine and the Woods Nine. Call the pro shop at 906.847.3331 ext. 518 to reserve a tee time.

Horseback riding, bicycling, and private carriage tours are easily arranged through Grand Hotel.

To see other activities available on Mackinac Island, visit the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau website.

Conference fee includes credentials, Conference materials and gifts, admittance to meetings, receptions, and special entertainment. Conference pricing is subject to change. The fee does not cover hotel accommodations, meals in the Grand Hotel dining room, or the PAC reception. If paying by check, payment must be received by Friday, May 19, 2023. 

Registration will open in December 2022.  

Solicitation of Conference attendees in an effort to fundraise or sell any idea, product, service, venture, cause, or action, however worthy or potentially of value to the solicited member, is prohibited while on Grand Hotel property. While much of the Conference’s value comes from its networking capability, and while we do not intend to interfere with that benefit, the Chamber has received many requests for such a policy from regular Conference attendees. Individuals violating this policy will be dealt with immediately and could be excluded from the Conference immediately and in the future.

The Chamber controls the distribution of “Conference-sanctioned materials” throughout the Grand Hotel and other Conference venues. Distribution of other materials is strictly prohibited. No attendee or organization (company, entity, media outlet, political campaign) can distribute materials, publications, postcards, other items, or gifts on Grand Hotel property (including main Conference venue and other facilities owned and operated by Grand Hotel) and Shepler’s Mackinac Island Ferry facilities. If non-sanctioned materials are found, Conference staff is instructed to remove and dispose of the materials from the premises. Individuals distributing materials will be dealt with immediately and could be excluded from the Conference immediately and in the future.

Video cameras and recording devices by credentialed media are not allowed in the Grand Hotel Theatre without permission of the Detroit Regional Chamber AND AN ESCORT BY CHAMBER STAFF for B-roll only. News organizations that want to capture main stage programming inside the Theatre may make a special request through the Media Center to be escorted into the Theatre for limited recording. Media wishing to capture video/audio of main-stage programming in the Theatre are provided access to a pool feed. The Detroit Regional Chamber reserves the right to ask a reporter with a camera to leave the Theatre at any time.

NOTE: Due to contracts with Conference speakers, video and audio recordings of some speakers at the Mackinac Policy Conference may be restricted or may not be allowed. 

Flash photography is not allowed in Grand Hotel Theatre. Photographers shooting in the Theatre are welcome to take photographs but must not use a flash. A Flickr photo feed will be uploaded in real-time, and media will be provided the link or can request it by emailing Catia Sabak. 

I hereby grant permission to the Detroit Regional Chamber to utilize my name, photograph, image, likeness, signature, voice, actions, and/or statements from any program or event, whether live or recorded audio, video, photographic media, or any other context or media now known or hereinafter devised, and further grant the Detroit Regional Chamber the right and ability to alter, copy, display, distribute, edit, exhibit, modify, perform, publish, or create derivative works of any version of any program or the event, all without further authorization, consent, or compensation.

You can find registration instructions here. 

*Note: If you have not already created a login for the Detroit Regional Chamber website, you will need to do so before registering for an event. Instructions for creating an account can be found here. 

The organization and attendee fields will automatically be filled in with your information.

• If you want to register a different person, click the drop-down and choose the correct person.

• To add more than one person to the cart, at the same time, turn on Register Multiple Attendees.
  *Note: If you are registering multiple people with spouses (for the Mackinac Policy Conference) choose them separately from the drop-down and add to cart individually as you will need to enter their spouses names each time. 
• If you are registering a spouse, click on the spouse session and enter the spouse’s name.

This will add a new record for your organization.

When you are finished, click Create to add the person to the drop-down list. Please be patient. This may take a few seconds to process. Do not click create more than once. 

• Correct attendee(s) selected
• Correct session (s) selected
• Pricing is correct
• Spouse name filled in (if applicable)

*Important note: If using a credit card for payment, be sure Zip is the zip code associated with the credit card to be charged.

*Note: Carts totaling more than $10,000 will be required to process via eCheck.

• Credit card
• eCheck
• Bill Me Later