Born and raised in southeast NH and I have to admit, out of all the places I've lived in (and been to) Portsmouth, NH is THE best place for business people to meet (the old / historical part, not Newingon). Great restaurants (The Gas Light Company, Muddy River Smokehouse, Portsmouth Brewery, etc.
The city is still pretty safe for it's size, fair amount of activity for night-life, plus great places to get lobster (sorry, lobstah), i.e. Sanders Lobster pound! Close proximity to Portland, Logan, and Manchester airports (is Pease commercial flights yet?) and a great, general friendly place to go.
I think we do have some people from that area on here (I'm in south Florida now). It's sad that a lot of businesses skip over this area for events, but then again, I guess that's what keeps this area it's charm.