Yep.  We explored this topic up, down, inside, and out on the old forum.  

If there's a comparable convention center with 15,000 connected rooms it would be a no brainer.  Except that convention center does not exsist yet.  Since most conventions are nothing like Gencon I don't believe that most cities are planning in that kind of direction.    

Indy probably is the best location for Gencon in the USA at this time.   In terms of convetion space, walking distance hotels, bars, and eateries Indy packs more into a 15 minute walking radius than any other city that I am aware of.    It seems like Vegas might, but there have been compelling arguments against, with supporting figures.  

Post your suggestions, but back them up with floor space size, # of walking distance rooms, and percentage of people that live within a 1 day drive, which is another important factor.  
 

People are also not thinking about all the restaurants that are within a reasonable walking distance of the con. Granted, during peak hours they are packed...but I try to make lunch time at non "peak".
A lot of these restaurants have put a lot of effort over the last 13 years to appeal to GenCon attendees. Staying open later, offering fun menus, etc.

GenCon has built up a lot of attendance, I think if they leave the city they will lose a lot of attendees for a couple years. 
 

Sure I'll throw some time at presenting one or more alternative locations and post my findings after a few days.  

also jsut location wise itself, I live in nebraska, if GenCon ever went enywhere else I probably wouldnt be able to ever atend for the cost of travel.  Indy is pretty much centerally located, easy to drive to from alot of places and fairly inexpensive to fly into.  I have stayed across the street and i have stayed out by the airport.  I have enjoyed the con each and every time.  even on the times i have been across the street i have never needed to go back to my room til teh end of the night anyway.  If you let where you are staying affect your enjoyment of the con then your really jsut looking for an excuse not to go.

Whether you like it or not, Las Vegas does have the space and rooms.

ABOUT THE LAS VEGAS CONVENTION CENTER STATIONWhy bother with difficult Las Vegas Convention Center Parking when you can ride the Monorail directly from your hotel to the Vegas Convention Center? The Las Vegas Convention Center is one of the most modern and functional facilities in the world — a 3.2 million square foot facility connected via the Monorail with more than 100,000 guest rooms. Operated by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), the center is well known among industry professionals for its versatility. See below for Things to do around the Vegas Convention Center.

http://www.lvmonorail.com/las-vegas-convention-center-station/

There may be reasons not to use Las Vegas. But it does have several hotels within walking distance and several other monorail connected hotels. Getting to the convention center and back would be simple, safe and convenient.

I've been to Vegas, even walking from hotel to hotel takes a few minutes. They are BIG, like a whole city block by themselves. I was there in January, and it was warm in the day. I don't even want to know what it would be like in August.... With 66k+ other people packed into a building.

If you look at the map, the monorail has direct access to most hotels. And many of those it does not have access to have free shuttles that take you to a monorail station.

Yes, Vegas has heat. Has not stopped it from being the #1 Convention city.

And for the record, Yes I live in Vegas, but I would rather travel to Gencon and make a vacation out of it rather than "stay home". My beef is the lack of connected hotels and lack of public transport options.

Oh...the monorail is air-conditioned too.....

Tourism officials say 3.54 million people visited Las Vegas in April, an increase of 2.4 percent compared to the year before due in large part to convention attendance.

The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported Friday that convention attendance grew by 26.8 percent to 501,392 people with both the Nightclub and Bar trade show and CinemaCon arriving during the month. Both events were held in March last year.

http://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/may/29/las-vegas-convention-attendance-boosts-april-touri/

Im not sure what you are referring to, as the strip is largely closed to pedestrian traffic. Most major intersections have skywalks going across the street to avoid the drunk pedestrian dies scenario.

Vegas would be horrible for everyone in temrs of gaming.

Exhibitors and Vendors would have the venue really competing and drawing away people. Your new competiton isnt just other gamign vendors, but every entertainment and gambling activity in all of Las Vegas.

Also, that means fewer people at the events. .

Slightly to the west. Indy isnt perfectly centric, but better than Vegas.

Heat. its miserable in August. Gamer funk will hit bio-weapon level.  Not everyone can fit on the monorial.

August isn't deserted in Vegas.  And the convention would be spread out. Less of a gaming community experience as GenCon attendees are spread out and swallowed up by the normal Vegas crowd. Monorial doesnt hit everywhere.

Vegas might be great for a typical convention, but GenCon, (just like its atendees) isn't quite typical. I dont think its a good fit.

Don't get me wrong. I've enjoyed Vegas. Will go again. but if I go to Vegas, I'm going to be spending all of that time experiencing Vegas for what it is--which is not going to be a receptive place for Gamers, nor as good a venue for all of the Gencon community : exhibitors, atendees, and Vendors.

I cetainly dont harbor any illusion that Vegas will ever grow to be as pleased with, and accomodating to GenCon as Indy has.

And Vegas really isn't family friendly. There was some advertisement proaganda about it, but Sin City has changed its mind since the 1990's.  butThere are some still kid friendly attractions, but overall its not a place to go to with kids. Of any age, really. In fact, I'd get more worried the older they get. For younger kids, you are basically stuck with Excalibur and Circus Circus as your safest bets. Going anywhere else..and suddenly you have to explain a lot of things to little Timmy, especially that those guys on the street are not passing out Pokemon cards.

Really, just a bad,  idea.

As many people have said, there is in fact a binding contract holding Gen Con to Indianapolis until 2020.  I don't know why you don't believe it.  It's true. Rest assured.

Also, rest assured that if you want to go over, yet again, this exercise in futility, sure, feel free to discuss where you think Gen Con would be better.  But you need to respect your other forumites in your discussions.  If you can't do that, you can't post here.  Fair warning.

I tried the housing lottery and missed out, I didn't get a downtown hotel room,I didn't cry about it throw a fit or demand changes be made I waited a day to make sure nothing was going to crop up then got a room myself elsewhere.

I think you ment that there were no downtown adjacent hotel rooms, since there are plenty of hotel rooms even now just not downtown ones. Two years ago I missed out as well and got a hotel room(at the same hotel I mentioned above) a month after the housing portal opened and I'll be willing to bet that a month from now there will be still be hotel rooms available in the area.

btw I am over 50 with bad knees and arthritis in my hands and both shoulders so an adjacent downtown hotel room would be of great advantage.

There was a 200 room Canopy by Hilton was going to be built 2 blocks north of the ICC, but last I read, that deal fell through.  The company that owns the building says they have another Hotel lined up to go with, but no timetable on it.  Also, Hilton says they are still interested in the Indianapolis market as a location for their Canopy brand hotels.  Obviously it won't help for this year, but it bodes well for the future.  http://www.indystar.com/story/money/2016/01/04/hiltons-hotel-millennials-scrapped-downtown-indianapolis-project/78262870/

Now the big one I've been hearing rumors about for years is the Pan Am Plaza, literally across the street to the east of ICC.  The company that owns it has been saying for 3 years that they want to put a big hotel there.  I've heard anywhere from 450 to 1000 rooms.  This one is like the mirage in the desert.  1000 more rooms would seriously help with the current hotel situation.  Unfortunatley, I have seen 0 actual movement on that so far.  Also, there is a parking garage underneath owned by a different company, so I think that is complicating things.

It seems like Gen Con is sticking with Indy until 2020.  I understand people coming from out of town are starting to really feel a squeeze, but I think the city is slowly adapting to the demand for rooms and resturants that come with Gen Con and other events we are getting.  I think it is more prudent to wait until it is closer to that 2020 contract expiration to start having the conversation about moving the convention.  I would be sad to see Gen Con leave Indy, but it's understandable if the city is unable to keep pace with it.  If it does end up moving, all I can say is that there better not be any hotel room availability issues at the new location because I've heard my fill of horror stories about the housing lottery...