What are the odds of Gencon extending the contract to stay in Indianapolis long past 2023?
Very good.
_____________________________________ Alec Usticke, Fans of Gen Con Facebook Group
I did think it was slightly odd we didn't get an announcement this year about it. Seems like for the last couple of years, we have had a 1 year extension announcement right around Gen Con.
_____________________________________ Alec Usticke, Fans of Gen Con Facebook Group
It should be noted that the press release extending the contract mentioned the new planned Hilton hotels as a reason for the extension.
Gencon should follow through and make clear to the city that both of these hotels need to be built before further extensions are granted.
https://www.gencon.com/press/2023extension
Agreed! And they should be part of the block. I don't think the Homewood Suites by Hilton was ever in the block from the day it opened (and its a great hotel too, although rack rates have grown substantially from when it first opened).
I understand the reasoning for wanting more hotel space downtown, but I rarely see posts about the hotels along the ring (65/70/465) of Indy.
People obviously stay at them for the Con so how do they factor into the decisions being made for the city and by GenCon officials?
I think it would be interesting to see how many people decided not to go at all because they did not get a room downtown vs those that did not get a room but were able to go because they stayed along the “ring” instead.
I understand the reasoning for wanting more hotel space downtown, but I rarely see posts about the hotels along the “ring” (65/70/465) of Indy.
Visit indy knows that downtown space was needed and that's how the pan am project began in the first place. More airport hotels wont do much.
I guess I always looked at hotels along the “ring” as an untapped resource because of how little they are mentioned on the forums.
It is hopeful that one pan am hotel should be ready by 2022.
https://www.wthr.com/article/scooters-banned-indianapolis-sidewalks-again
Plus if they are going to enact such a ban, then they need to come up with a solution other then they must be ridden in the street with traffic because drivers seemed to make it a sport in trying to hit people on them. I about got taken out by a driver in a pickup, and my friend had to go for xrays when a sports car driver clipped him.
Reality is no city can offer us everything we want. It's that simple. But as long as they offer us most, we can live with it. And Indy is doing that, fairly well.
In 2 years we should have CC space, that is a priority right now for the convention. Hitting this arbitrary badge limit is painful. Parking is acceptable right now.
Hotels DT is tight, but there is more then 3,000 rooms in the pipeline being worked on that should open to us over the next 3 years. With talk of an additional 1,500 more by 4 or 5 years. Thing is, even with all those rooms coming, it still wont be enough. Never will. Because as we get the rooms, it will also raise the number of badges available. Which means more attendees.
Way I look at the situation. Gencon simply will not move any time soon. They're getting decent enough deals from the city and state to stay. The ICC is growing to accommodate the convention, which means more money for Gencon. And attendee numbers keep increasing every year. So why move some where else?
Plus moving elsewhere requires that city have a CC large enough, and centrally located that will not have to compete with other large conventions (Gaming, comic, ect).
Actually, until I read this article I thought Chicago was undoable. But there is a little known underground road leading from McCormick place to downtown that cuts the commute to 8 minutes. It is used primarily by convention buses, but as this article points out, well connected politicians use it as well.
http://www.everygoddamnday.com/2013/07/clout-street.html
Some Yelp reviews of the McCormick place busway
https://www.yelp.com/biz/mccormick-place-busway-chicago
Mike Boozer Customer Service & Event Team Manager Gen Con LLC