It seems to me that GenCon has outgrown downtown Indianapolis.  The crowds, the lack of hotel availability (All hotels within 10-15 miles sold out in an hour of downtown), even the convention is now bleeding over to the Lucas Oil Stadium due to lack of space.  

What other cities do you think GenCon could move to that can support adequate housing, event location, along with an ample supply of food and entertainment in the downtown/convention area.  Speaking as somoene from Kansas City, we certainly do not qualify and I cannot imagine having GenCon here would be anything short of a disaster.

Do we really need to have *this* discussion again? There were way to many of these threads on the old forums.

We do need to have *this* discussion again.  The more discussions about this topic the more exposure.  The more exposure the more opinions are influenced that this is a relevant topic that needs to be addressed.  

Friend as of now Indianpolis has 5 hotels in the different parts of the planning stages. Disscussions are going on right now to expand the ICC which will bring in at least one or two headquarters hotels. Last there are, if memory serves, three or four new places to eat opening up in the mall. A Whole Foods opening up downtown. All of this in a half mile area. Tough to beat.
Randu- drops mike

Not to mention the fact that Gen Con is locked in to Indy until 2020. So, the earliest we would see a move to a new city would be 2021.

It seems the desire isn't just for hotels, it's for hotels specifically within 1-2 blocks of the convention site AND at around $200/night when a surge of 60,000+ people arrive for the convention, AND while keeping the badge price from not ballooning too much.

Good luck finding a site like that. Chicago is often tossed out and I can tell you that it meets basically none of those criteria. Neither McCormick place nor the Rosemont convention center.

The big problem with these threads is that there basically are no cities that meet the needs that captainraffi outlined. Occasionally someone will propose Las Vegas, and while it does have more hotel rooms, most of them are further away in raw distance than the downtown rooms in Indy. Pretty much every other city in North America is in a worse place than Indy as far as the hotel situation goes.

Big convention center, with 10+ big hotels within two blocks? There just aren't a lot of cities that fit those criteria. We're probably best off staying put and encouraging Indy to improve its hotels and infrastructure.

@Randu - What hotels?  Where are they going to be located?  When will they be done?  Expand the ICC?  How the hell is that going to happen and what "discussions" are you referring to?  Are you on the city council?  Are you in corporate real estate and know something we do not?  "At least one or two headquarters hotels" - wtf does that mean?  Whole Foods?  Well sh** the bed son!  Whole Foods in downtown Indy by the ICC?  What exactly does being vioilated while shopping for food have to do with GenCon?  Have you ever been to a Whole Foods?  Pick your mic (not mike) back up and please try again.  No one is impressed by the conjuring of false rumors without any substance or backing - less so by the opening of a Whole Foods.

@hawkeye - Terms and Conditions are the bread and butter for lawyers.  Rest assured friend, there is no binding contract or unbreakable vow holding GenCon to Indianapolis.  I realize many of the people replying to this thread live in Indy and are incredibly defensive about this particular topic.  The ICC cannot support all of the events of the Con hence using other venues such as Lucas Oil Stadium, surrounding hotels, etc.  

@captainraffi - Exactly.  $200/night maybe $250/night is reasonable for a large sized convention.  $500+/night is not.  That is a massive ripoff.  Badge prices can go up.  $90 for a 4 day pass is not bad at all - more than reasonable.

Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis are all excellent prospects.  Maybe Denver?

@xirishcarbombx - My point is that you aren't going to find any city with all of those things. Chicago is NOT a good prospect. McCormick place is huge, but there aren't any connected hotels to my knowledge. There are some hotels in the downtown loop area but if people really want hotels that are close as the ones in Indianapolis, there are like 3. And if 60,000 people are descending on that area then they are going to be just as expensive. You could certainly find reasonably priced hotels all over the city but you are NOT going to be as close are you are with Indianapolis. On top of that badge prices would go up because McCormick place is crazy expensive for conventions. Also, the downtown Loop area which is nearby doesn't have as many food options on weekends because it's more business centric. The Rosemont Convention center is an option. I think it's big enough. But there are even fewer hotels in the immediate area so there would be lots of driving to get there. Again, limited food options nearby means long waits or more driving. It's also outside of the city, so have fun communiting if you get a Chicago hotel.

And dont forget large cities has union rules where you have to have union labor to unload and load trucks which would force a lot of small companys out of gencon

If the shuttle system worked or public transport was better, then an outlier hotel would not be so bad.

but it's awful....and gencon does not seem interested in fixing it

I love this time of year..... I'll go put the popcorn on......

Been watching this tired argument repeat for the better part of a decade. I'm going to sum it all up in advance to save time.

And here's how It goes: no one finds a better place...even by the standards of forum members who really have no idea what is really needed.

Places are suggested. Most shot down. Usually someone insists horrible location is the best...but tries to deny that their support is because it's where they live. Occasionally some grognard suggests Gencon move  back to its origins. Few people even bother responding to that idea each year despite how bad it is. Sympathy for the elderly restraining them possibly.

Sone one suggests Vegas. Usually a desperate virgin with fantasies of being a high roller who has never  been to Vegas. Those who have been to Vegas respond with the many reasons why it would be horrible for GenCon.

Once all the other bad ideas are shot down (New York, St Louis..oh heck all of the big bad cities ) the topic then spirals to all the things GenCon or Indy should do. Most are laughably beyond GenCon power. Many are out of touch with reality. Topic slowly dies out, with a few diehards insisting they know better, and GenCon could do better if they just cared...without having any actual knowledge of the area or professional experience in event coordination.

There. Saved you all the trouble. Entire tthread in one post,

You're welcome.

Yep.....that's pretty much it.  Now I just wasted all this popcorn I made.

And sometimes it gets out of hand and the admins lock the thread.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
 

2.  Even if Gen Con could somehow get out of the contract, conventions with a history of breaking their contracts aren't exactly bargaining from a position of strength in negotiations with a new city.  

All hotels within 10-15 miles of downtown are NOT sold out.   I can go to the housing portal a get a room right now.  I can go to nerarly any non-downtown hotel and get a room out of block. 

The issue is not hotel space or convention center space.  The issue is downtown connected rooms, most people want a downtown room and there is simply not enough inventory to go around.  However, there really isnt another city with the hotel space that INdy has within WALKING distance of their convention center along with restaurants and other activities within that same walking space.