Gencon once had 30,000 attendees. You could still get a block downtown room during this time, if you logged in that day. Downtown Rooms would generally be gone after that.

Gencon now has 60,000+ attendees and no more hotel space. IIRC, Indy has lost 1,000 rooms. Now you cant get a block downtown hotel unless you win the super-lotto or subsequent lotto's when a room is released.

Remarkably, no efforts have been made to address this clear problem. Gencon was "looking into" other methods besides the failed shuttle. That was 2 years ago...

The "math" dispute is really arguing over nothing. Attendance is too high for the hotels to compensate. 

"Again, the simple flaw in your math is that you are comparing the August 2012 attendance to the August 2016 attendance.  Pull out your calendar and count the days.  That is a four year period.  It is a period of time consisting of 4 years. 365 x 4 days plus 1 for leap year."

2012 =1
2013=2
2014=3
2015=4
2016=5

How on earth is that not five gen cons? If you mean you are not COUNTING 2012 at all whatsoever, then okay, 2013-2016 is four gen cons. Perhaps there is confusion between 'passage of time' in which 2016 minus 2012 is indeed 4, as opposed to 'number of conventions' in which 2012-2016 is 5.

The years when getting a downtown room was pretty decent. (5000 people difference):

Gen Con Indy 2003 25,000
Gen Con Indy 2004 21,741
Gen Con Indy 2005 25,106
Gen Con Indy 2006 21,250+
Gen Con Indy 2007 27,000
Gen Con Indy 2008 28,600+
Gen Con Indy 2009 27,900
Gen Con Indy 2010 30,046

The years when it started getting more difficult (up to 19000 more):

Gen Con Indy 2011 36,733
Gen Con Indy 2012 41,000+
Gen Con Indy 2013 49,058

The present situation (+ another 10,000):

Gen Con Indy 2014 56,614
Gen Con Indy 2015 61,423
Gen Con Indy 2016 60,819

The numbers are pretty striking. 8 years of moderate changes followed by 3 years of substantial growth, followed by even more growth. Indianapolis cannot handle the drastic increased attendance.

Now look at Origins -

2002 10,500
2003 12,600
2004 13,980
2005 15,061
2006 11,852
2007 11,104
2008 10,110
2009 10,030
2010 10,669
2011 11,502
2012 11,332
2013 11,573
2014 12,902
2015 15,938
2016 15,480
2017 17,001

And Origins this year had some hotel difficulties with them being sold out alot earlier than in past years, even with moderate increases in attendees.

Gencon has grown substantially without the necessary infrastructure. Origins was built to handle 15,000 attendees. Indy (the city) was built for 30,000-35,000. Not 65,000 or 70,000 as it may hit this year.  The center may have the space, but the hotel rooms are simply absent.

squirecam-You're exactly right and have really laid out the problem well.  This is my last math post because I think braewe isolated the issue.

braewe-It appears that you and others are defining "one year" as one instance of GenCon occurring.

I was using the dictionary definition of "year" to mean a period of 365 days.  Therefore in my statement, "5 year doubling" means doubling over a period of time of 365 times 5 days.

An unfortunate miscommunication.

GenCon used the dictionary definition of "year" in their article where they said:

"Since 2010, Gen Con has more than doubled in attendance." (From 2015 article)

Source: http://www.gencon.com/press/2015postshow

The broader point remains that GC has grown a lot recently, while Indy's accommodation of the growth has not followed.  And that means pain for us attendees.  Either we hang our hat on this being the 50th and a one time spike, or GenCon needs to move or split.

You're right, because it's an annual thing. I guess though, the entire point is that the growth is huge and real.

Maybe not exactly doubling, regardless of 2011 or 2012 but still huge at those numbers. It's one thing to double from 10000 to 20000 quite another 30000 to 60000. 

I am caught between two feelings.

A) I love gen con right where it is. I don't think it would have experienced this growth in literally any other location for a huge number of reasons:
   1) EASY PLEASANT walkable hotels  
   2) A plethora of EASY PLEASANT walkable eateries that accommodate all budgets from the food court to St Elmos
   3) A hugely welcoming urban area
   4) A relatively /safe/ urban area. I can walk back from the JW to Homewood Suites at 2am and not worry that I needed someone with me.
    5) Easy overflow areas. I don't think all the hotel space is being used still, though certainly more of it is.
    6) Close driving distance for a HUGE chunk of attendees AND exhibitors. Not all, but a huge chunk. Sure is easier to haul stuff yourself as opposed to flying it in.
   7) Hotels within budgets for everyone in the area. You CAN stay for as little as $60 a night within an easy drive and if you split that with a party of four? Wow.
   8) gen con organization. They actually HAVE improved the processes. I remember event registration a decade ago and it was /terrible/. Now it really isn't. 

B) There is no question that it cannot continue to grow at this pace. We're all assuming that it's a spike for the 50th but well, we all love the heck out of the convention. You CAN attend for amazingly little...volunteer to get your badge, split a $60 room with four folks, bring food with you. So why are we thinking that all those returning for 'old times sake' perhaps with families or friends who haven't attended before won't want to return?

   Which leads to the 'move or split' options. I really firmly believe moving would be a terrible idea. You would lose all the things that made it so popular, risking a lot on a 'we hope they will follow us like they did from Milwaukee'. Splitting holds the 'but it didn't work for SoCal' issue. But what if some other location was found that shared most of the things Indy has? I've heard all the things about Vegas but I don't think Vegas would work. But what about an East Coast con? Something that is NOT right around the holidays. Maybe something during spring breaks. 

I am just not altogether sure that the 51st will drop back to 60K attendees.

I actually find all this discussion about the growth figures for GenCon to be very positive in one big respect - this hobby of ours that used to be viewed with scorn and derision by many is gaining in popularity among the masses.  I'm also not seeing why GenCon needs to move or split.  The numbers being discussed are pretty large by any standard, and again I've been impressed with how well GenCon has organized this website to give badge holders the chance to participate in all the many activities offered.  The other convention websites I've taken a look at are nowhere near the scale of this one, and the fact that their numbers are so much lower is good reason for that.  I'd imagine if Origins for instance grows to this size, they will have the very same growing pains and I hope they weather them as well.

It seems to me at least that folks attending GenCon just need to come to terms with the fact that getting the perfect downtown room isn't likely to happen any more, and if it does then to view themselves as very fortunate.  While one can wish for a better infrastructure of transportation services in Indianapolis, the city isn't going to spend that kind of money and resources because of GenCon - that would be pretty crazy, especially in the minds of the local taxpayers.  But with the options of Uber and Lyft, I don't really see what the problem is for those who don't have a rented car to use.  The old-fashioned taxi too for that matter, though that service does tend to be expensive.  I would also imagine some of the outlier hotels offer their own shuttles to get people downtown, though I can't say that for certain.

Maybe it's just my perspective, as my kids are growing older (and I am too) I sometimes find myself yearning for the past when things were different and more simple (if you think your little ones are difficult, wait until they're teenagers!)  But the world moves on, and so must we.  Finding the 'perfect' place for GenCon where everyone gets a downtown room isn't very likely to happen anywhere, but I think that given it's the popularity of this event that's making this impossible is a good thing.

Sometimes conventions stay the same. Sometimes they grow up. Gencon has grown so much but people want it to stay young and small. It's not anymore.

I am not yearning for the past. I simply want Indy to modernize and fix its infrastructure. If it cannot or will not....then gencon must seek a city that will.

Braewe's post points out a lot of advantages that Indianapolis' downtown scene offers that goes beyond the lack of infrastructure that I really don't think you're going to find in many cities - at least not those that are centrally located in the U.S.  I've obviously not devoted hours and hours of study, but I'm willing to hazard a guess that pretty much any large city you pick is going to be lacking in one or more of those fundamental areas, even if there IS a good infrastructure present.

It seems to me that if you have a list of what's important to GenCon attendees, a safe downtown environment would be tops, followed by a healthy number of downtown hotels, a welcoming environment, easy walking distance to eateries and bars, and a good variety of hotel options within a reasonable distance offering cheap rates would all make the top five ahead of infrastructure - which can usually be worked around by other means (downtown hotels, Uber/Lyft, hotel shuttles, etc).

I just can't envision the idea of a lack of 'good' infrastructure forcing GenCon to seek another city where the other criteria are lacking or missing altogether.

If you go to the speedway, it is readily apparent that you cannot stay next door. It is not surrounded by multiple hotels with built-in entertainment options. Nor is the area scheduled for multiple convention goers with entertainment and restaurants. You are there for the race, and the race only. You drive in and out. So you dont worry about staying "next door" to it.

Additionally, the race is a set time. If there are 5 of you with a car, you all attend the same race. At the same time.

Gencon attendees have events at 8am and 11 pm. If one of 5 has an event, and you all have one car, then all 5 need to leave before 8 and get home after 11.

Nor do Indy 500 attendees need to purchase exhibit items and return to their hotel multiple times during the race. Gencon goers frequently do.

The similarities end with the # of attendees. Gencon attendees have much more varied needs then Indy 500 attendees.

Vegas has a speedway with races and multiple large conventions. The needs of the two are distinct, even though certain race attendance may rival CES.

• 2,000,000 Total Square Feet
  
• 4,000 hotel rooms within walking distance, including 1,100 at the adjacent Omni Dallas Hotel
  
• 4 new restaurants
  
• Onsite DART rail station with covered access to the convention center
  
• Free shuttle bus (DART D-Link, Route 722) to Downtown, Arts District, Uptown, The Cedars, Bishop Arts District, Victory Park, and the West End
  

There ARE options. If people simply cared enough to look.
 

The alternative suggestion is to put in place an environment for GenCon so that it doesn't have to top off from Indy's current limitations, either by addressing the limitations or by moving somewhere with a higher top off level.  This alternative forward looking view allows us to be spared the multi-year pain of overcrowding as we equalize the pain/fun balance of Indy's limits.

Do we want GenCon to have unfettered growth unlimited by Indy infrastructure?  Or do we want to keep the Indy "culture" and bump up against the limits painfully?

GenCon has grown up and now is a more traditional commuter convention. There is no shortage of hotel rooms in driving distance and parking isn't hard to come by either. People need to adapt. GenCon doesn't care about getting more attached rooms. They care about filling to capacity. Which they have this year. Now they need more convention space. I doubt it keeps up, but if it does they will probably move somewhere with more convention space, but less convenient lodging.

The housing circle is just wider than it's ever been due to huge attendance.

It's now official.  Over a month before the convention, and 4 day badges are sold out.  GenCon will not be selling ANY badges on site this year :(

The cap is now real, not theoretical.

http://www.gencon.com/press/4daysellout

Again, one can name any number of cities all across the U.S. (if GenCon decides to move away from the central part of the country), but there a lot of factors involved besides infrastructure that should be considered.

I'm guessing that the folks at GenCon do care enough to look (and I'm betting they did before they signed their contract with the city), and they probably found Indianapolis possesses nearly all of the good qualities that their convention and the gamers that attend desire - save perhaps a strong infrastructure which the city just hasn't implemented for whatever reasons.  But considering the ways that one can overcome the obstacles imposed by a lack of free shuttle buses or rail systems, the other more important aspects are obviously there and more than compensate for the weak infrastructure.