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Gen Con Has Doubled In Size Since 2010
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<blockquote data-quote="Michael Dean" data-source="post: 7677974" data-attributes="member: 9199"><p>I live in the Midwest, and driving to Chicago takes me 3 1/2 hours vs. 4 hours to Indy. I love going to Chicago; there are excellent museums and beaches and cool things to do. That said, I wouldn't trade Indy for Chicago for Gen Con. Chicago traffic is a mess downtown during the weekdays, which means Wednesday-Friday of the convention would be a big time hassle. Most people, I'm guessing, would still be driving in vs. flying in, and parking is not fun downtown. </p><p></p><p>I don't think the restaurant situation around the convention would offer much of a plus over Indy, so that's a wash for me, as I note below on how they handle the annual Big Ten 5k race.</p><p></p><p>I've gone to 9 of the last 11 Gen Cons in Indy, and last year I went to the 5k/10k Big Ten Run in Chicago in July, which I think for one day was comparable to the crowd at Gen Con. We ended up on the northwest side of town for hotels out by the airport due to expense and the fact that the downtown hotels were booked solid, which added a 45-55 min drive each day to the city. Friday registration for the race was a mess downtown because it took forever to get a parking space and we were fighting Friday traffic in the evening. I'm a pretty good driver and don't get flustered easily, but Chicago always sets my teeth on edge getting around. </p><p></p><p>The overall event was nice and we loved it, but trying to get a restaurant without a two hour wait for a meal in walking distance of the race downtown was impossible. They just could not handle the post race rush, which, at Gen Con, is all day for several days running. </p><p></p><p>The whole time I was there I kept thinking, could Chicago handle Gen Con? I think yes, absolutely. Is Chicago going to be free from the same complaints I hear every year from people who don't like Indy? No way. And some of the problems would be even worse in Chicago. I hear that they have the convention space, which is great, but I am not knowledgeable about that, so I don't know if it's better than Indy's or not.</p><p></p><p>It would be nice if Gen Con opened up more of that back room for the Exhibitor Hall. It looked like they opened up some more room this year than was open two years ago when I was there. There is that room connected to the Exhibitor Hall which I think maybe could be used for exhibitors. Even if you don't add more booths, you could spread the ones you have out more to leave wider walking lanes to ease the congestion. Maybe they've thought of that and there is something wrong with that idea. </p><p></p><p> I will concede that if Gen Con grows to 90 or 100k people, it's going to be an issue which would require some big changes to address. But putting an extra 100k people in downtown Chicago for 4-6 days is not going to be noticeably better.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Michael Dean, post: 7677974, member: 9199"] I live in the Midwest, and driving to Chicago takes me 3 1/2 hours vs. 4 hours to Indy. I love going to Chicago; there are excellent museums and beaches and cool things to do. That said, I wouldn't trade Indy for Chicago for Gen Con. Chicago traffic is a mess downtown during the weekdays, which means Wednesday-Friday of the convention would be a big time hassle. Most people, I'm guessing, would still be driving in vs. flying in, and parking is not fun downtown. I don't think the restaurant situation around the convention would offer much of a plus over Indy, so that's a wash for me, as I note below on how they handle the annual Big Ten 5k race. I've gone to 9 of the last 11 Gen Cons in Indy, and last year I went to the 5k/10k Big Ten Run in Chicago in July, which I think for one day was comparable to the crowd at Gen Con. We ended up on the northwest side of town for hotels out by the airport due to expense and the fact that the downtown hotels were booked solid, which added a 45-55 min drive each day to the city. Friday registration for the race was a mess downtown because it took forever to get a parking space and we were fighting Friday traffic in the evening. I'm a pretty good driver and don't get flustered easily, but Chicago always sets my teeth on edge getting around. The overall event was nice and we loved it, but trying to get a restaurant without a two hour wait for a meal in walking distance of the race downtown was impossible. They just could not handle the post race rush, which, at Gen Con, is all day for several days running. The whole time I was there I kept thinking, could Chicago handle Gen Con? I think yes, absolutely. Is Chicago going to be free from the same complaints I hear every year from people who don't like Indy? No way. And some of the problems would be even worse in Chicago. I hear that they have the convention space, which is great, but I am not knowledgeable about that, so I don't know if it's better than Indy's or not. It would be nice if Gen Con opened up more of that back room for the Exhibitor Hall. It looked like they opened up some more room this year than was open two years ago when I was there. There is that room connected to the Exhibitor Hall which I think maybe could be used for exhibitors. Even if you don't add more booths, you could spread the ones you have out more to leave wider walking lanes to ease the congestion. Maybe they've thought of that and there is something wrong with that idea. I will concede that if Gen Con grows to 90 or 100k people, it's going to be an issue which would require some big changes to address. But putting an extra 100k people in downtown Chicago for 4-6 days is not going to be noticeably better. [/QUOTE]
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