Milwaukee Journal Sentinel GenCon article
- Thread starter CrazyMage
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Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad
JohnNephew said:
Ha! You think Indianapolis could handle that size fair?
Eventually, if GenCon is going to become the best it can become, this convention will have to move to a convetion city, like San Diego, Anaheim, or Las Vegas (all convention cities that I know about, living on the west coast, though I am sure there are convention cities on the east coast as well).
Indianapolis is just a stop-gap measure, in my opinion.
thalmin
Retired game store owner
NLP said:
In Gary's defense, I am not positive, but I thought the decision to move was when Peter was at the helm at WotC, so it WAS his decision to "blow off the city".
That said, while I personally hate to see it move further away (for me) I can understand the reasoning for the change. I hope that Indianapolis will be able to suit the needs of the convention better, and we won't be moving again for quite a while (unless it's back to Milwaukee.
)
Buttercup
Princess of Florin
Mistwell said:
Any large city could handle a mega-convention. I've been to professional conventions in Atlanta, Chicago, NYC, Dallas, New Orleans and San Francisco. The problem is that those are some of the most expensive cities to visit. A mid sized city like Indianapolis, Cleveland, St, Louis or Louisville is much cheaper, generally. I mean, it's not like the gaming industry is producing millionaires.
Convenience of location is a concern too. Someone else mentioned direct flights, but having the con located in the middle of the continent, roughly, is probably spreading the inconvenience around evenly. (Well, not for me, but I'm already in the middle of the continent.) If you put it on the east or west coast, it may be out of reach, financially and distance-wise, for many more fans.
William Ronald
Explorer
I will miss Milwaukee. However, I do understand the desire to have room to grow. If Milwaukee does not have enough space, then Gen Con needs a new location. If Milwaukee adds hotel space, I think the city has a good shot of having Gen Con return.
I will be staying in the Milwaukee suburbs due to lack of hotel space.
I will miss a lot of the places I have come to known. I have become fond of visiting Milwaukee during Gen Con.
Perhaps gamers in the Milwaukee area should try to support efforts to get more hotels in the area. Additionally, maybe they should also attend Summer Revel. This will be a good way to show that people are still willing to come to a gaming convention in Milwaukee.
I think keeping Gen Con in the center of the U.S. is a good idea. If it was on either coast, people on the other coast would grumble.
I will be staying in the Milwaukee suburbs due to lack of hotel space.
I will miss a lot of the places I have come to known. I have become fond of visiting Milwaukee during Gen Con.
Perhaps gamers in the Milwaukee area should try to support efforts to get more hotels in the area. Additionally, maybe they should also attend Summer Revel. This will be a good way to show that people are still willing to come to a gaming convention in Milwaukee.
I think keeping Gen Con in the center of the U.S. is a good idea. If it was on either coast, people on the other coast would grumble.
Mistwell
Crusty Old Meatwad
Buttercup said:
Actually, I think large cities are a bad idea, for the same reasons you mentioned (it's too expensive). That's why I was mentioning convention cities, not large cities. Convention cities are locations somewhat near a large city, with no worse than one-hop flights from a hub airport, who have huge capacity for a convention (hotels, parking, cabs, and non-convention entertainment). On the west coast, the convention cities I know about include Anaheim, San Diego, and Las Vegas. All three have huge hotel capacity, parking capacity, frequent cabs, and non-convention entertainment. A large portion of the local economy is from the tourist service industry.
As far as I know (though I could be wrong) Indianapolis, Cleveland, St. Louis and Louisville are not convention cities. Those are cities mostly not based on the tourist service industry.
In addition, air faire and central location in the US have almost no relationship at all. Air faire is based almost entirely on the location of the city in question with respect to the nearest hub airport. You will often find that air faire to, say, the Las Vegas, will be cheaper for a person on the east coast (as will hotels), than air faire to Indianapolis, even though geographically Indianapolis is closer.
Ultimately, the Con will have to move to a convention city, if it is going to grow into the Con it could be.
Hotels, the State Fair & Double Booking
One thing I don't understand about GenCon moving to Indianapolis is the controversy about lack of hotel space in Milwaukee.
It's always bothered me that GenCon is scheduled on the same weekend that the Wisconsin State Fair is held in Milwaukee. One reason for all the booked hotel space is because the two major events are held on the same weekend. Of course there's not enough hotel space!
If only Gen Con were held one week earlier, they might avoid the double booking problems they've had in Milwaukee. Still, the hotels don't seem to cater to con goers or treat the con like a big deal. Also, the Milwaukee Convention Center either didn't have enough space for all the games, or all the rooms weren't used to full capacity, because the ballrooms on the top floor of the Hilton hotel across the street were used for RPGing.
There were huge problems with the Hilton last year. The hotel booked a huge wedding in the same ballroom area as all the RPGs, and all those games got bumped for a day when the mother of the bride walked in dressed for the ceremony and went ballistic (i was there....it was...an interesting experience...)
It caused huge problems, and i'm sure the con troubleshooters didn't like dealing with the massive complaint line the double booking created. Hopefully the Convention Center in Indianapolis is big enough to hold all the games. Incidentally, the one used for Origins in Columbus, OH is huge, and could easily hold two Gen Cons.
Just my 2 cents worth...
One thing I don't understand about GenCon moving to Indianapolis is the controversy about lack of hotel space in Milwaukee.
It's always bothered me that GenCon is scheduled on the same weekend that the Wisconsin State Fair is held in Milwaukee. One reason for all the booked hotel space is because the two major events are held on the same weekend. Of course there's not enough hotel space!
If only Gen Con were held one week earlier, they might avoid the double booking problems they've had in Milwaukee. Still, the hotels don't seem to cater to con goers or treat the con like a big deal. Also, the Milwaukee Convention Center either didn't have enough space for all the games, or all the rooms weren't used to full capacity, because the ballrooms on the top floor of the Hilton hotel across the street were used for RPGing.
There were huge problems with the Hilton last year. The hotel booked a huge wedding in the same ballroom area as all the RPGs, and all those games got bumped for a day when the mother of the bride walked in dressed for the ceremony and went ballistic (i was there....it was...an interesting experience...)
It caused huge problems, and i'm sure the con troubleshooters didn't like dealing with the massive complaint line the double booking created. Hopefully the Convention Center in Indianapolis is big enough to hold all the games. Incidentally, the one used for Origins in Columbus, OH is huge, and could easily hold two Gen Cons.
Just my 2 cents worth...
I live in Indy and have been to both Origins and Gen Con. The convention site in Columbus is smaller, the RCA Dome complex has 400000+ sq ft of convention space in a 1.9 mil ft facility.
While we dont have MEGA conventions here like E3, we do have some major events in town, and last time i checked there are 7 hotels with over 2800 rooms directly attached to the convention center, within 4 blocks its over 5200 and city wide is over 21000 rooms.
Indy is also in a key location to the US population, roughly HALF is within a day's drive. We have an International Airport with 18 carriers offering direct flights from over 100 cities. It is around a 12 minute drive into downtown on a major interstate, and the off ramp points directly into the convention center and the attached hotels.
While we dont have MEGA conventions here like E3, we do have some major events in town, and last time i checked there are 7 hotels with over 2800 rooms directly attached to the convention center, within 4 blocks its over 5200 and city wide is over 21000 rooms.
Indy is also in a key location to the US population, roughly HALF is within a day's drive. We have an International Airport with 18 carriers offering direct flights from over 100 cities. It is around a 12 minute drive into downtown on a major interstate, and the off ramp points directly into the convention center and the attached hotels.
Henry
Autoexreginated
Mistwell:
Indy is becoming a convention city, if it isn't already. They made a conscious decision about 20 years ago to improve facilities to handle large conventions and other gatherings of people. The Indy 500 each year has - what - 400,000 attending? I think Indianapolis can handle it. Heck, even if Gencon reached 50,000 people attending, I would be beside myself.
Gary:
I know you follow this more than I do, but I have attended Gencon 4 times since 1993 (travelling some 900 miles to do so), and the closest I ever got a hotel was 10 miles away, sometimes farther than that. That, combined with the parking gouge I get for parking downtown during those 4 days, are two major obstacles against enjoying the 'con every time.
Indy is becoming a convention city, if it isn't already. They made a conscious decision about 20 years ago to improve facilities to handle large conventions and other gatherings of people. The Indy 500 each year has - what - 400,000 attending? I think Indianapolis can handle it. Heck, even if Gencon reached 50,000 people attending, I would be beside myself.
Gary:
I know you follow this more than I do, but I have attended Gencon 4 times since 1993 (travelling some 900 miles to do so), and the closest I ever got a hotel was 10 miles away, sometimes farther than that. That, combined with the parking gouge I get for parking downtown during those 4 days, are two major obstacles against enjoying the 'con every time.
Col_Pladoh
Gary Gygax
Well, we'll see what folks have to say about the matter in September 2003. It might turn out that the move to Indy was a good thing overall.
From my standpoint, GenCon should remain a Wisconsin convention, 37 years of history and all that. The purpose of the event is to serve the gamers, of course, so if they are served better in Indy, so be it.
Now, what con will move into Milwaukee to replace GenCon?
Gary
From my standpoint, GenCon should remain a Wisconsin convention, 37 years of history and all that. The purpose of the event is to serve the gamers, of course, so if they are served better in Indy, so be it.
Now, what con will move into Milwaukee to replace GenCon?
Gary
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