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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Sigil" data-source="post: 1665896" data-attributes="member: 2013">Yes, it's coming from a So-Cal guy, but seriously, look again at the logistics and the potential pitfalls of various venues, and I think it's pretty clear why So-Cal was chosen.  Why do you have a second GenCon?  To serve those who can't make the first GenCon.When do you have the second GenCon?  In Novemberish... March is the GAMA show, June is Origins, August is the original GenCon, so to "space it out" correctly, you're looking at Novemberish.Because you have it in November, you consider climates of your possible destinations.  Because you have it to serve those who can't make the original, you look at the people who would have the hardest time getting to the original and locate it nearer to them.Who's underserved by GenCon Indy?  The West Coast... by a HUGE degree (see below).  Moving the "second GenCon" anywhere else than the southern, west-coast-ish area of the US (including Nevada, Arizona, and other West-to-Midwest states that are warm in the winter etc.) does a much less satisfactory job of following the logic implicit in the above reasons.  When you have it narrowed down to that area, IMO, you are left with two obvious choices that provide the extra "fringe benefit" of attractions for the whole family... Anaheim/Disneyland and Las Vegas/The Strip.  It then becomes a coin flip, but since Disneyland is more tightly packed than the Strip (having walked both many times, I know which one tires you out more and it's not Disneyland), that "Fringe Benefit" seems to me to make the ideal choice of location SoCal - and Anaheim specifically.I hear a lot of, "well, it would be convenient for me since I'm on the East Coast" on this thread... of course it would... but consider the following... I have tried to think of as many "major urban centers" representative of areas throughout the US as I can... and I'm sure I missed some, but you'll see where I'm going in a minute... let us assume that an "easy" day's drive consists of 8 hours of driving, though you can probably push yourself to do a marathon drive of 15 hours (6 am to 9 pm) in a single day if you have to:MAJOR URBAN CENTERS EASILY WITHIN A SINGLE DAY'S DRIVE OF INDY:Chicago to Indy = 3 hours, 8 minutesDetroit to Indy = 5 hours, 5 minutesPittsburgh to Indy = 5 hours, 39 minutesAtlanta to Indy = 8 hours, 40 minutesMAJOR URBAN CENTERS WHERE THE DRIVE CAN BE MADE IN A DAY IF YOU PUSH IT:New York to Indy = 11 hours, 14 minutesNew Orleans to Indy = 12 hours, 56 minutesDallas to Indy = 13 hours, 46 minutesProvidence to Indy = 14 hours, 7 minutesBoston to Indy = 14 hours, 27 minutesMAJOR URBAN CENTERS WHERE THE DRIVE TO INDY WILL TAKE AT LEAST TWO DAYS, INCLUDING ONE "EASY" DAY:Denver to Indy =  16 hours, 22 minutesAugusta (Maine) to Indy = 16 hours, 52 minutesMiami to Indy = 19 hours, 27 minutesSalt Lake City to Indy = 22 hours, 54 minutesMAJOR URBAN CENTERS WHERE THE DRIVE TO INDY WOULD TAKE TWO BACK-TO-BACK MARATHON DAYS AND IS PROBABLY MORE SAFELY ACCOMPLISHED IN THREE:Phoenix to Indy = 26 hours, 26 minutesLas Vegas to Indy = 28 hours, 4 minutesMAJOR URBAN CENTERS WHERE THE DRIVE TO INDY TAKES AT LEAST THREE DAYS:Los Angeles to Indy = 31 hours, 6 minutesPortland to Indy = 33 hours, 35 minutesSeattle to Indy = 33 hours, 45 minutesSan Francisco to Indy = 34 hours, 4 minutesPut yourself in a West Coaster's shoes.  Consider that for me as someone in So-Cal to go to GenCon, not only do I have to take off, say three days for the Con, I also have to take off SIX MORE DAYS just to drive there and back (yes, I could fly in, but that argument can be made for a con anywhere in the country - the East Coast crowd could fly into GenCon SoCal just as easily, so let's eliminate that as a counter-argument)!  If you think having to drive a single day is bad, imagine having to drive three or four days!  That's what we face out here.  Look at those distances and you tell me which markets aren't being well-served by GenCon Indy.  It's the Midwest and West Coast (not that So-Cal is ideal for the Midwest or even other areas of the West Coast, but it cuts the drive down to a long day or two).  Again, why and when do you have a second show?  You have it to hit those people who have an undue burden on them to make the original, and you probably don't want to have it in a place that could be snowbound during the 'Con, which really leaves just places that are in hotter climates... Now, again, look at the "underserved" market by GenCon Indy.  An argument could be made to move it to the Northwest since they're underserved... but they're in a snowbound area.  That leaves... places like So-Cal and Las Vegas and Phoenix.  And if you're going to keep it in the southern West Coast area, you may as well just leave it in a single venue.  Las Vegas might have been a little more central, but So-Cal, right across the street from Disneyland, isn't exactly a poor choice, either.Again... snow.  Again... the East Coast is already within a day's drive of GenCon Indy.  If you want to arrive early or stay late, what's to see in the area around the convention center in Boston?  Is it as good as Disneyland?  Besides, the Number One reason to have a Gen-Con So-Cal is that you can convince the wife to come along to GenCon So-Cal... you spend a day or two at the show and the family gets to go to Disneyland... they think it's a Disneyland vacation, but of course you know better. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />--The Sigil</blockquote>

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