Once-fringe Gen Con powers game industry
Indy’s annual Gen Con convention has become a powerhouse in the growing $880 million international hobby game business—and a boon for homegrown gaming startups, including Plowgames.
Conventions
Articles
Indianapolis to host high-profile confab for U.S. mayors
The conference is expected to draw presidential candidates and national media because it will come not long before the Democratic and Republican national conventions.
State helps city lock up FFA convention until 2024
Indianapolis will host the National FFA Convention & Expo every year from 2016 to 2024 under an agreement to be announced Wednesday morning by state and local officials.
FFA negotiating with Indy to extend convention stay by three years
National FFA Organization officials have canceled their option to conduct their massive annual convention in Louisville from 2019 to 2021, and would like Indianapolis to host it for nine straight years.
Art hotels seeing payoff from galleries
Will hotel guests pay more to sleep under a Picasso or eat inside a piece of art posing as a bamboo hut? Some hoteliers say they already are.
Church recommits to 2017 Indy convention after law flap
A Christian denomination that pulled a convention from Indianapolis amid the furor over a new Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act is bringing the meeting back to the city after the law was amended.
Disciples could keep 2017 convention in Indy
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) will decide next week whether the change to Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act is enough to keep its 2017 convention in Indianapolis.
Church cancels 2017 Indianapolis convention over new law
The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) announced Wednesday that it would seek a new venue for its 2017 General Assembly.
Furor over RFRA taking bite out of Kiwanis’ Indy convention
Officials for the Indy-based, international service group are lowering attendance projections from 10,000 to 7,000, as registrations lag and members criticize the religious freedom law. Some are calling for the group to move its headquarters.
Tourism agency responds to religious freedom law
A message on the home page of www.visitindy.com says that all are welcome to visit the city, and a separate page highlights some of the businesses that support the lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender community.
RNC, DNC fetes in 2020 alluring for Indy, but bid unlikely
Speculation is already boiling that Indianapolis would be a front-runner to host either the Republican or Democratic national convention. But Visit Indy officials think the city might be too busy to host either event in 2020.
Free-market policy group to convene in Indy
The conservative-leaning American Legislative Exchange Council, which drafts model legislation for state legislatures, will host its annual meeting in Indianapolis in 2016.
Visit Indy scoring medical confabs after years of courting sector
Visit Indy in the last six months has signed deals for four sizable medical/pharmaceutical-related conventions—hard-earned wins for a city that for years has aimed to be a biomedical hub that attracts big players for annual gatherings.
Visit Indy smashes 12-year-old hotel-booking record
Fueled by exposure from the 2012 Super Bowl and a USA Today article touting the city’s convention prowess, Visit Indy booked nearly 200,000 more hotel rooms in 2014 than it did in 2013.
Indy lands return of massive NRA show for 2019, 2023
The National Rifle Association’s annual convention was Indianapolis’ biggest convention last year, and local hospitality leaders expect it to be even bigger in future years.
Owners of popular Greek restaurant turning 1920s warehouse into event center
Taki and Jeanette Sawi of Santorini Greek Kitchen, in Fountain Square, are branching out to open a large banquet facility in a nearly century-old warehouse on the southwestern edge of downtown just across the White River and not far from Lucas Oil Stadium.
Visit Indy negotiating to keep huge auto show until 2021
Three years ago, a long-term deal to keep the PRI Show in Indianapolis would have been almost unimaginable. The event with a $45.6 million annual economic impact now could be a fixture.
Veteran Indy convention planner launches new division
One of the city’s best-known corporate meeting and convention planners, Meeting Services Unlimited Inc., is launching a division focused on smaller, high-end private parties.
CIB closes business with state over facilities
The punch list is nearly complete on Lucas Oil Stadium and the expansion of the Indiana Convention Center, six and four years after their respective openings.
New hotels to arrive in downtown Indy just as visitor traffic slows
For the past 15 years, downtown hotel developers have moved masterfully in lock-step with demand. But with Indianapolis’ convention business showing signs of slowing in 2015 and 2016—right about the time three new hotels are scheduled to open—that streak might crash to a halt.