Friday, May 10, 2013

GenCon Viva Las Vegas!

So this week I made my schedule out for GenCon Indy This will be my 9th GenCon. I'm pretty excited as I didn't go last year. One thing that disappointed me this year was the issues I had getting a room. I registered about two weeks after registration opened. However by that time the room blocks were ALREADY sold out. They say that attendance is growing each year. One of the reasons the GenCon LLC moved the convention to Indianapolis in the first place was the shrinking hotel capacity for Milwaukee. Now if Indy is having the same issue maybe GenCon should move to Las Vegas! In all seriousness I'm not a meeting planner or development expert but two sites on the Internet: Meeting Source and CVent. Seem to suggest that Indianapolis isn't even in the top 25 for hotel and convention space. I guess GenCon LLC picked it cause it was in the Midwest but so is Chicago. Meeting source says that Washington DC is number three. OK I'm sold on there but I live 40 minutes from DC and work there so I'm biased. Maybe Las Vegas is a good choice. Its number two according to Meeting Source, lots for non-gaming family members to do. It has an airport that's reached from a ton of locations. I can't say that Indianapolis has a ton of direct flights. BUT I know that you can get a direct flight to Las Vegas from Flint, Michigan. So there Peter Atkinson! Viva Las Vegas for GenCon 2014 anyone? A plug for Sean K. Reynolds. His list here is a good starting point for GenCon newbies on how to get a handle on the convention.