Convention Center expansion more than half completed
The project will nearly double the convention center’s size and put Indianapolis 16th among U.S. cities in convention space.
Conventions
Articles
Fledgling motorsports show growing faster than expected
The show held in Indianapolis Dec. 3-4 is picking up speed much faster than event organizers and local
convention and tourism officials expected. But the nation’s biggest motorsports trade show, Performance
Racing Industry Show, is considering competing with the local show head-on in 2010.
Baseball meetings let leaders tout Indianapolis to influential audience
Indianapolis was up against Dallas, Las Vegas, Orlando, Atlanta and New Orleans to host baseball’s Winter
Meetings, which
will draw more than 200 media members from the nation’s top 30 markets.
Motorsports industry show to stay here through 2015
The inaugural show opened Dec. 2 at the Indiana Convention Center, and is expected to draw more than
10,000 attendees.
Massive CEDIA Expo returning to city after 5-year break
The locally based Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association will bring its fall trade show back to Indianapolis
in 2011 and 2012—making good on a promise to return after a $275 million expansion of the Indiana Convention Center.
Local convention leaders wine, dine crucial meeting planners
Behind every convention that rolls into Indianapolis is a tedious sales effort as intense and invisible as a riptide. Sometimes
the sale cycle lasts as long as six years.
Members of City-County Council form task force to study CIB financial problems
A new task force formed this month is charged with recommending solutions to the financial problems of the Indianapolis
Capital Improvement Board and its related convention and tourism issues.
New downtown museum invites visitors to bang a drum
The Percussive Arts Society plans to open an interactive museum at Washington and Illinois streets downtown.
Organizing armies of volunteers
A company has started to organize logistics for trade associations and other groups that gather for conventions in Indianapolis
and want to "give back" to the city while they’re here.
Fort Wayne lures long-time conventions from Indy
Fort Wayne’s expanded convention center and a planned downtown hotel are proving attractive to conventions, including at least
four events long held in Indianapolis.
More layoffs, furloughs possible for cash-strapped CIB
The financial condition of the city’s Capital Improvement Board, though improving, is still dire enough that employees
of the Indiana Convention Center could be subjected to more unpaid furloughs or layoffs.
ICVA unlikely to seek loan to pay for enhanced marketing
The idea of the not-for-profit Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association taking out a loan was not warmly received by
city officials. And financial institutions were less than thrilled with the idea given the ICVA’s diminishing revenue
and increasing costs.
Assessing downtown cleanliness
Indianapolis’ downtown has its strengths. But what are those smells?
Black engineers group chooses city for 2013 convention
The Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association said today the National Society of Black Engineers will hold its annual
convention here in March 2013.
ICVA might take out loan to market city for conventions
The Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association is so desperate for more marketing funding, the organization charged
with promoting the city as a convention and tourism destination is considering taking out a loan. While that
would be the last resort, ICVA CEO Don Welsh said it is one he will have to consider if the money can’t be raised through
local taxes.
LOU’S VIEWS: Trying out the games of Gen Con
This week, reviews of new games found at Gen Con and a nostalgic misfire from Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre.
A new centerpiece for city’s convention strategy: medical, science groups
The Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association is putting together an all-star corporate consortium to make the city
a hub for medical and life sciences conventions, meetings and trade shows. The ICVA began running the initiative
full-speed this year and already has signed deals to bring 40 medical meetings to Indianapolis through 2015, including annual
meetings for the American Association of Diabetes Educators in 2012 and the American College of Sports Medicine and American
Chemical Society in 2013.
Indianapolis hotels feel pain of national slump
Hotel occupancy rates are way down in Indianapolis, as they are elsewhere, but local operators and national analysts think
the city is in a good position to bounce back when the economy improves.
Experts doubt Indianapolis can lure huge conventions
Indianapolis already hosts three of the top 200 conventions in the country. But additional meeting space coming online late next year could help the city double the number.
Outlying counties, tired of waiting for Indianapolis convention spillover, set own strategies
Some industry insiders worry that, while Indianapolis is busy chasing bigger conventions, adjoining counties may raid the cupboard made plentiful by investments within Marion County, particularly downtown.