Menzo
1601
Your vision of their future is incomplete. They will also outlaw contraception and gay marriage, and get rid of public schooling and the EPA. After that I imagine the target is the separation of church and State, so establishing Christianity as the official national religion and locking down immigration.
Basically establishing a white Christian caliphate. That’s the goal.
Dejin
1602
Discussions of GenCon leaving Indiana over Indiana’s new abortion laws. GenCon brings in around $75 million to the local economy.
KevinC
1603
What sucks about losing these conventions is it’s usually the (liberal) host city that loses out the most. Utah opened up a bunch of land for mining/drilling a while back which caused the Outdoor Retailer convention to leave which was an economic hit primarily to Salt Lake City, which is quite liberal and was opposed to the same legislation.
Not saying it isn’t the right call to move the Con, it just sucks that the people in the state who are aligned with the same goals are the ones that take the brunt of it.
Denver is here and ready for you GenCon.
I did read about this a few days ago, and it sounds like GenCon has contracts with Indy through 2026.
Scotten
1605
I’m offering Chicago. Close to Indy and we have the sights! the casinos! the legal pot!
Shouldn’t GenCon be in Lake Geneva, WI?
Should be, but not enough hotel space, etc. It even outgrew Milwaukee, so it ended up in Indy.
That’s a shame. Lake Geneva is so imbedded ion so many of our childhood/teen years and beyond. Of course Gygax is long gone too.
Yeah, but some stupid with a flare gun burned the place to the ground.
Menzo
1610
GenCon was last in Lake Geneva in 1984. That’s a deep cut.
CraigM
1611
Not really. Famous birthplace of D&D, and Gygax still a notable son of the area.
Like I was born in 84 and it seemed an obvious reference.
Yeah, I know. WOTC and Hasbro and a whole lot of other shit has happened meawhile.
I still find it sad though.
Menzo
1613
Also, that letter will probably lead to the same result as the last one they wrote to the governor of Indiana, which was…nothing.
On March 23, 2015, Adrian Swartout sent a letter to Indiana Governor Mike Pence, asking the governor to reconsider his intent to sign SB 101, the so-called “Religious Freedom” bill that already passed both state legislatures. The bill would allow businesses in the state to deny service to anyone on religious grounds, with opponents of the bill stating that it would allow businesses to unfairly single out and discriminate against the LGBT community and other groups. Swartout pointed out in the letter that “Gen Con proudly welcomes a diverse attendee base, made up of different ethnicities, cultures, beliefs, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, and socio-economic backgrounds” from over 40 countries and all 50 states, and that welcoming such a “wide-ranging diversity has been a key element to the success and growth of our convention,” as well as injecting “over $50 million dollars” annually to the local economy. Swartout stated that signing such a bill “will have a direct negative impact on the state economy and factor into [Gen Con’s] decision-making on hosting the convention in the state of Indiana in future years,” after the Indiana Convention Center had already completed a major expansion in 2011 to accommodate increased attendance to Gen Con.[34][50] Pence signed SB 101 into effect on March 26, 2015.[51]
Dejin
1614
The article I linked upthread claims:
So assuming the article is true, then definitely not “nothing.”
They moved because the area couldn’t provide enough convention or hotel space.
CraigM
1616
I mean Lake Geneva is nice, but yeah not set up for major events.
McCormic Place in Chicago however is the largest indoor space, and is only an hour away from Lake Geneva
The problem with Chicago is it’s a pain in the ass to drive there and park. Super expensive to park. I never thought of Indy as that bad. I guess once you’re there and you cab it or take rideshare it’s not so bad, but I don’t like cities that big.
I’d say St. Louis could be a possible choice – it’s about 4 hours from Indy – but Missouri is just as red as Indiana.
Hence Denver! Huge airport, big convention center, plenty of hotels, easyish to get in and around. Liberal state!
Bring GenCon to the Rockies
GenCon will always remain in the Midwest. It’s easier for much of the country to travel to both by car and by air, which in turn means huge turnout every year. It’s also cheaper in terms of both costs to convention organizers and costs to vendors & attendees, even given the hyper-inflated hotel room and parking costs in Indy since the convention first began there in 2003 (back in the 'aughts I could park two blocks away for less than $10 a day and a hotel room 2-3 blocks away cost maybe $120 a night, now parking is as much as $40 per day and close-by hotel rooms are $225-$300 per night).
Indianapolis has done A LOT to cater to GenCon. The growth in attendance for just that single convention was a driving force behind the city expanding the convention center to over double it’s original size while Lucas Oil Stadium was bring built, and they connected the stadium, convention center, Circle Center mall and all of the surrounding hotels via skywalks and tunnels to make pedestrian traffic flow better. Indianapolis has more than tripled it’s available hotel room count since GenCon first came to town, with more being built even now. The success of GenCon has led to other large events choosing Indianapolis convention center as their annual venue as well, including multiple national tournaments for volleyball and dance and the FFA and PRI (Performance Racing Industry) both of which rival GenCon’s attendance numbers.
As much as I admire the stance GenCon’s organizers are taking in regards to Indiana’s legislature, I seriously doubt they would go as far as to move GenCon anytime soon, especially since the convention is just now getting back on it’s feet after being cancelled (virtual show only) in 2020 and greatly reduced in 2021.
