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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Celebration V should return to Indianapolis!

Discussion in 'Star Wars Celebrations' started by Ulfor-Bombaasa, May 27, 2007.

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  1. Doctor_Evil

    Doctor_Evil Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2002
    I had read that the RCA dome is being demolished once the new stadium is built and the Con Center is being massively expanded and upgraded. The new stadium will be done in 2008 and the con center in 2010. http://www.indy.org/page/article/9506046.html

    Once this is done I DEFINITLELY want to return to Indy, because to me a Con Center as nice as LA's in a Downtown area like Indy's would be the best of both worlds! Although, I'd love to go to Minneapolis for a Celebration at some point too, Indy in 2011 might be very SWEET!!

    -Doc

     
  2. quigonjaf1961

    quigonjaf1961 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2006
     
  3. DarkPrince

    DarkPrince Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 10, 2005
    Although I've never been to Indy, so take my opinion as you'd like; I just want to say that I don't think it would be the best idea to have the celebration at the same time as the Indy 500.

    Doesn't the Indy 500 take place all month? If so, won't they take over all the good hotels in that area, leaving us with dirt cheap hotels with probably cheap service as well? As you said, it's probably why they choose not to have C4 in LA because of the Indy 500. I'd bet my bottom dollar again that they would probably do the same thing, whether that con construction in Indy is done or not.

    Indy is already taken over by racing fans during that month, so I don't think it'd be the best idea to have the celebration combined with the 500; regardless of its location in the country.
     
  4. Doctor_Evil

    Doctor_Evil Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2002
    Nothing says it has to be in May again.

    -Al
     
  5. PrincessKenobi

    PrincessKenobi Manager Emeritus star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Aug 12, 2000
    The Indy 500 big events only take place the week of the race. There is a whole month of events going on but those are at the Track and most people campout at the Speedway for those things anyway. They avoid downtown except for the week of the race generally. Early May or Early June would be ideal times to have Celebrations in Indy.

    And to all the naysayers of there is nothing to do in Indy. Just get on the busline and head up to Broad Ripple. Which is about 10 minutes from downtown if that. It's amazing and there are talks of building up around the Canal, which would be awesome. They're working on bringing more of a Nightlife to downtown. But it all rests in the hands of the expansion of the Convention Center at the moment.

    ~PK~
     
  6. skywalker_1982

    skywalker_1982 Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Dec 25, 2004
    Yep I had a good time in LA :D
     
  7. ObiWill

    ObiWill Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Feb 24, 2001
  8. quigonjaf1961

    quigonjaf1961 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2006
    Maybe it could be in the fall ?-does it have to be summer ?
     
  9. Armchair_Admiral

    Armchair_Admiral Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 31, 2005
    If we have Celebration IV take place in the fall, that would mean it would interfere with my college work. I thought the timing of CIV was just perfect though, as I had just finished my finals the week before.
     
  10. Ulfor-Bombaasa

    Ulfor-Bombaasa Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 17, 2006
    C1 was from April 30 through May 2 while C2 and C3 were even earlier in April and all three promoted an upcoming film. C4 was an anniversary celebration, so it made sense to schedule it on the actual weekend of Episode IV's release thirty years later. However, C5 likely will anticipate the premier of the TV show which could very well be in the late summer or fall. I hope its not in Orlando in August!
     
  11. Ulfor-Bombaasa

    Ulfor-Bombaasa Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 17, 2006
    Sorry to post twice in a row. I think it's important for everyone to state their opinions in this thread about where C5 should be held. But it's also important to deal with the best factual information we have. A number of us have stated - including me - that it was our impression that attendance was down for C4 from previous C2 and C3 levels. According to Lucasfilm, that is not the case. Apparently, C4's peak attendance was over 35,000 beating the C3 peak attendance of over 33,000 by about 2,000. In my view, that doesn't nullify any of the arguments raised in favor of other sites, but at least we can't say attendance in LA was down. Here's the article:

    http://www.starwars.com/community/event/celebration/news20070614.html

     
  12. Amidala081499

    Amidala081499 Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Sep 13, 2003
    Regardless of what the attendance was or is...its Star Wars and we will be there no matter where it is held. However, I think a more central location in the USA would be best. Sorry if this upsets the people traveling from other countries, but this is just my opinion!!!

    [face_alien_1]
     
  13. CarolynNC

    CarolynNC Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 29, 2002
    I liked the Indianapolis layout. Lots of hotels, restaurants, & shopping within walking distance. I liked the LA convention center but wasn't fond of the area layout. I did however enjoy vacationing in Southern California so that's a positive. I'd really like to have a new venue to explore and preferably not over a holdiay weekend.
     
  14. JedHead1

    JedHead1 Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Feb 20, 1999
    Having gone to all 4, I say "no" to Denver, "yes" to Indianapolis for the close hotels, and "yes" to LA for things to do. But, I'd go for San Francisco for both close hotels and things to do, as well as being easy to get to via public transportation. You wouldn't even need a car, because you can go from the airports to the con via subway, and do the "touristy" things by walking two blocks to cable cars, and street trolleys.! Plus, we have all the props and costumes here in Lucasland! :D But I don't think Lucasfilm would want a picnic of 30,000+ fans at ILM! [face_laugh]
     
  15. Grimby

    Grimby Technical Consultant & Former Head Admin star 7 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2000
    I just think it's funny how people are saying Indianapolis would have been better for this event and certainly not Denver because of what happened at Celebration 1.

    First of all, LA for the most part was a great host for Celebration 4. Gen Con did a lot of things to try and make the con flow as smoothly as possible. They took extra steps to make sure the Celebration Store went smoothly (which in retrospect was laughable because it wasn't nearly as popular as past Celebrations), they had shuttles running 24/7 to and from the hotels throughout the entire con, and they hired actual security rather than relying on 501st volunteers. All these things were great, and I have to admit that Gen Con seems to have improved a little with every Celebration. C1 was not done by them, C2 was a nightmare because of overcrowding and lines that stretched the length of the allocated space, C3 was much easier to breathe but there was the awful management of the store and miscommunication between Gen Con staff.

    What I absolutely loved about Indy was the abundance of hotels within short walking distance to the convention center and the number of restaurants and bars close by. I didn't need to take a bus or rent a car to get anywhere other than the airport. This made the con experience that much easier since I didn't have to worry about things like "how many miles away is my friend's hotel?" or "what is still open after 7pm?"

    LA was much different. If you weren't at the Holiday Inn or the Fig, you either had a decent trek between your hotel and the convention center or you stood around for 45 minutes waiting for the shuttle. I chose the 10 minute walk everyday from the Ritz Milner hotel. Unfortunately, there were not very many restaurant choices near the convention center. The food court a couple blocks up from the Fig closed around 7pm, and other than a Subway, a pizza place, and an IHOP and Italian place with bad service, there wasn't anywhere else to go besides a hotel bar.

    It would be awesome if the next Celebration was in a place that had all of the good things that made Indy and LA so great: huge convention center to handle the crowds, hotels only a block or two away, awesome nightlife with tons of places to go after the sun goes down, and easy to get to even for the Europeans and the Aussies.

    I went to the midnight showing of Fantastic Four the other day and all of this stuff was going through my mind as we sat down to eat around 9pm before heading to the movie. I kept thinking to myself, "man, how could Denver NOT be an awesome place to host a Star Wars Celebration? We were sitting in a restaurant downtown next to the UA Denver Pavilions theater, right in the middle of the 16th street mall, 2 blocks away from the Denver Convention Center. There were tons of restaurants and bars open (including Coyote Ugly ;)), and tons of people out having a great time. I just kept thinking, man, if only Indy and LA had been like this!

    The new and improved Colorado Convention Center in Denver is roughly the same size as LA's, there are tons of hotels within a few blocks including 3 right across the street, and the nightlife is unbeatable. On top of that, the convention center boasts a 5,000 seat theater and the Denver Light Rail system has a station directly below the parking garage.

    "But Denver's weather was horrible!" Yep, that storm at C1 was abysmal wasn't it? Especially since they decided to put the con outside under tents over on the old Lowry Air Force base. Would it interest you to know that for the dates of C4, Denver actually had better weather than Indy? Which was actually not much different than the overcast 70s we all saw in LA.

    "But it's not as convenient to get to as LA for us international people!" Right now a plane ticket from London to Denver is about $100 cheaper than a ticket from London to LA. A ticket from Sydney to Denver is about $100 cheaper than a ticket from Sydney to Indy (flying to LA is cheaper though).

    In August of 2008, the Democratic National Convention will be held in Denver and expects
     
  16. Healer_Leona

    Healer_Leona Squirrel Wrangler of Fun & Games star 9 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Jul 7, 2000
    From what you say Denver sounds damn good. Might be nice to have there. Never been to Denver! :D
     
  17. CarolynNC

    CarolynNC Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Mar 29, 2002
    Great example of an informative and well phrased response. I'd vote for Denver!
     
  18. Armchair_Admiral

    Armchair_Admiral Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    May 31, 2005
    I don't think having C5 back in Denver is such a good idea if you're hoping the thunderstorms won't come back. During the summer months, the areas of Colorado near the Rockies don't go one day without some show of lightning. I've been on summer vacation twice in that area (one of those times near Denver), and I'm hard pressed to think of a full day when I didn't encounter a thunderstorm. I'd rather have C5 in a place where the chance of a regular thunderstorm is near zero, someplace like..... LA. :D
     
  19. Doctor_Evil

    Doctor_Evil Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2002
    I like Denver too. Despite what the other post says, the rain situation is fine. Denver has less average rain than Indy every Month of the year. Besides, rain is not the biggest thing to worry about in my opinion. You have a chance of rain just about everywhere outside the Southwest US. Heat is more of a worry. We got lucky in LA this year. It could have just as easily been 85 or 90 degrees every day, making it a nightmare for costumers.

    -Doc
     
  20. carmenite

    carmenite Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 13, 2002
    I recently had an interview in LA and got the impression that that isn't the case at all. They said that May and June are usually cooler months in LA - they call them 'May Gray' and 'June Gloom'.
     
  21. Doctor_Evil

    Doctor_Evil Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Jun 23, 2002
    What I meant was that according to the monthly averages, we were a bit cooler for CIV than is usual for that time of year. By about 5 degrees. It could have just as easily been 5 degrees over.

    -Doc
     
  22. quigonjaf1961

    quigonjaf1961 Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Apr 26, 2006
    Yep it has my vote as well,i dont think i could go direct from the UK to Denver but if it has to be a via flight what the hell id go there!!!
     
  23. carmenite

    carmenite Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 13, 2002
    The monthly averages I'm finding say that May is usually around 58-75, and that an average of 85 is the highest, and only in August. Where are you getting 85-90 every day from?
     
  24. ValedaKor

    ValedaKor Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Oct 25, 2000
    What he's saying is that it "could" have been that hot. There have been years in the past where we did have such a hot Memorial Day weekend. Just a few miles away, where I live, it was in the 80s over that weekend, and we don't get the marine overcast as they do once you hit the downtown area.

    It is a fairly safe bet, though, to say that the weather in downtown Los Angeles is mild in late May, with no extreme temperatures or rain. That is the average for around here.
     
  25. Moff_D

    Moff_D Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Aug 3, 2002
    Regardless of L.A. supposedly having the next two Celebrations, or the positive aspects of Indy or Denver, I keep hearing from those that should know these things that the next one will definitely be on the east coast. Where? The cities were mentioned earlier in this thread. Time will tell I suppose, but since we have about a year until a CV would be announced, this debate can go on and on.

    ...and on and on and on :p
     
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