Future National Locations - Same Old Story

[BobC]

Originally Posted by Tabe

The venue for the 2021 National - the Donald E. Stephenson Convention Center - is 840,000 sq ft. The Spokane Convention Center is 120,000. And the Spokane Arena is even smaller (32,000 on the floor).

And, unfortunately, after you get past the Davenport hotels, there's not a ton of great options.

I don't think Spokane would be a great fit at all. I'd love it to happen, though, since I live there!

Pfffft........that's nothing. Cleveland's IX Center is over 2,2 million square feet. And there are multiple floors below ground. That along with its huge surrounding parking lot, freeway access, and literally being at the end of the Cleveland Hopkins Airport runway, pretty much makes its logistics unrivaled by any other convention center I've ever heard of. What it lacks though is all the hotels, bars, restaurants, etc. being crammed all around it, within walking distance. Some would say that is a good thing as it doesn't distract and lure attendees away to other things. Others would say it's a bad thing because some people won't attend due to all those other amenities/distractions not being within walking distance.

Truth is, there is tons to do and see in and around Cleveland and the IX Center, but you really need a car. And unlike most major cities, Cleveland doesn't have anything near the traffic congestion of other cities, like Chicago. You can easily get to where you want, just have to know where you're going. And I'm pretty sure accommodations in Cleveland are more reasonable than say Chicago. The savings can easily go towards a rental car. But for those that just want a shuttle from the airport to their hotel, and can then just walk back and forth to the National, I can understand why they don't care much for Cleveland.

I know a new group came along, as I expected, to reopen the IX Center, but to my knowledge there's been no actual confirmation of booking a specific future date for holding another National there, at least not yet, correct?