"Little Wars 2016" Topic

The BOD has been notified by the management team that runs The DuPage Expo Center that the building is for sale. They have been instructed not to accept any new contracts after June 2015. According to our existing contract we should be fine for the 2015 convention. However we will need to find a new location for future conventions. The BOD has started that process.

Good luck finding a new place or negotiating it's use with the new owner.

Sorry that the Expo Center added another layer of complexity to the process. You guys always do such a great job I look forward to seeing where it is in 2016.

Good luck, LW is a good convention.

I agree. We drive 14 hours to get to LW from Canada and its always worth it. Good luck with finding a new location.

Positive waves, baby.

Closer to the city and mass transit?

Good luck with this, and let us know. I've gone for the last two years and love the convention. So much I became an HMGS member….

Farther from the city and better traffic?

hope the LW BoD is able to find a good location.

As we make progress in our search we will post updates both here and through our news letter and website. Thanks for the support.

Closer to an interstate would help.

Have You considered merging with Adepticon?

Adepticon just signed a deal on a larger facility. Might be a good match for LW and Adepticon to share a place.

No. If we merged with Adepticon that would be the end of HMGS-Midwest.

We had discussed merging, but as already mentioned we would lose control and would be the end of the midwest chapter. Not to mention the current pricing. Though that is not to say that our pricing won't change based on a new facility as our price for rental will most likely increase.

If anyone has any connections or suggestions for a new facility please recommend them.

The Tinley Park convention center right next to I80! Mike Adams

Quad cities or Des Moines wouldn't be too bad…. Just saying.

With Adepticon's move into Schaumburg a whole new bunch of rules came into play making it MUCH more expensive for dealers and attendees. I think one of the BIG benefits of LW is its size and how we treat everyone.

RKE Steve

Not sure your source, but that is not accurate our booth rates went down this year over the previous few years at the Westin because of the new arrangements.

We have not released any pricing for attendees yet. But we will have for the first time in twelve years of the show, a day badge rate at the door.

Anyways, if we can provide any of our recent experience with venue review and selection please let me know. I would be more than willing to share our legwork, and experiences at the Westin Lombard. We also looked pretty hard at the Tinley Park, and just about every other event hall in the Chicagoland area prior to selecting the Schaumburg Convention Center.

Hank Edley
AdeptiCon Director

I can understand LW wanting to keep its own identity but don't see how HMGS-Midwest would end. Other than the few old timers who would throw a fit cause they can't let go of the past to make a better future. As long as the LW BoD stays focused on presenting historical miniature gaming, it will continue. No matter if on its own or if it merges with Adepticon. You have two good cons that together could become great for the region!

Then the only issue is "control" and "being in charge." Which my view is leave the ego at the door and do whats best for the hobby.

A simple solution would be instead of a merger per say, a share the facility and date agreement.

Then the only issue is "control" and "being in charge." Which my view is leave the ego at the door and do whats best for the hobby.

This!

Thanks for the offer of assistance Hank. It would be good to meet and go over what you have discovered. I have a short list of locations in mind, six if memory serves me right. I have also developed a requirements list, of what we would be looking for to serve our needs. send me an email and we can talk.

Sent! We certainly know the pain, changing event venues is right along side, trips to the emergency room and getting dental work done. Given the unique nature of what we do, it takes a while to get them trained up as to exactly what we are talking about. One of the things we did, was we invited our potential venue sites to our show in 2014 to see it in action.

Looking forward to it Jeff!

-Hank

That's a great idea….will have to do that as well. thanks for the email. Will respond later today and I do plan on attending the toy soldier show to meet with you.

"With Adepticon's move into Schaumburg a whole new bunch of rules came into play making it MUCH more expensive for dealers and attendees. I think one of the BIG benefits of LW is its size and how we treat everyone"

What Dealers – there was almost as many dealers at the SYW convention (attendance 65) as at Little Wars 2014!!

To the powers that be. IF you combine BOTH you can have one of the largest conventions in the U.S. IMHO vendors from the smallest to the largest would come, in the long run it could save money for both conventions!!! Mike Adams

King….if dealer attend is a concern to you we would be more than happy to have you join out Vendor team and assist in recruiting new vendors and bringing back many that did not show last year.

Legion…HMGS-Midwest is a nonprofit organization. In order to combine with Adepticon we would have to disband the organization. I don't see that happening. However there are things I do like about your suggestion. it gives a break to the dedicated small core of volunteers that have spent hundreds of hours each year to run the convention. We would not have to worry about hold BOD elections…since no one wants to run anyway. Since Adepticon is primarily a non-historical based convention…historical games would take a back seat. Which I am sure would be fine for many, however I do not see that sitting well with our membership. We would also have a significant change in the cost for attendance….I estimate that it would probably double for our members…since there would then be a charge for each game someone registered for.

lasalle12, I already knew about the tax status etc.I am sorry for making a suggestion like that! Mike Adams P.S. Move the con to Rockford they have a space available.

Initial emails have been sent to both Vendors and Game Masters. we have already started to get submissions in. if you know of any vendors that would be interested in attending the convention let us know. Also if you know of any game masters that would be interested in being a Little Wars GM, let us know.

I'm not a lawyer so have no clue on non-profit status of a club. But if HMGS-Midwest ran historical games at Adepticon as its own organization. How would that be any different than running Little Wars on its own. I wouldn't look at it as a merger but as a share the same location and date.

Like how they use to do at Origins. I have not been to Origins in a few years so they might still run it that way. The historicals have their own section with in the convention.

With Historicon on the downward slide, I'd hate to lose LW cause they can't find an affordable location. Let alone with historical miniature gaming growing at Adepticon. Here is a good chance to grow historical miniature gaming, instead of holding on by our fingernails.

Move the con to Rockford they have a space available.

If you're referring to Rock-Con being MIA, there is already an alternative.

what-khan.com

Moving Little Wars to Rockford was never a consideration.

Historicon is not on the downward slide, it is better than it has been in years and is only getting better. The new location is fantastic and the venue is also great.

As for the suggestion to move LW closer to mass transit… For what? So game masters can haul $10,000 USD worth of miniatures on a bus? That makes no sense, the closer to Chicago the more expensive the space, hotel rooms, food, and the harder to find parking and the worse traffic is.

I have been to Adapticon it is a great event but I recall the dealer area being a fraction of that at LW. And LW is a much smaller show. I would not like to see LW get subsumed into a mainly fantasy and scifi game show. I can't even imagine how it would be possible to do so and still keep any semblance of identity.

jpipes, let move it back to Rochelle! We do not have to worry about mass transit. Mike Adams

Moving closer to Chicago has never been a considered as criteria. The closer you get the higher the costs, jpipes summed it up quite well.

I have a requirements list I have developed that will serve the membership and convention quite well. There is a short list of about 6 sites we are looking at….

Little Wars is doing fine as a convention and we have no need to combine with anyone to servive. There is more that could be done to grow the convention, but we are limited in what can be done in many areas due to lack of volunteer support.

I will be meeting with the convention staff this weekend to discuss the progress on the 2015 convention plan. It's focus is towards Vendor recruitment & Game Master recruitment. We will also be discussing new site locations.

For those that are really concerned about the health and welfare of the convention….volunteer. I cannot count the number of times I have had someone complain about some aspect of the convention, and when asked to step up and help as a volunteer, they are never heard from again.

It looks like we may have a new location set. I took a look at a new site last night and it meets all the requirements I had set for a location. Received a proposal this morning that looks very good. Asked them to draw up a contract. When it is signed will announce the location.