AdeptiCon is Moving on Up

By Michael Rafferty

Recently, AdeptiCon announced that it was moving to the Baird Center in Milwaukee. While Schaumburg and the Greater Chicago area has been great to us, we’ve epically outgrown the Schaumburg convention center. Three years ago, we expanded to the facilities at the Hyatt Regency, moving historicals and a few other events there. By the last convention, even this extra space was full and then some. This doesn’t even factor in all the hassle of being at two hotels. While I’m a big advocate for the Hyatt and our historical space, it was packed this year. AdeptiCon has been pushing at the limits of Schaumburg, and it was time to look at bigger spaces.

The Baird Center at night

            There are three main issues motivating this move: parking spaces, hotel rooms, and convention space. If you’ve ever tried to park at the Marriott during the convention, you know that it’s almost impossible to find a space. It got to the point where the convention was encouraging people to park at the Hyatt and take the shuttle over. Now, we have multiple attached parking garages and several more parking garages within a quick walk.

The Hyatt with a big parking garage and a walkway to the Center

A map I shamelessly took from Google showing nearby hotels and attractions

            For the 2024 convention, the Marriott sold out in under a minute. When you only have around 400 rooms with 8000 attendees, they’re going to go very fast. Now among the three attached hotels, we have around 1100 rooms. There are also several other hotels within a block, so you’ll be able to stay there and easily walk to the convention. Overall, a massive improvement in rooms from Schaumburg.

Please don’t throw your army off this

 

Finally, there is convention space. We’ve been packed for a few years and it seems like every time a new game system comes out there are a bunch of fresh gamers ready to play it. This is great for the hobby, but rough on our space. Beyond that, vendors want more booth space and new vendors want to come in. We’ve had games run in hallways, vendors in hallways, and painting classes put wherever we could. This year at the Hyatt we had to really narrow the rows just to fit everyone in.

This is AdeptiCon doing what it must so we can try and accommodate everyone. The Baird Center has almost quadruple the floor space of the previous venues. This means that events can expand, vendors can grow, and we can still have enough room to fit between rows. In 2024, the historical hall was 8800 square feet. At the Baird Center in 2025, it will be 12,000 square feet. This is space I can put to good use. Speaking of which, if you want to run a game please reach out. I have 3200 square feet to fill.

My new space to fill

            Beyond the tangible issues, there is an intangible issue that we wanted to address. AdeptiCon, despite its growth, has a certain feel to it. We like the personal touch of the smaller conventions, where people come together once a year. With the Baird Center, we can maintain this. The layout of the center is conducive to people playing games in common areas. With the extra space, I think open gaming and pickup games will be easier to find. For historicals, we’re talking about running demo games outside the halls in order to attract new players who enjoy moving vehicles around and arguing over button color.

All this discussion aside, how is Milwaukee? Despite concerns, I saw zero serial killers or cannibals. Frankly, I was disappointed though there were some funny T-shirts. Our groups walked around most of the inner city and found it easy to get around. The food and bar options within walking distance are absolutely fantastic. The variety is a massive improvement over Schaumburg and it’s all within a few blocks. There are also carry stores in case you run low on essentials, like beer. My new favorite restaurant is a few blocks away, a German place called Maders. I can’t wait to eat there again.

This place is amazing and I love it

            How are the hotels? I stayed at the Hyatt and it was nice. It’s a Hyatt Regency, if you’ve stayed in one you’ve stayed in them all. It reminds me of the Hyatt Regency that historicals has been at the last few years in terms of quality. A positive experience. Talking to some of the others, the Hilton is a very nice hotel and Springhill Suites is an all-suite hotel which should be great if you’re trying to get a few extra people in the room.

Something’s going to fall

            What’s the convention center like? It’s amazing. It’s newly redone, so everything has that new feel. It is a cashless venue, so please keep that in mind. Personally, I barely carry cash anymore and most of the cash I do carry is for tips and bits trading. For me, this isn’t a big deal but people need to be ready. There’s three floors to the venue, with tons of escalators, stairs, and elevators. There’s even a waterfall at one entrance! Beyond the halls, there are a lot of breakout rooms, lounge areas, and just random areas set up for phone charging or work. There’s going to be a lot of areas to relax and hang out during the con.

At first, I was a bit hesitant on the move. I liked my Hyatt space and what we were building there. I was also iffy on the extra hour drive. After visiting Milwaukee and the Baird Center, I absolutely love it. I’m energized and excited to see what we can do there. For anyone who is skeptical all I ask is that you give it a chance. AdeptiCon has moved before, and it’s only gotten better. We can deliver a great convention; we just need you there.