Black & White and Read All Over’ — Indianapolis, June 25-28, 2015
By Ginger Truitt, Michelle Freed, Amanda Beam and Mike Leonard
2015 Conference Co-Chairs
Who’s your mama? Who’s your daddy? Who’re your hosts for the 2015 NSNC conference? It’s the Hoo-hoo Hoosiers, who are happy to be your hosts for our 2015 conference at the Crossroads of America, Indianapolis, Indiana.
From June 25-28, we’ll gather at The Alexander Hotel where the motto is: “Inspiration Strikes Often.” Located in the heart of downtown Indy, The Alexander was designed specifically to cater to the creative class. Everything from the lobby floor plan to the incredible art — selected in a partnership with the Indianapolis Museum of Art — is intended to encourage and inspire creativity.
Not only is the Alexander a hotel and an art museum — it’s as green as an Indiana soybean field and has earned LEED silver certification for environmental design.
Above is a 2:41 video about the property from “Real Scene TV.”
European in feel, the spaces and rooms of The Alexander are much larger than those you would find across the Atlantic. Every room offers either one king or two queen beds, two microfiber robes, a personal Keurig with Starbucks coffee and teas, and a stocked minibar. Room service is available around the clock. With no disrespect to the familiar, major chains, The Alexander is a fine example of the recent rise of the art hotel. But there’s no need for us to tell you that. Let the hotel’s website give you “le grand tour.”
As columnist conference veterans know, the hospitality suite is beloved for its important role as a place where attendees gather to share stories and laughs. We’re knocking the party out of the park in Indy. The Alexander is setting us up with a suite that includes a wrap-around terrace overlooking downtown.
We are also pleased to unveil our 2015 logo. Indianapolis has been known for a century as the home of the Indy 500, the Memorial Day classic car race and the largest single-day sporting event in the world. We’re waving the checkered flag for this year’s conference and coupling it with our love of newsprint with the theme: “Black and White and Read all Over.” You will notice the black-and-white checkered flag in the logo is also a typing keyboard.
Trust us, there is more than corn in Indiana. Besides our spectacular sporting events, Indianapolis was recently ranked second after Seattle in cultural offerings. Readers of USA Today also voted Indianapolis the No. 1 city in the country for conventions. The revitalized city has an amazingly compact downtown. Most hotels, restaurants and cultural offerings are within walking distance. These are a few of the many reasons Indy was chosen to host the 2012 Super Bowl.
We are planning excursions to explore some sites that we believe will be of great interest to our group, including the Kurt Vonnegut museum.
We are also scoping out the local bars, breweries and pubs to find the best venue for our annual Thursday evening get-together. Checking out all of these bars and pubs is an involved, time-consuming process that might take every weekend for the next 10 months, but rest assured that your conference committee is up to the task.
We’ll be filling in details, bragging about the program and adding in attractions in the coming months. Watch this space.
Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. The checkered flag awaits you in Indianapolis.
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