Star Wars to Studebakers: What's coming to Indiana cities this year? (Meetings & Conventions).

Cities across the state capitalize on Indiana's centralized location to attract national and regional conventions. Within a day's drive for two-thirds of the country's population, Indiana is an appealing option for those who would rather drive than fly.

Lots of vintage car aficionados

will be driving to South Bend, when the Studebaker Drivers Club's 38th International Meet descends on the city June 23-28 to help celebrate the 150th anniversary of their favorite car manufacturer. Started as a blacksmith shop in South Bend in 1852, Studebaker closed its automobile manufacturing plant in the city in 1963, although the car was produced for a few more years in Canada.

Three- to four-thousand people are expected to attend the special event, says Carolyn Wallace, director of sales and convention services for the South Bend/Mishawaka Convention and Visitors Bureau. Many more are expected for other 150th anniversary events throughout the year.

With the opening in Mishawaka of an Extended Stay America in December and a Red Roof Inn next month, South Bend/Mishawaka hotel rooms will total 4,000, nearly double the 'number in 1995. And with a convention center that can accommodate 3,000, the greater South Bend area is poised to attract regional conventions, like the Christian Educators' Association Regional Conference in October, expected to bring in 1,500.

Twenty-five thousand seems to be a popular number for the Indianapolis Convention and Visitors Association this year. At least three events in the Indiana Convention Center/RCA Dome are expected to attract that many, including the Fire Department Instructor's Conference in April. This national trade show is wooed back year after year, and is the first firefighter's gathering since September 11, says Bob Shultz, director of communications for the association. "It's an impressive trade show with aerials. It's like an auto show, but for firemen."

Also expected to bring in 25,000 is Star Wars Celebration II, the first weekend in May, and the Church of God Convention in June, the city's biggest convention because it lasts six days. With 2,844 rooms in seven hotels connected directly to the Convention Center, many of the attendees will be weatherproof. More than 21,000 rooms are available citywide.

In Terre Haute, the World Hovercraft Championships will be held on the Wabash River Nov. 20-23, billed as "The Greatest Hovercraft Event in World History." Twenty countries will be represented at the championship races, which will follow a world speed record attempt event. Earlier in the week, an International Air Cushion Vehicle Technical Conference will be held at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

A new hotel in downtown Muncie might be in the cards down the road if a Purdue University study can prove a need. Some groups are not interested in booking the convention center, says sales manager Kirsten Oswalt, if they can't have a hotel within walking distance. Currently, the Radisson Hotel Roberts is the only downtown hotel. A second would increase the number of multiple events at the convention center. Oswalt is working with the Purdue Hospitality Management Program to set up the study.

A just-launched campaign, "Top Cat in Muncie"--playing off the Garfield character created nearby--will reward local individuals involved with statewide groups who provide leads to upcoming events.

Jar collectors, lured by the history of the Ball Co., hold conventions in Muncie each January and June, and the Muncie-based Academy of Model Aeronautics will sponsor a series of competitions and tournaments from April through July, drawing national and international visitors.

The Fourth of July is usually a slow time for conventions, says Alice Marano, sales director for the Fort wayne/Allen County Convention and Visitors Bureau, so the county is fortunate to have landed the Gold Wing Road Riders Association's Wing Ding 2O02. "It's the biggest thing we've ever done here. They'll use every hotel room in town." Some 10,000 to 15,000 people, most traveling on their Honda Wing Ding motorcycles, will attend trade shows and workshops at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, and participate in parades during the five-day event.

The Coliseum will also host the Gordon Food Service Fall Food Show in October. It's the third time Fort Wayne has hosted the show, which brings in 14,000 attendees from throughout the Midwest.

Marano says about 75 percent of the Grand Wayne Center's business is repeat. Among its larger events, the convention center will welcome 850 delegates to the NAACP Midwest Regional Conference next month.

Gary makes national news again by hosting the Miss USA Pageant, the second in a three-year commitment for the event held at the Genesis Center. It's a two-week event culminating in the final contest March 1 and should bring in about 3,000 visitors, but the biggest benefit may be the television exposure. "Last year there was a 72 percent increase in information requests for the Lake County area from the national exposure," says James Tsimanakis, director of the Lake County Convention and Visitors Bureau.

He also wants to capitalize on the Lake Michigan location to "become to offshore racing what Indianapolis is to car racing." For the second year, the Indy Offshore Poker Run, sponsored by Poker Runs of America, will attract large cigar speedboats from all over the country to participate, each stopping in four ports, picking up cards, and eventually playing out a hand of Poker at the final stop. The event will draw an estimated 500 people.

The bulk of convention and meeting activity in the Lafayette area continues to involve Purdue University, says Jo Wade, director of the Greater Lafayette Convention and Visitors Bureau. Many events are held on campus, but there is increasing use of the privately owned University Inn and Conference Center and its adjacent Cumberland Exhibition Center.

Many events return each year to feed the local economy, such as Purdue's Pest Control and County Bridge Conferences in January--each with more than 500 attendees, and the Road School and Home and Family Life conferences, with more than 1,000 attendees, held in March and June, respectively.

The Indiana Health and Safety Conference will attract 1,300 in April, and the Independent Insurance Agents Conference will bring in 125 in May. Both gatherings will he held at Cumberland Place, just a mile from the Purdue campus.

Southern Indiana venues on the Ohio River range from the 280,000-square-foot convention center in Evansville to quaint locations in historic Madison. "I invited several meeting planners to the city recently and they were awed by the transformation of the Executive Inn," says Marilee Fowler, just months into her job as executive director for the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau. The hotel is across the street from the new Evansville Auditorium & Convention Centre--dubbed The Centre--and will soon be connected by a covered walkway.

The hotel and The Centre will host 2,000 members of the White Shrine of Jerusalem May 5 to 10. But the biggest event of the year is the Frog Follies for vintage car enthusiasts, expected to attract 5,000 from around the U.S. to the 4-H Fairgrounds, Aug. 19 to Sept. 1. "They'll fill all 3,800 Evansville hotel rooms and many in surrounding areas, says Fowler.

In contrast, 360 hotel rooms are available in Madison, where groups are smaller but meetings are plentiful throughout the year. Many are drawn by the historic architecture and the quiet meeting space at Clifty Falls State Park.

Universities also will be frequent guests at the Clifty Inn, says Linda Lytle, director of the Madison Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Ball State, Indiana University, Vanderbilt and Ivy Tech are all scheduled to make the trek to historic Madison.