We're Built for This: Reflecting on Team Indy Post-ASAE
When it comes to hosting major events and conventions, Indianapolis doesn’t just have the perfect footprint - we have the perfect team. Two weeks ago, our city welcomed 5,811 association executives in a massive opportunity to showcase our very best, and I’m deep in my feels as I reflect on why Indy works so well.
There’s a reason our city is trusted with everything from citywide conventions to NCAA Final Fours and the College Football Playoff National Championship to NBA/WNBA All-Star weekends and the U.S. Olympic Swim Team Trials. We know how to welcome a crowd, manage complex logistics, and make a big event feel effortless – but what’s most remarkable is how our city’s leaders lean on the unique skills and talents of the broader community to make it happen.
How We Operate
Behind every major Indy event is a network of hospitality professionals, city partners and local experts who know the smallest details matter. Visit Indy and Indiana Sports Corp are especially good at putting the “aces in their places” – creating thoughtful Local Organizing Committees and trusting committee members to bring their expertise to the table with Indy’s best interest in mind. These roles aren’t performative; they require real work, and every person involved is genuinely happy to do it.
For ASAE, the Local Organizing Committee brought together 80 members from across the industry, creating a team with diverse expertise, talents and perspectives. Another 232 volunteers helped bring those plans to life during the event.
While impressive, the big engagement numbers aren’t what make Indy’s approach special - it’s seeing competing hotels, planners and agencies working side by side toward the same goal. At Accent, we often say, “when Indy wins, we win.” That mindset extends well beyond our walls, and it’s a big part of why this city hosts major events so well.
We all just love Indy THAT much.
Raising the Bar
Indy’s reputation as a major-event host didn’t happen overnight. It’s the result of years of big ideas, proven results and a willingness to try what hasn’t been done before.
For Super Bowl XLVI, Indy created Super Bowl Village with a simple goal: make the experience accessible to more than just ticketholders. Nearly one million people visited during its 10-day run, and the concept proved so successful that a version of Super Bowl Village became part of future host-city RFP requirements.
In 2024, Indy became the first city to turn an NFL stadium into a swimming venue for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Lucas Oil Stadium welcomed more than 285,000 fans throughout the event, including a record 22,209 spectators for a single session.
Later that year, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour brought another opportunity to go big. Streets were renamed, businesses and civic organizations created Swift-themed experiences, and the JW Marriott became a 300-foot-tall tribute to the pop icon. The city itself became part of the experience, and the content was shared around the world.
As for ASAE, it was so successful that the team asked for Indy’s whole playbook - the exact recipe for how we infused our arts scene throughout the experience, showcased a range of uniquely Indy venues and turned nearly 6,000 attendees into new fans of our city. With more than $800 million in potential future convention business for Indianapolis on the table over the next decade, every detail mattered. Indy delivered.
That’s how Indy continues to raise the bar - think outside the box, rally the city around the opportunity and execute just as perfectly as possible.
A Lasting Legacy
Once these events end, we don’t just recycle our binders and move onto the next – the impact of our efforts is felt throughout the Indy community for quite some time. This goes back well over a decade, with Super Bowl XLVI (2012) attracting more than $154 million in neighborhood investment and 50 charitable activities and community outreach events.
The 2026 NCAA Men's Final Four Legacy Project transformed Christian Park Family Center with a newly refinished basketball court, facility upgrades, a mural honoring civic leader Jim Morris and a renewed commitment to ongoing youth and community programming on Indianapolis' near eastside.
During ASAE, 500 hygiene care kits were assembled and donated to Teachers’ Treasures, 8,632 meals were packed for Pack Away Hunger and delivered to Midwest Food Banks, and $19,575 was donated to launch the first-ever Tourism Tomorrow Scholarship and Grant Program, established to support the next generation of Tourism/Hospitality talent in our city.
These projects connect residents to the events happening in their hometown in a meaningful way while extending the economic and community impact beyond downtown.
Final Thoughts
It’s an honor to have a seat on these LOCs and to see firsthand the new ideas, perspectives and rising leaders that come from them. Indy’s success as a host city lies in a community that shows up, works together and isn’t afraid to try something new. We’ve proven time and again that when the opportunity is big, Team Indy rises to it. We’re built for this.
Learn more about ASAE in Indy: https://www.visitindy.com/asae/
