Fresh off the successful 2024 Midwest Gaming Classic, the Baird Center will be home to another large nerd convention in 2025. AdeptiCon announced on Monday that it will be moving from its home in Schaumburg, Illinois to Milwaukee in spring 2025. Specifically, the weekend of March 26-30.
What began as a small 100-person event celebrating the Warhammer 40,000 miniatures game has grown into one of the most popular wargame miniatures conventions in the country. Many manufacturers now have a presence at the show which features tournaments for Battletech, Shatterpoint, and all sorts of table-sized battlefield games.
The convention remains central to the Warhammer fandom, as Games Workshop announces many of the new troops it will be selling for the next year at the show. Think of it a bit like Fashion Week, except the looks are all stompy power armor and nasty Chaos-infected monsters.
Here’s the full press release:
With the record-breaking success of AdeptiCon 2024 now in the rearview mirror (like a charging Tyrannosaurus), we’ve been able to focus on finalizing the plans for AdeptiCon 2025. We have appreciated everyone’s patience while we’ve navigated the myriad of challenges that come with making major changes.
It will come as little surprise to anyone that attended the convention this year to hear that AdeptiCon is growing. In fact, the convention grew nearly 20% between 2023 and 2024. We hosted an estimated 8,000 attendees. This is amazing growth, and we could not be prouder. But that type of growth creates challenges, and the unavoidable fact is that our current venue is no longer a sustainable option for the size of the convention. With that foremost in mind, and with sincere gratitude to our current venue and hotel partners, we have decided to relocate AdeptiCon to the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin for 2025.
Centrally located in the historic downtown district of Milwaukee, the newly renovated and expanded convention center is over one million square feet and this first year we’ll be using three times our current space, including both venues. But, to be clear, square footage alone wasn’t the only consideration for choosing the Baird Center. The state-of-the-art amenities and spacious layouts follow in the AdeptiCon tradition of feeling “right” for our event. The Baird Center is a location that we can call home for the foreseeable future.
Additionally, the hotel and parking options are plentiful, and the area boasts dozens of first-class restaurants. In short, there will be far more event and exhibitor space combined with more choices for dining and accommodations. In the end, the choice to move 60 minutes north was a simple one and we could not be more optimistic about the opportunities the new venue affords attendees, event organizers, and exhibitors.
AdeptiCon 2025 will run from March 26 to March 30. As soon as we have a list of important dates and additional information, we will post it. As you can imagine, the logistics involved in relocating the convention will be a challenge and while we are doing everything possible to mitigate any potential issues, things will invariably happen and the Harkonnens will almost certainly set traps for us. So we appreciate your patience and understanding and pledge to do our best to keep you as up-to-date as possible.
This isn’t the first time AdeptiCon has had to move. And we definitely aren’t the only con that’s had to relocate to accommodate growth—just ask some of the old-timers about game conventions in Milwaukee! But we are also cognizant that bigger is not automatically better. We believe that the Baird Center is both. 2025 will ring in a new era for AdeptiCon. We will build new partnerships while fostering existing relationships and we believe AdeptiCon will be better than ever. So stay tuned for important dates and hotel information and we will see you in Milwaukee in 2025.
The AdeptiCon Staff
April 2024
“A person needs new experiences. It jars something deep inside, allowing them to grow. Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.”
― Duke Leto Atreides
Many Milwaukee nerds still lament the loss of Gen Con to Indianapolis 21 years ago. The success of local shows like the Midwinter Gaming Convention and Midwest Gaming Classic suggests that the city is once again open to accepting out-of-town nerd money. Milwaukee is a great place to have a celebration of hobbies, be it listening to music, riding motorcycles, exploring ethnic heritage, or blasting an enemy right though the face with a PPC for maximum salvage value.
The displays will be gorgeous. Miniature gamers put a lot of time and effort into their hobby, and AdeptiCon is where they come to show off their best work. Hopefully some of the talented local painters will win some awards, but even non-players can admire the work that goes into some of these figures and displays.
Reaction to the move on AdeptiCon’s Facebook page has been mixed, with the majority leaning towards positive (usually by people who are closer to Milwaukee than Chicago). A few folks have expressed concern that downtown Milwaukee is a crime-ridden hellhole, so it looks like that opinion has spread beyond members of our state Republican party.
Will the Safe House become central to the convention’s social plans? Will local news do some slightly condescending coverage about people spending so much time painting toy soldiers? Will Henry Cavill show up and win a tournament? Check back next spring to see!
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