IDG and Gen Con To Merge Events?

Gamespot reports that convention companies IDG and Gen Con LLC are talking about an event merge. IDG has already gotten the nod from the ESA for their 'GamePro Expo', and expects to attract no less than 25,000 gamers in October of next year. If Gen Con joins the fray, that will add table-top roleplaying, board games, and the like into the mix for some sort of nerdapalooza. From the article: "If the two events co-locate at the LACC, the current plan is to see Gen Con base its exhibits in the convention center's West Hall, with the IDG game event placing its exhibitors in both South Hall and the lower-level Kentia Hall. One impediment to the two groups linking up could be due to the current success IDG is having selling its upcoming game event into the industry. If it can sell out the LACC's nearly 550,000 square feet of expo space on its own, there may be no need nor reason to bring Gen Con into the mix." If this goes through, there would be no need for the Gen Con Indy event, which would only be held a few months before. I knew E3's demise was no good.

Scions of Wisconsin

[PMuse]

If this goes through, there would be no need for the Indy event, which would only be held a few months before.

Q: Why did GenCon and WotC spread their events geographically?
A: To reach different audiences.

How in the name of all that is hyped and marketed would the merger of one LA event with another LA event affect the "need for" events in other parts of the country?

This could actually be a bad thing

[CTD]

While there is definite synergy between the E3 and Gen Con audience (I play tabletop and video games and I'm not alone), mixing the two events together at the same time could be counter productive. On the one hand I'd want to walk the video game side of the event and see everything in every booth. On the other hand this means I'd have less time to sit down and game. It would cause people to really weigh their priorities as to what they want over the course of those days, and one side would eventually loose out as the other trends better with traffic, etc. End result could be that one half, or the other is just there as an afterthought -- which won't sit well with the hardcore fans (of either).