Who's coming to town? Indiana communities welcome a wide range of meetings, conventions and special events.

• Author: Hromadka, Erik
• Position: MEETINGS & CONVENTIONS

COMMUNITIES ACROSS the state get a chance to demonstrate some Hoosier Hospitality each year as thousands of visitors come to Indiana for a wide range of meetings and conventions.

From youth sports, dance competitions and skydiving to professional associations and national trade groups, here is a sampling of some of this year's largest and most interesting meetings, conventions and special events.

Fort Wayne

The year kicks off with two of the area's largest annual events at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The Home and Garden Show that draws 25,000 people and the Fort Wayne Farm show attracts an estimated 15,000.

More than 13,000 basketball fans are expected in the city when Spiece Fieldhouse hosts the 2008 national tournament for the American Youth Basketball tour from July 19-26. The fieldhouse plans to welcome another 10,000 for the Spiece Memorial Day Run and Slam in May.

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Ikasucon is coining to the Grand Wayne Convention Center in June and is expected to bring more than 1,300 fans of anime art when it returns for its second visit to the city. Located in downtown Fort Wayne, the center features hundreds of different event configurations, with 80,000 square feet of exhibit hails, ballrooms, meeting rooms and another 30,000 square feet of public areas attached to the Hilton Fort Wayne.

"We do a lot of different events, from regional and state to even national conventions," says Michael Coffeen, director of sales and marketing. For example, he notes that outdoor furnace manufacturer Central Boiler is moving its national meeting from Minnesota to Fort Wayne in June so it can take advantage of a location that is more centrally located.

Groups planning to meet at the center in 2008 include the regional tournament of the American Taekwondo Association, the North American Deer Farmers Association and state conventions of Indiana's service organizations such as the Kiwanis and Lions and professional groups including county treasurers, family physicians, coroners and the Indiana School Nutrition Association.

Merriliviile

The Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza in Merrillville is hosting a variety of events in 2008, fresh on the heels of an $11 million renovation that upgraded its hotel rooms to complement its meeting rooms, ballrooms, two executive boardrooms and a 3,400-seat theater that is a popular destination for live music. The facility also added seven new semi-private cabanas that are available for groups seeking an alternative to banquet-style seating.

Events kick off with the 15th Annual Challenge, a dance competition that runs for four days in...