Indianapolis is My Home

20
Jun

Indianapolis Colts Fan Fest TONIGHT!

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Concerts, Downtown, Indianapolis Colts, Indy Pro Athletes, Local Musicians, Things To Do in Indy

If you want to meet some Colts players and cheerleaders and get their autographs you’ll want to be at the Indianapolis Colts FanFest event tonight. Jon McLaughlin will be performing as well. Great opportunity to hear him perform for free.

Here are the details:

The Colts Fan Fest will be in Indianapolis, Indiana on Friday, June 20th.

Location:
Downtown American Legion Mall
700 North Pennsylvania Street
Indianapolis, IN 46206
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Autograph session with Colts Players, Cheerleaders and Blue
7:30pm
Free Jon McLaughlin Concert

Fan Fest Elements include:
-Make It Personal with Colts players
-Meet Colts Cheerleaders
-FREE community concert by Jon McLaughlin
-Visit Blue the official team mascot
-"Colts City" inflatables
-Bring a new or gently used children’s book for "Books for Youth"
-Register for the Colts Kids Club
-Register to win tickets to a Colts pre-season game
-Pick-up free Colts giveaways
-Check out the re-designed Colts In Motion

Special notes:
The Colts would like to encourage all fans to arrive early.  The line for player and cheerleader autographs may be cut off at any time to ensure the players schedule remains on time.  Inclement weather or traffic may cause late arrival or early departure.  All Fan Fests will take place rain or shine.  Team practice schedule and meeting times may cause players to arrive late or depart early. Colts player names will not be announced prior to the arrival in each city.  Fans will be allowed one autograph per person, however, fans may get back in line for additional autographs.  All Colts Fan Fest times are local.

Stay tuned to www.Colts.com/FanFest for an up-to-date listing of locations.

20
Jun

Jon McLaughlin at the Hard Rock Cafe

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Chain Restaurants, Charities, Concerts, Downtown, Radio Now 100.9

A few days ago I wrote about Jon McLaughlin putting on a little concert at the Hard Rock Cafe in downtown Indianapolis. The concert was a re-opening of the Hard Rock Cafe Indianapolis with all new memorabilia as well as a fund raiser for Riley Children’s Hospital here in the city.

It was a great live concert. Thanks to a friend I’d only met online I found out it was a “closed” event, but we were both able to work some magic (THANKS SARAH!) and get some passes to the event to see Jon live. It really turned out well for both of us. I got to see Jon McLaughlin in concert live for the first time and my friend ended up winning a Gibson Epiphone guitar that was signed by Jon and the rest of the band.

This is Kyle and Sarah (in the purple dress) and another lady that worked for Hard Rock up in Chicago, but I didn’t catch her name.

If it hadn’t been for our great waitress, Megan, Kyle would have never won the guitar, but she was persistent and convinced Kyle to purchase some raffle tickets.

Read Kyle’s recollection of the events and see more photos at Jon McLaughlin, A Sweet Waitress and a Gibson Guitar.

A few thoughts about the night. The new memorabilia was really cool. Lots of great stuff if you love rock music and haven’t been to Hard Rock Cafe in awhile, it’s time to check it out again.

One thing I was thinking about during the performance is that it would have been nice if there was a live camera feed to the various LCD panel TV’s (which are actually in need of being updated) that are mounted on the walls in the restaurant. It’s true that Jon was right in front of us, but having a camera that could zoom in on the close-up of his hands as he masterfully played the keys would have been sweet!

I also ran into a good friend of mine, Nate, that works for the Riley Children’s Foundation. His team put on a great event and raised some great money for charity as well. If you’d be interested in finding out how you can help the foundation yourself, visit their website or let me know and I’ll put you in touch with Nate.

I also got to meet Scotty Davis of Radio NOW 100.9 Morning Drive fame. He’s recently new to Indianapolis after moving down here for the gig at 100.9. He’s from Minnesota, but now calls Indianapolis “home” as well. Seemed like a great, down to earth guy who’s really getting to enjoy the city. It’s too bad he had to head out a little early that night, but part of his job on the morning show calls him to be up at 3am. Just about the time I’m heading to bed!

Jon’s going to be performing again tonight in Indianapolis as part of the Indianapolis Colts FanFest events. I’ll be posting about it later.

18
Jun

Should Victory Field Always Be Victory Field

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Business, Downtown, Indianapolis Indians, Victory Field

I think one of the often overlooked features of our city is the Indianapolis Indians and Victory Field. I’ve not done a tour of all the minor league ballparks, but I can tell you that the ones I have seen don’t even come close to Victory Field.

The question up today though is whether or not naming rights to the field and stadium should be sold?

Earlier this year, at the team’s annual shareholder meeting, Schumacher was asked why the team doesn’t sell naming rights to Victory Field, which has been cited by several baseball publications as one of the finest minor league ballparks in the country.

What do you think? My opinion is that it should absolutely remain Victory Field. How about you?

IBJ.com - Indianapolis Business Journal - "The Score" Sports Blog

Image Source: Small Parks

11
Jun

Indianapolis Hard Rock Revamping and Ready to Rock

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Chain Restaurants, Concerts, Downtown, Local Musicians

Okay, I’ve got to make sure I attend this concert. I’m thinking I should get there early enough to at least be in the room for this concert. I’ve become a huge fan of Jon McLaughlin since I’ve been introduced to him and purchased his CD.

Anyone else planning on going?

06
Jun

Divers and Dragons Event on Indy Cultural Trail

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Art, Competitions, Downtown, Indiananpolis Cultural Trail, Sports, Things To Do in Indy

A morning of fun for your entire family Cultural Trail Ribbon Cutting Ceremony,

Kids Fun Run, & Walking Tours

9:00 a.m. @ Alabama & Market Streets

Join Mayor Greg Ballard, Central Indiana Community Foundation President Brian Payne and other dignitaries for the official opening of the Alabama Street Corridor of the Indianapolis Cultural Trail:

A Legacy of Gene & Marilyn Glick. 

Following the Cultural Trail Opening Ceremony, there will be a one-block fun run for children and walking tours for all ages of the finished trail from Market St. to North St.

Divers & Dragons near the Indianapolis Cultural Trail

10:00 a.m. @ Alabama & North Street

On the English Foundation Building parking lot

Cap-off the morning enjoying a very unique, FREE, Olympic Diving Trials community event:

• Elite divers will “jump, twist & tuck” on trampolines demonstrating diving skills
• Indiana Association of Chinese American dancers will perform a Lion Dance
• Children will “climb, bounce and slide” through two inflatable obstacle courses
• Participate in painting a giant “paint-by-numbers” type Dragon Mural

30
May

Mid-East Classic Yo-Yo Contest

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Competitions, Downtown, Eiteljorg Museum, Special Events, Sports, Things To Do in Indy

Back when I was in high school I got the yo-yo craze going in two different high schools. I was a freshman at Adair County High School in Columbia, KY and my sophomore year I was at Butler County High School in Morgantown, KY.

For whatever reasons I decided to take a yo-yo to school and began playing with it in the hall between classes. A few people asked me where I learned how to do some of the tricks and I said I just practiced and taught them to myself.

For an extra credit project in French class I did the "Eiffel Tower" trick and got 100% for my efforts and originality. That turned out to be loads easier than baking authentic French bread the next semester (got 100% on that too though).

Pretty soon yo-yo’s could be seen by probably a few hundred or so students.

After moving to Morgantown, I repeated the fad there with more classmates.

All that leads me to the idea that I should really go check-out this yo-you competition at the Eiteljorg Museum this weekend.

The Eiteljorg Museum is proud to host the Indiana State Yo-Yo contest, spearheaded by Takeshi Kamisato (Ho Chunk).  This day will entail a gathering of 50+ yo-yo competitors showcasing their talents in one or more of five different class divisions. There will be free beginner’s workshops with Don Fisher, sales from yoyoguy.com on site, demonstrations throughout the day and a chance to learn about how yo-yoing has changed and where it’s going!

My son’s got two baseball games tomorrow, but maybe we can catch the freestyle competition on Sunday.

Mid-East Classic Yo-Yo Competition at the Eiteljorg

20
May

Indianapolis Wins Bid for Super Bowl 2012

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Business Entrepreneurs, Downtown, Indianapolis Colts, Indy Pro Athletes, Lucas Oil Stadium, News, Special Events

Great news for the city! Congratulations to everyone that participated and help secure this deal into reality. Can’t wait to see this thing come to the city and hopefully be a part of it in some way.

Indianapolis officials had gone to great lengths to secure the 25,000 hotel rooms required by league bid specifications. They also hammered home the city’s strengths, including downtown connectivity and history of hosting big events, from the 1987 Pan Am Games to the Indianapolis 500 and NCAA men’s basketball Final Fours.

Indianapolis also came up with $25 million in corporate and individual support to fund various Super Bowl operations, including event hosting, transportation and building a practice facility. NFL sources said Indianapolis has more money secured to host the 2012 Super Bowl than either Phoenix or Houston.

I still think that working as hard to get back and keep events like the F1 should also have the same importance.

What do you think?

Indianapolis lands Super Bowl

19
May

Tomorrow Is the Big Day - Super Bowl 2012?

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Downtown, Indianapolis Colts, Indy Pro Athletes, Lucas Oil Stadium

Tomorrow is the big day, the NFL owners should decide where the Super Bowl will be taking place in 2012. According to the IBJ, Indianapolis is leading as the "frontrunner".

"There’s a thought that Indianapolis and Jim Irsay have done everything they need to host a Super Bowl," said Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based consulting firm Sportcorp Ltd., which counts several NFL teams as clients. "You can never predict what these 32 owners will decide, but some think Indianapolis is in a solid position."

The Indianapolis promoters have added an interesting idea to build the equivalent of an "Olympic village" downtown to provide an epicenter of activity for visitors to participate in without having to have tickets to game itself.

31
Jan

Jonas Brothers Heading to Victory Field

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Concerts, Downtown, Things To Do in Indy, Victory Field

Just saw that the Jonas Brothers have a concert scheduled for Saturday, February 16th at Victory Field.

If you don’t know who the Jonas Brothers are then you probably don’t have kids under the age of 10. They have been dominating the music charts on Disney Radio for a couple of years now.

The concert is scheduled for 6pm and the first thing that comes to my mind is…"They know this is Indianapolis right?"

Anyone else think the chances for it to be snowing, raining, sleeting or just plain cold are pretty high for that day?

I think I would have picked a different venue for this time of year.

30
Jan

Indiana Golf Show - Mark Your Calendar

Author: Jason Bean, Category: Convention Center, Downtown, Indianapolis Golf, Special Events, Things To Do in Indy

I know it’s hard to think about it now with the winds blowing like crazy and a 50 degree temperature drop in less than 24 hours, but the Indiana Spring Golf Show is coming to the Indianapolis Convention Center February 8-10.

Representatives from Titleist, Cobra and Wilson will be there with their new equipment for you to test drive.

Pick up everything you will need to start the season from new, used, and custom clubs and the latest in new golf technology. If you need it, we’ve got it.

Over $4 million in merchandise including apparel, shoes, equipment, and accessories to see, compare, and try before you buy. Merchandise at prices 30-70% off suggested retail.

Looking for a place other than Indiana to golf for you, your foursome, your group, or your family? We have booths with Resort and Travel information with destinations from coast to coast!

Participate in several daily competitions:
- $5,000 Long Putt Contest.
- Cash and merchandise prizes are awarded daily.

Win free golf trips for two!

We offer daily clinics coordinated by Indiana Section, PGA.

We are pleased to announce that there will be a drop off point for the Indiana Clubs for Kids charity.

If you’re a golfer then I’m sure you’ll be putting this on your calendar. If you’re a golfer in need of some new equipment, you’ll probably be camping out in line now to get first dibs on some of the discounted sticks and other equipment that will be available.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Friday, 02/08 from 12pm - 9pm: Indianapolis Convention Center - Hall B
• Saturday, 02/09 from 10am - 6pm: Indianapolis Convention Center - Hall B
• Sunday, 02/10 from 10am - 5pm: Indianapolis Convention Center - Hall B

Also, if you’re a golfer you’d probably be interested in GolfUS.com’s Tee Time Auction. You can bid for a tee-time at your favorite courses in the area at a great price! WARNING! You may have to take some unplanned vacation days to fit in all the golf you’ll be playing if you’re not careful!