There’s a new lodging development that’s come to Indianapolis and it’s brought an amazing collection of Marriott properties together in one location. In the location of the old Marriott Courtyard property across from the Eiteljorg Museum, there are now three new Marriott properties open and ready to host visitors to Indianapolis. Soon the upscale and luxurious JW Marriott hotel will join its siblings at The Marriott Place.

Situated between the best minor league ballpark in the world, Victory Field to the south, the Eiteljorg Museum to the north, White River State Park to the west and the expanding, new convention center to the east; The Marriott Place location is the place to be in Indy for your next business meeting or vacation.

With a fresh new look to hotel design and interiors, the Courtyard Marriot, Fairfield Inn & Suites and Spring Hill Suites are ready and bursting with modern comforts and functionality for visitors to our city.

In the current economy, White Lodging, REI Real Estate Services and Marriott have teamed up with the city to pour significant investment into what will be a hub for meetings and convention space in years to come!

To choose Indianapolis for this type of investment says quite a bit about what the future holds for our great city.

What are you doing this Friday night? Well, if you live in Indianapolis then you need to be heading over to the Vogue to see one of Indy’s up and coming rock bands. These guys have not played Indianapolis in quite some time but are ready to rock the house with the 80’s cover band 16 Candles.

Borrow Tomorrow is an Indianapolis based rock band that not only impresses on their polished instrumentals but also with some educated and experienced songwriting. They perform songs like Shy Away and Looking that will not only have you swaying in your chair but will have you begging to sing along. They also drop some slower songs on you like Wicker Park Suite that have front man Chris Jerles on keys. Regardless if he is caressing the keyboard or melting faces with his guitar, his voice is what makes him worth watching. His voice is not clean and clear cut like you might expect yet dirty and rusty that plays perfect into their overall sound. Throw lead guitar from Robert Newport in the mix and you have a duo that can play off each other all night long.

Keeping things in the family, Robert’s brother Andrew is behind them hiding behind the drum kit. Although you might go an entire show and never see his face you will know he is there from his intense solos and his adrenaline packed ambiance. But someone you will notice, and will remember as well, is the bass player Randall Trumbell. Standing on the side moving ever so softly to the sounds you will find him in his own little world slapping the bass with affection. Always sporting blue glasses and a sport coat he is hard to miss and impossible to forget.

Regardless of the quality of music these four guys produce, they are also some of the nicest guys you will ever meet. They make a point after every show to shake every hand and to sign every CD. These guys are some of the hardest workingmen in the business and it shows in their entire presence. So this Friday make sure you see them at the Vogue in Broad Ripple. This is a show that you cannot afford to miss.

(If you head over to the merchandise table during the show and talk with Ricky Potts (from rickyleepotts.com) and mention this article you will get a free CD.)

Will 2010 be the year that Indianapolis inches a little bit closer to offering more options for public transportation? Let’s hope that new developments, support and encouragement does enter the discussion, but until then Indianapolis residents will need to continue to look for places to fill up their gasoline tanks as cheaply as possible.

The IndyGasPrices website can help you do just that. You can search for what location has the best prices in your area, and even help them out by reporting gas prices in your area whenever possible.

Early in December my son wanted to have a small birthday party with just a few of his friends. Earlier in the year we had gone to Laser Flash up in Carmel for another friend’s birthday party and had a blast.

When it was time for my son’s party we knew we were going to head back to the Laser Flash laser tag facility in Carmel.

We decided to go with their Hassle Free Party Package which turned out to be everything we needed and more. Here’s what we received with our package.

• A 40-minute SESSION of Laser Flash
• 10 arcade game tokens per player
• Bottomless fountain drinks for the players
• A gift for the guest of honor
• Coupons for the other players
• Invitations
• Detailed score sheets for all players
• Free membership for all players
• Party table and a Party Coach for two hours
• Paper plates, cups, napkins, fork, and placemat
• Cake knife
• Candles and a lighter
• Peace of mind and a wonderful time

Because my son loves sports and BW3’s we passed on having any food at Laser Flash, but if we’d wanted we could have had them supply a personalized birthday cake or even Donato’s Pizza for our entire birthday party as well.

We all had a blast with our game of laser tag and all the boys had plenty of fun with all of the arcade games available too. Our 40-minute session consisted of three different mini-games. By the end the boys were firing on all cylinders and the two adults were ready to sit down and enjoy the bottomless fountain drinks to recharge.

The staff and team at Laser Flash did a fantastic job of making sure we all had fun, knew what was going on and made it a memorable and fun birthday party for my son’s 10th birthday.

Whether you’re looking for a place to have a great birthday party with your kids, some family entertainment, adult fun with your friends or maybe even some team building with your coworkers, you should think about Laser Flash in Carmel, IN.

After 3 years in their location, feuds with Horizon Property Group finally put an end to their business. These guys never played fair… they didn’t fix broken stucco on the outside of the mall for 3 years, there are plants growing in the gutters in the back of the building, and worse of all… they continued to up the maintenance fees to cover other issues with their building and the lack of tenants.

A salon that had been here over 25 years was the last tenant to leave, and it was ugly, too. Just check with the owners. There’s a chiropractor shop that appears open, but closed many months ago… giving a wrong impression to those who might drive by thinking that there are businesses in the mall.

This isn’t how to treat a business that has brought tons of traffic from all over Indiana. Right now there are people in here from Fishers, Carmel, Indianapolis, Southport, Franklin and Greenwood. It’s the last day and we’re saying Thanks! the only way we know how. We’re buying coffee and saying thanks to The Bean Cup for the special time that they brought us.

How did Horizon show its thanks? At the exact moment that Horizon Property Group executives were in trying to keep The Bean Cup, they had their property manager soliciting another coffee shop in town to see if it wanted to expand… knowing that the owners were related to Chris. After that didn’t work, they took out an advertisement in the Sunday Star advertising that The Bean Cup was for lease. They mentioned it by name.

They came in and took photos inside the store, walls filled with art that The Bean Cup brought in, so they could advertise how to do it right for their next tenant. They also solicited the employees to see if they’d like to work at the next coffee shop… while The Bean Cup was still in business.

Now, on the farewell day, Horizon Property Group posted posters in the empty store next door to promote that a new Coffee Shop is opening in a couple weeks. I don’t wish ill will on the new owners, but I won’t have any part in the new shop because I won’t support any business in a Horizon Property Group property. I’m boycotting them. This isn’t how you treat people in Indiana. This isn’t the Smoosier spirit.

This isn’t how commercial real estate properties should do business in this economy.

The Bean Cup was a success despite its location. It was a success because of the love and dedication of its owners. The Bean Cup wasn’t the walls or the floor or the strip mall. Horizon Property Group really threw away a gem with The Bean Cup. It was bad business, it was mean, and it was unnecessary. The Bean Cup will rise again at a location where they own the property or the property owners appreciate their tenants.

Just a note: I was never going to ever post about Horizon. But on this special day, a farewell day to The Bean Cup, putting up posters next door was a slap in the face that I couldn’t stand by and watch. I’m posting this at Smaller Indiana as well.

They responded that they did so I let them know I would plan on coming into their downtown location to have them give me an estimate.

When I walked in to the location, Danyel greeted me warmly and I let her know that I was interested in getting a quote on repairing my seatbelt in my car. She confirmed that I was the person that asked about it on twitter and I asked if she was the one that managed the account.

Danyel said no but that their corporate office was looking to use twitter more to interact with customers and potential customers and they contacted her because I said I’d probably stop by their location today.

Danyel got a specialist, Wes, to come out and look at my car and see what I needed with my seatbelt. While he was looking at the car I also asked him about replacing some of the interior door handles that were starting to crack and break. Wes worked up a quote for me on the price for replacing the items and the labor involved. I couldn’t have asked for any better customer service and interaction from Danyel and Wes. They both did a tremendous job.

What a great extension of using twitter to work with customers, then build on that interaction by letting locations know to expect that customer and to reinforce the positive experience of using twitter.

Bravo and kudos to the Church Brothers Collision Repair team for making my experience with their company and absolutely positive one.

Now I just have to figure out how I’m going to pay the money to get the new seatbelt mechanism replaced and installed. Seat belts aren’t important are they? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Smaller Indiana will be hosting their first, of hopefully more to come, debates across a variety of topics. The first debate will take place this Friday night at the Indy Fringe downtown facility.

The debate will feature two teams debating the question of whether healthcare is a right or a privilege.

Here are the teams:

Arguing for Healthcare is a Privilege

• Mr. Randy Suttles, former CEO of Medical Savings Insurance
• Dr. Ben Park, CEO, American Health Network
• Michael Hicks, PhD., Economist, Ball State

Arguing for Healthcare is a Right

• Eric Meslin, Director of Indiana University Center for Bioethics
• Eric Wright, – Associate Dean of the Indiana University School of Public & Environmental Affairs
• Others – TBD

This would be a very interesting event to take part in and observe the two sides. I’d encourage anyone that’s available to go to the event and then use the information you’ve gained FROM BOTH SIDES of the argument to have intelligent discussion with your network of friends and colleagues.

The event is free, but there are limited seats so registration is required. Feel free to start the discussion here, but I’d be very interested in hearing anyone’s thoughts about the event after it’s over as well.

Image: stock.xchng

It’s official! I’m registered for the Blog Indiana conference taking place next week in Indianapolis. It’s the 2nd year for the event and I absolutely cannot wait to see what’s in store. There will be over 50 speakers and panelists at this year’s event and I’m sure I’ll walk away with pages of notes on how to improve, expand or focus my blogging efforts for another year.

I was going to say that if you’re a blogger in Indiana you MUST come to this event! Then I decided that would be too exclusive.

• If you’re not a blogger and just curious about what’s all this hubbub is about. THIS IS THE CONFERENCE FOR YOU!
• If you’re in business and want to know how all this technology could help you succeed! THIS IS THE CONFERENCE FOR YOU!
• If you’re within driving distance from Indianapolis. THIS IS THE CONFERENCE FOR YOU!
• If you’re wondering what all this social media stuff is all about. THIS IS THE CONFERENCE FOR YOU!
• If you’re an "expert" in blogging or social media. THIS IS THE CONFERENCE FOR YOU!
• If you’re breathing. THIS IS THE CONFERENCE FOR YOU!

You get my point.

There’s so much great information to expect from this conference that you’ll want to be here participate. Last year’s conference was a great success and was the first year. Building on that event and moving forward, this year’s conference will be sure to be a success as well.

If you haven’t yet been convinced, visit the Blog Indiana website and find out a little more about some of the great speakers, informative sessions and all-around good time that’s to be had in Indianapolis next Thursday through Saturday. Oh, and while you’re on the site, go ahead and register!

Participating merchants are:

• Addendum
• Artifacts
• Big Hat Books
• The Blue Door
• Ceramic Dreams Studio & Gifts
• The Bungalow
• Chelsea’s
• Frame Designs
• Honeysuckle Home
• Frankey’s
• Marigold Clothing
• Periwinkle
• The Village Experience

Each merchant will be set up in front of their place of business. A few that are not in the central location will set up in The Bungalow’s parking lot right by the Monon Trail.

With partly cloudy weather forecast and temperatures in the 60-80 range, it should be a beautiful day to enjoy Broad Ripple and these merchants.

You’d think you’d need to be older to be a dad in this town, but IndyDads.com is celebrating their first birthday today. Congrats to them for being around after the first and garnering a pretty great group of dads to participate in their social network.

If you’ve got kids be sure to take advantage of this resource and information that’s available to you on the website.

Happy Birthday IndyDads.com!