The booking in four numbers
The Indiana Convention Center holds the 2026 SHPE National Conference from Wednesday 28 October to Saturday 31 October. The venue forecasts 15,000 attendees. The organiser expects nearly 10,000 students, professionals, academics, industry leaders and innovators. Its #SHPE2025 block counts 10,000 attendees, 346 exhibitors and 763 interview booths at the Philadelphia edition. Each figure stays with its publisher.
Fifteen thousand attendees against the venue's stated 7,100 downtown rooms is 2.11 people for every downtown room. At two occupants a room the group needs 7,500 rooms, or 1.06 times the downtown base. At three occupants it needs 5,000 rooms. At four it needs 3,750. The venue counts 4,700 rooms on the skywalk network and states that more than half of the 7,100 sit within blocks of the centre and Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Wednesday opening
Attendee registration and badge pickup open at 6 a.m. on Wednesday 28 October in Hall F of the Indiana Convention Center. The desk runs 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, and 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. Exhibitor registration runs the same hours on Wednesday and Thursday, and closes at noon on Saturday. Interview booths run 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday in Hall BC.
The organiser prices attendance in three windows. Early bird closed 9 September at 5 p.m. ET. Regular runs to 7 October at 5 p.m. ET. Late opens 8 October and closes 31 October at 12 p.m. ET. A professional member pays $480, $600 and $760 across the three windows. A non-member pays $775, $860 and $960. Advisors pay $150, $300 and $475. Undergraduate and graduate members pay $345, $470 and $625. Bulk submissions close 1 October at 5 p.m. ET, and every promo code expires five business days after issue and before 5 p.m. ET on 16 October.
The rate the market carries
Engine reads $134 for an October night in Indianapolis against a $128 average across the year, on par rates observed 10 to 180 days before check-in. February is the low month at $107 and May the peak at $158. Engine measures rates swinging 32 percent across the year.
The Saturday close and the week after
Saturday carries the career fair in two group sessions. Group B runs 8:30 to 11 a.m. and Group A runs 1 to 3:30 p.m. Both groups hold the floor 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Interview booths run 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. The badge desk closes at 3:30 p.m. The fourth night is the Saturday night that follows that close.
The following week is thin. The venue's own calendar carries no convention centre booking between the SHPE close on 31 October and the National Science Teaching Association Fall Convention on 4 to 7 November. A property that watches its SHPE rooms leave on Sunday 1 November hands them into a week with no citywide demand behind it.
What to hold
Staff the desk for the Wednesday shape. The badge queue opens at 6 a.m. and the desk runs to 5 p.m. Two sets of registration staff work the same lobby, because exhibitor registration opens on the same clock. The Saturday desk closes at 3:30 p.m. and the exhibitor desk closes at noon.