One contract holds the hall and the block
Do it Best Corp. runs its Fall Market at the Indiana Convention Center from Friday, September 25 to Monday, September 28, 2026. The center lists forecast attendance at 12,000. The market lists more than 9,300 attendees, more than 1,200 vendors and 566,000-plus square feet of floor across 75 learning sessions.
One page carries registration and hotel reservations under the market's own system. A single contracting owner holds the buying floor and the sleeping rooms together. The arrangement keeps the surrounding inventory off the open market until a planner logs in.
The rooms the market holds first
The published schedule names the space. The Sagamore Ballroom takes the Market Kickoff on Friday and the Merchandising Preview on Saturday morning. The 500 Ballroom takes Friday's LBM Industry Update and Sunday's rebate reception. The Wabash Ballroom serves Saturday breakfast. Rooms 231 to 245 take Knowledge Central, Rooms 244 and 245 the Epicor bootcamps, Room 131 the Rental Center Training School and Rooms 107 and 108 the Sunday service. Parking Lot B carries the Friday Power Preview.
A buying market contracts ballroom time first. A planner pricing an adjacent meeting or a hospitality suite in the same week works against that list.
The calendar closes the day after
The center's event listing carries 12 events from September 22 to October 15. The Economic Club of Indiana Luncheon runs September 22. The Fall Market runs September 25 to 28. Three events open Tuesday, September 29 and run through Thursday, October 1: the MAPP Benchmarking and Best Practices Conference, the Association of Talent Development Core4 and the Association of Talent Development OrgDev.
October 2 and October 3 sit open in that listing. The next run covers October 4 to 10, and October 11 opens again.
The block policy, in the market's own terms
The housing page states that discounted rates reach market attendees only through that system, and that guests should not call the hotels directly. Rates appear after login. The page lists 22 hotels with a distance band for each.
Three connect to the center: the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis, the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown and the Westin Indianapolis. Six sit a block out: the Courtyard Indianapolis Downtown, Crowne Plaza Indianapolis Downtown, Fairfield Inn and Suites Downtown, Holiday Inn Express Downtown, JW Marriott Indianapolis and SpringHill Suites Indianapolis Downtown. The others spread from 1.5 blocks to 5.5, with the Omni Severin at 1.5, the Conrad Indianapolis at 2.5, the Hilton Indianapolis at 3 and the Tru by Hilton Indianapolis Downtown at 5.5.
The transportation page names seven hotels on the free shuttle: Holiday Inn Select at 410 S. Missouri St., Holiday Inn Indianapolis Downtown at 515 S. West St., Staybridge Suites at 535 S. West St., Sheraton Indianapolis City Centre Hotel at 31 W Ohio St., Aloft Indianapolis Downtown at 136 E Market St., Tru by Hilton at 601 Russell Ave and the InterContinental at 17 W Market St. Six of the seven also appear on the housing list. The buses run about every 30 minutes, from 7 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Friday, 5:30 a.m. to 5:45 p.m. Saturday, 6:30 a.m. to 7:15 p.m. Sunday and 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday.
What a supplier-run market means for group business
Do it Best runs the market for its members and their vendors. Registration splits three ways: Do it Best members, market vendors and True Value retailers. The buying programme runs through VIP Deals, LBM Market Specials, a planogram zone, a Solutions in Action storefront, contractor planograms and an Assortment City that lists up to 50 per cent off with 90-days dating.
The market sells no public tickets. Sunday evening belongs to the Annual Shareholders' Meeting and the CEO address from Dan Starr, followed by a member rebate distribution that ends at 6:30 p.m. A hotel holding group business that week works against a closed buying floor. Outside group demand that week comes from vendors, the two Epicor bootcamps and the training school.
Dates a planner can hold across years
The market publishes future dates. Spring 2027 runs March 5 to 7 in Orlando, and Fall 2027 runs September 10 to 13 in Indianapolis. Spring 2028 runs March 24 to 26 in New Orleans, and Fall 2028 runs September 8 to 11 in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis holds the fall market in 2027 and 2028. The late-September squeeze on downtown space repeats in both years.
The room base grows after that window. The Signia by Hilton Indianapolis, an 800-room hotel, takes reservations for stays from February 1, 2027, per the center's news item of April 21, 2026. The center names it its newest headquarters hotel and Indiana's largest ballroom. A planner pricing the September 2026 week works against today's inventory.
What to pin down in writing
Four items decide whether that week works. Ask each hotel for the date the market block releases, and get it in the contract. Ask whether the quote sits inside the market block or outside it, because the market's rates stay off the open market until login. Check the shuttle schedule against your group's hours if you book one of the seven shuttle hotels. Fix the suite location by entrance, because three hotels connect indoors and the rest sit up to 5.5 blocks out.
Hold October 2 to October 3 as the alternate. The center's listing fills on both sides of that pair.