The Core-Mark Expo occupies Exhibit Hall J-K at the Indiana Convention Center on 10 and 11 February 2027. The venue's event record forecasts 1,500 attendees and carries the window as an all-day booking at 100 South Capitol Avenue. A group books this show on a Wednesday arrival and a Thursday release.
The published calendar holds one night
10 February 2027 falls on a Wednesday. 11 February falls on a Thursday. A Wednesday arrival with a Thursday release holds one night, the night of 10 February.
A two-night pattern needs a second night added at one end. A Tuesday 9 February arrival puts the extra night in front of the show. A Friday 12 February release puts it behind. Price the two routes separately, because a pre-show night and a post-show night sit in different demand windows.
That choice sets the size of the block. Rooms multiplied by nights gives the room nights the contract commits. A two-night pattern doubles the commitment against a one-night pattern at the same room count, and it doubles the exposure when pickup falls short.
The midweek week around the show
The venue's event feed fills the same building either side of the Expo. Indiana Health and Safety Conference & Expo runs 7 to 10 February 2027 with a forecast of 850. Indiana Green Expo runs 8 to 10 February 2027 with a forecast of 2,000. The Economic Club of Indiana Luncheon falls on 12 February. 10 February carries 4,350 forecast attendees across the three shows.
No weekend night sits beside the Expo to trade for a discount. The lever is the hotel's occupancy on the night of 10 February.
Setting the cut-off date
The cut-off is the date by which named guests must claim rooms inside the block. Rooms unclaimed after it return to general inventory. Room-block software vendor Blocks describes a cut-off that commonly lands about 30 days before arrival, flexing between 21 and 30 days and reaching 45 days on peak nights. That is the vendor's account of common practice.
Measured back from a 10 February arrival, 30 days is Monday 11 January 2027, 21 days is Wednesday 20 January 2027, and 45 days is Sunday 27 December 2026. Ask the hotel for one calendar date in writing. Ask whether one date governs the block or each night carries its own.
The attrition clause against a 1,500-person forecast
Attrition runs on three numbers: the room nights committed, the pickup floor and the pickup achieved. Blocks describes a floor that often opens at 80 percent of committed room nights, measured at arrival on a cumulative room-night basis, with damages net of the costs the hotel saves on a room it never turns over. The same guide prices lost profit at about 75 percent of the rate.
Four hundred rooms on one night commits 400 room nights. An 80 percent floor sets the obligation at 320. A pickup of 280 leaves the block 40 room nights short. At the guide's illustrative $189 rate, that reads $7,560.
The vendor's own example carries the per-night risk. A 300-room-night block at an 80 percent floor and a pickup of 210 leaves 30 room nights short, which prices at $5,670 across the block. Measured per night, the shortfall clusters on the shoulder nights at 50 room nights and prices at $9,450. Ask which basis the contract uses. Ask for a release review at 90, 60 and 30 days so rooms can go back before the shortfall hardens.
The minimum hold for a small exhibiting team
An exhibiting supplier sends a handful of people. groupRooms publishes a threshold of 10 rooms per night for group rates at most hotels, with discounts from as few as five rooms at some properties depending on season and availability. Send the request early, and ask each property for its minimum hold. Ask whether a sub-block of the same size can sit inside a larger master block.
The platform sends one request to 50 or more hotels in the destination and states a response window of 24 to 72 hours. Its published savings line reads 15 to 40 percent below rack rates, and it adds no markup to the rate. Those are the platform's own figures, and hotels pay the platform a commission on a booking.
The same help pages state that groupRooms serves the United States outside California, Florida, Hawaii, Iowa and Washington.
The second committed night
Core-Mark distributes to convenience retailers as a member of the Performance Food Group. Registration for the expo series runs through a customer form at tradeshoweasy.com, and that form requires a login.
No Core-Mark page and no venue page lists an evening function for the February 2027 Expo. The case for a second committed night rests on that detail, so confirm it before the block is cut. Ask Core-Mark whether an evening event runs after the hall closes on 11 February. A yes to an 11 February evening places the second night behind the show and makes the Friday release the pattern to hold.
What goes into the request
Send both candidate night patterns. Ask for the cut-off as a calendar date, the pickup floor and its measurement basis, the minimum hold, and the release review dates. Ask what the hotel holds on the night of 10 February, and whether a 9 or 12 February night prices lower. Request the group rate against the best available rate, and ask for the rate-protection clause and its time limit.
