Chicago Loses Cachet as Convention Center

[Det_ard]

By JOE BARRETT

CHICAGO—The sprawling McCormick Place became America's convention headquarters when it opened here 50 years ago, hosting buyers and sellers of products from candy bars to windmill turbines.
But in recent months, a gradual drop-off in business here has turned into a rout as a string of high-profile shows have pulled out. With the recession cramping convention business across the U.S., exhibitors say Chicago's high costs and complex work rules make other venues more attractive.



Chicago's Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which runs McCormick, had an operating loss of $3.6 million in the fiscal year ended last June and expects to lose $24 million this year. The authority also expects to fall short by $53 million over two years on its debt payments, which are financed by taxes on tourist-related businesses. The state has to make up the difference.
Last week Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and the authority board proposed legislation that would restructure the facility's debt and convert McCormick's union workers to state employees. That would strip those workers of the right to strike and give facility managers the ability to rewrite work rules that have brought complaints from exhibitors.
Lawmakers instead passed alternative legislation that would toss out the current board and replace it with a smaller group charged with figuring out how to make Chicago more competitive. Mr. Quinn said he would sign that.


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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...atestheadlines

It sounds like they have the same issues that plague Cobo, with the same result -- losing business to more business-friendly locations like Las Vegas and Orlando.

At the end of the article a boat show exhibitor notes that he stopped hanging a sign from the ceiling since it cost $1000 for labor. That squares with the discussion I had with a boat dealer at the Novi expo center about why he no longer shows at Cobo.

[Patrick]

and complex work rules make other venues more attractive.

These the same bullshit union work rules that people have to put up with at Cobo year after year?

[ghettopalmetto]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...atestheadlines

It sounds like they have the same issues that plague Cobo, with the same result -- losing business to more business-friendly locations like Las Vegas and Orlando.

At the end of the article a boat show exhibitor notes that he stopped hanging a sign from the ceiling since it cost $1000 for labor. That squares with the discussion I had with a boat dealer at the Novi expo center about why he no longer shows at Cobo.

Unlike Las Vegas and Orlando, though, Chicago doesn't predicate its entire economy on tourism.

On the flip side, this story can also be used to illustrate the stupidity in using a convention center for "economic development". If shows aren't going to Chicago, there aren't too many other places they're going to go.

[wolverine]

These the same bullshit union work rules that people have to put up with at Cobo year after year?

Yessir. And the same bs rules tenants of office buildings have to put up with downtown. McCormick is the shining example that puts these issues in the spotlight. Some of the rules forced onto exhibitors are beyond absurdity.

It's unfair that union employees would charge a business hundreds of dollars to swap out 10 fluorescent light bulbs because the building requires "unionized labor". Do your part and screw in the light bulbs yourself...for free.

[Jimaz]

Good. Send that Asian Carp convention to Orlando.