The Illinois General Assembly received its list of recommendations on saving Chicago's struggling convention business. Because of its superior convention facilities and central location, Chicago as late as the 1990s was to trade shows what the New York Yankees were to baseball in the 1950s--it was dominant. Other cities, notably the not-so-centrally located Las Vegas and Orlando, built top-level convention halls. Nevada and Florida are right-to-work states, in Chicago, the unions act as if Chicago exhibition facilities were built for them.Lately, lucrative trade shows have been abandoning Chicago for these exhibitor-friendlier cities. And public officials both in Chicago and Springfield have taken note and the General Assembly appointed a special adviser, Jim Reilly, to fix things.
According to Greg Hinz of Crain's Chicago Business, Reilly is recommending reforming onerous union work rules, dramatically slashing Chicago's conventions bureaucracy, and prohibiting the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, which runs Chicago's two major exhibit halls, from marking up food and electrical services.
The deflated trade show ball is now in the court of the General Assembly. Let's hope they move quickly. Many Chicago hoteliers, restaurateurs, taxi firms, florists, and retailers--as well as the people who work for them--are dependent on a healthy city trade show industry.
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