From the Editorial Board: With the looming threat of a recession, Chicago’s convention and trade show business has an uphill climb this year — but there are also signs of meaningful recovery from those nightmarish pandemic lows.
Shayna Stahl and Cody Birdwell, band directors from the University of Kentucky, stroll down the corridor en route to The Midwest Clinic at McCormick Place West on Dec. 21, 2022, in Chicago.
To get the money train rolling again, Chicago needs to do more than cross its fingers, which is mainly what we see happening. The city needs to recognize that it’s in a pitched battle for these shows and own up to the factors weighing against it when event organizers decide on destinations.
Besides those factors, showrunners go where attendees most want to go, and the image of a city is crucial for winning hearts and minds.The current perception of Chicago as crime-ridden is a big strike against it. The same goes for the annoying distance between McCormick Place and downtown.
Chef Stephanie Izard of Chicago’s Girl and The Goat, who was showing off her This Little Goat line of grocery products, observed that in-person confabs are “such a great way to meet people from all over.” And as Bill Thurner, director of sales and marketing at candymaker Albanese Confectionery Group in Merrillville, Indiana, pointed out, “You can’t sample food in a Zoom meeting.”
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