Marshall Yard:

After a two week span where we’ve seen two of Chicago’s bigger tradeshows “pass” on their 2012 contracts with McCormick Place Convention Center, the NRA has decided to negotiate their future shows as well. Strike while the iron is hot, one could say.

NPE’s first public announcement was made prior to leaving town - and obviously officials in Chicago thought it prudent to call their bluff… Whoops.

As coy as I’ve played with regard to this situation, it is a serious one for McCormick Place, MPEA (Metropolitan Pier and Exhibition Authority - gov’t. entity that governs McCormick and Navy Pier, AKA- “McPier”), Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau, and the City of Chicago. All are major stakeholders, and all have significant influence over how these confrontations pan out. There is one sure thing I’m aware of:

Other shows will be following suit. Any and every contract that can be renegotiated will be. Every aspect of the tradeshow cost structure is up for grabs. The days when the exhibit house was the only party to “dicker with” are over. The “take it or leave it” attitude has met its natural rejoinder: “Leave it.”

And our apologies to Oprah: We’re very sorry for the picture, and we’re very sorry that we tried to pin this on you. And on a personal note, I’ve never bothered to watch your show.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 19th, 2009 at 8:46 am and is filed under exhibit design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.