By Kathy Bergen |
The state legislature’s key adviser on the McCormick Place overhaul
effort assured a worried trade show customer this week that he is
“relatively confident” the General Assembly will make major changes in
center operations, even if the board that runs the complex recommends
less comprehensive moves, according to e-mails obtained by the Tribune.
Regional Transportation Authority Chairman Jim Reilly, who is advising a
legislative panel on McCormick Place, made the statements in a
correspondence Monday with Chris Price, a point person for the Graph
Expo printing industry show. The exchange was passed along to the
Tribune by an unrelated third party.
Price’s e-mail to Reilly said he was discouraged after reading news reports about the nature of the recommendations being hammered out over the weekend by the interim board of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the state-city agency known as McPier that owns and operates McCormick Place and Navy Pier. It stated that the trade show producer’s board of directors was watching developments in Chicago “like a hawk.”
The Tribune on Monday reported that the McPier board was hesitant to privatize the in-house electrical service, whose high prices have stung exhibitors. Additionally, it reported a split in the board on whether to make workers public employees as a way to squeeze concessions on costly and restrictive show-floor work rules. Some board members instead favored pressuring the union workers and their private employers to return to the bargaining table. The board had been expected to start finalizing its recommendations late Monday afternoon, but the meeting was postponed until Wednesday morning due to a personal matter affecting one board member.
“In no way is the [state] joint committee waiting for, or feels itself bound by, the interim [McPier] board’s report, which will probably be disappointing,” the Reilly email stated.
In response, McPier issued a statement that its board chairman, John Gates Jr., “is focused on the work of the interim board to put customers first, cut costs and keep McCormick Place competitive.” It said recommendations will be released when they are final.
The Reilly e-mail said he was “relatively confident that legislative leaders intend to pass major reform legislation before the General Assembly adjourns on May 7.”
“I believe that this will include big changes in work rules, including an exhibitor bill of rights, a complete restructuring of the MPEA, quite possibly including a requirement that a private management company be brought in to run McCormick Place, bond restructuring and enough operating funds to enable the MPEA to dramatically cut, or even eliminate the profit margin on food and electrical,” the email stated.
The e-mail also stated Reilly was pushing for the elimination of Focus One, the in-house electrical service, and letting customers hire their own electrical contractors, but that it remained unclear how that would pan out.
When Reilly was informed that the Tribune had the correspondence and wished to discuss it with him further, he responded by e-mail that he was under contract to legislative leaders, and referred queries to Steve Brown, a spokesman for House Speaker Michael Madigan. Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, both Democrats from Chicago, co-chair the McPier legislative committee.
Brown declined to authenticate the correspondence, but he said the ideas for change laid out in the missive all have been discussed by the House-Senate committee.
When contacted by the Tribune, Price, a vice president with Graphics Arts Show Co., the producer of Graph Expo, initially expressed surprise that the paper had obtained the correspondence so quickly. Later, he sent an e-mail stating that he could not confirm the authenticity of the exchange. Several other sources vouched for its authenticity.
In testimony before the House-Senate committee in early April, trade-show customers decried the high costs of running a show in Chicago and objected to having to deal with five unions, to being prohibited from doing a lot of booth set-up themselves and to being limited to exclusive providers of electrical service and food.
“Allow us to go out for bids,” Mia Rampersad, an executive with the housewares show, told the panel.
Mr. Cullerton is temporarily disposed. He is likely securing expert legal counsel to get his man/child’s third DUI case tossed out.
J R
He said he would never interfere in such a matter. You can surely believe him, as you believe our fearless leader OBAMA.
State running McPier? ….smells like more opportunity for backroom deals…..sad that mty head goes there first.
My bad…. it’s already controlled by Illinois politicians..
The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) is a municipal corporation created by the Illinois General Assembly. Its Board of Directors is appointed by the Governor of Illinois and the Mayor of Chicago.
Why not allow exhibitors the choice of contractors, including non-union labor, to set up and dismantle their exhibits at McPier facilities. They should be allowed to bring in their own contractors, rather than being forced to rely on extortionate union thugs! Allowing the free market to set prices for various services could lead to a revival of these shows at McPier!
New technology, particularly natural gas fuel-cell generators, could break the monopoly on electrical services at McPier! Allow exhibitors to generate their own power, rather than forcing them to purchase it at extortionate prices!
Perhaps the best concept of all would be to either auction off, or lease out McPier facilities, as was done for the city’s parking meters and the Chicago Skyway. Those who lease and operate these facilities would have to allow competition among contractors and other service providers to maximize their profits and justify their leases to their investors! They would do what is necessary to keep the trade show and exhibition business alive in Chicago!
I was at the McCormick center 15 years ago for the Illinois school board convention as a vender and it cost my company over $250.00 to take a one box you could carry by hand to my booth and I then had to have an electrical contractor plug in my display…..
That was 15 years ago and I was shocked to say the least…
I can only imagine the rates they are charging now….
That was the last time I ever purchased a booth in Chicago for a trade show!!!!!
RTA Chairman Reilly is giving assurances? Given the big mess in which he has left the RTA? Next, we will be assured that Blago is the guarantor of the truth. Wait, that happened today, too.
brett,
Who charged you $250?
It wasn’t McCormick Place that charged you.
It was Freeman or GES, AT McCormick Place.
These are the people who are going to be taking over McCormick Place.
Freeman charged a customer $17,000 to move freight from the dock to a customers booth, the labor for this was less than $200.
Here is an exhibitor survey from a trade show magazine.
http://www.tradeshowweek.com/article/CA6708531.html?q=McCormick
In your opinion, what is the single most inflated tradeshow cost?
Response ratio
Materials handling (drayage)
50%
Exhibit space
30%
Furniture rental
7%
Electricity
4%
Telecommunications
4%
Exhibit transportation
2%
Installation and dismantle
2%
Booth decor
2%
What is being done to address 92% of exhibitor’s complaints?
Why do we constantly hear about the electrical costs and catering when they are only 4% of exhibitor’s complaints?
It is because McCormick Place controls these services and makes these profits.
What about materials handling (drayage), exhibit space and furniture rental costs? This accounts for 87% of the exhibitors complaints, yet we hear nothing.
This is because these items are controlled by Freeman and GES.
Obviously, the McPier interim board are being treated like mushrooms.
They are being feed compost and kept in the dark.
Someone needs to educate these people on the real issues that are facing McCormick Place.
How can the National Restaurant Association charge $28.50 per square foot for its show, when Pack-Expo is only charging $24.50 and including drayage?
Why did the SPI-NPE Plastic Show charge $19.50 – $22.50 per square foot for its show, when Pack-Expo is only charging $24.50 and including drayage?
It is the same convention center, same labor, same work rules, but exhibitors at Pack-Expo are happy.
Why does the NRA and the SPI-NPE Plastic Show charge its exhibitors thousands of dollars extra for drayage?
Why is Pack-Expo growing, while the SPI-NPE Plastic Show and the NRA shows are in decline?
The difference is the management of the shows, NOT the work rules.
“New technology, particularly natural gas fuel-cell generators, could break the monopoly on electrical services at McPier! Allow exhibitors to generate their own power, rather than forcing them to purchase it at extortionate prices!”
Bloom boxes are very, very expensive, they are not installed inside of buildings because of emissions.
Who would the exhibitors buy the natural gas from?
Right now it would be Focus One.
The prices on the Skyway increased 4 fold since it was privatized, the parking meter fees have done like wise.
Do you want fees to go up at McCormick Place by a factor of 4?
Where are the Trade Shows going?
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-0407-trade-shows–20100406-7,0,4262028.story
While Chicago is singing the convention business blues, its two biggest rivals, Las Vegas and Orlando, Fla., have reasons to howl even louder, according to attendance data for 2009, when the deep recession kept many conventioneers tethered to their home bases.
Attendance at McCormick Place conventions and trade shows tailed off by nearly 7 percent last year, to 893,068 individuals, according to data released Tuesday. The same year, the Las Vegas Convention Center experienced a 30 percent dive, to 1.1 million attendees, and the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando took a 21 percent fall, to 781,740. The two Sun Belt facilities also saw a decline in number of events, while Chicago saw a rise last year.
The sky is not falling, but thank God we are not in Orlando or Las Vegas.
Why would a trade show locate in Chicago?
http://www.tradeshowweek.com/article/CA6697389.html?q=ASCO signs McCormick
Dr. Allen S. Lichter, ASCO CEO, said in the past, his group typically would hold its springtime meeting two years in a row in Chicago and then an alternate city in the third year. However, he added, the oncologists group decided there was a benefit in making a long-term commitment to Chicago.
Over time, our strongest and most positive feedback has been associated with Chicago, Lichter said. I think our members are telling us something.
How do you explain ASCO’s $780,000,000 decision to make McCormick Place their home for the next ten years, after their previous show was in Orlando.
Didn’t ASCO experience those same huge cost variances and work rule problems?
No, they did not.
ASCO said they got a better value in Chicago, but then, they are not managed by Freeman or GES.
Where do the exhibitors want to exhibit?
The Trade Show Exhibitors Association, 2009 Exhibitor’s Choice Awards went to McCormick Place for best Convention Center, and Chicago received an Honorable Mention for best Convention City.
How can that be, when we have heard all of these negative stories about McCormick Place?
Why are some shows happy at McCormick Place, while a few are not?
Are these shows managed in different ways, by different companies?
What are the exhibitors complaining about?
Are these complaints with McCormick Place or at McCormick Place, during a show that is managed by Freeman or GES?
If you buy a suit at a store leasing space from Woodfield Mall, and there is a problem, is it the store’s problem or is it a problem with Woodfield Mall?
What is cost-shifting?
What is exhibitor transparency?
Make sure you read this article and learn about the trade show industry.
http://www.tradeshowlogistics.com/images/ConveneSept08_CSTrans.pdf
Ms. Heftman of the National Restaurant Association testified before the State of Illinois, House and Senate hearing that labor is not included in Focus One electrical service price, yet Chicago’s Focus One price sheet clearly states labor is included in the price. She also testified that electrical services in Orlando were 40% less than Chicago’s.
Ms.Heftman later stated the service she was testifing was on a 120v 1500w service.
The OCCC service is for a single 120v 1500w service. Extension cords and multi-outlets are an extra $24.00 each, and branching is specifically not included.
The Focus One service is for a multiple (one circuit in multiple locations) 120v 1500w service. Extension cords which are needed for branching are included, multi-outlets are included and an hour of electrical labor, for the floor layout, or branching of the circuit, and tear out is included.
The $60 difference in OCCC pricing quickly disappears with the additions of just one extension cord and one multi-outlet. The stagehand labor in Orlando, which is not included, required to branch power or an additional cord would definitely give McCormick Place the price advantage.
Ms. Heftman’s characterization of Focus One’s pricing as being 40% more than Orlando’s is completely false and untrue.
Ms. Heftman is a veteran trade show manager and she is highly paid to know the differences between Chicago and Orlando.
It is interesting that Ms. Heftman chose to clarify her testimony using this specific service, if her exhibitor chose the 120v 500w service with one extension cord the cost would be $140 in the OCCC versus $89.00 in McCormick Place.
If that was the case, do you think she would have testified that Focus One prices were 40% less than Orlando’s?
While we are talking about prices, how can the National Restaurant Association charge exhibitors $28.50 per square foot for its show, when Pack-Expo is only charging $24.50 and including drayage?
Both events are at McCormick Place, both will use the same labor, follow the same work rules.
The only difference is one is managed by GES, while the other is not managed by GES or Freeman.
“Regional Transportation Authority Chairman Jim Reilly, who is advising a legislative panel on McCormick Place, made the statements in a correspondence Monday with Chris Price, a point person for the Graph Expo printing industry show.”
I thought Mr. Reilly was an adviser to the legislative panel, why is he corresponding with a Trade Show Manager?
How and why was this correspondence leaked to the press?
Is this an attempt of coersion of a public board?
“When Reilly was informed that the Tribune had the correspondence and wished to discuss it with him further, he responded by e-mail that he was under contract to legislative leaders, and referred queries to Steve Brown.”
Funny how Reilly can clamp his mouth after this insider, “secret information” leaked, but prior to that he’s yapping away via e-mail with an exhibitor, discussing interim board conversations and speculating on what the state will do. Geez…I wonder who planted these nuggets of detail and delivered it to the Trib.
Is Reilly saying, never mind what the interim McPier board does, I am in control here.
Is the interim McPier Board a waste of time and money?
Should the RTA control McPier?
Should the Trade Show Association Managers control McPier?
Should Freeman and GES control McPier since they already have a monopoly on the trade shows?
I think if Freeman or GES wants to control McPier they should buy McPier.