A Plastics Blog reader pointed out that The Wall Street Journal has finally noticed the story on the exodus of trade shows from Chicago. The story, on Page A6 in our Jan. 19 edition, was headlined "Chicago Loses Cachet as Convention Center." The article barely mentions the catalyst for this mess -- the decision by the Society of the Plastics Industry Inc. to move the 2012 and 2015 NPE trade shows to Orlando, Fla.
In November, a big triennial plastics show that had been bringing as many as 75,000 people to Chicago since 1971 jumped to Orlando, saying it expected to save $20 million for its members through the move.The Plastics Blog reader who shared the story this morning noted that the story doesn't even name the show. "I was amused that NPE was referenced without its name as 'a big triennial plastics show,'" he wrote. Good point -- and I'll add that many in the Chicago media didn't use the name NPE, either. I imagine some reporters outside the industry are confused because the intials don't stand for "National Plastics Exposition" anymore, so they just write around it rather than using an acronym that means nothing to their readers. Anyway, I suppose this means NPE's move is finally officially a national business story. So now we should expect to see Fortune, Forbes and BusinessWeek take up the issue. Plastics exhibitors, get ready for a new round of coverage.