I have read your editorials about NPE and Chicago. It is about time someone spoke out about the ridiculous costs associated with McCormick Place.
The costs continue to rise with little to no opportunity to do anything about it. We are held captive because the size and location for many shows requires us to use McCormick. I would like to add that cost is only one of many reasons I have for changing NPE's venue.
In the past 18 years, I have attended, and also supervised, many displays there. Each one has been excruciating: from our product being stolen out of our booth, our carpet being stolen after the show (twice, at a cost of $6,000 each time), being solicited by highly paid union employees for extra cash, to the arrogant ranting of union supervisors because we are doing too much work on our booth. I once had to pay $250 for an “electrician” to plug in an extension cord! (No, I am not making this up.)
I have to wonder how smaller companies even begin to recoup the costs of displaying there. But I also shudder at having to work with individuals so unskilled that I worry about whether my display is going to be well-presented when it is up.
Not only are we paying these ridiculous costs, but we are paying 100 times what we'd pay in the “real world” for horrible service.
Don Handrow
Janesville, Wis.