McCormick to meet with trade show representatives

Change is coming to McCormick Place. Crain's Chicago Business and the Chicago Tribune are reporting that officials from Chicago's convention and tourism bureau plan to meet Feb. 17 with trade show clients to present their plan for reorganizing McCormick Place's troubled operations. The roundtable discussion with 40 exhibitors will address concerns on how the convention center will cut costs, said a spokeswoman for the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau, quoted by Crain's Chicago Business. She declined to name which trade show organizers it will be meeting with. Any guesses? How about the International Home and Housewares Show, which announced last month that it was considering moving from McCormick to either Las Vegas or Orlando, Fla. Such a move would be a disaster for Chicago, which already is losing the 2012 and 2015 NPE trade shows to Orlando.