Super Bowl Speeds Up Move-out

By Margo McCall -- Tradeshow Week, 2/13/2006

Thanks to some logistical planning and hard work, the footballs flying around at the Super Bowl's NFL Experience didn't end up dinging shiny concept cars left over from the North American Intl. Auto Show.

Normally, it takes two weeks for the auto show to move out of Detroit's Cobo/Conference Exhibition Center. But this year, due to the Super Bowl-related event, move-out time after the Jan. 14–22 auto show had to be cut in half.

"Thank God for the good weather, or we would have had a problem," said Sam Tanari, vice president of Convention & Show Services, the auto show's general services contractor. "If we'd have gotten six inches of snow, it would have been a nightmare getting those trucks in and out of there."

Tanari said his company brought in 300 extra workers and set up extra ramps to augment Cobo's 20 loading docks. Operations were expanded to around the clock, instead of 12 hours per day.

All told, 1,000 trucks are needed to accommodate the hundreds of vehicles and materials associated with the show's 91 exhibits. As soon as the show closed, the cars started lining up to be driven off to the loading docks. Next came the aisle carpet, and after that the crates for loading booth materials.

Even with the extra workers and ramps and 24-hour schedule, the timing was tight. Tanari said the NFL Experience started moving in just three days after the auto show's close. "As soon as something got clear on the floor, we were moving them in," he said.

But within five days, 90 percent of the auto show had been dismantled. The show, which dates back to 1907, drew 759,310 attendees this year, down slightly from 2005. It was also the site of 67 new product introductions.

The NFL Experience, sponsored by America Online, let attendees collect players' autographs, test their passing and kicking skills and call play-by-plays. Among its attractions were face-painting, referee clinics and a seminar geared toward teaching women the rules of the game.

The auto show, managed by the Detroit Auto Dealers Assn., had a year's notice that the move-out would have to be condensed. It helped that the union allowed for one-day, rather than three-day, calls.

Last October, the auto show and the unions that provide its labor signed a five-year agreement allowing more flexible scheduling to reduce overtime costs and the establishment of a labor management committee.

Were any Super Bowl tickets thrown in as incentives? Not a chance, said Tanari, adding that he didn't mind rushing the move-out, as long as he's not asked to do it again next year.