Show of the Week: NPE – The Intl. Plastics Showcase
-- Tradeshow Week, 6/22/2009
Where: McCormick Place, Chicago (fixed)
When: June 22-26 (triennial)
Show owner: The Society of the Plastics Industry
General service contractor: Freeman
Who exhibits: Major suppliers and manufacturers in the plastics industry
Who attends: Almost every manufacturing industry imaginable
2006 show statistics: 942,524 net sq. ft.; 1,838 exhibitors; 47,717 professional attendees
Ranking on 2007 TSW 200: 12
New this year: The general service contractor. Last year, Freeman won the contract for the massive triennial, after the show previously was served by GES Exposition Services. With the signing of the contract, NPE became one of the five biggest events in Freeman's portfolio.
The bottom line: Saying, “Our folks needed the help,” Society of the Plastics Industry Vice President of Tradeshows Gene Sanders spent $3 million to give exhibitors, both large and small, allowances and discounts on general service contracting. The savings will range from $150 for the smallest exhibitors all the way up to $4,500 for some of the largest.
