Michael Hart

The End of the $3 Bottle of Water?
June 20, 2007

McCormick Place – or rather, the Metropolitan Pier and Exhibition Authority, which runs it – sort of got itself a new food service provider earlier this week. Levy Restaurants, which had the contract for the past five years, joined with two other companies to successfully bid on a new 10-year contract.

The real fun in this development seemed to be, alas, nothing that would really be of much interest to our readers. It apparently involved the kind of subtle political machinations that only a veteran Chicago newspaper reporter could really appreciate. Suffice it to say there were plenty of delays before the MPEA board could make a decision with one vote to spare.

The one piece of the story that a Tradeshow Week reader should be interested in is that, according to McCormick Place General Manger David Causton, you’ll be happier with what you get to eat and drink when you’re at a show in Chicago. He claims there will be more places around the center (and at Navy Pier) that will be more accessible to tradeshow attendees and exhibitors with higher-quality food and beverage. What’s more, he says, there will be more thought and attention given to individual events and their specific F&B needs.

I know. We’ll just have to see. The new regime takes over Sept. 1.

It is, however, in line with the trend in convention center management we’ve been writing about for a couple of years now: more attention to the little things that event organizers and meeting planners say they want. Just about every convention center proposal or expansion these days is heavy on flexible meeting space and lighter on the giant exhibit halls. They’re offering free wi-fi, gourmet chefs, lush carpeting and restrooms closer to the action.

And I have to admit that McCormick Place, which has fit the paradigm of the giant traditional center suitable for big booths as well as any of them, seems to have gotten the idea as well as anybody. The new McCormick Place West will be loaded with meeting rooms and, though MPEA is technically not responsible for this, the old labor problems are finally getting resolved.

And now this. So, do we dare to dream? A bottle of water that costs less than three bucks and is less than a 10-minute hike from your exhibit booth? We’ll see.

Posted by Michael Hart on June 20, 2007 | Comments (0)