Medical group pulling trade show from Chicago after one visit

Medical group pulling trade show from Chicago after one visit- Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society cites high cost of electrical services for moving 2012 meeting to Las Vegas
By Kathy Bergen
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
November 12, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/travel/chicago/chi-thu-mccormick-trade-show-nov12,0,4538483.story


Chicago is losing a premier medical trade show to Las Vegas because of the high cost of electrician services at McCormick Place, the show organizer said late Wednesday.

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, which held its annual meeting at McCormick Place for the first time in April, is taking its 2012 show to the Sands Expo and Convention Center and the adjacent Venetian hotel.

The show rotates between several cities, and 2012 had been the next window for Chicago, which is trying to establish itself as a center for medical meetings.

Chicago was ruled out after show exhibitors and organizers were slammed with electrical services bills that were four to 10 times greater than what they paid at last year's show in Orlando, Fla., for identical services, said Steve Lieber, president and CEO of the Chicago-based association.

One small exhibitor saw its electrical-services bill climb from $4,000 in Orlando to $40,000 in Chicago, for the same booth, he said, adding that others saw costs rise by four to eight times what they paid in Orlando.

While hourly rates are not significantly higher here, the number of workers required and the number of hours billed for identical jobs are much greater, he said.

"The feedback from our exhibiting companies told us Chicago is not ready for us," Lieber said. "The companies that support our trade show are not in a position to be able to foot those kind of bills, especially in this economy."

The 2009 show in the West Building was a choice piece of business for the city, drawing 27,000 attendees and generating an estimated $55 million in spending locally. McCormick Place officials had touted its arrival as a sign that the city was on track to becoming the world's medical meetings headquarters.

The loss is a disappointment, acknowledged Juan Ochoa, chief executive of Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which owns and operates the convention center.

But the city has had some wins as well, he said. In September, the American Society of Clinical Oncology committed to holding its annual meeting of nearly 30,000 cancer specialists at McCormick Place for 10 years, starting in 2010.

And Ochoa said he hoped the city at some point could win back the medical show. The authority restructured its electrician labor pool in September, cutting it to 50 workers from 150, in an effort to retain only the most skilled, he said.

"Upcoming shows will experience the most customer-friendly and efficient electrical staff, which will cut their costs," he said.

The health care information association "is hoping that will start to make some difference," said Lieber, noting that Chicago's central location and health care industry concentration make it very attractive.

"But they couldn't give us any kind of assurance that we wouldn't see similar type of bills in 2012," he said.

A lesser issue for the group had been the cost of hotel rooms for the 2009 show, and the reluctance of hotels to budge from prices locked in prior to the deep recession, he said. But, ultimately, some hotels modified their rates for 2009, and the hotels got competitive when negotiating for the 2012 show, he added.

The group's decision to go to Las Vegas comes as Chicago is fighting to save the plastics industry trade show, a triennial show that has been a major staple at McCormick Place since 1971. The show's producer, SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association, also cited the high costs of exhibiting here as a factor in its decision to consider a move to Orlando in 2012.

A decision is expected by year-end.

The medical society's decision comes less than a month after Mayor Richard Daley told the Tribune editorial board that he will seek a major overhaul in the way Chicago markets itself as a destination for tourism and conventions.

kbergen@tribune.com