Chicago AWW show

[Non-Union]

In article <3246c9c9...@news.iac.net>, gsh...@iac.net says...
>
>Was anyone else as disappointed as I was with the Chicago AWW show?
>
>The turnout of vendors was pitiful, it was about the same size as the
>"traveling" woodworking shows. From all the hype I was expecting it
>to be huge. Sigh. Sure glad I didn't have to pay for a hotel room
>after driving all the way from Cincinnati to Chicago just for the
>show.
>
>I talked to a couple of vendors who had done the Ft. Washington
>version of this show last year and they said it was MUCH bigger. They
>said the real problem with the Chicago show was the union labor
>required to move EVERY single box from the dock to the door. One guy
>stated that it literally cost him as much to move the boxes from the
>dock as it did to get the stuff from Utah to Chicago. Having done a
>computer trade show in Chicago myself I know what he meant. He went
>on to say that lots of the smaller vendors stayed away because the
>added costs ate all their potential profit. Sad.
>
>The real highlight was the demonstration booths, Frank Klauz did a
>really nice presentation at his booth. I was lucky enough to be there
>at the time he decided he needed to sharpen his chisels, plane and
>scrapper! He was very nice and answered lots of questions. That did
>make the trip worthwhile, but the exhibits were, IMHO, a bust. I
>anticipated need to spend two days to really take in the whole show,
>as it was I finished in a few hours.

I've heard about the union fees. In short, VERY high. I used to go to the
photography show at McCormick place, which is no more because other US cities
don't have such high union fees demanded of the vendors.

Wonder how much revenue Chicago looses out on because of the union toll?

[Bill Leonard]

Without going into much detail, there has been a recent shakeup in the
local Teamsters heirachy in Chicago. Some of the stories in the Trib
point to the very same kinds of over-chargings noted in a couple of the
followup posts.

With the leadership changes, maybe there'll be some modifications to the
way business is done. Yeah, that's it.

Pinch me, I must be dreaming...

=======

I live an hour west of Chicago and thought about going to the show but
ended up working with my neighbor on his addition. A ww friend went and
wasn't overly impressed. I think I had a better time driving nails.

In the past, my picture-framer wife and I would go to the big ("big" for
that particular industry) framing shows when they'd come to Chicago.
Those were always a good time.

Bill Leonard
b...@gvmail.lucent.com

[HEARTBREAK KID]

Non-Union wrote:

>I've heard about the union fees. In short, VERY high. I used to go to the
>photography show at McCormick place, which is no more because other US cities
>don't have such high union fees demanded of the vendors.

>Wonder how much revenue Chicago looses out on because of the union toll?

This thread could go on forever as Chicago's unions are legendary with
trade Show exhibitors. The last time I set a booth there, some 10
years ago, the setup was something like this:

Wooden crates required a carpenter to open. If he used an electric
drill/driver, that required an electrician as well. I can't recall
what the carpenter got but, to get an electrician, you had to stand in
line, fill out a form and walk back from Timbuktu to your booth with
him...while the clock was ticking at $60.00 per hour or any part
thereof. Changing a lightbulb required an electrician and the same
walk and wait....and charge. Of course, tearing down, you had the
same walk and wait to get the crates sealed. And, God forbid, that
you haul them to the loading docks by yourself....you stood in another
line to get a Union stevedore to do it. Most of those guys also
expected a tip of at least $5.00 every time they left the booth, too.

In 1987 or 1988, the Promoters won a MAJOR concession from the unions
and were able to let exhibitors use cordless screwdrivers in their
booths without having an electrician on hand....this was the MAJOR
feature promoted in propaganda from the Giftware and Houseware's shows
held there that year....in advertising sent to exhibitors to try to
sell booth space.

Trade Show Promoters don't make any "rakeoff" on union help..or any
other decorator's charges, for that matter. Hall rent is generally
the cheapest item on their cost list. The decorator doesn't make MUCH
from the labor charges OR the cost of drapes, signs and carpeting...he
makes his money on drayage...the charge he gets for receiving the
freight and hauling it to the show site...and, in the case of
McCormick Place, the Unions take over from the docks to the booths.

I can't speak for Shows that rely on charging admission for part of
their profit but, in general, a Trade Show Promoter figures he should
clear 1/3 of the booth cost for his time and office expenses....and
another 1/3 should go to advertising.....the rest goes for the stuff
most exhibitors think about...hall rent, drapes, signs, etc.. In many
cases, the booth cost for an exhibitor is less than 1/2 his total Show
expenses because of freight, drayage, union labor charges, his own
hotel room and travel expenses, etc..

HBK....who's got a strong financial investment in a Trade Show
Promotion Company to rely on for the above numbers.

[Greg Loeb]

In article <3247DA10...@gvmail.lucent.com>, Bill Leonard
<b...@gvmail.lucent.com> wrote:

> Without going into much detail, there has been a recent shakeup in the
> local Teamsters heirachy in Chicago. Some of the stories in the Trib
> point to the very same kinds of over-chargings noted in a couple of the
> followup posts.
>
> With the leadership changes, maybe there'll be some modifications to the
> way business is done. Yeah, that's it.

Yeah, We used to hold a Music Industry show at McCormick Place every
year and had the same extortion problems, not just with Teamsters, but
with everyone involved with the place. And then there were the theft
problems. Despite the buildings being locked up and "guarded" every night,
things would somehow still be missing in the morning. The last year we had
a show there, a GRAND PIANO somehow disappeared from the show floor
overnight.
Then when the show was over and while we were waiting for the Teamster
we had bribed to bring us our packing boxes, a union decorator of some
sort came by to remove the fabric skirt from a table we had in our booth.
Basically this involved taking a tablecloth off a piece of Velcro,
possibly as much as a 30 second task if you were being very careful. A
friend and I stood there talking while waiting for the Teamster we'd
bought (must have got a better deal). After 45 minutes we noticed the
decorator guy was still removing the tablecloth, so I asked him if there
was a problem. He said,"No Man, I'm tripping".