PLENARY SMG at McCormick Place Q Delta Goes Pink Q Midwest Haunters Convention

INDUSTRY NEWS

SMG Takes the Reins — and the Labor History — at McCormick Place

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T THE END OF APRIL, CONVENTION- center and venue-management company SMG was chosen by Chicago’s Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) to operate McCormick Place — which, with 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, instantly became the largest facility that SMG manages.

Of course, McCormick Place isn’t just big

— it’s also complex, especially when it comes to union issues. In June 2010, the Illinois state legislature passed a package of labor reforms

designed to make McCormick Place more competitive. But this summer, a federal judge struck down those reforms, ruling that they violated the unions’ collective-bargaining agreements. In a recent interview with Convene,

McCormick Place General Manager David Causton — who has been GM at the facil- ity since 2004, and has continued in his role under SMG’s new management — said that the response to the ruling is proceeding down three “railroad tracks” simultaneously. The first track, Caus-

ton said, is to appeal the ruling. The second is to negotiate directly with the unions, to convince them that the labor reforms are in their best interest.

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A Good Cause Takes Off

DELTA’S PINK PLANE: Keep an eye to the sky this month —

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

— for Delta Air Lines’ pink Boeing 767-400,

now in its second year of operation. On board the pink plane, as well as on other Delta

LARGE SCALE: With 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, McCormick Place is the largest facility that management company SMG operates.

THERE’S A MEETING FOR THAT? Freak Show

MIDWEST HAUNTERS CONVENTION (MHC): Just in time for Halloween, we scared up a terrifyingly fun batch of photos from MHC 2011, which convened at the Greater Columbus Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency Columbus on June 1–5. The country’s largest show for “haunted-attraction producers, actors, artists, and home haunters,” MHC offered the Haunted Attraction Association Masquerade Party (1), makeup workshops (2), the Black-Light Body Art Fashion Show (3), and a 60,000-square-foot exhibit hall jammed with ghoulish wares (4). For more information, visit www.MidwestHauntersConvention.com.

16 pcma convene October 2011 www.pcma.org 1

flights in October, the airline will be selling pink lemonade to passengers, with all proceeds donated to the Breast Cancer

Research Foundation.

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PHOTOS BY FOCI PHOTOGRAPHY