This year’s GlobalComm trade show at McCormick Place marks the first time in recent years that vendors of telecom equipment are holding their own show apart from telecom carriers who held a separate show in Las Vegas.
And turnout will determine whether the show stays in Chicago beyond 2007 or moves elsewhere.
“We have a great relationship with the unions, with McCormick Place and just as importantly, with the hotels, who have given us exceptionally good pricing,” said Matthew Flanigan, president of the Telecommunications Industry Association, which owns and operates the show, one of two to replace the former Supercomm. “We are looking for support from the local business community in attendance,” he said, noting the association hopes to draw 20,000 attendees.
Besides drawing telecom carriers, the show also seeks to attract information technology officers, especially from mid-size enterprises in the Midwest, said Van Cullens, chairman of the vendors’ trade group.
“This is a place where a CIO can come and spend a few days to learn more about the latest communications technology than he could do on his own in two weeks,” said Cullens, who is also chief executive of Aurora-based Westell Technologies Inc.
Chicago, which has lost trade-show market share to Las Vegas and Orlando, is eager to hold onto this show.
“We feel confident that GlobalComm is going to have a very successful show,” said Tim Roby, president of the Chicago Convention and Tourism Bureau, the sales arm for McCormick Place. He cited its access to the region’s business community and its use of bureau attendance-building and destination-marketing programs.
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