[skokiebob]

Hello all. Been trolling through all the threads, and there is a wealth of info here, thanks for that. Me and the Mrs. are contemplating a move to your fair city from Chicagoland. I'm a Chef at our Convention Center, and was wondering if anybody on here has any first hand knowledge of how the Tradeshow business is trending there. We have been struggling a bit here, cutting staff and the usual measures to hit the almighty numbers, just wondering how you guys are doing, as the two Centers are very similar in size and type of shows that come. We lose some shows to you because of weather for sure, but probably make it up by being centrally located. Anyway, thanks in advance, I'll be on here a lot until we decide. Been looking at houses and we're floored by the beautiful houses that can be had for a fraction of what they would cost here!

[airics]

if you haven't heard, the conventions have tanked.

[Wing Feathers]

Obama made sure that the convention business in Vegas is dead.

[MomMom]

According to the LVCVA here's the stats for March

Convention Attendance 446,588

Conventions Held 1,824

Convention attendance down between March 2008 and March 2009 -30%

Conventions held down between March 2008 and March 2009 -19.6%

Certainly not the same attendance/conventions held as in the past, but certainly not "dying" either...

Here's where you go to get all your Las Vegas stats and facts..

For Press and Research > Stats & Facts - LVCVA.com

[airics]

Originally Posted by drinkme

Obama made sure that the convention business in Vegas is dead.

nahh, he didn't kill it... he merely stabbed it in the arm

[aqualung8705]

You're going to have to prepare us all a sample of your cooking, so that we can tell if you'll cut it or not here. After all, we do ask all of the women who tell us that they're good looking to post a picture of themselves.

[jjameson922]

You can certainly get much more house for the money in LV. I don't know how your property taxes are in Chicago but Las Vegas is very good also. And so much better weather. Would you have to limit yourself to cooking for the convention center? Are you aware there is a prominent cooking school, although teaching there probably would not make as much as you are accustomed to. Do you know that some of the larger hotels/casinos keep their conventions in house? That might be a place for you.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by skokiebob

the usual measures to hit the almighty numbers, just wondering how you guys are doing, as the two Centers are very similar in size and type of shows that come. We lose some shows to you because of weather for sure, but probably make it up by being centrally located. Anyway, thanks in advance, !

Chicago loses a lot of the convention trade due to the extreme cost of holding shows there. Not that Las Vegas is particularly inexpensive, but show costs can easily be 25% less.

[MR77]

My job/career here in vegas is directly tied with the tradeshow industry. The company I work for is in major pain but we are shifting our focus from tradeshows and now hitting other markets. Business for us tanked about 30 or 40%, my job is in constant limbo. Many people were laid off. It's certainly rough right now, but things feel not quite as bad as they did. I dont have the stats to back that up, but my gut is telling me that things are turning.

It has become survival of the fit in my industry. Luckily, the company I work for has the cash to get through this slowdown and focus and grow in other markets. I think Vegas still is a much stronger tradeshow market than Chicago. Chicago was beginning to attract more business when prices in Vegas were too high for some to expo here, but given the economy Vegas has slowed its roll a little and smaller tradeshows and vendors can continue to expo here.

[skokiebob]

Thanks for the link mommom, and all the other input, really appreciate it. I've done hotels, and would rather not again, but sometimes second best is all we can hope for. Never done casinos, but they sound similar to hotels (24/7/365) yuck!