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* Sen. Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago) writing in Crain’s…
Governor J.B. Pritzker deserves high marks for his management of the pandemic, considering the abysmal lack of leadership and inadequate support from Washington.
But now we are at the one-year mark. Vaccinations for all adults are promised by May. In any case, the light at the end of the tunnel is visible, making it critical to unveil a plan to bring back conventions now.
Conventions and other events like weddings require at least a six-month planning ramp. Choose Chicago has estimated that Chicago has lost more than 60 conventions, with just 29 remaining on the books for 2021. Radio silence on a plan from decision makers has resulted in three conventions pulling the plug just last month.
Comparable states like Michigan, Colorado, Nevada and Ohio have unveiled forward-thinking plans allowing convention centers to increase their numbers of visitors, albeit incrementally. These mitigation plans act like a thermostat dial, rather than an on/off switch.
Illinois must hastily adopt a similar strategy or more events will be in peril and perhaps even lost forever to other states.
* I asked for a response from the Pritzker administration. Here’s Jordan Abudayyeh…
At every step of this pandemic the Governor has worked with public health officials to balance the health and safety of our residents with economic concerns. The Governor has been on the frontlines of this pandemic response making the tough decisions between bad and terrible choices in order to save lives and it has pained him to see our hospitality industry suffer as we have kept our distance and canceled the events that bring us joy throughout the past year. As we look forward to the end of this phase of the pandemic response with mass vaccination on the horizon, the Governor is once again turning to the medical experts on how best to move forward in a measured way to ensure continued progress in our fight against coronavirus. The administration has always welcomed input from industry and members of the General Assembly and hopes vaccine allocation and uptake will increase in the weeks ahead as we inch closer to a new normal.
Discuss.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 9:22 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
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The tourism industry/Council as well as every state wide association and group need to use some of it’s resources to promote vaccinations.
Mass media, social networks, membership outreach, cross marketing with others.
Nothing short of full on messaging. Without mass vaccination none of us should expect to see anything close to “normal” anytime soon.
Comment by don the legend Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 9:29 am
“hastily”
Does anyone proofread anymore?
Comment by Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 9:31 am
That was a lot of words to not say anything. The Governor needs to show real leadership on this issue. Perhaps he is awaiting polling results to tell him if he can show some forward thinking for the convention industry.
Comment by BoredBystander Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 9:35 am
Conventions will come back when the attendees feel comfortable, not when Chicago tells them it’s safe.
Comment by Bruce( no not him) Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 9:54 am
==Vaccinations for all adults are promised by May.==
This isn’t true. The promise is that there is supply for all American adults by May. That could mean May 1 or May 31 and doesn’t address the logistical issues of turning the supply of vaccines into shots in the arms.
https://www.statnews.com/2021/03/02/biden-promises-enough-covid-19-vaccines-all-americans-end-of-may/
Comment by Precinct Captain Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 9:58 am
=Conventions will come back when the attendees feel comfortable, not when Chicago tells them it’s safe.=
I don’t feel I will ever want to go back to a convention, large conference (even if it was work-related), concert, or another event with a huge crowd. Even the State Fair. Never again after this pandemic.
Unless virtual options were offered for conventions and conference.
Comment by Essential State Employee Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 10:07 am
==Conventions will come back when the attendees feel comfortable, not when Chicago tells them it’s safe. ==
That’s spot on.
Also, why does anyone think Gov. Pritzker would have some weird, undisclosed motive for not opening up as soon as it is safe? The family coffers are filled by folks staying in hotels. The sooner and faster hotels fill up, the better for Hyatt…anyone who claims he doesn’t care about or understand the convention/hospitality industry isn’t considering his background.
Comment by Pot calling kettle Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 10:10 am
Until would-be attendees are vaccinated, and feel safe enough to attend, there will continue to be convention cancellations all over the country. The plan is to get people the vaccinations they want. Aside from achieving herd immunity, people won’t come. I suppose you could require a V card (Vaccinated People Only) code at McCormick Place.
Comment by PublicServant Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 10:25 am
“I don’t feel I will ever want to go back to a convention”
Seems a little hyperbolic. 10 years from now you wouldn’t go to a convention?
Comment by Anon E Moose Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 10:30 am
Chicago 2022 - We’re Back Windier Than Ever.
Comment by Norseman Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 10:32 am
We should not be doing anything “hastily” when it comes to this pandemic. Saying that, I think it would be beneficial for the Governor to at least give a clue as to what future measured progress would lead to what level of further reopening. That’s not an unfair ask. The point about needing long range planning for these types of events is well taken.
Comment by Original Rambler Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 10:33 am
As the old saying goes, “Haste makes great policy.”
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 10:45 am
A lot of people are ready to get out and do something. I’m planning a small car club convention, 50 - 100 people max, in Springfield the end of summer. Facilities are booked.
I’ve personally talked to a number of people who will be attending; they are all older and are in the middle of vaccination now. The facility I’m using is figuring on 50% capacity for events, which will be pre-registered / pre-sold to match attendance to capacity.
The same facility also has a couple of other car club conventions scheduled in a few months, plus other small (sub 200) conventions. So the demand is there if it can be safely done … and it looks like it can.
The big conventions are harder to plan for. Someone said it takes 6 months; actually, some if those are planned many years in advance. Even our little club plans 2 to 3 years out, with the detail work done the year before that meet.
The various powers that be really do need to build a road map so the professional planners can have some idea of what might be doable in 3 - 6 - 9 months.
Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:13 am
“Vaccinations for all adults are promised by May.”
I bounce back and forth between believing that people using that phrase are just misinterpreting what has actually been said and believing they are willfully misconstruing things to set up a “gotcha” when many people are not vaccinated by May.
Comment by tea_and_honey Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:14 am
“The various powers that be really do need to build a road map so the professional planners can have some idea of what might be doable in 3 - 6 - 9 months.”
This is the key point that isn’t being made loudly enough by Choose Chicago, etc. These conventions are booked years in advance and plans are made 6 months+ in advance. The gov needs to lay out a plan for reopening with te caveat that if numbers spike out again, we can regress.
Comment by Dee Lay Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:24 am
Excited to see a reasonable request that Governor Pritzker’s staff adopts a Phase 4.5 policy for the hospitality industry devolve into a snit over the use of “hastily”.
It’s been months since the Phase 4 (now) and Phase 5 (hey hey, everyone’s vaccinated!) structure was laid out. There should be a plan by now for in between or a flat out “Nothing’s changing further for the hospitality industry until we hit X% of residents vaccinated.”
Clarity for the industry that’s lost the highest percentage of jobs over the past year isn’t an unreasonable ask. Or it shouldn’t be.
Comment by ChicagoBars Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:29 am
-Don the Legend-
“The tourism industry/Council as well as every state wide association and group need to use some of it’s resources to promote vaccinations.”
I have it on pretty good authority a lot of the hospitality and convention trade Associations have been pushing for their employees to get moved up from 1(c) to 1(b) in vaccine priority for quite awhile. Pretty obvious difficulty for hospitality industry groups to push a “Get vaccinated now” message that will surely also lead hundreds of thousands of industry staff to think they are finally eligible.
Comment by ChicagoBars Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:34 am
== The promise is that there is supply for all American adults by May ==
Unless they mess up the logistics, that means everyone who wants vaccinated should be by the end of Juky.
Comment by RNUG Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:38 am
Gotta start to phase things in here as it pertains to the convention industry. You have the vaccinated herd and the already sick herd. It’s a pretty big group of folks.
And it will be up to the convention industry to get people to show up. I think its reasonable to assume that a decent percentage of folks won’t be back right away. But many will, and that’s on the industry to prepare for. The way they did after a crash in 08/09.
And I sure hope we aren’t waiting for “everyone” to be vaccinated. That is an unachievable metric.
Comment by Cool Papa Bell Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 11:55 am
=“I don’t feel I will ever want to go back to a convention”
Seems a little hyperbolic. 10 years from now you wouldn’t go to a convention?=
That is correct. Plus many of those events are cost-prohibitive for me even before the pandemic. I’d rather spend my money on saving for my own retirement plans or something more worthwhile with my money.
Comment by Essential State Employee Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 12:10 pm
I don’t think I will want to go to a convention either. Not unless I can’t get whatever information I want any other way and with today’s internet that doesn’t seem likely. Plus, since all the infrastructure is now there I would imagine everything will also be available via virtual convention which will be cheaper to my employer.
Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 12:31 pm
* Never again after this pandemic. *
I see you bought into the scare tactics hook line and sinker. My guess is you’ve never had an interest in those things, even before covid.
Comment by Needs More Fiber Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 12:49 pm
=== scare tactics===
You can’t un-die
You’re not a hero if you mock others’ concerns.
We had a “tough guy” tell us not to be afraid until he was at Walter Reed, then bloviated his tough he was after.
To the thoughts?
Yeah, open, close… the reality is the conventions and convention goers will drive attendance and frequency of any as comfort and safety will be more important than availability.
Ignoring or mocking that only reinforces the concerns that others might not take a global pandemic seriously
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 12:53 pm
Love myself some Feigenholtz but being at the one year mark doesn’t mean anything. We’re making progress but we don’t just get the flip a switch. The virus will tell us when we’re ready to flip the switch and that’s when we’ve gotten numbers down to a certain level. Not every state in this nation is playing by the same rules as ours and we can’t pretend that everyone else is and then blindly open our convention doors to tens of thousands of visitors. We need to continue to be slow but steady towards progress. We will get there.
Comment by Shytown Wednesday, Mar 10, 21 @ 2:58 pm