Mid-Am Moves in 2004

This will be the last year Mid-Am attendees will walk the familiar halls of Chicago’s Navy Pier, where the horticultural trade show has been planted for the last eight years. The show simply outgrew the space, and after this year, it will relocate to the Lakeside Center at McCormick Place – the largest exhibition facility in the U.S.

“Mid-Am has been sold out every year at the Pier,” explained Mid-Am Board President Larry Thalmann in an Aug. 6 news release. “The new, larger location at McCormick Place will allow present Mid-Am exhibitors to expand their current space, something that has been difficult to accommodate in the past. It will also allow us to expand the show by offering additional exhibitors entrance into one of the finest green industry trade shows in the country.”

Moving the 2004 tradeshow and conference to The Lakeside Center will provide room for 11,000 more show attendees. The venue – the original East Building of McCormick Place that was re-named The Lakeside Center in 1997 – also houses 40 meeting rooms and a 45,000 square-foot ballroom. Ample parking in an adjacent lot holds more than 10,000 vehicles and an onsite marshalling yard for trucks and 32 freight dock doors will ease transportation for both attendees and exhibitors.

The Hyatt Regency Chicago will continue to serve as Mid-Am’s headquarters hotel after the move in 2004, and the dates will remain the same – the third week in January.

Mid-Am is a comprehensive horticultural event that features exhibits from more than 600 industry suppliers, educational seminars and networking events. The 2003 Mid-America Horticultural Trade Show will take place at Chicago’s Navy Pier Jan. 15 to 17. For more information on the 2003 and 2004 shows, call 847/526-2010 or e-mail mail@midam.org.

The author is Managing Editor – Special Projects for Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at khampshire@lawnandlandscape.com.