Full-time employees of six months or more may build, wire up and dismantle a booth of any size with their own hand tools, power tools and ladders. Contractors cannot use these rights.
Exhibitor guide · Chicago, IL · Updated
McCormick Place Exhibitor Guide
McCormick Place is four buildings and 2.6 million sq ft of exhibit halls on the lakefront, the largest convention center in North America. Since the 2010 reforms, your own full-time staff may build a booth of any size with their own tools and ladders, but drayage is still Teamster work and still near the top of the national range. This guide covers Halls A to F, the docks, what changed in 2010, drayage, shows and the connected hotels.
- 3,000+ exhibitors served
- 10,000+ booths built
- 2 days to a design brief
Photo: Chicago from the air, by Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, public domain.
Quick answers
What exhibitors ask about McCormick Place
Material handling from the dock to the booth is Teamster work billed as drayage, and power distribution stays with electricians. The 2010 law widened what exhibitors may do themselves.
Under the automobile and small utility vehicle (ASUV) program you may unload at designated docks with your own non-motorized hand trucks and dollies. Register in advance.
Among the highest in the country, with a 200 lb minimum and surcharges for late, uncrated or off-target freight. Your show kit carries the actual tariff.
Labor & union rules
McCormick Place union rules: what the exhibitor rights cover
McCormick Place is a union building with some of the broadest exhibitor rights in the country. The rights apply to full-time employees of at least six months, and only in their own booth. From the McCormick Place Exhibitor Bill of Rights; your show kit is the final word.
✓Your full-time staff
- Build and dismantle a booth of any size
- Use your own ladders, hand tools, cordless and power tools
- Assemble machinery and equipment
- Hang signs, graphics, props and drapery inside the booth
- Plug in and interconnect electrical, computer and AV equipment
- Move your own material with non-motorized hand trucks and dollies
- Unload a car or small utility vehicle at designated docks (ASUV)
●Union labor and the center
- Teamsters: freight from carriers to the booth, billed by weight
- Electricians: power distribution and drops to the booth
- Rigging, electrical, internet, cleaning and catering are exclusive to McCormick Place or its designated providers; the kit has the current list
- EACs and their crews work under the union jurisdictions; they cannot use exhibitor rights
- The center is privately managed (OVG360 on the 2022 rights notice) for the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority
!Never allowed
- Scooters, forklifts, genie lifts and pallet jacks
- Condors, scaffolding and scissor lifts
- Motorized dollies or any hydraulic equipment
- Contract labor posing as exhibitor employees: a contractor can lose its right of entry
- Non-certified fabrics in covered or multilevel exhibits, which need plan review
Background photo: "Concourse in McCormick Place" by chris.rycroft, CC BY 2.0 Source
Four buildings, six halls
McCormick Place floor plan: North, South, West and Lakeside halls
McCormick Place is four connected convention centers on one campus south of the Loop, linked by enclosed bridges and the Grand Concourse. Which building your show is in changes everything from your dock to your hotel. Tap a hall for its building and size.
Schematic. Widths are proportional to floor area; the halls sit in four buildings and this is not an architectural plan. Official floor plans, clear heights and floor loads are on mccormickplace.com and in your show kit.
Hall A · South Building
- 840,000 sq ft, divisible by two (A1, A2)
- Opened 1996–97
- 1.2M+ sq ft on one level with North
The biggest single hall, used by IMTS, PACK EXPO and the largest citywides. The South Building also holds the 33,740 sq ft Grand Ballroom, the 21,365 sq ft Vista Ballroom and 43 meeting rooms.
Hall B · North Building
- 496,000 sq ft, divisible by two
- Opened 1986
- Same level as Hall A
The North Building's main hall, built over active railroad tracks. RSNA's technical exhibits fill the North and South halls. The 35,836 sq ft Grand Concourse lobby links North and South for registration.
Hall C · North Building
- 209,000 sq ft, divisible by two
- Opened 1986
- 29 meeting rooms in North
The North Building's second hall, often a show's overflow or a mid-size event on its own. North totals more than 700,000 sq ft of exhibit space.
Hall D · Lakeside Center
- 300,000 sq ft, divisible by two
- Reopened 1971
- Arie Crown Theater, 4,000+ seats
In the dark steel and glass building that replaced the 1960 hall after the 1967 fire, with lake views and the 44,754 sq ft Lakeside Ballroom.
Hall E · Lakeside Center
- 283,000 sq ft
- Lakeside Terrace on the lake
- 40 meeting rooms in Lakeside
The Lakeside Center's second hall. A skybridge links the building to North and South; check walking times before you place a sponsor event here.
Hall F · West Building
- 470,000 sq ft on Level 3
- Opened 2007, $882 million
- 20–40 ft ceilings (engineer's figure)
The newest building, beside the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place, with the 103,000 sq ft Skyline Ballroom, 61 meeting rooms and a rooftop garden for receptions.
173meeting rooms with about 600,000 sq ft of meeting space across the campus · tabletop and pop-up displays
103,000sq ft Skyline Ballroom in the West Building, seating up to 10,000 theater style · general sessions and galas
~3,000hotel rooms connected to the campus at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and the Marriott Marquis Chicago
10,387seats in Wintrust Arena, opened on the campus in 2017 · concerts and keynotes as well as basketball
Only at McCormick Place
McCormick Place 2010 labor reforms: who sets up my booth now?
For decades exhibitors at McCormick Place could not touch a screwdriver. In May 2010, after shows threatened to leave for Orlando and Las Vegas, the Illinois General Assembly overrode the governor's amendatory veto and wrote convention reform into law. Exhibitors gained the right to work in their own booths at any size. Freight did not change.
| Task | Who does it today |
|---|---|
| Set up and dismantle the booth, any size | Your full-time staff, with their own ladders, hand tools, cordless and power tools. Before 2010, tool work was union-only |
| Assemble machinery and equipment in the booth | Your full-time staff |
| Install signs, graphics, props, drapery and table skirts | Your full-time staff |
| Deliver, set up, plug in and interconnect electrical, computer and AV equipment | Your full-time staff; power distribution to the booth is ordered from the electrical contractor |
| Skid, position and re-skid your own materials | Your full-time staff, with your own non-motorized, non-hydraulic hand trucks and dollies |
| Unload a car or small utility vehicle | Your staff, at designated docks under the ASUV program |
| Freight from trucks to the booth | Teamsters, billed as material handling (drayage). Unchanged by the reforms |
| Forklifts, pallet jacks, scissor lifts, scaffolding | Never you: exhibitors may not use motorized or hydraulic equipment |
| Any of the above by an EAC or hired temps | No. The rights belong to the exhibitor's own employees and cannot be transferred to contractors |
Source: McCormick Place Exhibitor Bill of Rights (November 2022 edition). An exhibitor employee is a full-time employee of at least six months before the show opens; McCormick Place may ask for a W-2 or payroll record within 24 hours. Questions: 312-791-7299.
Loading dock & move-in
McCormick Place loading dock and freight
Freight countdown for a McCormick Place show. The steps are typical; your kit sets the dates and the dock for your hall.
Get directions to McCormick Place →
- Building-specific docksEach building has its own docks and marshaling plan, and carriers are routed by building, not campus-wide. Address freight with building, hall and booth number.
- West Building apronThe 2007 expansion added a 36-berth dock and a 100,000 sq ft truck apron serving Hall F and the West Building.
- ASUV unloadingCars and small utility vehicles may unload at designated docks, using your own non-motorized hand trucks and dollies. Register for the program on mccormickplace.com.
- Winter showsSeveral of the largest shows run November through March. Ship a day early for Chicago weather.
- Day −75Design approved. Electrical and rigging orders open; confirm which building and hall.
- Day −45Covered or multilevel package to show management and the fire department if needed.
- Day −30EAC form and certificate of insurance filed. Advance warehouse opens. ASUV registration if you will unload a car.
- Day −14Purple ships from New York to Chicago.
- Day −7Advance warehouse deadline. Late freight pays the surcharge.
- Day 0Targeted move-in at the building's dock. Your own crew starts on its own schedule; union labor starts on straight time.
- Show +1Move-out. Empties return, MHA turned in, freight routed home.
Free tool
McCormick Place drayage cost estimator
Planning numbers for 2026 and 2027 at about $210 per hundredweight, with a 200 lb minimum. Lower than before the reforms, still near the top nationally; your show kit carries the actual tariff. See all venues on the drayage rates page.
Estimated drayage
$4,200
Cut this with a lighter booth
How to keep McCormick Place drayage down: aluminum frame systems instead of wood, one consolidated shipment, everything crated, and the advance warehouse on time. Because your own staff can assemble the booth, savings on install labor can offset some of what drayage still costs.
Photos: "Chicago Auto Show 2011" by _Tony_B, CC BY-SA 2.0 Source · "Chicago Auto Show 2010 (111)" by Aaron & Alli, CC BY 2.0 Source · "Chicago Marathon in Chinatown" by mooney47, CC BY 2.0 Source
Summer crowds downtown
Photo: "Chicago - Crown Fountain - Millenium Park" by Serge Melki, CC BY 2.0 Source
The calendar
McCormick Place trade shows 2026–2027
McCormick Place runs one of the busiest trade show calendars in the country, from radiology in December to cars in February, housewares, health IT and material handling in spring and foodservice in May. Attendance figures are rounded planning ranges; confirm each event with its organizer.
RSNA Annual Meeting
Radiology and medical imaging · exhibits Nov 29–Dec 2, North and South halls · 2026
Chicago Auto Show
Automotive, consumer · 119th edition · 2027
The Inspired Home Show
Housewares and home goods · trade only · 2027
HIMSS27
Health IT · conference and exhibition April 6–8 · 2027
ProMat
Material handling and supply chain · now three days · 2027
National Restaurant Association Show
Foodservice · ~50,000–60,000 · 2027
Dates are from each organizer. IMTS (September 14–19, 2026) and PACK EXPO International (October 18–21, 2026) have already run this season; both return in even-numbered years. Auto Show attendance is total public attendance.
Insider tips
McCormick Place exhibitor tips: what experienced teams do
Send six-month employees
Exhibitor rights cover full-time employees of at least six months before the show opens. Recent hires and temps do not qualify, and McCormick Place can ask for a W-2 or payroll record within 24 hours.
Pack the drill and the ladder
Your own power tools and ladders are allowed at any booth size. A booth your team can build with them saves the most labor here of any big union city.
Leave the pallet jack at home
Exhibitors may not use forklifts, pallet jacks, scissor lifts, scaffolding or anything motorized or hydraulic. Plan heavy pieces with the contractor and bring non-motorized hand trucks.
Register your car for ASUV
Unloading a car or small utility vehicle at the designated docks runs through the ASUV program. Register before move-in, and bring your own non-hydraulic dolly.
Put the building on every label
Docks are building-specific, so freight for Hall F at West goes nowhere near Hall D at Lakeside. Write building, hall and booth number on every bill of lading.
Book the connected hotels early
Only about 3,000 rooms connect to the campus at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and the Marriott Marquis. For citywides, the rest of the team rides the Busway or Metra from downtown.
Where to stay & getting there
Hotels near McCormick Place, transit and crew logistics
Nearly 3,000 hotel rooms connect directly to the campus; the rest of the city's blocks are downtown, a short ride north.
Connected
Hyatt Regency McCormick Place
On campus, linked by enclosed walkway to the West Building. Skip the commute entirely.
Connected
~10 min driveMarriott Marquis Chicago
The other on-campus tower, opened in 2017, with large room blocks for citywide shows.
Hilton Chicago
On Michigan Avenue, with some of the city's largest hotel meeting space.
Venue guide → ~15 min driveHyatt Regency Chicago
Downtown Loop access for staff and client meetings.
Venue guide →Under the campus
Metra, the Green Line and the Busway
Metra Electric stops beneath the complex. The CTA Green Line's Cermak–McCormick Place station is two blocks west, and the McCormick Place Busway runs 2.5 miles from downtown.
20–45 min
Midway and O'Hare
Midway is about 20 minutes and often cheaper; O'Hare is 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic. Lake Shore Drive and I-55 both reach the campus.
History · Chicago in pictures
McCormick Place history: the fire and the rebuild
McCormick Place burned to the ground in 1967, seven years after it opened, and came back on the same foundations as a dark steel and glass hall from the Mies van der Rohe school. Three more buildings followed.
- 1927Robert R. McCormick, publisher of the Chicago Tribune, begins championing a lakeside convention hall, a campaign that takes three decades to reach groundbreaking.
- 1960The $35 million hall by Alfred Shaw opens in November, five years after McCormick's death, with the Arie Crown Theater inside.
- 1967On January 16 a fire that starts in an exhibitor booth destroys the exhibition hall and kills security guard Kenneth Goodman. With no sprinklers on the main floor, the loss reshapes fire codes for exhibition buildings. The Arie Crown Theater survives.
- 1971The city rebuilds on the same foundations. The new East Building by Gene Summers of C. F. Murphy Associates, formerly of Mies van der Rohe's office, opens January 3. It is now the Lakeside Center.
- 1986The North Building opens, built over active railroad tracks and linked by a pedestrian bridge.
- 1996The South Building is dedicated in December with 840,000 sq ft in Hall A, making McCormick Place the largest convention center in the country.
- 2007The $882 million West Building opens August 2, adding Hall F and the 103,000 sq ft Skyline Ballroom and bringing exhibit space to about 2.6 million sq ft.
- 2010On May 27 the Illinois General Assembly overrides the governor's amendatory veto and enacts the McCormick Place reforms: exhibitor rights at any booth size, smaller crews, less overtime and a private manager.
- 2017Wintrust Arena and the Marriott Marquis Chicago open on the campus.
- 2020Part of the convention space becomes a 3,000-bed field hospital during the pandemic.
- 2024After about 1,000 birds died against the Lakeside Center's glass in one night in 2023, bird-safe film is applied, and fall-migration collisions drop by more than 95%.
FAQ
McCormick Place FAQ for exhibitors
Can I set up my own booth at McCormick Place?
Yes, at any booth size, with your own ladders, hand tools and power tools, if the work is done by full-time employees of your company who have worked for you at least six months. This has been possible since the 2010 McCormick Place reforms; before that, tool use was union-only regardless of booth size. The rights cannot be passed to contractors.
Did the 2010 reforms change drayage too?
No. The reforms targeted booth assembly, tool use, crew sizes and overtime. Material handling from the dock to the booth is still Teamster work, billed by weight.
What can I hand-carry into McCormick Place?
More than at most union venues. Your full-time employees (at least six months on payroll) may bring in and move your own materials with non-motorized, non-hydraulic hand trucks and dollies, and may unload automobiles and small utility vehicles at designated docks under the ASUV program, which needs advance registration. Forklifts, pallet jacks, motorized dollies and any other motorized or hydraulic equipment are not allowed. Freight from carriers and trucks goes through the dock as Teamster-handled drayage.
How much is drayage at McCormick Place?
Our planning estimate is about $210 per hundredweight in 2026 and 2027, with a 200-pound minimum and surcharges of 25 to 35 percent for late, off-target, uncrated or special-handling freight. Lower than before the reforms, still among the highest in the country.
How big is McCormick Place?
About 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space in six halls across four connected buildings: Hall A in the South Building (840,000 sq ft), Halls B and C in North, Halls D and E in the Lakeside Center and Hall F in West. South and North together offer more than 1.2 million square feet on a single level.
Which building will my show be in?
It depends on the show; citywide events such as the Auto Show, RSNA and IMTS use more than one building. Check your exhibitor kit for the hall before planning freight or hotels, because docks are building-specific.
Can I use a forklift or scissor lift?
No. Exhibitors and their employees may not use scooters, forklifts, genie lifts, pallet jacks, condors, scaffolding, scissor lifts, motorized dollies or any similar motorized or hydraulic equipment at McCormick Place.
Which airport should I use?
Midway is about 20 minutes and often cheaper. O'Hare is about 30 to 45 minutes depending on traffic and has more international routes.
Is there a hotel attached to McCormick Place?
Yes. The Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and the Marriott Marquis Chicago connect to the campus, with nearly 3,000 rooms between them.
How do I get to McCormick Place without a car?
Metra Electric stops beneath the complex, the CTA Green Line's Cermak–McCormick Place station is two blocks west, and the McCormick Place Busway runs from downtown for show shuttles.
What happened to the original 1960 building?
It burned down in a fire on January 16, 1967, that killed a security guard and reshaped fire codes for exhibition halls. The replacement, designed by a former Mies van der Rohe associate, opened on the same foundations in 1971 and is now the Lakeside Center.
Why did Chicago reform its labor rules?
For years organizers and exhibitors said Chicago's union-only tool rules and high costs were pushing shows toward Orlando and Las Vegas. In May 2010 the Illinois General Assembly enacted the reforms over the governor's amendatory veto.
Exhibiting at McCormick Place?
Tell us the show. We will fit the booth to the hall.
Tell us your building and hall and how many six-month, full-time employees you will send. Within two business days you get a booth your own team can build under the exhibitor rights, a drayage estimate at Chicago rates and a move-in plan for the right dock.
Background photo: "chicago night from water" by HeyAhsan, CC BY-SA 2.0 Source
Compare venues
McCormick Place vs other major U.S. convention centers
How the McCormick Place stacks up against other major U.S. convention centers. Drayage figures are Purple planning rates, not published tariffs.
| Venue | Type | Largest space | Ceiling | Labor | Drayage (plan) | Airport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| McCormick PlaceThis guide | Convention center | 840,000 sq ft Hall A (South) · 1.2M+ on one level | Varies by hall · check plan | Union · staff setup any size | ≈ $210/cwt | MDW · ~20 min |
| America's Center Convention ComplexSt. Louis | Convention center | 574,000 sq ft contiguous, with Dome floor | 40 ft | Union · 300 sq ft rule | ≈ $150/cwt | STL · 14 mi |
| Anaheim Convention CenterAnaheim | Convention center | 221,284 sq ft Hall D | 25 ft Hall D · 13 ft 8 in Hall E | Union · check kit | ≈ $172/cwt | SNA · 13 mi |
| Boston Convention & Exhibition CenterBoston | Convention center | 516,000 sq ft contiguous (Halls A–C) | 35 ft low · up to 100 ft | Union · staff setup OK | ≈ $324/cwt | BOS · 3 mi |
| Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention CenterSalt Lake City | Convention center | 515,000 sq ft contiguous, 10 halls | 30 ft | Right-to-work | ≈ $120/cwt | SLC · ~6 mi |
| Charlotte Convention CenterCharlotte | Convention center | 280,000 sq ft contiguous, Halls A–C | 30 ft listed max | Right-to-work | ≈ $115/cwt | CLT · 7 mi |
| Georgia World Congress CenterAtlanta | Convention center | 1M+ sq ft contiguous (Halls B, BC, C) | 30 ft to grid | Right-to-work | ≈ $150/cwt | ATL · 15–20 min |
| Huntington PlaceDetroit | Convention center | 623,000 sq ft contiguous, Halls A–D | 30 ft (A–D) · 18 ft 8 in (E) | Union · 400 sq ft rule | ≈ $155/cwt | DTW · 20 mi |
| Javits CenterNew York | Convention center | ~500,000 sq ft contiguous (Level 3) | Varies by hall · check plan | Union · 250 sq ft rule | ≈ $195/cwt | EWR / LGA / JFK · 45–70 min |
| Minneapolis Convention CenterMinneapolis | Convention center | 376,200 sq ft contiguous, Halls B–E | 30 ft 6 in to truss · 85 ft domes | Union · open dock | ≈ $150/cwt | MSP · ~20 min |
| Moscone CenterSan Francisco | Convention center | 502,440 sq ft contiguous, Halls A–F | 37 ft Halls A–C · 28 ft Hall F | Union · check kit | ≈ $180/cwt | SFO · 25–40 min |
| Orange County Convention CenterOrlando | Convention center | 1,103,538 sq ft West Building | 30–40 ft | Right-to-work | ≈ $155/cwt | MCO · 12 mi |
| San Diego Convention CenterSan Diego | Convention center | 525,701 sq ft contiguous, Halls A–H | 27 ft 4 in A–E · up to 64 ft F–H | Union · check kit | ≈ $176/cwt | SAN · 3 mi |
| Seattle Convention CenterSeattle | Convention center | 205,700 sq ft Arch Halls 4A–4F | 25 ft Arch · 30 ft Summit | Union · check kit | ≈ $165/cwt | SEA · Link ~40 min |
More Illinois guides
Other venues near McCormick Place
Hilton ChicagoSouth Loop
Hyatt Regency ChicagoDowntown
Navy Pier Festival HallStreeterville
Donald E. Stephens Convention CenterRosemont, near O'Hare
Schaumburg Convention CenterSchaumburg
Baird CenterMilwaukee
Written by the Purple Exhibits team. Reviewed for the 2026–2027 season. Figures marked for verification are being confirmed with McCormick Place event services. Sources: McCormick Place Exhibitor Bill of Rights (November 2022), Choose Chicago building pages (North, South, West, Lakeside Center), Walter P Moore (West Building), Wikipedia (McCormick Place), trade press coverage of the 2010 McCormick Place reform law (Printing Impressions, UFI), organizer sites for RSNA, the Chicago Auto Show, the Inspired Home Show, HIMSS, MHI ProMat and the National Restaurant Association Show, Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.