The McCormick Place is just a horrible place for a consumer show. The first year I was dazzled with its Jon Rauch-scaled halls and eaves. This year, I finally listened to what every single local told me: no one in the region likes going to the McCormick Place. It’s in the middle of nowhere, hard to get to, expensive to park and just…not friendly. It’s grand and clean I saw a custodian cleaning small scuffs from the granite floors with a tennis ball on Sunday and majestic—perfect for drug shows or bathroom and kitchen shows, but not for cozy comics. Local politics and the economy have botched getting a lot of B-to-B shows to the facility and the surrounding area is undeveloped.

via 12 thoughts about the 2012 Diamond Retailer Summit and C2E2 | The Beat.

My client-related time at C2E2 was fantastic – great people to work with, a great vibe at the panels and a definite uptick in fan attendance and excitement from Friday to Saturday. As one person I was working with said, “Then I realized I was in Chicago, where people work 9 to 5 and don’t take off just to come to a comics show.” Yep, pretty much. Plus the Sox opener was the same day and anyone who *was* skipping work was probably doing that.