A couple of high-profile trade shows have left Chicago, and many who are unfamiliar with McCormick Place have been disseminating information which is both inaccurate and counterproductive.

Economic conditions are behind the loss of these shows, and the associations who run them are doing what any smart consumer does these days -- shopping for the best deal.

Higher costs have been cited as a major reason for the move to other cities, and the obvious solution is to lower them, but lower costs mean lower revenue. The history of the major players has been to demonize the people who do the dirty work while maintaining unconscionable profits. If the core issues influencing price aren't addressed, the problem will continue to get worse.

Union workers have made repeated concessions, and their wages are comparable to their counterparts in other cities, yet experts agree costs in Chicago remain too high. Demands for further wage concessions from the workers would fall into Albert Einstein's definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

This should serve as a wake-up call for everyone in the trade show industry, but not a time for panic, which rarely promotes creative long-term solutions. If the most powerful entities in the trade show business think they can hide behind the anti-union rhetoric which has allowed them to escape scrutiny while the industry collapses beneath them, they are in for a rude awakening.

David Cizmar, South Loop