Partner Insights & Updates: September 2024

Partner Insights & Updates

Oro Chocolate & Coffee
Oscar & Associates
PERILLA fare
Pinch Concierge Med Spa
Pritt Entertainment Group
Ramsay’s Kitchen
Roister Restaurant
St. Clair Supper Club
The Alley Chicago
The Aviary
The Black Foodies
The Expo Group
The Office
The Walt Disney Birthplace
Toss and Spin
Travel Funders Network

Fall Partner Showcase

Register here to join us at the Choose Chicago Partner Showcase, our exciting and vibrant trade show featuring 40+ innovative partner businesses. This event offers an exclusive opportunity to discover the newest products, services, and venues to help elevate your business and provide an unparalleled experience for your customers. Whether you’re looking for inspiration, solutions, or valuable connections, you’re sure to find it at the Partner Showcase event. View exhibiting partners here.

Tuesday, October 1 | 11am – 1:30pm
McCormick Place West Building | Room W181 | 2301 S Indiana Ave

Chicago Restaurant Week Registration Now Open

Choose Chicago dining partners may now register to participate in Chicago Restaurant Week 2025! Additional information as well as key dates and registration steps are available here.

Sales and Client Service Updates

The Choose Chicago Sales team had a presence at the recent AMEX INTER[action] Puerto Rico tradeshow where they met with global buyers and suppliers. Team members will also attend the upcoming Trade Show Executive’s Gold 100 Awards & Summit in Santa Barbara later this month where some of our key clients and partners will be honored.

RECENT & UPCOMING EVENTS IN CHICAGO

American Bar Association | ABA 2024 Annual Meeting

July 31 – August 6
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Estimated attendance: 3,500

Ace Hardware Corporation | Ace 2024 Fall Convention & Exhibits*

August 8 – 10
McCormick Place & Wintrust Arena
Final attendance: 19,926

*Ace Hardware celebrated their 100^th anniversary at this event and had record-breaking attendance.

Academy of Management | The 84th Meeting of the Academy of Management*

August 9 – 13
Hyatt Regency Chicago, Swissotel, Fairmont, Sheraton Grand Chicago Riverwalk, and Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile
Registration: 10,000+

*The first AOM meeting was held in Chicago 1936!

Association for Manufacturing Technology | International Manufacturing & Technology Show (IMTS 2024)

September 9 – 14
McCormick Place
Anticipated attendance: 100,000+

North American Spine Society | NASS 39^th Annual Meeting

September 25 – 28
McCormick Place
Anticipated attendance: 5,000

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics | NCTM 2024 Annual Meeting & Exposition

September 25 – 28
McCormick Place
Anticipated attendance: 6,000

Society for Neuroscience | Neuroscience 2024

October 5 – 9
McCormick Place
Anticipated attendance: 9,000

Bank of America Chicago Marathon and Abbott Health & Fitness Expo

Expo: October 10 – 12 | Marathon: October 13
McCormick Place
51,000 runners registered (a record!)

American Academy of Ophthalmology | AAO 2024

October 18 – 21
McCormick Place
Anticipated attendance: 20,000

Choose Chicago Foundation Signature Fundraising Event

Join us for the second annual Choose Chicago Foundation Signature Fundraising Event! Let’s celebrate the power of community with food, drinks, and soul-stirring entertainment with Chicago’s own SóN. Proceeds from this event will go toward our scholarship program and community initiatives.

Don’t miss out. It’s going to be a spectacular evening! Get tickets and register to attend here.

Wednesday, September 25 | 5 – 7pm
IO Godfrey Rooftop Lounge | 127 W Huron St

A special thank you to our Sponsors & Partners: Elevoque, OxfordHotel & Resorts, Bally’s Chicago Casino, Paramount Events Chicago, Blue Plate, Entrenuity, Sophy Hyde Park, Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association, Casa Humilde, Illinois Restaurant Association, Love Cork Screw, Turner Haus Brewery, US Poker & Casino, NASCAR, Sugar Bliss, and The Boka Restaurant Group.

Tourism Exchange Webinar

The Illinois Office of Tourism has announced a brand new partnership with Tourism Exchange USA, a B2B one-stop digital marketplace where suppliers (accommodations, tours, attractions) can manage live availability, pricing and bookings across multiple distribution channels. Register here to join a webinar next week detailing how your organization can connect with Tourism Exchange USA.

Wednesday, September 25 | 1pm | Zoom

DNC Recap

THANK YOU to all our partners who helped make the DNC a massive success for our city! Cultural luminaries and political leaders extolled the virtues of Chicago on national television and our city never looked better. The DNC brought over 50,000 visitors to Chicago, including about 15,000 members of the national and international press, generating billions of dollars worth of media value for our city. To leverage this moment, we established a Choose Chicago Media Center with our partners to drive earned media and advertising efforts, set up “Chicago Style” booths at media and delegate welcome parties, commissioned a mural in the West Loop, brought in a group of current and prospective clients to show off our event hosting prowess, and even launched a new marketing campaign!

Together we proved to the world that there is no better destination for meetings and events of every size and profile. If you haven’t already, check out this recap video from the Chicago 2024 Host Committee!

IPW Updates

On September 4, we held a Partner Engagement event at the Chicago History Museum where we shared key information about IPW 2025 taking place in Chicago June 14 – 18, 2025. IPW is the largest international in-bound travel trade show in the United States and represents an incredible opportunity to showcase our city to thousands of influential travel buyers and media.

If you would like to review the presentation, you can access it via the Partner Extranet within the Reports Tab under Partner/Industry Presentations.

For specific questions, please reach out to the following contacts:

IPW Registration: Caylie Cook (ccook@ustravel.org)
Choose Chicago Aisle at IPW: Naomi Hattori (nhattori@choosechicago.com)
Sponsorship Opportunities: Matt Petersen (mpetersen@peteysc.com) and Alexa Gallagher (agallagher@choosechicago.com)