A quick round up of the event from my perspective:
I was surprised at how busy the show was overall. The size of the show was about right, didnt get to see any seminars as I was manning the booth and doing the rounds
I thought the venue / location was great. The CTA Blue line was right outside, most hotels had courtesy shuttles from O'Hare, so it was a piece of cake to get to and from the airport, the convention center, the hotels and downtown chicago. We did one trip down town for classic chicago pizza which was fantastic and I did another to see Guns N Roses for a once in a lifetime perfomance at the House of Blues. I managed to snag a ticket from a friends dad for which I am eternally grateful. He could have sold it for upwards of $800 outside. Even the box office tried to buy it off him. The city was really clean and the people were friendly. (I guess Im just used to Miami, which is the opposite)
My room in the executive wing of the Hyatt was $114 per night, a great rate I thought. For those that wanted to spend less, you could easily get the CTA in from a cheaper hotel outside Rosemont. Food and drinks in the venue were predictably extortionate, about right in the hotel and incredibly cheap in downtown chicago. If you know where to go, you will eat and drink well for no more than your local town. Our hosts pointed out these places, where you pay about $20 - $30 average. My bill for 2 x medium pizzas at a very popular restaurant was $28 between 3 of us with free beer. I dont think that was intentional though
Back the show - I met lots of great people running small charter boats in the great lakes. These guys are passionate about what they do and are highly skilled skippers. A resource that seems under utilized. I encourage people interested in wrecks to check them out. The national park service was there too with a neat 3D movie of the wrecks in their booth.
I also made some great connections and reconnected with customers who have dove with me over the last 6 years. I recognized so many of them that it must be due to the friendliness of people up there that makes a lasting impression.
Manufacturers were present as usual, although not necessarily in force compared to trade shows such as DEMA. The continued growth of tec was evident, with plenty of CCR's and sidemount stuff.
The only downer was the cold. Thankfully it was apparently extremely mild weather for the time of year. Good job as I dont own a jacket