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McCormick Place is one of the largest and most important convention destinations in the United States, hosting major trade shows, national conventions, corporate conferences, association meetings, product launches, and other large-scale events throughout the year.
FDC Event Technology provides professional AV rental, event production, and technical support for organizations holding events at McCormick Place in Chicago. From large general sessions and exhibit-hall productions to breakout rooms, LED video, cameras, presentation management, livestreaming, lighting, and technical staffing, FDC can help develop a production plan around the scale of the event and the operational requirements of the facility.
For organizations that produce conferences in multiple cities, FDC can also provide continuity from one destination to the next, helping maintain familiar presentation standards, branding, production workflows, and technical expectations while adapting the plan to McCormick Place.
McCormick Place is a massive convention campus made up of four interconnected buildings: the North Building, South Building, West Building, and Lakeside Center. Together, the complex offers approximately 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, more than 170 meeting rooms, hundreds of thousands of square feet of meeting space, multiple ballrooms, theaters, and large assembly areas.
Productions at this scale can extend far beyond a single ballroom.
A convention might include a large opening general session, dozens of educational sessions, several exhibit halls, sponsor presentations, product demonstrations, executive meetings, media areas, networking functions, and livestreamed content operating at the same time.
FDC can help planners approach those elements as one coordinated production, developing technical workflows that connect the general session, breakout rooms, exhibits, speakers, presentations, video, and onsite support.
For a major conference or convention, the general session often establishes the production standard for the entire event.
Keynote speakers, executive presentations, panel discussions, awards, videos, entertainment, audience interaction, and corporate messaging may all need to transition smoothly throughout the program.
Large McCormick Place spaces can require substantial audio and visual systems to provide clear coverage throughout the audience. Depending on the event, the production may include professional sound reinforcement, wireless microphones, LED video walls or projection, cameras, confidence monitors, stage lighting, video playback, presentation management, recording, and livestreaming.
FDC’s live event production services can bring these elements together as part of a coordinated show production.
Rather than treating audio, video, lighting, and presentations as separate systems, our team can help develop a technical approach in which each element supports the overall program.
The scale of McCormick Place makes screen size and placement especially important.
In large ballrooms and assembly environments, attendees may be seated hundreds of feet from the stage. Standard presentation screens may not provide adequate visibility across the entire audience.
Modular LED video walls can provide a high-impact solution for keynote presentations, corporate branding, video playback, sponsor content, animations, and live camera feeds. Depending on the room configuration, multiple screens may be used so attendees throughout the space maintain a clear view of the program.
The West Building’s Skyline Ballroom alone encompasses approximately 100,000 square feet and can be divided into five sections, illustrating the scale that some McCormick Place productions may need to accommodate.
FDC can help determine appropriate display sizes, placement, content formats, and camera integration based on the room layout, audience, stage design, and presentation requirements.
McCormick Place provides more than 170 meeting rooms across its convention campus, allowing conferences to operate extensive educational and breakout programs alongside larger general sessions and exhibits.
That creates a different production challenge than managing a single large stage.
Breakout sessions may include presentations, workshops, panel discussions, continuing education programs, training sessions, executive meetings, and remote speakers. Each room may need microphones, displays, presentation computers, video playback, conferencing technology, or technical support.
FDC can help establish standardized room configurations where appropriate so presenters encounter a more consistent technical environment as they move between sessions.
Our conference and meeting technical support can include general session production, breakout room coordination, presentation workflows, speaker support, technical staffing, and other elements required for complex multi-room conferences.
A large convention may involve hundreds of presenters and thousands of individual presentation files over several days.
Without an organized workflow, revised slides, embedded videos, incompatible file formats, personal laptops, and last-minute changes can create delays throughout the program.
Presentation management provides a central process for collecting, reviewing, testing, organizing, and distributing presentation content before speakers enter their meeting rooms.
FDC can help coordinate speaker-ready workflows, presentation review, video playback, last-minute content changes, and distribution of approved files to the appropriate general session or breakout room.
For larger programs, this can significantly reduce the number of technical variables that need to be addressed immediately before each presentation begins.
McCormick Place is particularly well known for its enormous trade show and exhibition capabilities.
The facility offers approximately 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space, including 1.2 million square feet available on a single level. Individual halls can accommodate very large shows, including Hall A in the South Building with approximately 840,000 square feet and Hall F in the West Building with roughly 470,000 square feet.
Event technology within an exhibit environment can extend well beyond individual booth displays.
A trade show may incorporate keynote theaters, sponsor stages, educational areas, product demonstrations, media centers, press events, livestream studios, video walls, or branded presentation spaces directly on the show floor.
FDC can help coordinate these production elements with the broader convention program so presentations, cameras, content, branding, and technical support remain connected throughout the event.
Professional video production can serve several different purposes at a McCormick Place event.
Inside a large general session, live cameras can provide image magnification so attendees throughout the room have a clear view of presenters, demonstrations, and panel discussions.
Multi-camera production can switch between close-up speaker views, wide shots, presentation content, audience interaction, and other visual elements to create a more polished program.
Those same video feeds can also be used for livestreaming or recording.
FDC can support events requiring professional cameras, video switching, recording, livestreaming, remote speakers, and hybrid production.
Recorded sessions can later be used for continuing education, training, internal communications, marketing, or on-demand conference content.
Lighting is an important part of creating a professional environment in a convention center.
Proper stage lighting makes presenters easier to see while also improving their appearance on cameras and large video displays. Scenic and accent lighting can reinforce corporate branding, create visual separation between stage areas, and help transform a large convention room into a more intentional event environment.
For productions using LED walls or projection, lighting should be designed alongside the video system so the two elements complement rather than compete with each other.
FDC can coordinate lighting with staging, video displays, cameras, presentation content, and other production elements to create a consistent visual experience.
The McCormick Place campus includes several different spaces capable of hosting major general sessions, corporate meetings, and special events.
The West Building’s Skyline Ballroom provides approximately 100,000 square feet of space, while the South Building includes the approximately 33,700-square-foot Grand Ballroom and 21,000-square-foot Vista Ballroom. The Lakeside Center includes a ballroom of approximately 44,700 square feet.
These rooms can support very different production styles depending on the audience and program.
A ballroom may be configured for a keynote session, corporate presentation, awards event, banquet, educational program, or combination of uses over the course of a conference.
FDC can help plan the technical production around those changing formats so audio, displays, cameras, lighting, staging, and presentation systems continue to support the program throughout the event.
Reliable connectivity is increasingly important for conferences involving livestreaming, remote presenters, digital exhibits, event applications, cloud-based presentations, and large numbers of connected attendees.
McCormick Place operates its own Technology Services department, which handles facility internet, telecommunications, fiber connectivity, and related services.
FDC can work with event organizers and McCormick Place Technology Services to determine the connectivity required for streaming, video production, presentation systems, production communications, and other technical applications.
Planning those requirements early is particularly important for livestreams and hybrid events where network performance can directly affect the attendee experience.
Producing an event at McCormick Place involves established labor jurisdictions that should be incorporated into the production plan from the beginning.
The facility recognizes work performed by audiovisual contractors, production companies, official service contractors, labor brokers, and exhibitor-appointed contractors. Depending on the location and type of production, specific work may fall under the jurisdiction of electricians, stagehands, projectionists, camera operators, riggers, teamsters, or other skilled trades.
For example, McCormick Place electricians handle certain electrical connections, wiring, rigging, and audio/video cabling in meeting rooms and ballrooms, while other production activities can fall under separate trade jurisdictions.
These requirements do not prevent an organization from working with FDC as its event production partner.
Instead, FDC can help develop the production plan and coordinate the appropriate equipment, technical roles, required local labor, venue services, and other contractors involved in executing the event.
Establishing that division of responsibilities early helps prevent surprises during load-in and keeps the production aligned with facility requirements.
Large-scale convention productions frequently involve flown lighting, speakers, video displays, scenic elements, banners, and other equipment.
McCormick Place has specific rules governing overhead rigging and available hang points. Some ballrooms and meeting environments provide rigging capabilities while other spaces have restrictions, and production plans involving rigging may need to be submitted to the facility in advance.
Loading and material handling also need to be incorporated into the production schedule.
With multiple buildings, exhibit halls, loading docks, service corridors, and contractor procedures, equipment movement can require more planning than it would at a smaller hotel or meeting venue.
FDC can work with event organizers, McCormick Place representatives, general contractors, and required labor providers to coordinate these logistical requirements with the technical production schedule.
One characteristic that makes McCormick Place different from many convention venues is the size of the overall campus.
The North, South, West, and Lakeside buildings are connected through pedestrian promenades and sky bridges, allowing a single event to occupy several different areas of the complex.
For event organizers, this creates opportunities as well as logistical challenges.
The main general session may be located in one building while exhibits, educational sessions, speaker preparation, registration, and networking activities take place elsewhere.
Technical staffing, presentation distribution, equipment movement, production communications, and support procedures should all account for the physical distance between those areas.
FDC can help develop an event-wide technical plan that considers how the production will operate across the entire conference footprint.
McCormick Place is one of the major venues FDC supports as part of our broader event production capabilities throughout Chicago.
Our Chicago AV rental and event production services include support for conventions, corporate conferences, trade shows, meetings, general sessions, and other professional events throughout the market.
FDC can provide professional audio, video, LED displays, lighting, cameras, presentation management, recording, livestreaming, technical staffing, and complete event production based on the needs of the program.
Organizations that host large conferences frequently move their events between major convention destinations.
One year the event may take place at McCormick Place in Chicago, followed by Orlando, Nashville, Miami, Las Vegas, Dallas, or another national convention market.
Working with a consistent production partner can help preserve many of the standards established from one event to the next.
FDC can remain familiar with an organization’s branding, presentation workflow, speaker requirements, streaming needs, production preferences, and technical expectations while adapting the event plan to the requirements of each facility.
That continuity can reduce the amount of production planning that needs to be rebuilt each time the conference changes cities.
Whether you are planning a national convention, corporate conference, trade show, association meeting, educational program, product launch, or another large-scale event at McCormick Place, FDC Event Technology can help develop a production strategy around your audience, venue footprint, program, and technical requirements.
From general session AV and breakout room support to LED video walls, cameras, livestreaming, presentation management, lighting, recording, and technical coordination, FDC can help bring the production together while working within McCormick Place’s facility policies and labor requirements.
Contact FDC Event Technology to discuss your upcoming event at McCormick Place in Chicago.