Marketing Company in Chicago: The McCormick Place Show File for B2B Exhibitors

Updated November 2026 · Written and maintained by the Progression Agency strategy team

Booth 8241 opens Tuesday at 9, and everything your marketing team ships this quarter hangs off that number. For B2B firms that exhibit at McCormick Place, the show calendar is the marketing year. This page is for the marketing lead choosing a marketing company in Chicago to run it: one show file, built asset by asset across pre-show, floor and follow-up, with the venue’s rules on who may touch what and when requests are due. Fee ranges follow. Progression is based in New York and takes on Chicago work remotely, with on-site sessions on request.

Booth 8241, Tuesday at 9

This is an illustration, not a real show or a real booth. Imagine a booth number, an opening day and an hour, and then count the assets that already need those details in them.

Five assets, one set of facts. If the number or the hour changes, every one of them is wrong. The show file exists so that the facts live in one place.

Why a marketing company in Chicago plans the year around McCormick Place

McCormick Place says in its December 2025 release that EXHIBITOR magazine named it among the Top 25 Convention Centers Worldwide in its 2026 Centers of Excellence Awards. The Choose Chicago release on IMTS says IMTS 2026 had 91,295 registrants and 1,788 exhibiting companies, and that the show has been extended through 2034.

Dates are as the organizers list them. Confirm them before you book anything.

A Chicago marketing company that plans the year around this calendar works backward from each opening day.

Choosing a marketing company in Chicago for that job starts with asking what its last show file looked like.

The show file, asset by asset

The table is the working document. It lists assets only; the detail is in the sections that follow.

Pre-show assets with a McCormick Place deadline

Our trade show marketing guide covers the national pre-show routine. This section covers only what the venue’s documents add.

Where does the booth number live?

Keep the number, hall and hours in one place that feeds every asset, so a change updates all of them at once. It takes an hour to set up.

Demonstrations that need 60 days?

The facility document says lasers, open flames including candles, smoke-producing devices, heating appliances, welding, brazing or cutting equipment and radioactive materials require pre-approval by McCormick Place and the Chicago Fire Department. It says approval requests must be sent in 60 days before move-in of the event. A demo idea on a slide in spring is a deadline, not an idea.

Which graphics must pass a fire test?

The same document says booth construction and decoration materials must be fire retardant, and suggests that a certificate of retardancy be available at the show to prevent the need for on-site testing. Ask your graphics printer for the certificate when you order.

How much literature can the booth hold?

The facility document says the amount of product, materials or literature staged within a booth space must not exceed a one-day supply. Size the print order for the booth and keep the rest in the file for daily restock.

• Send demo approval requests as soon as the idea is firm.
• Ask the printer for a fire retardancy certificate.
• Count literature per day, not per show.
• Record each deadline in the show file with an owner.

Who may touch the booth, and who may not

McCormick Place’s Exhibitor Bill of Rights, dated July 2026, says an Exhibitor Employee may perform work in a booth of any size, and defines the term as a person employed by the exhibitor as a full-time employee for a minimum of 6 months before the show’s opening date. Proof of employment may be required upon request, and documentation must be furnished within 24 hours of notification.

A second page of the same document says the exhibitor rights do not apply to contractor personnel and that the legislation does not allow exhibitors to transfer their rights to them. By the document’s definition, a contractor or a hire of less than six months is outside the term. Ask counsel on any employment question. List who is eligible before the staffing list is final.

This is a venue document. The show’s exhibitor manual and service contractor decide the rest, so confirm with them before you assign anyone a task.

Can a contractor’s staff work the booth?

Not under the exhibitor rights as the document reads. Contractors have their own rules, including entry through the designated locations with the wristband of the day. Ask the show’s contractor what applies.

• Decide who is eligible before the staffing list is final.
• Keep proof of employment ready to furnish within 24 hours.
• Assign contractor work to the show’s registered contractors.
• Write the answer in the show file so it is not decided on move-in day.

Floor assets under the venue’s rules

The assets that exist only on the floor are the demo script, lead capture and floor photos and video. Each has a rule beside it, shown on the cards.

The facility document is the source for each card. For booth messaging, see trade show marketing. Confirm each rule with Show Management.

Who gets the floor photos?

Decide before the show. Photos shot by your own employees at the booth belong in the file the same day, with a note on which sales lead each one supports.

• Demo script: the approved version, printed for the booth.
• Lead capture: one screen, tested before opening.
• Floor photos: shot by staff, with permission from anyone pictured.
• Video: handheld, no drones.

Follow-up assets once the booth comes down

The follow-up stage has four assets: lead routing, the first email, the sales recap and the notes for next year. Update the show page to say the show has ended.

• Route each lead to a named owner the week of the show.
• Send the first email with the booth number and a reference to what was shown.
• Write a one page sales recap while memories are fresh.
• Record what to change next year, by asset.
• Retire or rewrite the show page so it no longer says “this week.”

We promise no timeline and no results. The rules for email are covered on the trade show page and not restated here.

What a Chicago marketing company charges for a show file

Booth space, drayage, show labor, electrical and internet are quoted by the show, the venue and their contractors. We give no band for them. The marketing work itself falls into these published ranges.

Progression quotes after a written scope, with no Chicago premium. See our marketing agency pricing page for the fee models.

Digital marketing agency in Chicago work between the shows

The year between events has its own work: keep the show page alive, run search on the show’s category, and retarget the visitors the page collected. We state no platform rules here.

Chicago digital marketing services for an exhibitor are the same tools tied to a show date.

A Chicago internet marketing company that sells monthly retainers can still be asked to report by show.

Chicago internet marketing services of any kind should name the show behind each lead.

B2B digital marketing in Chicago comes down to one question: which show produced this lead?

Digital marketing in Chicago, IL is easier to judge when each campaign names its show.

PPC marketing in Chicago around a show runs best when the ads start before badge registration and stop when the show ends.

A digital marketing agency in Chicago can handle all of this.

So can a digital marketing company in Chicago. The question is who owns the file.

Few digital marketing services in Chicago report by show rather than by month. Our trade show marketing guide covers the national side.

The full service marketing agency Chicago exhibitors hire for a show year

Full service means different things. It can mean pre-show, floor and follow-up under one owner, or it can mean split by specialty with one person holding the file. Either works if somebody holds the file.

A marketing agency in Chicago that offers full service should show you the file for a finished show.

If your event is a game rather than a trade show, our page on a sports marketing agency covers that work.

Top Chicago marketing firms, judged by last year’s show file

Ask each firm the question that matches the stage. Every row ties to a stage, so it is not a general hiring list.

Top Chicago marketing agencies differ most in the staffing row.

A Chicago marketing consultant working alone can hold the file as well as a large team, provided the file exists.

If you searched for the best marketing agency in Chicago, ask to see one finished show file with the names removed, because no list can show you that.

Related services and guides

Pages that sit beside this show file:

• Trade show marketing
• Event marketing agency
• B2B marketing agency
• Marketing agency pricing
• Marketing agency near me
• Experiential marketing agency
• Web design in Chicago
• Advertising agencies in Chicago
• PR firm in Chicago
• Chicago social media agency
• AI SEO agency in Chicago

Frequently asked questions