The Chicago Pipe Show is quite the event. I really enjoyed myself the one and only time that I was there. But, to be honest, the venue is depressing. May is cold, windy and rainy in St. Charles. The hotel is dated and dog-eared. The show floor is a cavernous, bland industrial warehouse structure and the smoking tent, the heart of the show, is cold and very poorly ventilated. Plus, the location is in the middle of nowhere, an hour west of Chicago.
The people are great, the show organizers do an absolutely fantastic job and I suppose that trumps a lousy setting. But it could be so much more if it was held in downtown Chicago at a quality location, at a more temperate time of year. Of course, that would raise the price, but it would also potentially increase attendance by doubling as a family vacation event. But then, it runs into the nanny state of Chicago and the ban on indoor smoking.
sigh