Another quick reminder from Chad Adams on why publically supoorted convention centers are such bad ideas:
The market for conventions is declining nationally and will likely not recover as attendance at the 200 largest trade-shows is still at the 1993 level; public spending on convention centers has doubled to $2.4 billion annually increasing square footage by more than 50 percent since 1990; and due to increased competition, increased spending by cities and deep discounts for tradeshow groups, many convention centers still operate at a financial loss.
And, hey, in Charlotte we are spending hundreds of millions more trying to get into the black. Good plan, folks.