Trade Expo Staffing in Chicago
Event-specific operating notes
Employment: For US orders, the assigned local partner agency employs and pays the workers as W-2 employees and carries the insurance covering its workers.
How should a McCormick Place expo divide crews across four buildings?
Assign every worker to a building, hall, entrance, and lead before call time. McCormick Place spans more than 2.6 million square feet of exhibit space across North, South, West, and Lakeside, with freight metered through a marshaling process. Use separate calls for exhibitor registration, booth hosts, floor monitors, and closing handback. Venue freight and controlled trade work should never be hidden inside a building-wide event-support roster.
Source: mccormickplace.com
What should a Navy Pier trade expo lock before load-in?
Lock the hall and freight-door schedule before releasing setup-support names. Navy Pier's Festival Hall is split into Halls A and B. Load-in funnels through eight specified freight doors on a pier over Lake Michigan. Give guest-facing crews a separate public entrance and later call. Exhibitor hosts may handle approved materials inside their scope; they should not be redirected into freight movement or equipment work because a door window slips.
Source: navypier.org
How should a Chicago expo record short setup or strike calls?
Capture them as worked shifts with the exact Chicago location and time. The city's 2026 minimum wage rule can apply after only two hours of work inside city limits during a two-week period, so a brief setup or final handback is not invisible to payroll. The employing agency should receive actual starts, breaks, extensions, and releases. Keep tipped hospitality work and general expo support identified separately when their pay treatment differs.
Source: chicago.gov