8 Fun Facts About IMTS 2018
What does Sean “Diddy” Combs have to do with McCormick Place? How many pounds worth of machine tools are on the show floor? (And other trivia that will crown you the IMTS know-it-all.)
.jpg;width=70;height=70;mode=crop)
Hannah Mason
Technical Editor, CompositesWorld
IMTS 2018 Grand Concourse
IMTS 2018 takes place at McCormick Place in Chicago from September 10 to 15.
IMTS stands for the International Manufacturing Technology Show.
***
IMTS began in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1927 as the National Machine Tool Builders’ Exposition. It occupied 63,000 square feet of exhibit space and attracted 12,000 attendees. (IMTS 2016 occupied more than 1.3 million square feet of exhibit space and attracted more than than 115,000 people attendees.)
***
IMTS has been held in Chicago since 1947. It was the first machine tool trade show to take place after World War II temporarily stopped all shows. That year, all machines on display were required to be painted the same shade of “machine tool gray.”
***
Exhibitors come from over 112 countries. That’s more than half of the countries in the world.
***
Chicago’s nicknames include The Windy City, City of Big Shoulders and The Second City.
***
Along with IMTS, Chicago is also home to the term jazz, the world’s first skyscraper, the first Ferris wheel and the Twinkie.
***
68 Million Pounds!
The total weight to be showcased at IMTS 2018 adds up to just more than 68 million pounds, or 4,900 truck-loads!
***
$21.1 million?
The Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority, which owns McCormick Place, sold its painting "Past Times" that once adorned the convention center's welcome area, to Sean “Diddy” Combs, the Grammy Award-winning record producer, for $21.1 million. MPEA plans to use the money to explore the possibility of opening up the Grand Concourse to C Hall on Level 2 of the North Building. MPEA purchased the painting, by Chicago artist Kerry James Marshall, for $25,000 in 1997.