Chicago Considering a World Expo bid.

Automata · Jul 31, 2014

The Military Miniature Society of Illinois sent the following email to its members today and posted it on their Facebook page.

To: The members of the MMSI

From: The Chicago World Expo 2017 Exploratory Committee (Jim DeRogatis, Mike Cobb, Joe Berton & Dan Tisoncik)

Hello fellow modelers and club members! We are reaching out to share some thoughts with all of you in the very early stages of an exciting possibility for 2017.

As many of you know, those of us from MMSI who traveled to Stresa, Italy for this year’s World Expo had a fantastic time; that group included the four of us above, as well as Dan Bird, Jerry Hutter, Barry Biediger, Bob Stein, and assorted spouses and families. All of us heard many times from other modelers from across the U.S. and Europe that it’s time to bring the World Expo back to the U.S. in 2017; it has not been here since Boston in 2005. And many have said they’d love for it to happen in Chicago.

To that end, our committee began discussions in 2013, resumed in earnest in recent weeks, and started fact-finding and site visits as well, committed to finding a location that showcases our great city while providing good value for a three-day world event. The numbers are less daunting than many would fear: We believe we could host World Expo 2017 in downtown Chicago, in close proximity to the city’s best museums, restaurants, and attractions, near Grant Park, and are finalizing a bid to present to the World Expo organization soon.

We believe this would be a great way to bring international attention to the MMSI, Chicago, and our hobby, and to honor Shep Paine as one of the founders of the Expo. This would not involve any MMSI funds and would not replace or adversely impact the regular MMSI Show in 2017. It’s a World Expo where we’d be able to count on significant help from other modelers throughout the U.S. and Europe—though of course, we will need plenty of assistance from MMSI members who are willing to pitch in as well!

We hope you are as excited about this possibility as we are. We will keep you all informed as things develop. And we encourage you to reach out to any or all of us with questions, concerns, or ideas. (Our emails follow below.)

All the best, and happy modeling!

Jim DeRogatis <jimdero@jimdero.com>
Mike Cobb <Chotasahib@sbcglobal.net>
Joe Berton <joeberton21@yahoo.com>
Dan Tisoncik <Dan.Tisoncik@united.com>

ACCOUNT_DELETED · Jul 31, 2014

That would be cool. Good luck to them.

Colin

penster · Aug 2, 2014

Yay.

Blind Pew · Aug 3, 2014

I'd seriously consider this one. Good luck and a pat on the back for getting this off the ground.

ghamilt1 · Aug 4, 2014

Best of luck! Will be looking for more info at this year's MMSI show.

Ray Welshman · Aug 10, 2014

Good luck really hope it happens

Cheers

Ray

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Chicago Considering a World Expo bid.

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