Chicago—New meeting space in the windy city will be available ahead of schedule. The Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA) has announced that the new McCormick Place West Building will open eight months earlyin July of 2007 instead of the originally-targeted opening of March 2008. This is great news for the convention, trade show and meetings industry, says Leticia Peralta Davis, chief executive officer of the MPEA, which owns and operates McCormick Place. This early opening will allow McCormick Place to book meetings and events that could not otherwise have been accommodated. We are already aggressively marketing these newly available dates and have begun negotiating with several potential customers.