In the contract furniture industry, NeoCon casts a large shadow over the annual trade show line-up. Over the years the importance of that June date in Chicago has grown to the point that it consumes a huge share of the marketing budgets of most manufacturers. In companies all across the industry, new product development is centered on NeoCon. Advertising dollars are clustered. Money for showroom updates and trade show exhibits seem to evaporate from corporate coffers during the May-June period. No matter how big or how good NeoCon in Chicago gets, there is still a need for regional trade shows. Not everyone who is interested in seeing first hand what’s new, can travel to Chicago to see it. Old timers like me long for the good old days of West Week in LA in the spring, Neocon (in those days, it didn’t have the capital “C” in the middle) in …