Contacted Tw about dressing up

[Killer Katie]

Frightneers, I concur!

I agree, let's pour our energies into making MHC the best haunt oriented event on the planet!

[bodybagging]

OK looks like Ill have to start promoting MHC, OH WAIT! I Already DO!!!!!!!!!!

[Nicole]

We've never been (to MHC) but it's something I'm lobbying for boss to do and the rest of our gang to do ( I don't want to be the only one to go!) - at this point I'm frustrated about TW moving - with MHC, more of our gang afford to go. Hopefully we'll see you all too at MHC

[Tater]

I know this theory has prob been thrown out before but....I dont think Transworld is moving to Chicago to spite the haunt industry at all. I think they could be doing it to show the Union that was (maybe) overcharging them that they dont need them. And when the City of Rosemont comes to the logical conclusion that they need Transworld as much as Transworld needs them. Then they will stop nickeling and diming them to death for everything. But I have no insight into the situation but it seems logical to me

[Killer Katie]

Rob, I was going to say you better step up and start promoting MHC - I'm just glad you came to that conclusion on your own.... LOL *wink

[RJ Productions]

Everyone seems to forget a very important factor.....SOMEONE has to foot the bill!
It's great to take all your actors to see the cool stuff, get reactions, get them pumped up for the season, but again WHO foots the bill??

The vendors do right now. And the cost is going up. They pay a great deal of money to put their waqres in front of qualified BUYERS. It's simple business 101.

No Buyers...
No sales...
No sales...
No Vendors..
No Vendors..
No show!!!!

Along those lines has been the complaint of haunts bringing 15-20 people, everyone grabs literature and only ONE maybe TWO people are authorized to actually buy. Meanwhile the poor vendor may spend $10 in printing on that ONE haunt.

And I understand the mentality of taking your actors to see "The Show" heck I finally get to do it after attending TW alone for the last 10 years. However I have given my attendees a strict requirement. I get the literature. If you get a piece of literature you'd better be BUYING something!!!

The Buyer vs Attendee(Fan) arguement has been on going. Shows like MC & HC feel the "pain". They focus on the Anttendee and in so doing face the same delima as TW, Vendors not selling anything relative to the amount of people. HC is losing Vendors like rats out of a sinking ship. Someone has to foot the bill so you have to charge the Attendees.

At TW it's the Vendors footing that bill and unless they recoup that investment you will see the day of paying big bucks to attend. Look at IAAPA, you pay HUNDREDS of dollars to attend. No one runs around there in costume visiting!

I'm not condoning or supporting one over the other just stating the facts, SOMEONE has to foot the bill. You either support the vendors, or pay for the priviledge.

[Jim Warfield]

"Everyone" will never all be on the same "Page" but I have always been so amazed at Transworld when some customer there would begin carping about the prices of the items for sale there!???
Do the simple addition. Floor space+ travel expenses+Motel rooms+additional sales expenses+any hired help needed to man a booth, then add the cost of the materials to actually make the items, add a profit(so they can eat and return next time)...now , how much should that exotic little item sell for?
Sure you might be able to produce it "cheaper", see YOU at Transworld next year in Your booth?
Probably not if the shoes and socks had to come off to do the adding.
Amazing!
In 1963 Chevy only had $298.oo in each full-sized car they sold us for $2,200.oo,
Ford only had $325.oo in each Galaxy. Profit IS a necessity to remain viable and stay in business. Period.
(What do the car makers have in the $30,000.oo car today? $1,000.oo?)

[Barry]

Shows like MC & HC feel the "pain". They focus on the Anttendee and in so doing face the same delima as TW, Vendors not selling anything relative to the amount of people.

Rich,

I have done many shows as an attendee and as a vendor. I have been in retail for 25+ years. I do not agree with the vendors who want a show to pre-qualify the buyers for me. Put the freakin people in front of me and I will determine how much time I should spend with them or what literature I give them. Any smart business person knows that printing is a cost of doing business and if handing out a few extra catalogs is going to kill you then maybe you are in the wrong business.

It is the show's responsibility to attract as many buyer's as possible. If that means it also attracts non-buyers then so be it.

As for your comment above I would challenge you to talk to any of our vendors about how they feel about our show.

[drfrightner]

Barry,

The reason we had all the problems a few years ago was because of the haunted house owners bringing like 50 gazillion people, trying to snatch up catelogs, and tie up costume vendors time when they buy nothing. In addition to that just nomal people or just Halloween fans coming to the show and doing the same to people like Rubies and stuff. Well those people are paying tens of thousand, no make that hundreds of thousands of dollars to produce that party, to their 1000 page color catelog to buying all the booth space, flying all of those people there blah, blah, blah.

Additionally the retailers who buy all of that product got upset because here they see all these horror fans showing up who typically was their customer... so Transworld was in a real bind, or should I say between a rock and hard place.

Both buyer and vendor got upset and put pressure on TW.

I tend to agree with the fact that this is an industry, and you can't allow people into the show who should be buying retail, not wholesale. People should be qualified to enter a wholesale show. If this isn't a wholesale show then it doesn't matter. MHC is not a wholesale show, and you offer a lot of seminars for actors to everyone in between. You want everyone and anyone to come and take your classes and I agree.

But with TW its a WHOLESALE show and buyers should be qualified as retail stores... the problem really happened when they really pushed the haunt side of th show. The two shows maybe should have never been grouped together then you don't have this problem.

The results came that Rubies party become nearly impossible to get tickets, when it use to be easy. Everyone started clamping down. And I understand their position.

TW's show is not about volume of people, but qualified people. If you're Hauntcon and you charge an addmission to enter, or if you make the majority of your funds from seminars like MHC, then you want everyone you can find.

TW does not charge people to enter so they're really simply looking for qualified buyers for their vendors...that is their obligation to the vendors paying $1700.00 per booth. That is a lot of money.

Vendors want buyers, period! Actually the vendors really HATE the seminars going one while the show is going on because it takes buyers off the show floor... those vendors want to write orders, they want to talk to buyers with money.

I always said TW should just charge $50.00 to enter the show, and call it a day. Take some of the pressure off the vendors to pay for the show, and put some burdon on the buyers, while at the same time getting rid of the people who want nothing more than to collect catelogs. I think that way you kill two birds with one stone but to date they still haven't charged to get in.

Me personally... I'm not Rubies so I could care less what they do with all of that... it doesn't bother me if they let in anyone or whatever. I'm really only coming from the standpoint of some of the bigger vendors.

As time goes on shows like yours (MHC) will probably grow and grow because you guys are great to the vendors, your booths are cheap, you're in the midwest, and those who may not feel welcome at the bigger shows feel like your doors are wide open. I think shows like MHC and TW are just two totally different shows with two tottally different objectives.

Larry

[Grimley]

I have to agree with Larry on this point. As buyers nothing chaps my ass more then going to Transworld and having a haunted house bring 18-20 people along for the ride. They are usually easy to spot with the entire group wearing a mass of matching shirts. This is a wholesale venue. While I have met many very cool people in the last couple of years I would rather TW either limit the number of people per group or charge admission. Many of those companies spend $30-$40 per catalog so I can understand the vendors looking down on the many groups of haunters walking by. And it really pisses me off when I can't get a catalog because they are all gone before we get to a booth.

Last year we saw monster tronics at the show and really wanted to look at their props. We stopped by their booth at least 3 times and every time it was full of haunters and we never get in to take a look. You could actually hear them debating on how they could make the same prop on their own. So we never got to place any orders. We have a very limited amount of time to purchase for the entire year and if we can't look at the product the vendor loses out.

[MDKing]

I've seen some haunts go 10 even 20 deep walking around the show! There was one haunt in particular that must have made up half the guests at the show there were so many of them, all in their haunt attire! LOL
But seriously I'm not a vendor myself but if I were one I think I'd be pretty frustrated with having to deal with so many non-buyers wanting to gawk and grab catalogs. It's just too expensive to not have quality time with real buyers...


Allan

[Ken Spriggs]

Funny

Ummm Larry?
This is a bad thing!
You and I are actually agreeing on something?
Say it ain't so......

[Barry]

I guess I should have clarified my comments. I was talking about the Haunt Show at Transworld. You will get no disagreement from me when referring to the HCP show as that is a wholesale show. Transworld got themselves into this situation by trying to have two entirely different kinds of shows in one venue.

[drfrightner]

Actually Barry TW got themselves in this situation one year when they went as far to advertise the show in Fangoria magazine. When they did that they got into all kinds of trouble. People like Morris Costumes saw that and got really upset.

But that wasn't this new regime that was the old Mark and Dennis Passis regime.

Personally I don't care if its the costume side or the party side or the costume side, haunters should not be bringing 40 people, and horror fans have no business coming to the show, its a WHOLESALE, industry show...people are paying big bucks to be there and the last thing they want is to explain how they made something because some guy wants to make it themselves.

Let me tell you a funny story you may or may not know about...

A couple years ago Scarefactory had a spinning tunnel in their booth... they had to turn it off because some guy got stuck under neath it with his camera. That guy wanted to know how it was made and snap photos. He had no plans of buying anything just wanted to know how he could make one himself.

A few years ago I took some water blasters, and I walk around to one and here is two guys with a screwdriver, taking apart the control box, with a camera in their hand... If kicking someone in the head was legal they would have been kicked in the head! LOL

The show is a wholesale show and buyers should be qualified... but when TW tried it, it just got them into all kinds of trouble from everybody. Its a tough issue!

Larry

[mindtumor]

Someone has to have a lot of nerve to take apart a prop at someone's booth. Good thing you caught them.