Oh those nutty people from Transworld. Ya, its Vegas :(

[xxxdirk]

Happened to pop over to hauntshow.com and they have it listed as VEGAS for both the costume & the haunt show March 6-9. Called TW and they confirmed, Chicago is dead, RIP

[BruiseMuse]

Very sad, I was looking forward to the return of the Crowne!

[xxxdirk]

Me too. Oh well, I will fly in the day before, see a show or two, do the floor Fri & Sat & fly out Sunday. Just really sucks cause I used to look forward to Transworld, now I am dreading it....

[graystone]

Same Here

Vegas blows! Shane

[screamline studios]

No Lube Included

This whole thing pisses me off !!!!!

I received the bullshit application and contract stuff in the mail today, it breaks down like this, bend over and i legally rape you!!!! but guess what folks we have to be there in order for screamline to carry on (now granted we want to be there for all of the screamline backers) but why does it have to be so costly from a vendors side. They brag about drawing in 9500 people in vegas but correct me if i am wrong but was that number alot higher years ago. If you ask me, we as vendors or haunted houses are much better off going to a show that understands these are tough times and gouging people is not the answer but the down fall. This is were(and i have said this from day one) the futher of tradeshows is MHC... haunters for haunters without bending you over.

These are just my thoughts

Jason Blaszczak
SCREAMLINE STUDIOS

[graystone]

Jason

Its ass raping at its worst! Shane

[Grimley]

I would not be against helping the vendors out. I would rather they charge a fee per person or company to help lower vendor prices and get rid of the looky loos.

[drfrightner]

As I've stated in the past the haunt industry needs a separate buyers seller show for the haunt industry. I'm working with someone to create this...the rumors are flying around so what. If it can be done it will be done, and vendors will save money, and get four to one on their money. More related industries must be brought into the fold here as buyers and sellers.

The haunt industry by my estimation can be a 400 booth show is not bigger.

I have all the data, and a mailing list now for about 7 different related industries, and buyer lists for about 10 related industries....all in all about 25,000 names, address's, emails and more.

Vegas is NO GOOD for the haunt buyer or seller because 85% if not more of all the buyers and vendors are east of Kansas City...plus the costs are TOO HIGH in Vegas for our industry. Something is being worked on as we speak and if it comes together you will get your solution.

For the record I will not own the show or run the show, I'm only helping to get this off the ground. Don't get me wrong its NOT to complete with MHC, or EHC, or Hauntcon or any of these...its a show for buying and selling, with no make up wars, no hearse rallies, no garage sales, none of that stuff.

Education, Communication and seeing new product...period!

The haunt industry one way or another will be breaking off of a RETAIL show because we have NO CHOICE! Vendors need to find new buyers, and you can't do that at a retail show that puts the focus on RETAIL BUYERS AND SELLERS! We need our own focus, our own show, to control our future.

Riding on the coat tails of other shows must end, and the sooner the better!

Larry

[Barry]

Don't get me wrong its NOT to complete with MHC, or EHC, or Hauntcon or any of these..

Larry, I really don't want to get into this debate again but ANY time you add yet another show to a small industry, thereby making the decision for vendors even more difficult, you are competing with us. I feel another show will further segment the vendors. There are only so many events they can do per year.

As it is, more vendors have chosen MHC over any other show this year. If some of them were to attend a new show instead of MHC, I would call that competition. Maybe you should attend MHC and the other events to see what were are offering to the industry before deciding what is needed for it.

[graystone]

Berry.

I agree with you on this. Larry why not work with Berry on this. Give him the info and work with him. Why start yet another show? Also Larry I have a question and I think its on everyones mind. Just where is this show going to be? And again why not jump in and lend Berry a hand to push MHC as it seems to be growing. Shane

[Boo Crew Production]

Larry I agree with a portion of your post. Vegas is bad for our industry, you may be right other related industries could be involved.

Now with that said, I feel that another show is not the answer, as Barry has mentioned. Most haunt industry business's are stretched thin as it is. So another show on the "SHOW CIRCUIT" would hurt the industry. From a vendors point of view we can not run all over the country trying to attend 25 shows a year. YES it would be great if a vendor could afford to do this (and a few can), but not many. Like it has been mentioned, this is a small industry.

Here is my question to you. If you are not interested in owning or running the show. Why would you not help an existing show grow with the information you have gathered. Instead of spreading the vendors out more then most already are. The existing shows already have a following, they also have there footing, and I know one show that has a good grasp of what the haunt industry needs (low cost vending and a great turn out of buyers). Then you are talking about a show that has no entertainment for the attendees and or vendors. That is a mistake! There is a reason MHC is growing by leaps and bounds. They have everything you mentioned in your post as well as some GREAT entertainment.

I have a suggestion for you. Maybe some polling of the different groups of interested parties is needed to see what the industry actually wants or needs.

I was informed by a vendor close to my location here in Northern Ohio, that it cost them well over 5000 just to attend the haunt portion of the HCP show in Vegas this year. That did not include product for cash and carry.

[hauntedhousenut]

Barry

Why don't you take the lead in the industry and move your show to the top spot, I'm sure, with the right dates and location you could surely accomplish this, and why don't you ask all of the vendors that will be attending MHC how they feel about this venture?

[Matt Marich]

Larry, You are of base on this one. We have been attending TW for 7 years and here are our statistics:

Product sold To:

Haunters- 30%
Theme Parks- 40%
Retail-30%

As you can see, we would not benifit much from a Haunt only show. We have never participated in MHC, EHC, or Hauntcon simply because every vendor has said that they don't sell much, it's only worth it to network and do cash and carry items. Christ, our second year I spoke to Barry and he told me himself that his show was small!

This is with due respect to all of these shows, we dearly want to attend but our business dictates only time for one or two a year! You are also off base with continual ethnocentric "East of The Mason Dixie Line " attitude. We sell to many west coast people and parks as well as Canada, U.K, Germany, and China. (O.K. I guess China is really East.)

I E-mailed you regarding your upcoming plans last month and you promised to keep me in the loop, thank you, but I agree, another convention is sure suicide at this point.

Matt Marich
Edge Designs

[Gore Galore]

transworld call

I have never received a call from transworld before asking my opinion about the show, but I did get a call yesterday.
I gave her my opinion of being in Vegas versus chicago, but primarily the problem with the January dates as being the issue.
I also told her that if we were to be back in Vegas, the costs need to be really really brought down for the vendors. Gore Galore didn't have much of a problem on this level because we build all of our stuff to be lightweight. So, our drayage was only $500, but I did speak to her about how some vendors drayage was in the $10,000 mark or more and that is just not feasible for any vendor to afford.

I was really impressed to get this call and I hope that it means they are trying to improve the show. But only time will tell.

[drfrightner]

Matt,

There is a picture so much bigger you can't even imagine it... but once it was all laid out you would fall in love! It doesn't matter what you've done in the past it is what can you do in the future?

The future is so bright you gotta wear shades!

LOL

No reason to beat on something, because there is NOTHING to report...just yet! But I can tell you the days of teaming up with a retail show must end and it will. Our industry needs to assume control over its own destiny... and become something so awesome you can't even imagine.

I have a plan and once you hear it you won't believe it. But again all speculation until something actually happens.

Just hang tight!

Oh yes and Kevin, I told Transworld that if they don't do something about those costs the whole roof would cave in... I am glad to hear they're trying to work with you and make things better for our industry, an industry which has unique needs and problems. We have to be addressed on a different and unique level separate from the retail industry.

Barry...what I'm talking about isn't what you do, isn't what Hauntcon does, and certainly isn't what Transworld is doing it's totally different and to a vendor and a buyer is HUGE!!! You won't understand unless the plan was laid out to you. I think you're wrong another show is just what the doctor ordered, but it would NOT complete with what you're doing so you wouldn't have a thing to worry about. This would be something well... just give me another week or two and I'll tell you everything. It is what the future needs to be so vendors can make more money, and buyers have access to more products. You'll see...

Larry