What do "you" think?

[Mr. Haunt]

OK THEN!

I had no idea that this would be such a HEATED TOPIC. I thank you all for your opinion's.

[Greg Chrise]

I'm so glad others have offered their true investment honestly. Now that Empress has unsubscribed we can really tell it lie it is! Just kidding

I was not questioning anyone's intellegence and somehow everything I say strikes her as a deep cut but, I have a few more years of really asking why this and why that. Having the Darkness and Netherworld are great accomplishments and they must have done many things just right and continue to do things just right to have such a show.

But, in reality, I know from a previous statement that Empress didn't make $5,000 just like me. So it might cut away te fantasy world. People that only make somewhere around or slightly above $5,000 from their haunt and give a majority of that money to a charity are not going to Transworld to buy $2500 props.

Transworld is certainly something to see and be familiar with but if you are running a for charity haunt, unless you intend to spend sponsors money on animatronics you better be building them yourself or consider all effectrs with volunteer actors.

Now a for profit haunt like the darkness or Netherworld or Verdun Manor, these guys went to Transworld and saw opportunity. You buy the coolest of toys, people want to see what's new every year and try to absorb the great detail, many come over and over in the same season and they make money. I don't know the history of Netherworld but I do know that in a way, the Darkness and even Verdun manor were taking over someone else's attraction that perhaps had not reach the proper potential. They came in as new blood with a spurt of what ever finances they could muster and a decade later they were somebody.

Our latest philosophy has been developed to say sometimes if you have to ask how it works it doesn't.

There is nothing wrong with only making $5,000 from realtively nothing. Would you rather have a bake sale or a garage sale? Perhaps go door to door taking orders on cookies? Especially when it is open less than 40 hours. It may have taken thousands of hours to build but it was only accepting money a very limited time frame.

As far as being smart? Yes our first year our only moving prop was a cat on a string. It freaking worked. Year two we had Two lame props that cost $1500 that I didn't buy. My money went into the haunt itself. The only thing I will get to keep from the experience. Props have a real tendancy to work only one season and then no one knows how to fix them or replace specialized little crap. If you built it yourself you know where to buy this or that.

In fact at some point, I had to realize do I want to travel the planet going to conventions where I can't or shouldn't buy toys or would that money be better spent making sure I don't miss a storage payment. It is just reality.

If you haven't made a big jump into some situation that is already working, you have to continue with the day job and not be a slacker. You still have to spend hours shopping and doing laundry and taking care of family needs and sometimes the sacrifice is not a good thing.

However, if you can pool a bunch of people together it will work. In a charity 30 people come together and do because the end goal will be met as best as possible and walk away with nothing but a grin. Possibly even a tear that it is over. Going for profit with too many partners means everyone is going to be disappointed for years. In this case you have to be like Bill Gates where origionally Microsoft was founded and funded by 16 people that all eventually bailed or were bought out and now he is a billionare. He didn't do it all himself. All the others pretty much got what they wanted out of it or lost faith or wanted to have a life that wasn't quite so consuming. This principle holds true when you are at the $1000 income per year level too only far more people will bail as it might not be worth it.

So tell me, how am I being so offensive here?

[Hell American Freak]

I just figured out you can say bullshit on here and it doesn't get turned into we love jesus!

Life is good.

That one made me laugh...