Joe/Dark Attractions strikes again... (Hauntcon)

[drfrightner]

First and foremost, I didn't slam every speaker... please re-read the post.

I even apologized to anyone who thought I did...again re-read.

If you think I slammed you I apologize to you personally!!!

As for your comments about Hauntcon seminar series I will stand by what I said and NOT AGREE WITH YOU!

I think MANY (which is the word I used) are so not qualified to speak on the subjects they're speaking on. I think that is not the approach any responsible show organizer should take.

You can't take just anyone and let them speak... the people buying those semianrs are people looking for good information not bad advice. Who wants to pay for bad advice??? WHO? YOU?

Are there many good speakers, yes, are there many good speakers at everyone of these hautned conventions? yes!

But just so you can claim to have the BIGGEST seminar event should you take any topic and any speakers??? NO!

Bigger isn't better! If you ask me many of Hauntcons speakers are not qualified to speak on the topics they're speaking on...period! I won't take that back, I won't apologize for that, and will not change my mind. I do realize many of the speakers are qualified, and have great topics.

The whole started out simply that you have newbies they take a seminar class from someone who might not have been trying to give the best seminar but maybe sell something to someone and look at the results.

Don't you think seminar organizers have a responsibility to QUALIFY ALL SPEAKERS?????

Thats what I'm saying... the other comments came out wrong and I apologized!

I hope this clears it up for you!

Larry

[drfrightner]

Dusti,

On one hand I agree with you, you can't just blame Leoanrd for having a bad speaker, who might have been more intersted in SELLING something than doing a qualified seminar. However, Leonards approach of having the bigger, most speakers, in an effort to trump other events isn't the repsonsible way to handle his seminar. He should qualify speakers, he should scruntize them closely and I'll bet he'd weed out many and increase the QUALITY and RELIABLITY of the information.

In the end this is what I'm saying... his approach is major flawed and can result in disaster. So he should take on more responsibility for who he allows to speak. Has TW had awfull speakers in the past... well that goes without saying. But that doesn't mean you have repeat those mistakes over and over again. Atleast TW isn't repeating them again this year!


JIM,

I'm happy to hear Joe stopped by your place... there is NO doubt two sides to every story I don't doubt that. Well I find out that Joe has admitted that he knew they used my artwork, that he knew they stole all this other artwork. He's claimed he told them not to do it... NOW you tell me how strong is his credibility right now?

He says he knew they did this, and we're talking he knew 7 months ago and he nevers says a word? He knows they've stolen other indstury people's artwork, make t-shirts and everything else and he tells NO ONE?

If you knew someone stole from someone you knew wouldn't you tell them? Think about it this way... he has to KNOW he's going to be associated with this people at some point why would he want to be associated with people who steal other peoples artwork?

These people FIRED HIM, KICKED HIM TO THE CURB, they've created a myspace page blasting him, they created t-shirts about his company...

At what point doesn't it cross Joe's mind to say... I'm going to tell Larry and the others these people stole their artwork?

I would think at the very least after they fired him, or after they created a myspace page about his company. Somewhere along the line you would think if he didn't steal it he would have told someone!

Don't you think?

Larry

[Mr Nightmarez]

I feel better now... :wink:

I agree Larry, like they say - E-mail and Forums are so unpersonalized that we can read it while in a bad mood and still see bad in a good post.

YES. Speakers should be qualified at some point, but who can truly be qualified? You don't know me. So am I qualified? Selling in Seminars. I don't agree nor disagree with it but don't turn it into an infomercial...

It would be a perfect world if people could accomplish a lot of things, but in all the seminars are free... Ok you pay an admission, but unlike TW you don't have to spend $50 per class. If I spent $50 per class @ Hauntcon I would be out about $600 - 700.

I have attended a few sessions I walked out of because it WAS a sales pitch or someone who was not even prepared.

I'm an anal perfectionist and work on my speeches and powerpoint presentation for a long time to make sure I do have good info and material for my audience. I have turned down a couple seminars because they were out of my "comfort zone". See you at the Show tomorrow

BTW: Larry, I still owe you pictures.... ops:

[Jim Warfield]

Larry, Maybe Joe was hoping that they would finally finish paying him as contracted so he didn't wish to make that impossible by bad-mouthing them (or turning them in, so to speak?)
Who are the Copyright Police anyway? Do they only work for you if you already happen to have a huge bank account?
I deal almost exclusively in what others would call "original ideas" here in everything I do and show and say within my house. I don't like people "borrowing" or copying my ideas either but I'm a poor busturd and no lawyer money from me will be forthcoming anytime soon, I need that money for the basics in life, oh well, poor me, I will always be, I guess?

[Greg Chrise]

Two years ago, our charity haunted house had posters, full color and large dontated. I never saw the proof and was not involved in the order, the charity was providing their own advertising. They were "out on the streets" What they came up with is a classic collection of everyone's past art work I think all the big names grafix are on there.

The graphix people did all of these "liftings" and some of it I think have come from DVD's for all occasions that are available to them for generalized occasions. I have one up in my office as a suvenier. I'm not going into any details but I shook my head. I've looked at everyone's sites so often it was an easy who's who kind of thing.

[Nightmaretony]

The biggest test of the effectiveness of a speaker is if you come away with learning and knowledge. I am going to defend Leonard's seminars in here. Every year, I have notes taken and have had many questions answered. Technical questions based on experience. Whether financially successful was immaterial to the topics presented.

Of course to ANY seminars given, you double check the information and integrate what will work with what you need. No seminar will fit everyone's needs.

I am only sad I will never attend his again.

[SomeThingInTheIce]

What happened to the my space link?

[Empressnightshade]

What happened to the my space link?

That link is no longer in existence and their myspace page has been wiped clean, as well :

http://myspace.com/joerippedusoff

And while we're checking pages, check out their website and see that it has been wiped clean, also.

http://www.itsscary.com/

The biggest test of the effectiveness of a speaker is if you come away with learning and knowledge.

Larry, didn't you say on at least one of your Hauntworld videos that if you walk away with at least one bit of information from them, it was worth the price of the video? Are you prepared to say that no one has learned ANYTHING from a Hauntcon seminar? Because if not, and they have picked up at least one thing from everyone they've sat in on, their trip to Hauntcon was worth it.

I've never attended any Hauntcon seminars. That's probably because I've never attended Hauntcon. But, hopefully all of that will change soon. No one is a God here. No one. The only God I know taps me on the shoulder when I'm about to put my foot in my mouth and keeps me and children safe at night. Therefore, like Rondini mentioned earlier, we should take all information with a grain of salt. Weigh it, measure it...see if the information has a good fit for you. For me, I believe it's all about these four things:

Knowing who you are
Knowing what you're about
Knowing what you're capable of
Keeping it real

When you know and do this, it makes for better decision making.
Grandiose ideas are grand -- for the other brotha. NOT for someone just starting out and seeking answers.

[drfrightner]

Those people took down that site, because I told them too, they were using stolen graphics. They really had no other choice... As for their myspace page, I don't know why they took that down but I could really care less. I don't believe them or Joe Manzo.

Joe claims he knew they stole it, he claims he told them not to do it, but at the same time never said nothing to myself, Tim Bunch, or Fright World, for a whole entire 7 months. He was associated with them, he had to figure at one point he's going to be pinned with this. Any ethical business person would not associate with people who steal other peoples stuff. He had about SEVEN months to tell someone before we all found out. Even if Joe is not guility of stealing my graphics as these people claim, he's guility by association. These people tell me he stold them, he gave them the graphics, as it was part of his deal. Joe says he knew THEY did it but he didn't do it. Either way its bad business ethics...

As for Hauntcon, I didn't say all the seminars at Hauntcon are bad, I didn't say all the speakers are bad, but I don't think they're all qualified. Just because someone says 'hey I'll be a speaker' doesn't mean you should throw them in a room and let them have at it. Hauntcon has allowed just about anyone in my opinion to be a speaker, and in my opinion some pretty bad speakers, and some pretty bad information being handed out.

In my opinion ANYONE who's producing a seminar series should feel the obligation to qualify ALL SPEAKERS, and hold their series to the HIGHEST standards, to ENSURE all information is quality, valid, authentic, and coming from a professional in the field. Otherwise its useless information, and in some cases harmfull information.

I DO NOT think Hauntcon has a rigid qualification process to ensure guests are getting good information. Leonard does not pay his speakers, however he charges the guests so you have to take what he does with a grain of salt. You can't be sure that everything you're hearing is good information... in fact you have to think just the opposite maybe most of what you're hearing is bad information. You just don't know with Hauntcon.

ANY expert in a field say Sponsorship, should be paid for their time speaking, this is the norm in any industry but this one I guess. TW has always paid their speakers, always! You can atleast count on their speakers to show up since they're paying for hotels and fee's. I would do a free seminar if the host wasn't charging the guests, but if he is charging the guests and making money based on his speakers, he should pay the speakers.

At the end of the day it really doesn't matter... I'm sure there will be some good speakers at Hauntcon, with some good information. But if you're one of those up and coming haunts, take EVERYTHING you hear with a grain of salt, unless you know the speaker yourself to be highly qualified.

Larry

[Jim Warfield]

Most will allow you to take the grain of salt, but how often do they bother to hand out the sugar?
How many TV shows promise to tell and show you how some multi-millionaire went from being a small-town wanna-be to owning a franchise listed on the stock exchange?
They always seem to forget or overlook that deciding moment and how it came to happen, to turn the corner find how much financial backing? From who?
15 years of long hours and hard work might make you middle-class-success, how does one or two good little businesses become a chain operation worth millions? Part of the story is always missing.

[SomeThingInTheIce]

I don't know Larry, you have had harsh things to say about Joe in the past and it could be thats why he did not tell you. I'm not saying he was right in doing so but hay I don't know that I would want to talk to someone that doesn't think highly of me. I'm just saying theres two sides to a story and it looks like these people are backing down by taking the myspace page away.

I am not pointing fingers here, just giving a possible reason as to why this happened.

[drfrightner]

I haven't really had harsh things to say about him... but even it that where the case then why didn't he tell the other two guys they stole artwork from????? Thats no excuse!

See what I'm saying?

Larry

[creature]

Did this guy steal artwork from me??? Larry, I saw you mention that he stole from frightworld as well as myself... I was unaware of this!! If this is in fact the case I am going to be pretty pissed....Every year I have Brainstorm do some new artwork + PAY for it. If someone ripped it off that is just total crap.........

-Tim

[Jim Warfield]

Tim, That Karloff punk seems to have stole your image!
Dam! Let's dig him up and learn him a lesson or two!
Let's break his boney old fingers, he won't do that again!
hahahahaha!

[drfrightner]

Yes Tim, they stole your artwork as well. Brainstorm knows all about it and they've talked to the guy. Actually Doug and this guy had a bit of an arguement. You should call Doug and talk to him.

But yes your artwork was stolen, as was mine as was Fright Worlds.

So my only point about Joe, was that even if he did or didn't steal the artwork he knew about it and didn't tell you, Frightworld or myself.


Larry