National Haunters Convention - Saturday Pics

[davidm]

I just uploaded all my NHC pics to my flickr account. You can check them out here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwof/se...7626669517146/

[chuck weber]

great photos !

thanks for posting. looks like the convention was another winner !!!!

[chuck weber]

need more input, photos, comments, please.............

was everybody happy ? I was (as usual due to family problems) unable to make it. please, if you were there, post your comments. thanking you all in advance for your considerations.

[drfrightner]

I didn't even know it was happening this weekend... way to close to Hauntcon. These shows need more distance between them. Is anyone attending is that low or high? How many vendors do they have. What tours are they doing. Looking to hear more. Larry

[damon carson]

Convention dates

Wasnt these two on the same weekend last year?! LOL! Now they were a week apart? It doesnt really make much sense! And I cant see one person going to one and then the next one in a weeks time. Its ridiculous and someone is cutting their own throat! From the videos of them on youtube the aisles look pretty bare. But then they might of been shot on the first day?
Damon
Frightmasters
www.houseoffright.com

[chuck weber]

national haunters convention has their dates listed for the next 4 years

hauntcon needs to get with the program and stop screwing things up. just because they can't make up their minds way in advance, others have to suffer.

[hauntedkimmy]

This was my first year at NHC but I thought there was a good amount of vendors. The haunt tours were through Scare Brothers (4 haunts) and Fright Factory (4 haunts). The haunts were great... actors were AWESOME! I loved just how much pride they took in working there. I really enjoyed the Insane Asylum at Fright Factory. Awesome ideas, awesome actors, and lots fun good screams!

[the ogre]

NHC has there dates booked years in advanced. they are doing their part to make sure they are organized and set apart from other cons. As far as the rest of the cons in this industry i feel it is their responsibility to schedule accordingly. This year NHC unfortunatly took place over mothersday weekend so despite what others may say it did effect attendance a little but it was still a great show, Haunt Tactics had 2 booths and we had alot of traffic. As usual home haunters were very paramount in our success at this con so for those who bought and ordered i thank you. Nhc is our home convention and ill continue to support it. YOU WILL NOT FIND A BETTER VENDING AND ADMISSION PRICE. also lets talk about the pricelessness of the staff. michael rob and there crew are the most accomidating people in this industry. All in all it was a good show.

[Grimley]

This is my review of the NHC

First I want to start with the negatives of the show. Don't know why I always start there but here goes. We showed up at the show on Thursday which was plastered all over the site as the first date it would be open. We got there and they were setting things up. When we walked up a guy was shouting at the staff that like us they saw the site and showed up and they drove 3 hours to get there. The response from the staff was that they were in fact open because they had a fire safety training class on Thursday. REALLY. Don't put that as an open date if you have nothing else I know a few other people we talked to were pissed.

One other thing that would have been nice was some helpful info on the area. For instance recommend car rentals from the airport instead of the dreaded $80 taxi rides. Little notes like that would have saved some people a little money.

On the plus side the show was well attended by vendors. The staff was friendly even if things seemed a little scattered. We sat in on some of the Q&A and free info offered and enjoyed it. We made several purchases and met two vendors we had never seen before.

We did not attend any of the classes as none really stuck out to me as a must see. We also did not attend the tour. The area was very nice and once we did get the car rental it made things much easier. Over all a good time but I would wait a few years before going back unless we were going to Vend.

[drfrightner]

Personally if you ask me there is just to many shows but if there are going to be this many shows they should be at least one month apart otherwise all of these shows will suffer. Larry

[Massacred Memories]

Enjoyed it

This was my first time out. Got some good exposure to smaller haunts and met with many great people and otehr vendors. I got there Saturday morning after throwing it all together the night before at midnight. The staff was helpful in getting me to my booth quickly and assisting with the load in. Good people.
As for the dates...this pissing contest has been going on for years and NHC has made efforts to avoid it but someone has......ugh. Here's where I want to fly off the handle. Every year this comes up and excuses are made.

[Xanthar]

Dates for next years show and beyond...

Unfortunately Michael and I can't control when other people set their dates. We apologize for problems it causes, but there is nothing we can do....we are open and upfront with our dates (been publically put on our website for years now). Our convention center (the Valley Forge one) is very much sought out and needs to be booked years in advance, which we did. Thus, we already have our show dates for the next 4 years. Here are the dates.

2012 Show Dates!
Friday, May 4th, 2012
Saturday, May 5th, 2012
Sunday, May 6th, 2012

2013 Show Dates!
Friday, May 3rd, 2013
Saturday, May 4th, 2013
Sunday, May 5th, 2013

2014 Show Dates!
Friday, May 2nd, 2014
Saturday, May 3rd, 2014
Sunday, May 4th, 2014

2015 Show Dates!
Friday, May 1st, 2015
Saturday, May 2nd, 2015
Sunday, May 3rd, 2015


If other people choose the same weekend or right before us or after etc, there is nothing we can do. We have these dates set in stone for the next 4+ years. We are very dedicated to this show and want to continue a quality product. We thank everyone for their support, this was a great year and our largest show floor to date.

Sincerely,

Robert Kocher Hightower
National Haunters Convention
www.NationalHauntersConvention.com

[drfrightner]

I appreciate you posting your dates for 4 years straight but Hauntcon has always been around the same date from day one... I think that is the point. You put your dates square on top of basically when they always do their show... its not good for anyone specially you who operate a show.

Why not back it up two weeks or move it up 2 or 3 weeks before something. I would also encourage HC to choose a date a few weeks before yours but he's in the same boat every year because he travels from city to city, he has to get the dates he can get. You are set in stone one location every year its totally different.

Larry

[thrilltainment]

my $0.02

as a vendor, these dates 1 week off worked out OK because i can just travel from one show to the next and save the flight going back home and out again. but as a haunt owner, i would probably just choose one con.

transworld is a must go for the big owners, and then usually they would pick one more --- and that would be one of the following 4 depending on which one is convenient: HauntCon, NHC, WestCoast (this one is new but it's starting to pick up and it's the only west coast show), and MHC.

since we exhibit at all of these, i can say they each cater to a slightly different group of people and have a different focus. I love HauntCon for the pretour, great way to meet people and hang out. It's kindda hit or miss year to year since it's a moving show, but that's also the appeal because you're getting something different each time. This past HauntCon I think went pretty well --- lots more people, more sponsors, and a great pretour line-up. this year they did classes in the morning and trade show int he afternoon --- i thought that was awesome. didn't have too much deadtime during the show open hours. some of the big haunt owners attend this show for the pretour and catchup with vendors they didnt have a chance to see at transworld.

NHC had more vendors than HauntCon but the attendance wasn't so hot, perhaps because of mothers day weekend. i felt the tour were a bit overpriced for just a single location. the show floor hours were a bit weird --- and was conflicting with classes and the tour. I met a lot more halloween enthusiasts at this show.

westcoast haunters convention --- still in its infancy, 2nd year, but i can feel that it's gonna become a strong force in the west coast since there is not other con there. Up until this year, I've always been touring the midwest and east coast, there must be plenty of west coast haunters that this show can cater to. this show is growing every year and next year they're moving out of the school and going to a hotel, possibly in Portland. it can get big. many of the attendee are home haunters

MHC --- always catering to last minute buyers, overall a pretty solid show and well carried out because they've been doing it for a while now. Next biggest show, second to Transworld.

[DeathRattle]

Can't we all just get along?

Whatever the reasons that folks can't work together or give and take to schedule the events for the benefit of all, they need to get over it. Everyone suffers. Less people show up overall because they have to pick and choose and vendors get burned out or they pick and choose. I went to my first Haunt convention this year and chose Hauntcon, because well it was Hauntcon and the date was good (sort of) for me.

I would have loved to go to NHC because for one thing I live thirty minutes away from the Valley Forge Convention Center, versus 12 hours from Kentucky. Back to back dates was not possible and Mothers Day didn't help, and daughters Prom, etc. Next year I'm going to go to NHC and if the dates for Hauntcon are within a week I won't go to Hauncton. I don't think my logic is unique and many folks are going to do the same which hurts everyone.