Check out the Floor Plan for TW

[drfrightner]

http://www.expocad.com/host/fx/twe/ha2013/default.html

Its almost sold out... remember this show is NOW double the size from when it started. I remember people selling it wouldn't sell out then and now its almost sold out and its double the size! Way to go! How many new vendors can you pick out of this bunch. I love seeing new vendors.

Larry

[FrightProps]

Big year

It's even more sold out now. Adam @ Posion Props #224 just took the last booth on his island.

This the biggest show I've seen with loads of stuff going on after hours. This is by far the biggest industry trade show and should not be missed if you are into haunting. See you there!

Doug.

[Gore Galore]

I know this will be our biggest show to date with 10 booths.
We will have everything from
Giant Costumes
TONS of Actormatronics
Wall Decor
Oversized hand held weapons
static zombies
Several complete scene prop packages.
and the start of a brand new line of industrial quality animations
This is going to be a great show.
SO, DON'T miss it.

Transworld had to reserve tons more rooms than normal to accomodate ALL the new buyers and vendors that are coming to the show of the year.

[Allen H]

Larry I think we are Neighbors!I cant wait for the show...Im a mask making machine!

[john haines]

bummer !!!!!

as usual, the dark zone gets smaller every year. see ya in HOUSTON next year. I'm done with THIS show................................

[Deathwing]

as usual, the dark zone gets smaller every year. see ya in HOUSTON next year. I'm done with THIS show................................

Lol John do you even go to the Transworld show or for that matter Houston? The Houston show was DEAD!!! It sucks the big one!

Jake

[FrightProps]

@john haines : Uh, what?

I'm pretty sure the Dark Zone is the same size as last year and the year before. At least it's the same sized space and that space is full. Some companies start out in the Dark Zone and then realize it's very hard to do business in the dark so they move the next year (I did that). There are certainly a lot more vendors at the show this year! Houston is a completely different show... no haunt businesses but lots of costumes. It would be the wrong show to go to if you think you are going to see the same things and people as you will find at TW.

Doug.

[Allen H]

I hate the darkzone. It is an enviornment that it is difficult to do business in and the dark hides how often scarefactory's things arent working. I want to see the welds and see the bolts, They look awesome because they are only ever seen in the dark.
and Houston John? are you leaving the haunt business and getting into plastic plates? Everyone good at Houston will be at TW with bigger booths.
Allen H

[Slain]

Allan you are so right

Fellow haunters...Go behind the Scarefactory Magic Curtain and watch them fix all the broken stuff..

[kpolley]

Yeah, I'm not sure what John is talking about either. The Dark Zone is the same size it's been for years now and the show itself is growing. The Houston show, from everything I've heard, was an absolute ghost town. Houston is for people selling plastic pumpkins and President Obama masks. I know Distortions takes things there, but they have a line of products they are marketing to the retail crowd so it makes sense. I can say with certainty I will never attend that show. As long as we continue to do haunt tradeshows TW will be the one show we will always do.

[Gore Galore]

I have to stand behind the Transworld show as a vendor who can attribute most of our success from being at the Transworld show.
SO, if you want to see Gore Galore products in action, you have to do the Haunt and Attractions show. You won't see us at any other show. Or if we do another show, it won't be even close to as much as we bring to the Transworld show.

[tonguesandwich]

My booth is a third its size this year in the darkzone only because we are in the process of moving 3 of my biz from Las Vegas and Denver to Nashville. Time is the only factor.

[drfrightner]

I have always been in a unique positions over the last 20 years of TW playing the part of vendor and buyers for my own haunts. I can honestly tell you I hate the dark zone. I don't go in there but maybe once just to run through really quick and back out. I don't want vendors who want to hide their equipment in the dark, I want to see it and appreciate it in the light! I know anything can look cool in the dark with lighting... I want to see it in the light.

Now before I get bum rushed... I'm not saying ANYONE is hiding in the dark zone. I know why they go in there... because of the haunt type conditions, fog, dark, controlled lighting, blah, blah, blah.

But honestly I think the dark zone is outdated and no longer needed. It was ONLY Needed back in the day when we shared a show with Halloween retail because of noise, fog, blah, blah, blah.

I say do away with the dark zone.

And as for the comment about going to Houston... HUH! You lost me there bro!

Larry

[screamforadream]

I have to agree with a bunch of people on here, but lets also remember that we are NOT the only people going. There's a LOT of people that go to the show, maybe 1/20th of them are on Hauntworld either as guests or as actual members of the forums.

However, when I booked my booth a LONG time ago, I tried to do some research, I found that the two most popular locations on the tradeshow floor are the interactive haunted house and the dark zone. I also know that corner booths INCREASE your business on average, you get more exposure and it is easier for you to stand out. So this is what I did; I saw that the FIRST booth in the dark zone was OPEN. It was in one of the MOST loved/visited/whatever you want to call it, locations of the show, meaning the majority of people MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT to go there, and being the first booth, we are guaranteeing that we get that foot traffic through our space. We are a first year vendor, we are trying to do everything as effectively as possible, so this was a HUGE plus to us, strictly from a business view, not as a "I want to hide the quality of my products" or "I want to show my products in an XYZ environment". I am CONFIDENT in our products, ESPECIALLY our foam products, 3 large pieces in particular, one of which was already released. I believe our products will speak for themselves no matter where they are, but being a less known name, we want to make sure more people get to actually see our product, so we will add lighting to our booth, which vendors ARE allowed to do in the dark zone!! The only rule to lighting in the dark zone is that you can NOT let ANY light flood outside of your space, especially into another vendors space. We plan on having small spots on our pieces, as well as encourage anyone to take our products two feet to the right and into the light of the main tradeshow. If done effectively and professionally, I have a VERY strong faith that all those measures we've taken, will be to our benefit, and will allow us to do better overall than being in the middle of a SEA of other vendors. The dark zone is smaller and our location is easy to find and easy to remember, making it simple for our clients to come find us and bring their friends back later in the show!

That's my two cents, but I see and respect where everyone else is coming from tho! But as a first year vendor, I respect and believe (or hope?! LOL) that the dark zone can be a benefit to us.

[drfrightner]

I have been going to tradeshows longer than anyone I know... I've been to probably 100 shows as an exhibitor. I know from experience that booth location is NOT all its cracked up to be based on the show itself. If you go to IAAPA booth location could mean EVERYTHING because the show is 700,000 square feet.

However at the TW show I would say booth location doesn't matter a bit... I pose the challenge to anyone and everyone. Pick 10 people in the industry you know very well that do NOT VEND... lets go with Ben Armstrong, lets go with umm Randy Bates, or Dwayne Sandburg or whomever you want doesn't matter to me. Have ANY vendor you know in say the middle or the ends of the show... have them track how many times they saw the same guys.

I don't care where you booth is you will see them the SAME... I think the amount of times you see them in the dark zone will be half at best.

This show is small and people walk it over and over and over again... there is nothing else to do!

At IAAPA you are lucky to walk it once and then maybe return to a handful of booths that you had some interest.

The Dark Zone is overrated and probably gets 1/3 to half the traffic of say where Gore Galore will have their booth.

Anyone who goes in the Dark Zone is also over shadowed by Scarefactory another reason not to go in there... for me as a buyer I'm just saying hard to see, hard to hear, and really have no interest in staying in there for long periods of time or returning once I've been in there. But I bet most other buyers walking around the whole time go up and down isles multiple times just because...

I think having a booth near the food courts might even be better... but let me say this. Booth location means nothing without products people want to buy. Don't blame the show, your booth location, or anything else if your products suck they suck, if they are not what people wanted it is what it is... if you over priced your products then again your mistake. I think failure at the show has more to do with products, and price than booth locations.

Larry