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  • #16
    21 degrees outside is not nice, lol. The cold weather here in Michigan sucks. The sad part is it lasts until June sometimes. I have always hated fall, winter, and most of spring here.
    Jared Layman

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    • #17
      Orlando or New Orleans would be ideal from a buyers perspective. However St. Louis being more central is more ideal from a vendors perspective collectively. The lack of hotels immediately around the convention center is the primary downfall with St. Louis. Ideally somewhere with a warmer climate and better entertainment would be ideal but that doesn't affect our ability to go to the show and handle our business. However the fact that the entire downtown area is out of hotel rooms is completely unacceptable. And the lack of lower priced rooms is a serious hinderance to lower income attractions ability to send representatives. If the issue of relocation is indeed being pondered I would champion another location in the mid west that can address these shortcomings of the Americas Center.


      DHD

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      • #18
        Couple things... contrary to popular belief I could care less if this show moved. Just fyi! St Louis has many benefits however ... you cite that it doesn't have a lot of hotels near the convention center and I would disagree with that. There are no real hotels across the street from Orlando convention center than St. Louis. In fact I'm betting we have more because the in addition to the REN we also have the hotel casino right there as well with TWO hotels in one building. If you haven't been staying at the Casino its very very very nice...

        The thing I like about STL is that you have tons of places to eat, tons of things to do and walk to, a casino simply put everything nearby.

        STL is also the most central city you can pick...

        Now on the other hand if you move the show where... I still think it should be central to everyone to get the biggest results. That would put you in a host of different options like Indy, Memphis, maybe KC, but STL is like 5 hours closer to anywhere in Texas, or east side of STL. Most of the haunts are east or south of say KC which puts STL closer.

        I also think whatever city you go to that city should have an established haunt community which eliminates say Memphis. If you go away from the CENTRAL THEME I would suggest cities like maybe Dallas however you must also consider price of convention space. STL is cheap... Dallas or Chicago would be a lot more. Do haunters want to pay $150 to enter the show and would vendors want to pay 1500 or 1800 for a booth?

        That is the question... and again I don't care if the show moves as long as its somewhat central, the vendors can afford lots of booth space, and buyers can afford to get into the show. Those are all things that must be considered.

        Orlando NO WAY... that would make the cost to exhibit for say west coast guys go through the roof. IAAPA is already there why mess with that monster. I would throw out one suggestion however... BRANSON which is also in MO. Tons of things to do there... very nice place and not very busy in March.

        BTW... Today its nice and warm and the snow was melting. My kids baseball team will be playing in three weeks! When the show is keep into March it will be 70 degrees every single day!

        Larry
        Larry Kirchner
        President
        www.HalloweenProductions.com
        www.BlacklightAttractions.com
        www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
        www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

        Comment


        • #19
          Larry,

          Orlando has over 21 hotels within immediate walking distance of the convention center. It is one of the busiest convention centers in the US. It's also parked right in the middle of Seaworld, Universal, and Disney. Trying to compare that to the Americas Center is like comparing apples to rocks.

          Branson is a wonderful place. Is Silver Dollar City open at this time of year?

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          • #20
            Originally posted by geckofx View Post
            Larry,

            Orlando has over 21 hotels within immediate walking distance of the convention center. It is one of the busiest convention centers in the US. It's also parked right in the middle of Seaworld, Universal, and Disney. Trying to compare that to the Americas Center is like comparing apples to rocks.

            Branson is a wonderful place. Is Silver Dollar City open at this time of year?

            Yes there are tons of hotels near the convention center, some good ones too, surrounding the center and many more on I Drive. Hotels, things to do and places to eat will never be the problem in Orlando they just don't have much by way of a haunt tour.

            i don't mind where it's at it's a 2 hour flight from here and central to most Haunters and I have found more places to see and eat than I ever did at Rosemont. But Memphis would be interesting..

            Allan

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            • #21
              Larry's Orlando views...

              As much as I like the idea of Orlando...if Larry's views of Vendor show space cost being much greater...that trumps my Orlando desires. Actually, that is pretty much why I said I would like vendors to chime in here who have been to the other show in Orlando. Confession time, Hi my name is Mark and I am a Disneyholic. Being that I do know there are hotels within 10 minutes of convention center galore (sorry Kevin). As long as it is not within 'Spring Break" hotels would run gammit of $45 -any price you want. Would the "Orlando" magnet draw more people to the show...I don't know. But like I eluded to earlier....VENDORS trump my desire.

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              • #22
                My only concern is snow. If there is a good chance of snow for this time of year then it needs to be somewhere warmer. Forget all of the other nonsense. If snow cancels the flights you have no show at all so it trumps all others. Show or no show.
                Lordgrimley.com for the very best items on the net.

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                • #23
                  A quick google search will show that there are plenty of conventions going to the Orlando convention center charging between 10 to 12 dollars per square foot of booth space. This is on par with what is charges in St. Louis. Has anyone actually done any kind of real study on this? Should we be petitioning the HAA board to look at alternatives, or Transworld to propose alternatives? It seems like a proper study would reveal the answers to all these questions and many more.

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                  • #24
                    Just for the record I've been going to IAAPA show for 20 years... there are no hotels and I say NO hotels near the convention center in the way the REN is to America's Center. That is a fact check it twice check it ten times... Ren is like 50 feet from the door there isn't a single HOTEL that close to the Orlando convention center.

                    Second there are not a ton of hotels just sitting right there at the front door in orlando... what there is however is a TON of hotels probably more hotels in one city than in any other city in the WORLD. There are a lot of good hotels and a lot of great options when staying in Orlando.

                    IAAPA already goes to Orlando if you want to go to Orlando for a convention go to IAAPA.

                    That would not be a good option for the haunt industry and its not because of hotels its because it could hurt how many booths vendors buy. I think the show is thriving because of the central location. It has always been central even when you consider Chicago its still somewhat central.

                    Larry
                    Larry Kirchner
                    President
                    www.HalloweenProductions.com
                    www.BlacklightAttractions.com
                    www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
                    www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

                    Comment


                    • #25
                      IAAPA is a terrible show haunt wise fewer Haunters go each year.

                      But hotels near the convention center? Are you kidding? The gigantic Hilton and Peabody are connected to it. The Westin is across the street along with at least another 6 HUGE hotels on the back of it and the Rosen is directly across the street plus another Rosen plaza two blocks away. There must be 10 to 1 rooms at that convention center compared to St. Louis.


                      DA

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                      • #26
                        IAAPA is not a terrible show for haunters whomever told you that is an idiot! I can find more stuff there to build my haunt than at the haunt show. If you hadn't notice we build our haunted house prior to the haunt show, but after or during the IAAPA show. We don't get the luxury of seeing the new stuff at Transworld so we go based on our own idea's and concepts we can create in that time frame. We do however get the opportunity to visit IAAPA and you'll see wonderful things that could be used or have never been used before in haunts.

                        The Transworld show is totally dedicated to Halloween, and yes more Halloween stuff to see but when you are looking for new technology, all sorts of things to make your attraction bigger and better if you skip IAAPA you just don't know time it is. IAAPA is an incredible show! I will say this and its fact...

                        IAAPA you could probably do every year, maybe every other year or even stretching to once every three years... the haunt show you really need to see every year even if there isn't one vendor who has one thing you want. The haunt show is jammed packed with events, seminars, and opportunities for you to learn from others in the same field. So yes the Haunt Show is VERY much more important to your business than IAAPA but IAAPA not important to your business is just an un-educated comment in my book.

                        And again there is NO hotel as close to IAAPA convention center as the REN is to the STL convention center... just to walk across the Orlando parking lot is probably a mile walk. Orlando convention center is top of the line place with massive front area, and massive parking lot and total space around the place is massive. There is nothing between ren and the stl convention center but a street. Clearly Orlando is one of the best cities in the WORLD for conventions 100 times better than probably any place I've been to... but that doesn't mean its perfect for every industry otherwise they'd have every convention.

                        Larry
                        Larry Kirchner
                        President
                        www.HalloweenProductions.com
                        www.BlacklightAttractions.com
                        www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
                        www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

                        Comment


                        • #27
                          Larry I've been to a couple IAAPA's and unless you are a huge show there is not much there. Transworld is the show that matters most to Haunters most Haunters are busy tearing down their shows to go to look at roller coaster vendors and high priced animation no haunts can afford. It's great for ideas but how much can a Haunter actually buy there? Not much. All the vendors that cross over to the haunt business now come to Transworld courtesy of people like you and Jen and the Transworld folks.

                          But you're definitely right no hotel is as close to the center them the Renn it's very convenient.

                          DA

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                          • #28
                            Couple things... again I would agree but disagree with you. I've watched IAAPA change a lot over the last 20 years. 20 Years ago it was a show where a handful of vendors bought almost every single booth. Now the show is mostly small booths 4 or less... and yes you can buy a ton of stuff there. They sell everything there from electronics, sound equipment, food stuff, attractions, cleaning supplies, to just everything between. Yes there are tons of things for you to buy... tons!

                            Like I said its a show that you should attend every 1 to 3 years its a must for all haunt owners. So there we disagree.

                            We agree that the haunt show is overall more important to this industry and that Orlando Convention center has NO hotel as close to the convention center as Ren. Yes Orlando as tons of hotels more than any city in the World probably... but they don't have tons close to the convention center like walk there.

                            But at Orlando it doesn't matter they have a massive easy to use parking lot. In Orlando everyone rents a car its not New York... so in Orlando it doesn't matter what hotel you stay in. Orlando is hte king of conventions no question.

                            Larry
                            Larry Kirchner
                            President
                            www.HalloweenProductions.com
                            www.BlacklightAttractions.com
                            www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
                            www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

                            Comment


                            • #29
                              I think the show should move back to chicago! (:

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                              • #30
                                Good news... the snow is basically melted. As for Chicago HELL NO... I hate Chicago too many unions, hotels cost to much, hate the weather its horrible, everything costs to much no FREAKING WAY!

                                If it moved to Chicago I wouldn't even go... seriously! If the show does ever move I'd like to see a new city that shares things with St Louis like affordable everything, centrally located, prefer right to work state.

                                FYI... Missouri is voting to become a right to work state just FYI!

                                Larry
                                Larry Kirchner
                                President
                                www.HalloweenProductions.com
                                www.BlacklightAttractions.com
                                www.HauntedHouseSupplies.com
                                www.HauntedHouseMagazine.com

                                Comment

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