Vendor Coalition

[Gore Galore]

Jeff of Monstertronics and many other vendors have been discussing the problems with the Transworld show in Chicago in January.
I and many other vendors feel the Show in Chicago in January is a real problem for all vendors and the buyers.
We as vendors do not have enough time to develop new product and being in Chicago in the dead of winter is just not a good idea period.
So, I think we will all agree it is time to pull together as the "HVC" HAUNT VENDOR COATITION and do something about it.

I brought up a petition idea to present to transworld.
I think this could be the first thing we could do.
I don't think Transworld understands why we need the show when we do. We are at a point where the show being in March is more important than where the show is. Ok, I mean NO to the Show in January in Chicago.
that is just plain stupid.
Stupid enough that I would seriously consider not doing Transworld at all and just fending for ourselves despite the fact I know Transworld generates a full 25% of our annual income.

So, I think your (JEFF) idea of a vendor led, vendor particating group is a great idea. And I think time is of the essence.
And I would still be a member of IAHA and HHA. In actuality, I support all vendors joining either one or both groups. It shows we support our industry in every way we can.
Both have their place.
But I seriously think that we do need a Vendor group that ONLY deals with vendor issues.


Some of the things I think we need to discuss.
-Transworld Dates
-Or possible Haunt Vendor show, or having one of the existing shows move their dates to a more suitable time for 2009.
-Vendor professionalism criteria
-Deadbeat vendors
-Deadbeat buyers (luckily we (GORE GALORE) have only had 2 in the course of 10 years that could actually effect our business, and both went to collections and the sad thing is both were considered friends). There is a lesson there.
-Ripoff vendors

I am sure every other vendor has something to contribute.

We should get a round table discussion going on this subject at the upcoming conventions Haunt Con and MHC.

Any vendor interested in this discussion please feel free to post your interest and ideas on this thread.

[Infoamtek]

Kevin,

There is a Yahoo Group for vendors called the Halloween Vendors Association. It's been quiet for over a year. If you wish to restart it, I suggest you contact the Moderators.
Here is the URL to the group: http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/halloweenvendors/

[Boo Crew Production]

Kevin,

Yes I agree, this would probably be a great 1st step towards a loud and well heard voice. The haunted attractions have their own associations, and are heard very well through out the industry. The HVC would be a great opportunity for the vendors to be heard as a whole. Transworld would be a great place to start.

Although the powers of such a group should be taken seriously, the powers would have to be kept in check. A coalition with a loud voice is good, but if it gets too loud it could also hurt the industry. So the coalition would have to be very choosy on the directors they choose to run things.

[Gore Galore]

Yeah,
I don't want to get stupid with this.

All of this has been discussed before.

I think the main goals would be:

The most important at this point is to communicate with Transworld in one voice who presents to them the petition we have all signed at both Haunt Con and MHC and anywhere else I or everyone who has a copy goes.

Helping vendors establish for themselves order fulfillment and professional buyer communication.

Intermediation between Vendors and buyers who feel they have been taken advantage of either or.

I don't want buyers to think this is to protect vendors from buyers. I actually think it should help buyers be protected from deadbeat vendors. And the other way around.

I don't think this should be an association run by one person. I know I don't have the time or money to commit to heading this up, but something needs to be done for all our benefit.
We all need to work together to make this happen.

I contacted Leonard to see if he would let me be the moderator of the Yahoo group. there are already over 50 vendor members of that group.

Anyone that wants to help formulate a petition please feel free to post here and we will combine everything and get it ready for signatures.

[shawnc]

and I'm not a vendor. One of the problems with a lot of the associations and boards is that there is such a wide range of people on them, from manufacturers to stores to haunters to attendees. When everyone has an opinion it isn't always a good thing (and feel free to ignore mine) if it doesn't even indirectly affect them. You need something that only vendors will be able to control.

[kpolley]

Kevin,

I respect what you're wanting to do and, really, I can't disagree with your points. The only thing that I would say about the whole mess is that you have to remember Transworld really doesn't need us or care that much about us. To them, our business is a drop in the bucket. Now, if you can get Rubies or Disguise or Leg Avenue or someone like that in the mix then things would be a little different. As it is, we have no bargaining chips with TW right now. I think if we said we were leaving they'd watch us go.

I am, however, very much in favor of the idea of moving the Haunt and Attractions show to a whole new forum and remove it completely from TW altogether. Maybe make MHC the new TW...I'd be on board for that.

[graystone]

You got that right!

[bodybagging]

We all know that I stand for promoting MHC to become the Official Hauntshow, as for dealing with Transworld, I feel that its like Beating a dead horse, I am willing to bet that anything said to transworld will go in one ear and out the other. As a secondary show, it will always be a secondary show.
As a newer vendor, I have already grown tired of Transworlds disregard to the haunt vendor.
As for the Vendor Coalition, I am for anything that is productive to the industry, and I agree that this would be a welcome addition. I would rather see the HVC use a forum setting than a yahoo email group.... My email is cluttered enough, if vendors are interested they will check into the forums. Either way look forward to see where this is heading.

[Monster-Tronics]

Working closer with the shows owners can really help us and the shows too. A recent example is MHC. Barry was having a hard time getting centralized compressed air for the vendors that needed it. Barry sent out an email to all of the vendors and we pooled together to solve the problem very quickly. There are a lot of great people/vendors we just need to be more focused together and work closer with the shows owners.

If we can help in anyway drive down show costs that can make a huge impact on our bottom line and reduce the cost to the end user. Doing vendor shows is a huge cost to my business. As vendors we have all heard a customer say “That costs too much, I can make it cheaper”. I normally think to myself “go ahead I hope you try it jerk, because I know it will end up costing them double and a month of their time. They see $5 bucks worth of latex and this part or that part but never realize what it really costs to make and the cost of doing business in the haunt industry.

If going to TW costs me $5,000 and I sell qty 50 - $500 dollar wigets, the show just added $100 to the cost of that product. If going to MHC costs $1,200 same same the added product cost is $24. Huge difference when you look at the percentages.

Power can absolutely be misused and the whole HVC concept needs to be well thought out. We have all seen how a small board of directors can be manipulated. There is always a democratic type of group where everyone gets a vote on an issue and does what is best for the majority.

No doubt we will get opposition by those that are in cahoots with others or TW, or not on the level, or base there product lines on rip-offs, etc... but eventually this could help the whole industry and that is what I would like to see come from it.

I think the petition is a great idea and worth a try but am afraid Kip and Rob are right. TW set that date just to screw the other costume show and it is unlikely they will do much for us. I’m all for telling TW to stick it and give full support to HC & MHC. We did not show at TW this year not because they moved to Vegas but because of the way we were treated, all of the grief, and the cost of the show. I am all for blowing off the show again.

Rob, I would agree that a/this forum is easy to use but I’m sure if HVC grows to what it could and should be this may not be ideal for HVC business. Sure there are a lot of vendors that would not want to air dirty laundry for the world to see. Yahoo groups can be set not to email at all, then you can go to the site just like a forum, or you can set it just to receive condensed email which is sent less too.

[Gore Galore]

I will look into seeing how the Yahoo forum works.

Or let me check into something. Maybe we can get a private forum set up just for HVC.

Everybody has there opinion. The point here is we have to try. I don't give up on anything until it is done. I just think the point here is we need to send a strong message to transworld that this move is really going to hurt all our businesses.

Honestly, I don't think some vendors realize the potential volume of sales transworld can bring. I don't ever want to discuss $ because that is always misunderstood. But Honestly, I think the best thing that can be done is for us all to centralize and drop the # of shows per year.

If all the buyers will come to 1 or 2 shows we all save money and make more at these shows, and subsequently save our vital customers money.

Transworld has always been pleasant to us and we have always done well. Much better than Haunt Con or MHC has ever done. Nothing against these shows.
But if you can get the buyers to move to these shows then the sales will move.

The sad thing is maybe it doesn't matter if we can get new product made. I really don't know. I may just fear the unknown with going with a show 2 months sooner.
we just wouldn't have as much new work to show off.
We took the Swamp Beast this year and sold a ton. Not because it was new, but because we wore it 24/7.
If we would have worn others as much those are what we would have sold.

The move to January just screws up our (Gore Galore) business cycle. I can only speak for our company.

when we figure out the Yahoo group or a private forum I will let you know.