Seriously, like a consumer reports travel guide sort of thing.
My first time at Transworld, I was like a kid at a candy store.
Luckily, I wasnt burned by any of the vendors that I dealt with, but I've heard lots of people paying for items, in full, in advance, and never recieving their product until *AFTER* the season ( a full year later...)
How do you know which vendors are reputable ?
How do you choose between two vendors offering similar product ?
( Example = How do I tell the quality of a latex corpse )
Where are some suggestions in dealing with vendors ?
What is proper Transworld etiquette ?
( Example = If you're there with members of your haunt, only take ONE catalog for your entire group AND do *NOT* take photos of the working mechanisms of the props so you can reverse engineer the prop and build it yourself cheaper. )
What are some of the things that you simply *MUST* do while in Chicago ?
( Example = Visiting Ravens Grin Inn )
What are some of my options should I deal with a vendor who fails to deliver on promised (AND PAID FOR!) merchandise ? Can I report him to Transworld organizers ?
What should I take with me onto the show room floor ?
( Example = notepad, pencil, calculater, etc.)
A chart of important contact info:
1.) Who do I get hold of if one of the people in my group cant get in ?
2.) What are the most reasonably priced hotels in the area ?
3.) Where do I park that doesnt cost a fortune for crying out loud ??????
etc. etc. etc.
A major thing to do at Transworld is *NETWORKING*,
well, thats all well and good, but what if you're not exactly
a social butterfly and not really a 'people' person ?
Who should I make it a point to meet ?
Who should I make it a point to get thier business card ?
(For that matter, how many business cards should I take?
and for god's sake, if you're going to go to Transworld, be sure to take some business cards with you!!!)
Who should I make it a point to avoid ?
(Well, other than that annoying guy from The Monster Maze who seems to smile alot, oh wait... thats me...) :^)
Explain what the IAHA meeting is all about. Should I even bother going if I'm not a member ? ( Hint: you should, for the raffle, a chance to get awesome stuff cheap.)
oooops, sorry to make this so long, got on a roll.
You make a good point about the networking. I have been to Transworld and I didn't have an oppurtunity to talk to anyone. Hopefully, this year I will get an chance to meet up with some people.
You make a good point about the networking. I have been to Transworld and I didn't have an oppurtunity to talk to anyone. Hopefully, this year I will get an chance to meet up with some people.
Originally posted by mindtumor
I use priceline for my hotels and you can get really nice hotels for next to nothing. Trust me try it and you will not be dissatisfied. I used it last year for Transworld and I was within walking distance of the convention center.
Not to be too sarcastic here, but one of the benefits to staying at the Crowne Plaza (besides a nearby bed to fall into after the bar closes) IS networking, before and after the show. During show hours most people are too busy to stop and chat.
just my .02
Karl
Does the hotel dectective or the vice squad also refer to this as "Networking" Karl?
hahahaha!
How was your net ..... working?
"Catch of the day, Matey?"
"Yar!"
A lot of people talk about Networking, but I think that word is overused. Not many people really share that serious of insight, mainly people just chat and talk a little shop. But people thinking they can go to Transworld and strike up conversations and get amazing info on how to make your haunt reach the top 13 next year will come away disappointed.
Where else can you go to meet people that are like minded and have the same visions?
True networking continues after the show ends....during TW we have met some of the greatest people...some have become really good friends.
KARL ... who the else flys to the middle of nowhere to work in a freaking hot ass tent, when they have their own haunt to finish?
I wanted to see the tent thing...see if we could do it
I benefited from TW NETWORKING
You should always listen to what people have to say when networking.
See what you can learn from...a mistake they made, a suggestion they have
We do the open house at Dream Reapers for a reason....to share what we know or what we can do...it certainly isn't for the $$$
I think a good article about the evolution of TW would be good. How it has become what it is today. How it has grown, how haunters respond now, how the Haunt Show and Halloween Show are seperate entities, etc.
Would make for an interesting read.
Also, Buying for any haunt of any size. How there is something for everyone's haunt. The best way to buy for your haunt and come out on top.
How about an article in the next Hauntworld called :"Identifying the Competition"?
Do haunts really compete with each other? We are all striving for the dollar but people have alot of other entertainment venues vying for that same dollar don't they?
Movies, plays, nightclubs, liquor.......
I think anymore if one haunt charges a dollar or two more than the one nearest to it, that people go to the cheaper one first and that is where the "competition" actually is at, so if you can't meet or beat the other haunt's price, you will not be competitors, sort of like saying Rolls Royce is competing with the Ford Escourt.
Mom's get bugged to take their kid(s) to a haunted house and then Mom maybe plays dumb and takes them to either the easiest to drive to or the cheapest one, end of story.
"Quit complaining! I took you to a haunted house!"
"But not the fantastic one I heard about...."
Do haunt-finder websites really compete with one another?
I second Cluster, "Babes!" Makes your trade show booth.
Actually live people make it, people you can ask questions of and receive viable answers from, sort of like having live actors versus manniquins in a haunted house.
It must be tough doing that "booth thing" with severely limited and expensive floor space to work with.
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