March 30, 2026

TransWorld 2026 Recap: Robot Pigs, Chocolate Arms & Rising Insurance Costs

TransWorld 2026 Recap: Robot Pigs, Chocolate Arms & Rising Insurance Costs
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We just got back from TransWorld's Halloween & Attractions Show in St. Louis, a show any attraction with a Halloween or Christmas event should attend. This week, we discuss the growing trend of immersive booth experiences, the robotic pig that won Best New Product, rising insurance costs hitting independent haunts, the record-breaking OSCARES ceremony, and why it all matters for professionals. Listen to weekly bonus episodes on our Patreon.

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From our studios in Los Angeles and Tampa. This is

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green Tag Theme Park and thirty. I'm Philip from Gantum

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Mighty and Controls. That is Scott Swinson from Scott Swinson

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Creative Development on green Tag. Look at the top news

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each week and we explain why it matters to industry

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professionals in the theme park space. This week we're going

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to be talking about trans World's Halloween, a traction show,

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because Scott and I just got back and we are

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barely alive, that's right.

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That's why you'll hear us very gravelly, and you may

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hear me cough from time to time. And I think

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it's fair that we really should refer to it because

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it's two, it's actually three co located shows that it's

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always been the Halloween Show. We always know it is

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the Halloween Show, but there's a growing well growing and

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contracting depending on the year representation of Christmas. And then

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there's also interactive theater that is there as well, or

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interactive experiences that's there as well.

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So it's a behemoth of a show.

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And if you haven't been, it's overwhelming and you're probably wondering, well,

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why are they covering just a Christmas or Halloween show,

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because there's a huge number of theme actually a continually

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growing number of theme park attendees. Universal was there, Universal Kids,

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the New Universe, Universal Kids Park was there. I talked

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to some people from that, various zoos and attractions there.

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It's not just independent haunters and home hunters or independent

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Christmas people. It's the theme parks as well. So if

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this show is not on your radar and you are

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an attractions professional, it might be something you want to

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look into because it's got a lot of really strong

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not only trade show floor stuff, but some great educational

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stuff as well.

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If your attraction wants to incorporate Halloween or Christmas, you

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should go to that show. And every major chain does

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send at least one representative of some kind, whether it

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be from creative or from purchasing, to go and to

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look at what is available. It is a nice supplement

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to Iapa. Iyapa gives you anything you could possibly need,

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including some Halloween. But if you're looking for Halloween that

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you cannot get at IOPA because it is too specialized,

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or something that is completely unique, or you're looking for

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a bespoke vendor to make something that they don't already

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offer in a catalog.

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That's going to be why you would go to Transworld. Yep,

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I agree, I agree.

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And the educational side is far more in depth, specifically

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in the world, in the realm of Halloween and Christmas.

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So if you feel you're getting just a tip of

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the iceberg at the IAPPA education, which you will, you'll

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continue to get. You'll continue to get that. But if

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you want something more in depth and more specific, then

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Transworld is the place to get that education as well.

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And by the way, it is earlier next year, so

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mark your calendars. You only you have less than eleven

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months to prepare.

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I'm already panicking. Yes it is for twenty seven.

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It will be February twenty fifth through the twenty eighth,

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So mark your calendars now. And if you've never been

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and you are an attractions professional, you may want to

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look into it. It might be benefit for you. And if

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you've been going for years, we're now just going to

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share what we kind of saw there. You know, there's

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quite a bit. Yes, we're trying to recover, is what

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it boils down to. My leg's hurt. You hear it

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in both of our voices. We sound kind of like

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we've been smoking for years, so it's of course we

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were kind of.

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In some smoky areas. That's just kind of what happens.

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That's true, that's true.

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It's it's just a very different show than Ayapa, just

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because it is the intersection of so many different communities.

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So you're not just getting the business professionals, but you're

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also getting the actors, actor managers, the makeup artists, and

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you're getting basically, if you look at the live entertainment

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portion of anyone who works in parks, that imagine like

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the entire live entertainment department is going to be at

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this show, so you're getting everyone from that. You're getting

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people who are buying makeup, but also park owners operators

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and attraction owners operators who are looking going to.

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The top level trend to classes.

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But then you also get the individual actors who are

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buying stuff for their costumes. So it's a it's a

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big range. That makes it more intense because that means

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the show floor there's fog everywhere, and there's lots of

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talking and yelling, and it's not as quiet as Ayapa,

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where you can have.

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Sometimes sometimes you're right next to you're right next to

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the air cannon vendor, so every three seconds hear.

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It's yeah, yeah, it's loud. It's crazy. I had it's funny.

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I had a conference call this morning with one of

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my clients and he did not attend this year, but

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he has attended in years past and I mentioned it.

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Nobody else on the call had been before, and he said,

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it is the strangest trade show I have ever been to.

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And we're going to kind of dive into some of

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the reasons. Things that we think are kind of normal,

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but for those who have not been, you may kind

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of look at it go.

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Really And I do also want to. I don't want to.

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I don't know if we call it disclosures or whatever

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you give at the beginning, but I just wanted to

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give I guess, my disclosure. So I do work for

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the trade show. I do different things, actually changes each

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year by year. This year I was in charge of

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the meat pr relations in that media, so uh and

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separate from that, I did cover it for the Haunt

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Attraction Network, which is my brand, and I covered it

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for a few other places. So I had both of

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the perspective of working with the show on official capacity

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as a staff member, but then also covering it and

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then coordinating the media. And I also was the co

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producer for the Oscars, which is the big Halloween awards

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ceremony that happens there with the Haunt Traction Association, and

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Scott taught a bunch of classes, so he was paid by.

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The show to teach the show.

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Yes, and he also did co He also did host

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the award ceremony.

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Yes, there's there's all now there Now we're fully transparent.

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Those are all of our disclosures. And yeah, it's we.

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Should talk about the awards, right because about awarded them. Yeah, everyone,

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everyone always gives Scott the credit because he's the one

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that is up there hosting it.

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And the word I show up, Philip hands via script

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and I stumble through it and that's usually what happens

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until I have until I get about halfway through and

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the drink kicks in and life is good.

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No.

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So the thing that I think is important about the

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Oscars is not necessarily who wins, but why it exists.

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I think the idea.

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Behind the Oscars is to recognize excellence so that we

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can all celebrate what we're all doing well in the industry.

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And I think it is designed in.

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Such a way that it is part party, part awards ceremony.

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It is, you know.

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And it had phenomenal attendance this year too. It I

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can't I don't have the data in front of me

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to say that it continues to grow, but I believe

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we broke a record this year, if I'm not mistaken.

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Yes, this was the highest attended show.

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We counted three hundred and twenty people before we really

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got going, and then people trickled in, so probably in

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excess of three hundred. There were so many people this

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year actually that we had to add seating between the

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rounds and the carbon station in the back rows of theater,

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seating because there wasn't enough table rounds and there wasn't

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enough scene even back against the wall, so we had

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to add folks to that. And we also was the

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one that was this year. We kept it on time

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at sixty three minutes, and we had the record attendance

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at over two hundred and twenty people.

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That's awesome, That's awesome. Yeah, I feel I didn't even

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know that we kept it on track.

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I'm hoping. I'm always hoping that we do, and I was.

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I do try to keep things moving because it's like

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nobody wants to sit there and watch dead space. But

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the thing I love about it is it actually recognizes

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groups within the industry on all different levels. You know,

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there's Home, there's a Home Haunter Award, there's a New

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Haunt Award, there's a medium sort of they've been around

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for a while, but they're not they haven't they're not

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one of the legacies. And then the Legacy Haunt Lifetime

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Achievement Award. There's always a recognition and this was always

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this is always the hardest part for me as the

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host to get through, and that is we do an

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more in memoriam of those people who have passed during

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the past year. And I will say this year was

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really tough. It was a very long list and some

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of the people who passed were very young. So it's

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not just let's get drunk and have a good time.

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It really is a way to celebrate who we are,

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what we do. And the thing I'm most excited about

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actually is for next year because next year the categories

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have been revamped by the board and Philip and I

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am really really excited because I think it's even more

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inclusive next year. I think it's not just there have

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been critiques about the Oscars that it has just been

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the big wigs who are the owners and that's really

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all it's there to serve. But I think with the

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revamping of the categories and the nomination process starting, well

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it's already started started now, I think that it's even

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more on brand, it's accomplishing what I feel its mission

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is even better than it has before.

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So I'm excited to see where it's going to go

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in the future.

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If you want to know, you know who the cool

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home haunters are or because I'll tell you some of

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the home honters that submit our of the level of

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quality as some of the quote unquote professional haunters.

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But yeah, yeah, and as Scott said, nominations are open

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and we are changing it this year the board, I

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say we the board has changed it to say that

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the now they're recommending self nomination as well, so making

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it so that you nominate yourself for it and trying

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to make that more than norm. And that's also just

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easier logistically for us when we are trying to make

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sure we're getting the contact information because in the past

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it's been a lot of people nominate a person, but

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then we can't get a hold of that person. But

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so hopefully this fixes that. But anyway, yeah, it's a

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fun night.

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Where can they go to submit nominations for this?

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Is it?

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Is it online? I believe it's online? Is it not? Yeah?

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The Haunted Traction Association website. You could also go to

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my website where I've posted the update as well. I

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also have an article where you can see this year's winners,

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and I will be posting the full video of the

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presentation if you'd like to watch Scott get progressively more drunk.

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Yes, but I get smoother, I get better as I drink,

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that's true, and cry.

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We were both crying. Also for Ed, we were both crying. Yeah.

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Like I said, the immemorial I memoriam was very difficult

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for me this year, and it was. It's it's hard

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to be in a room full of people who know

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the people who have passed and talk about the people

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who have passed. So if you if you want to

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see me cry on stage like a five year old,

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watch the video because you will see it.

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And like I.

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Said, God, God bless Tater for getting me a drink

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midway through the show. Because it made it so that

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it was much simpler, because I don't think I could

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have gotten through the im memoriam without it, So that

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was that was very helpful.

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So check it out.

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Make sure that if you've got excellent people you know

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throughout the year that in a haunted attraction, whether it

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is and it doesn't just have to be, you know,

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an independent haunt, it can be also part of a.

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Much larger thing. So check it out. Yeah, it'll be fun.

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Now let's move to the trade show floor.

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You know, Philip covered a lot of the there's also

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recognition or winners of outstanding outstanding achievements on the trade

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show floor, whether it's a new product or a booth

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design or whatever.

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Philip, you want to share some of those because I

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know you dealt with those in great deal, great detail. Right.

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00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:24.279
So the exhibitor board does select best new product and

240
00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:27.600
best booth and best new exhibitor for each show section.

241
00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:29.759
So for the Halloween ones, the best new.

242
00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:32.879
Product went to Only Dinosaurs for their animatronic bloody Pig

243
00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:38.120
and the best booth. The best booth went to Dusk Productions,

244
00:11:38.240 --> 00:11:41.639
and the best New exhibitor was Vexa and Dusk.

245
00:11:41.879 --> 00:11:44.399
What was interesting to me. I know Scott has thoughts

246
00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:45.120
on the pig.

247
00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:50.279
My thoughts are with Dusk Productions, because these people sell props,

248
00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:54.440
static props, like mannequin type props. But they built a

249
00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:58.440
twenty foot tall cathedral that's a fully immersive experience cathedral

250
00:11:58.679 --> 00:12:00.240
taking up multiple boo.

251
00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:03.240
I think it was a ten by fifty I mean.

252
00:12:03.159 --> 00:12:05.080
It was a very long It was a long, long

253
00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.080
booth with archways and this whole thing, and they partnered

254
00:12:08.080 --> 00:12:10.519
with another person to fabricate it. And to me, that

255
00:12:10.600 --> 00:12:12.840
was the biggest trend this year was the retail teament

256
00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:15.279
thing that we've been talking about on this show, right,

257
00:12:15.279 --> 00:12:18.159
which is the idea of creating an immersive experience to

258
00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:22.000
sell stuff. And it's not even this isn't even for

259
00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:23.960
the general public. This is a trade show, but they're

260
00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:27.279
still doing it. I noticed the same trend with ticket Spice,

261
00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:29.480
which is a ticketing company, but they made an entire

262
00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:34.240
immersive booth experience Toxic Effects where they sell pumpkins. And

263
00:12:34.279 --> 00:12:37.399
they made an entire haunted barn walk through experience where

264
00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:41.159
they put pumpkins all in the interior and exterior and

265
00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:43.320
you walk through a little candle I mean, and then

266
00:12:43.879 --> 00:12:46.200
there's just a lot of boosts like this that have

267
00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:49.720
created full immersive experiences to sell regular products.

268
00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:52.279
And it's interesting because it used to.

269
00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:58.200
Be where it was the people who sell fabrication services

270
00:12:59.080 --> 00:13:01.679
like Little Spider Creates, where the people that made the facades.

271
00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:04.279
But now it's that everybody is doing a facade because

272
00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:05.200
they are showing that.

273
00:13:05.799 --> 00:13:09.360
And then Scott would think there was a vendor.

274
00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:13.399
There was a vendor that actually did, a vendor that

275
00:13:13.480 --> 00:13:18.679
was selling a technological product basically designed so that as

276
00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:21.759
you hit certain spots, it would trigger certain things, both

277
00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:24.240
from an audio standpoint and from a video standpoint, and

278
00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:27.080
they did because it was designed for tram tours or

279
00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:29.399
hay rides, that sort of thing. And they actually did

280
00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:34.120
a push through experience in a wheelchair or they even

281
00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:36.799
built little they looked like they looked like dark ride

282
00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:39.080
cars and they would push you through the experience so

283
00:13:39.080 --> 00:13:40.960
you could actually get a chance. And before I went in,

284
00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:44.120
the owner Jeff Holmes said, Scott, it's not a great haunt,

285
00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:46.399
but it's a great demonstration of what this product can do.

286
00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:50.279
And and my friend Heather Dogget with with Screamscore. She

287
00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:52.879
instead of just talking about what Screamscore is screamscore is

288
00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:55.240
basically a way to manage or to measure how scared

289
00:13:55.279 --> 00:13:57.639
you are in a haunted house. And so she actually

290
00:13:57.639 --> 00:13:59.759
had to set up a place this year. She hasn't

291
00:13:59.759 --> 00:14:01.639
done this in the past, but you actually set up

292
00:14:02.039 --> 00:14:04.600
a way to scare people and get their screen score

293
00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:07.399
on the trade show floor. So it goes back to

294
00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:10.799
that retail tainment where you can't just put it up

295
00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.320
on a shelf and say here, buy this. You have

296
00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:16.559
to have to demonstrate how impactful these products can be.

297
00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:19.399
And that's another thing that I think makes the trade

298
00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:21.480
show floor so much fun. I do want to circle

299
00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:23.679
back to the pig for just a hot second. So

300
00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:27.320
basically what this was. This is a robotic pig, and

301
00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:30.320
it is it was basically I mean, let me really

302
00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:33.799
kind of go behind the curtain and scroll the magic.

303
00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:39.679
It's a robot that quite often are called robot dogs.

304
00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:46.159
They were originally built for as security to patrol and

305
00:14:46.200 --> 00:14:48.600
you can set them, because I talked to some people

306
00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:51.159
at a previous trade show, you can actually set them

307
00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.000
to patrol a specific pattern and report if there's anything

308
00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:56.639
out of the ordinary. They not only have cameras on them,

309
00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:58.320
they also have heat sensors on them.

310
00:14:58.600 --> 00:14:59.799
So one of my.

311
00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.559
Favorite stories is there was a warehouse fire that was

312
00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:08.240
actually averted because the robot dog saw the heat signature

313
00:15:08.279 --> 00:15:10.440
of a door that was significantly higher than it should

314
00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:13.679
have been and immediately contacted the fire department and then

315
00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:17.840
alerted the company that was running the dogs. If it

316
00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:20.000
had been just a night watchman, they never would have

317
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.200
seen it. So then what they did is they took

318
00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:28.879
that and built skins for it. Basically, they built their

319
00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:34.759
latex skins and for the it exhibited at AZA the

320
00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:37.960
Zoological trade show, and they had I don't even remember

321
00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:40.120
what animal it was, but they had some quadruped that

322
00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:43.559
was interesting. And it's a fully functional robot and you

323
00:15:43.600 --> 00:15:48.440
can either drive it like you would any other drone creation,

324
00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:52.000
or you can make it or you can make it

325
00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:56.440
automatically run in a programmed model. And then here at

326
00:15:56.440 --> 00:15:59.000
IAPA they did a bloody pig. They basically created a

327
00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:02.600
bloody pig, a latex bloody pigsuit that went over this thing,

328
00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:06.080
and it appears to be completely autonomous.

329
00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:08.440
There's no ropes, no cables, no wires.

330
00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:11.519
It becomes a pig that can lay down and jump

331
00:16:11.600 --> 00:16:15.279
and follow commands and interact with people, and it's something

332
00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:18.240
that happens a lot at this particular trade show, and

333
00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:20.519
that is people will take something from another industry and

334
00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:24.159
find a unique way to combine it and make it

335
00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.759
so that it specifically targets the hant industry.

336
00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:27.279
I mean.

337
00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:29.000
One of the earliest forms of this that I can

338
00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:35.159
remember is there was a company that wanted to sell worms,

339
00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:40.399
you know, creepy worms for scenic applications, and instead of

340
00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:43.759
creating them from scratch, they contacted the company in China

341
00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:46.960
that makes worms for fishing lures and ordered them in

342
00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:50.720
specific colors without hooks, then repackaged them in much smaller

343
00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:55.200
packages after getting these giant crates from China and therefore

344
00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:59.399
made it financially profitable as well, because a unique boutique

345
00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.399
market like the hot industry does have kind of a

346
00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:06.039
higher level and the only way anybody could get the

347
00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:09.559
lower level was if they bought cartons up on cartons,

348
00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:13.720
up on cartons, So they did that were very successful

349
00:17:13.720 --> 00:17:16.000
for many years. So I love it when I see

350
00:17:16.599 --> 00:17:20.839
people taking existing technology or existing products and incorporating them

351
00:17:21.119 --> 00:17:22.880
into the hot world.

352
00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:26.000
Yeah, I have one story about that, which is just

353
00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:28.720
one of the most popular booths that I've noticed that

354
00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:32.200
the show has become Chocolate Treasures, which is run by

355
00:17:32.279 --> 00:17:35.279
a mom and her daughter, and it's an actually small

356
00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:40.960
boutique chocolate ear. And her main business is running a

357
00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:45.039
regular chocolate store where they make Easter baskets and you know,

358
00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:49.359
Valentine's and it's all great. But now she's become this

359
00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:52.799
staple at transworld shows because she takes she makes chocolate

360
00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:55.240
versions of props that people are doing. So she has

361
00:17:55.480 --> 00:18:00.400
this year, she debuted a chocolate bloody arm and it's

362
00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:04.200
a three pound hunk of chocolate that is molded to

363
00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:08.480
be an arm, like a arm prop, and it has

364
00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:10.319
blood all over and it's this thing, and she sold

365
00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:13.880
out almost immediately when the trade show opened. But exactly so,

366
00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:16.839
she has worms to your she has worms, she has

367
00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:18.240
body parts.

368
00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:20.319
You can get a bloody ear.

369
00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:21.960
You can get you can buy it, you can eat ears,

370
00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:25.359
you can eat worms, tongues. There's the whole lay. And

371
00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:28.559
then she has little candle holders that are made of chocolate.

372
00:18:28.640 --> 00:18:30.680
I mean just basically the whole thing. She kind of

373
00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:33.200
looks around at what other popular props and what things

374
00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:35.079
are going on, and then she'll make chocolate versions of

375
00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:37.880
that just for the show, But she doesn't normally sell

376
00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:39.960
that at her store. She just comes to this show.

377
00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:43.039
And the thing is, you'd think that she would be like,

378
00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:47.039
if that's for Ayapa, she would be doing contracts to

379
00:18:47.480 --> 00:18:50.599
sell to people to put it in their parks. But

380
00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:54.640
because of this trans World, she really just does cash

381
00:18:54.680 --> 00:18:57.599
and carry at the show. People just purchase them to

382
00:18:57.599 --> 00:18:59.480
eat them.

383
00:18:59.799 --> 00:19:00.960
That's another thing that's interesting.

384
00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:03.200
I think we should probably mention that some trade shows

385
00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:05.960
allow cash and carry, some do not. In the past,

386
00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:09.319
trans World has not, but that over the last few

387
00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:13.240
years has changed significantly and there is a very large

388
00:19:13.279 --> 00:19:17.720
cash and carry element here. But Philip, you know, you

389
00:19:17.759 --> 00:19:22.039
also talked a lot about we talked before the show.

390
00:19:22.039 --> 00:19:24.200
You talked a lot about things that aren't necessarily the

391
00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.240
things that you would expect to see at a Halloween show,

392
00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:34.319
that are equally as important, things like ticketing systems and insurance.

393
00:19:35.240 --> 00:19:37.160
Did you do any interviews with some insurance or ticketing

394
00:19:37.200 --> 00:19:39.519
folks there and did you have a better idea as

395
00:19:39.519 --> 00:19:41.440
to why they were there and how successful they were being.

396
00:19:42.359 --> 00:19:42.640
Yeah.

397
00:19:42.680 --> 00:19:46.759
So what's interesting about, of course, the ticketing companies and

398
00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:48.759
the marketing companies. There's a lot of them that specialize

399
00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:52.200
in hind houses. There's also quite a few insurance agents

400
00:19:52.200 --> 00:19:56.559
that go there. What is interesting is, I think the

401
00:19:56.559 --> 00:19:59.599
biggest insurance story I think is something that's been ongoing

402
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:02.319
and it came from the State of the Industry. So

403
00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:06.319
the Houn Intertraction Association does the State of the Industry presentation,

404
00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:10.279
which is one of the largest free presentations that anybody

405
00:20:10.359 --> 00:20:11.240
can attend at the show.

406
00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.000
It's run by the Contraction Association.

407
00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:15.359
It's led by the Board of Directors, and they pull

408
00:20:15.400 --> 00:20:17.039
their members ahead of time and they kind of look

409
00:20:17.079 --> 00:20:19.960
at what the big concerns are and everything. And this

410
00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.680
year the biggest topic for discussion was insurance at the

411
00:20:23.720 --> 00:20:26.160
City of the Industry and it was also one of

412
00:20:26.160 --> 00:20:28.680
the biggest topics last year, and so it's been a

413
00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:31.000
multi year problem. And what we heard from some of

414
00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:33.119
the insurance agents is that a lot of the agents

415
00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:35.680
are pulling out of the hound house industry because they

416
00:20:35.720 --> 00:20:39.160
can no longer support the premiums. And it's because of

417
00:20:39.200 --> 00:20:42.119
things like the atomic rulings, which we covered previously from

418
00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:47.359
Londwood Caverns. But it's the idea here is the problem

419
00:20:47.680 --> 00:20:50.640
from at least from the board's perspective, the problem is

420
00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:53.880
more perception, where the board is arguing that haunt houses

421
00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:58.319
are not actually more unsafe than any other attraction, it's

422
00:20:58.440 --> 00:21:00.759
just that the perception is they are are because the

423
00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:03.400
perception is that it's a scary thing, but it's not reality.

424
00:21:03.559 --> 00:21:05.359
And so there was a lot of talk during that

425
00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:11.039
about how insurance is your insurance premium is affected by

426
00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:13.480
how many layers of protection that you have at your attraction,

427
00:21:13.720 --> 00:21:14.920
and it's like a continuum.

428
00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:16.839
And so it came up.

429
00:21:16.759 --> 00:21:21.839
Where waivers, individual waivers are no longer optional, so it

430
00:21:21.880 --> 00:21:24.240
should be mandatory that you should be collecting individual waiver

431
00:21:24.279 --> 00:21:28.799
from every single ticketed person that enters, and full security cameras,

432
00:21:29.079 --> 00:21:32.119
full operational audits, full safety audits, I mean, the whole.

433
00:21:32.200 --> 00:21:34.519
So they went through everything you should be doing, and

434
00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:37.279
it's part of their chaos program. But one of the

435
00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:39.839
biggest insurance agents was there at the say of the

436
00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:44.279
industry and she said exactly that that it is mandatory

437
00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:46.319
that you get a waiver from every single human entering

438
00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:48.519
and it's not going to protect you, but it's a

439
00:21:48.559 --> 00:21:52.319
continuum and it's one layer of this whole protection that

440
00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:53.039
you should be offering.

441
00:21:53.480 --> 00:21:55.759
So one of the other things that I've always found interesting,

442
00:21:55.839 --> 00:22:01.400
especially with independent haunts, is many insurance companies, not to

443
00:22:01.480 --> 00:22:05.680
mention the local fire department, don't know exactly what category

444
00:22:05.720 --> 00:22:08.640
to put them in, you know, because they are seasonal.

445
00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:11.759
They are similar to theme parks, but they're not like

446
00:22:11.799 --> 00:22:15.799
a theme park. They're similar to fairs, but they're not

447
00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:18.119
like a fair. They're similar to concerts, but they're not

448
00:22:18.160 --> 00:22:21.720
a concert. So they have to kind of create their own,

449
00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:28.440
their own sort of category to insure them in. And

450
00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:31.599
so that's why I get excited about seeing more and

451
00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:34.759
more insurance companies on the show floor. And one of

452
00:22:34.799 --> 00:22:36.640
the other things that I learned from one of the

453
00:22:39.039 --> 00:22:42.599
owners is the first question you ask when you go

454
00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:47.039
up to any insurance company to ensure your haunted attraction

455
00:22:47.119 --> 00:22:51.720
or your seasonal experience, is do you write policies in

456
00:22:51.759 --> 00:22:57.440
my state? Because he was based in California, and California

457
00:22:57.480 --> 00:22:59.920
has significantly more rules and REGs when it comes to

458
00:23:00.200 --> 00:23:02.400
insurance and how to do it, and there are some

459
00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:05.920
companies that simply do not write policies for California.

460
00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:08.000
For the state of California, there are other states as well.

461
00:23:08.039 --> 00:23:10.720
I'm not just going to pick on California, but before

462
00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:13.799
you even start negotiating, Before you start talking explaining those

463
00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:16.599
layers of protection that you've put into place, you have

464
00:23:16.680 --> 00:23:21.839
to actually identify do you do you write policies in

465
00:23:21.880 --> 00:23:25.000
my state. So just something that's helpful if there's you know,

466
00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:28.000
independent folks out there who are going my insurance was

467
00:23:28.039 --> 00:23:30.599
getting out out of hand. I need to look elsewhere.

468
00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:33.279
And one more thing to add to the board.

469
00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:35.640
Brought up multiple times about how you should also ask

470
00:23:36.119 --> 00:23:41.359
what exclusions are in this because sometimes they might offer

471
00:23:41.400 --> 00:23:44.319
a plan for your state, but it will say excludes

472
00:23:44.359 --> 00:23:46.519
any haunt where an actor can touch a person for

473
00:23:46.559 --> 00:23:48.720
any reason, you know, And so then you know, if

474
00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:51.799
you operate one where you have an extreme experience, then

475
00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:52.960
we would actually.

476
00:23:52.680 --> 00:23:54.640
Be excluded from the policy anyway. So what are you

477
00:23:54.680 --> 00:23:55.160
paying for?

478
00:23:55.240 --> 00:23:58.599
So that's a big thing that is increasing, and the

479
00:23:58.599 --> 00:23:59.960
premiums are up or across the board.

480
00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:02.240
So I had another reporter that when.

481
00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:05.200
Interviewed owners about insurance costs, and I interviewed three of

482
00:24:05.240 --> 00:24:07.240
the board members about it, and it seems like insurance

483
00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:09.440
prices are US about twenty percent from last year. So

484
00:24:09.519 --> 00:24:12.920
when you're paying forty to sixty thousand for last year,

485
00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:15.640
you're paying twenty percent more this year for a thirty

486
00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:16.119
day event.

487
00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:17.599
Ouch.

488
00:24:17.799 --> 00:24:20.279
Well, speaking of reporters, Philip, you you actually kind of

489
00:24:20.279 --> 00:24:23.319
wrangled some of the media that came to see the show.

490
00:24:24.359 --> 00:24:24.799
Were there.

491
00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:27.200
I mean, it seems as though it seems as though

492
00:24:27.519 --> 00:24:29.880
this show this year got a bit more of what

493
00:24:29.880 --> 00:24:31.440
we would call mainstream.

494
00:24:30.960 --> 00:24:33.799
Media to get involved.

495
00:24:34.480 --> 00:24:36.400
And I asked you, you know, before we started, I

496
00:24:36.400 --> 00:24:38.759
said what was your favorite part? And you, well, dealing

497
00:24:38.759 --> 00:24:41.039
with with the with the reporters and the media. You

498
00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:42.160
want to you want to share any.

499
00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:43.599
Of that, right?

500
00:24:44.039 --> 00:24:45.880
So, this year, like I said, I was working with

501
00:24:45.920 --> 00:24:49.039
the show about the pr and we had a few

502
00:24:49.079 --> 00:24:51.960
reporters that came by from mainstream for different outlets and

503
00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:54.039
then of course the local outlets. And it was actually

504
00:24:54.039 --> 00:24:58.720
that was my favorite part because I not trying to

505
00:24:58.759 --> 00:25:00.720
throw shade, but you could tell some of them were

506
00:25:00.759 --> 00:25:03.400
real reporters. And I just like interacting with real reporters

507
00:25:03.440 --> 00:25:05.480
because of course it's what I do at the show,

508
00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:07.920
but I like to hear their perspectives on it and

509
00:25:07.960 --> 00:25:09.480
also just see how they think.

510
00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:10.720
About things and ask questions.

511
00:25:10.799 --> 00:25:13.839
And I feel like it makes me better at thinking,

512
00:25:14.400 --> 00:25:17.319
because I think sometimes I'm too much into this. I'm

513
00:25:17.319 --> 00:25:20.240
too in the weeds, and sometimes I missed the forest

514
00:25:20.279 --> 00:25:22.720
for the trees because I'm so focused on what did

515
00:25:22.759 --> 00:25:25.000
the board vote for and what is you know, how

516
00:25:25.119 --> 00:25:26.960
much money did they say they have and all this.

517
00:25:27.319 --> 00:25:29.720
But the forest is what Scott was saying about some

518
00:25:29.759 --> 00:25:31.160
of the new trends and what's going on. And so

519
00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.640
my favorite interaction was with the Washington Post that was

520
00:25:34.680 --> 00:25:36.480
there for three days. There was a reporter that was

521
00:25:36.519 --> 00:25:39.599
there three days, Moira, and she followed Scott around for

522
00:25:39.640 --> 00:25:40.240
four hours.

523
00:25:41.559 --> 00:25:41.920
Yeah, it was.

524
00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:42.319
It was.

525
00:25:42.480 --> 00:25:44.599
So it's interesting that you say a real reporter because

526
00:25:44.680 --> 00:25:47.839
I kind of noticed that too. And I actually enjoyed

527
00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:51.519
the trade show floor more when I was with her

528
00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:54.160
because I was able to see it through an outsider's

529
00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:56.559
eyes or a first timer's eye, you know, someone who

530
00:25:56.599 --> 00:25:58.720
had never been to the show before. And she was

531
00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:01.039
very interested in the fact that part of the reason

532
00:26:01.039 --> 00:26:02.799
that she hung out with me was I'm one of

533
00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:05.200
the few people that actually is going there, well not few,

534
00:26:05.319 --> 00:26:08.119
growing number of people who is there for both Christmas

535
00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:12.200
and Halloween. I'm looking at both sides of the trade

536
00:26:12.200 --> 00:26:15.759
show floor. I'm touching the product in different places. But

537
00:26:15.880 --> 00:26:18.920
she asked things like she asked good reporter questions. That

538
00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:21.039
was the thing that I really enjoyed questions.

539
00:26:21.079 --> 00:26:23.599
I've forgotten how to ask.

540
00:26:23.720 --> 00:26:25.640
But it's because, no, Philip, you are an excellent reporter,

541
00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:28.440
and you get all the right questions. But sometimes, as

542
00:26:28.480 --> 00:26:31.839
you say, when you're too when you're too comfortable, or

543
00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:33.880
you're too used to the environment, you're too much of

544
00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:36.519
an insider, then you don't know the questions that people

545
00:26:36.559 --> 00:26:39.759
who are not those insiders want to ask, you know,

546
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:42.759
And like she would, she would see me a very

547
00:26:42.759 --> 00:26:44.759
specific example, she saw me go up and touch two

548
00:26:44.799 --> 00:26:46.640
different props and she goes, so what is that? She said,

549
00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:49.200
those look very similar to me, and what is the difference.

550
00:26:49.200 --> 00:26:51.480
Why would you choose one over the other? And I said, well,

551
00:26:51.960 --> 00:26:53.759
I wanted to see. I have to know what the

552
00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:56.880
lighting is, you know, because if it's very darkly lit,

553
00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:58.960
I want the brighter colored one. If it's something that

554
00:26:59.039 --> 00:27:01.160
is taking place in full light in a queue line,

555
00:27:01.240 --> 00:27:03.400
I want the darker color one because it looks more realistic.

556
00:27:03.400 --> 00:27:06.160
And she goes, does do people ever think about that?

557
00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:07.799
And I said, people have been in the industry think

558
00:27:07.799 --> 00:27:10.200
about it, But do outside people are first time or

559
00:27:10.200 --> 00:27:12.599
think about it? Absolutely not. They don't even it doesn't

560
00:27:12.599 --> 00:27:15.720
even cross their mind. And it was very interesting to

561
00:27:15.720 --> 00:27:18.640
me because every time I looked at something, she was like, well,

562
00:27:18.640 --> 00:27:22.000
why did you look at that versus that? And so

563
00:27:22.200 --> 00:27:25.640
it also kind of made me double check, gosh, am

564
00:27:25.680 --> 00:27:28.039
I just going through the motions or is there an

565
00:27:28.079 --> 00:27:31.079
actual logical reason that I walked over to one booth

566
00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:31.880
versus another?

567
00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:32.599
You know?

568
00:27:33.039 --> 00:27:35.240
And it's interesting because I've been going. I discovered this

569
00:27:35.279 --> 00:27:38.720
is my twenty third time I've attended the trans World show.

570
00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:47.240
And unlike most people, the grand and glorious booths that

571
00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:49.599
Philip was talking about earlier that are award winning booths.

572
00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:52.400
They're beautiful, but they're not the ones that draw my eye.

573
00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:55.359
The ones that draw my eye are the smaller, more unique,

574
00:27:55.640 --> 00:27:58.960
earlier vendors. Because quite honestly, after twenty three years with

575
00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:01.839
the established vendors, I know what they can do. I

576
00:28:01.880 --> 00:28:04.279
know what quality they can do. There are certain vendors

577
00:28:04.319 --> 00:28:06.119
I don't even have to really look at their product.

578
00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:10.039
I know what level they're capable of doing. Ghost Ride

579
00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:12.799
perfect example. You know, I can walk in and I

580
00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:15.559
can go okay, I don't have to touch it. I

581
00:28:15.559 --> 00:28:17.160
don't have to ask them about it. I know what

582
00:28:17.160 --> 00:28:19.279
the quality is. I see something I like and it's

583
00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:21.240
like that, and that great, let's do that.

584
00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:25.000
Yeah, So disorptions, all those places you want to talk about,

585
00:28:25.599 --> 00:28:28.519
also the community aspect and kind of the.

586
00:28:28.680 --> 00:28:32.119
Of course vibe. So in addition to in addition to.

587
00:28:32.720 --> 00:28:36.920
The actual trade show floor, there are a lot of parties,

588
00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:40.200
there are a lot of gatherings, mixers, that sort of thing.

589
00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:43.599
And I think as important as the trade show floor

590
00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:46.240
is for the vendors and for the financial success of

591
00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:48.920
the show, I think it's also important to recognize that

592
00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:52.119
the reason most people and I think this is it's anecdotal,

593
00:28:52.119 --> 00:28:53.720
but I think it's fair to say. I think the

594
00:28:53.759 --> 00:28:56.400
reason most people attend the show is because this is

595
00:28:56.400 --> 00:28:59.839
where everyone who you've ever met in this industry comes

596
00:28:59.839 --> 00:29:01.799
together and there's a damn good chance you're gonna see him.

597
00:29:02.200 --> 00:29:06.599
So the parties that happen afterwards, I feel so sorry

598
00:29:06.839 --> 00:29:11.759
for anyone who is staying at the Marriotte Grand during

599
00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:14.119
this show who is not part of the show, because

600
00:29:14.519 --> 00:29:20.279
the TRANSFORLT people basically take over the entire lobby, the mezzanine,

601
00:29:20.279 --> 00:29:22.880
over the lobby, the area out in front of the hotel,

602
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:28.319
just to hang out and touch base. So, you know,

603
00:29:28.359 --> 00:29:32.480
both Philip and I attended several several parties, usually with

604
00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:35.799
people that we've worked with before or have known for

605
00:29:35.880 --> 00:29:39.400
many many years. In fact, there's one there's one organizational

606
00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:41.839
party that I think we've been to five six years

607
00:29:41.880 --> 00:29:42.279
in a row.

608
00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:44.440
It's like, this is tradition, now, you know.

609
00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:46.359
We got to go to these parties and see these people,

610
00:29:46.759 --> 00:29:48.880
and even if they're people that we haven't seen in

611
00:29:49.000 --> 00:29:53.000
years and years or since last year, we get together

612
00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:56.119
and it's it all just clicks. So, you know, as

613
00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:58.519
strange and as unusual as this trade show may sound

614
00:29:58.559 --> 00:30:00.440
to somebody who's never been the the thing you have

615
00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.319
to recognize is it really is an after dark family.

616
00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:04.880
It really is a bunch of people who, for the

617
00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:08.400
most part, get along incredibly well, and you make friendships

618
00:30:08.759 --> 00:30:12.000
that sort of supersede the fact that people think you're weird.

619
00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:14.799
And maybe it's because people think you're weird that you're

620
00:30:14.839 --> 00:30:19.519
all drawn together in this safe space to enjoy scaring

621
00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:22.920
the heck out of people, or that focus on Christmas

622
00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:27.079
lights year round. So the cultural side of the show,

623
00:30:27.160 --> 00:30:29.680
I think, in my opinion, is as important, if not

624
00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:32.119
more important, than the actual trade show side, but the

625
00:30:32.160 --> 00:30:34.319
fact that they both live in the same world, it

626
00:30:34.359 --> 00:30:37.519
then truly becomes the epicenter of the industry.

627
00:30:37.519 --> 00:30:40.039
So it's a great place to be and.

628
00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:41.319
This is also a great place to be, which is

629
00:30:41.319 --> 00:30:43.079
the end of our show. Guys, thank you so much

630
00:30:43.079 --> 00:30:45.680
once again for joining us here at Green Tag Theme

631
00:30:45.680 --> 00:30:48.480
Park and thirty on behalf of Philipernandez with Gantam Lighting

632
00:30:48.519 --> 00:30:51.279
and Control on myself Scott Swinson with I almost said

633
00:30:51.279 --> 00:30:52.200
with green Tag duh.

634
00:30:52.920 --> 00:30:56.039
With Scott Swinson Creative Development. We will see you all

635
00:30:56.319 --> 00:30:58.160
next week. Thanks