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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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So the exhibitor board does select best new product and
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best booth and best new exhibitor for each show section.
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So for the Halloween ones, the best new.
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Product went to Only Dinosaurs for their animatronic bloody Pig
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and the best booth. The best booth went to Dusk Productions,
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and the best New exhibitor was Vexa and Dusk.
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What was interesting to me. I know Scott has thoughts
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on the pig.
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My thoughts are with Dusk Productions, because these people sell props,
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static props, like mannequin type props. But they built a
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twenty foot tall cathedral that's a fully immersive experience cathedral
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taking up multiple boo.
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I think it was a ten by fifty I mean.
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It was a very long It was a long, long
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booth with archways and this whole thing, and they partnered
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with another person to fabricate it. And to me, that
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was the biggest trend this year was the retail teament
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thing that we've been talking about on this show, right,
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which is the idea of creating an immersive experience to
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sell stuff. And it's not even this isn't even for
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the general public. This is a trade show, but they're
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still doing it. I noticed the same trend with ticket Spice,
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which is a ticketing company, but they made an entire
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immersive booth experience Toxic Effects where they sell pumpkins. And
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they made an entire haunted barn walk through experience where
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they put pumpkins all in the interior and exterior and
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you walk through a little candle I mean, and then
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there's just a lot of boosts like this that have
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created full immersive experiences to sell regular products.
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And it's interesting because it used to.
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Be where it was the people who sell fabrication services
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like Little Spider Creates, where the people that made the facades.
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But now it's that everybody is doing a facade because
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they are showing that.
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And then Scott would think there was a vendor.
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There was a vendor that actually did, a vendor that
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was selling a technological product basically designed so that as
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you hit certain spots, it would trigger certain things, both
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from an audio standpoint and from a video standpoint, and
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they did because it was designed for tram tours or
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hay rides, that sort of thing. And they actually did
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a push through experience in a wheelchair or they even
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built little they looked like they looked like dark ride
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cars and they would push you through the experience so
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you could actually get a chance. And before I went in,
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the owner Jeff Holmes said, Scott, it's not a great haunt,
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but it's a great demonstration of what this product can do.
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And and my friend Heather Dogget with with Screamscore. She
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instead of just talking about what Screamscore is screamscore is
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basically a way to manage or to measure how scared
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you are in a haunted house. And so she actually
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had to set up a place this year. She hasn't
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done this in the past, but you actually set up
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a way to scare people and get their screen score
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00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:07.399
on the trade show floor. So it goes back to
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00:14:07.440 --> 00:14:10.799
that retail tainment where you can't just put it up
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00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.320
on a shelf and say here, buy this. You have
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to have to demonstrate how impactful these products can be.
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And that's another thing that I think makes the trade
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show floor so much fun. I do want to circle
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back to the pig for just a hot second. So
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basically what this was. This is a robotic pig, and
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00:14:27.519 --> 00:14:30.320
it is it was basically I mean, let me really
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00:14:30.440 --> 00:14:33.799
kind of go behind the curtain and scroll the magic.
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00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:39.679
It's a robot that quite often are called robot dogs.
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00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:46.159
They were originally built for as security to patrol and
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you can set them, because I talked to some people
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00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:51.159
at a previous trade show, you can actually set them
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00:14:51.200 --> 00:14:54.000
to patrol a specific pattern and report if there's anything
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00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:56.639
out of the ordinary. They not only have cameras on them,
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00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:58.320
they also have heat sensors on them.
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So one of my.
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00:14:59.720 --> 00:15:02.559
Favorite stories is there was a warehouse fire that was
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00:15:02.600 --> 00:15:08.240
actually averted because the robot dog saw the heat signature
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of a door that was significantly higher than it should
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have been and immediately contacted the fire department and then
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00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:17.840
alerted the company that was running the dogs. If it
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00:15:17.879 --> 00:15:20.000
had been just a night watchman, they never would have
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00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:23.200
seen it. So then what they did is they took
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00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:28.879
that and built skins for it. Basically, they built their
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00:15:28.960 --> 00:15:34.759
latex skins and for the it exhibited at AZA the
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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
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00:15:40.200 --> 00:15:43.559
was interesting. And it's a fully functional robot and you
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can either drive it like you would any other drone creation,
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or you can make it or you can make it
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00:15:52.080 --> 00:15:56.440
automatically run in a programmed model. And then here at
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IAPA they did a bloody pig. They basically created a
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bloody pig, a latex bloody pigsuit that went over this thing,
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00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:06.080
and it appears to be completely autonomous.
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00:16:06.159 --> 00:16:08.440
There's no ropes, no cables, no wires.
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It becomes a pig that can lay down and jump
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and follow commands and interact with people, and it's something
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00:16:15.279 --> 00:16:18.240
that happens a lot at this particular trade show, and
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00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:20.519
that is people will take something from another industry and
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00:16:20.600 --> 00:16:24.159
find a unique way to combine it and make it
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00:16:24.240 --> 00:16:26.759
so that it specifically targets the hant industry.
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I mean.
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00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:29.000
One of the earliest forms of this that I can
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00:16:29.039 --> 00:16:35.159
remember is there was a company that wanted to sell worms,
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00:16:35.519 --> 00:16:40.399
you know, creepy worms for scenic applications, and instead of
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00:16:40.480 --> 00:16:43.759
creating them from scratch, they contacted the company in China
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00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:46.960
that makes worms for fishing lures and ordered them in
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00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:50.720
specific colors without hooks, then repackaged them in much smaller
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00:16:50.720 --> 00:16:55.200
packages after getting these giant crates from China and therefore
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made it financially profitable as well, because a unique boutique
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00:16:59.440 --> 00:17:02.399
market like the hot industry does have kind of a
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00:17:03.159 --> 00:17:06.039
higher level and the only way anybody could get the
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00:17:06.119 --> 00:17:09.559
lower level was if they bought cartons up on cartons,
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up on cartons, So they did that were very successful
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for many years. So I love it when I see
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people taking existing technology or existing products and incorporating them
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into the hot world.
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00:17:23.799 --> 00:17:26.000
Yeah, I have one story about that, which is just
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00:17:26.039 --> 00:17:28.720
one of the most popular booths that I've noticed that
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00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:32.200
the show has become Chocolate Treasures, which is run by
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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
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00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:45.039
regular chocolate store where they make Easter baskets and you know,
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00:17:45.119 --> 00:17:49.359
Valentine's and it's all great. But now she's become this
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00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:52.799
staple at transworld shows because she takes she makes chocolate
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00:17:52.839 --> 00:17:55.240
versions of props that people are doing. So she has
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00:17:55.480 --> 00:18:00.400
this year, she debuted a chocolate bloody arm and it's
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00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:04.200
a three pound hunk of chocolate that is molded to
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00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:08.480
be an arm, like a arm prop, and it has
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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,
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00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:16.839
she has worms to your she has worms, she has
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body parts.
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You can get a bloody ear.
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You can get you can buy it, you can eat ears,
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00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:25.359
you can eat worms, tongues. There's the whole lay. And
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00:18:25.400 --> 00:18:28.559
then she has little candle holders that are made of chocolate.
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I mean just basically the whole thing. She kind of
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looks around at what other popular props and what things
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00:18:33.240 --> 00:18:35.079
are going on, and then she'll make chocolate versions of
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00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:37.880
that just for the show, But she doesn't normally sell
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00:18:37.920 --> 00:18:39.960
that at her store. She just comes to this show.
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00:18:40.200 --> 00:18:43.039
And the thing is, you'd think that she would be like,
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00:18:43.079 --> 00:18:47.039
if that's for Ayapa, she would be doing contracts to
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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
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00:19:03.359 --> 00:19:05.960
allow cash and carry, some do not. In the past,
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00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:09.319
trans World has not, but that over the last few
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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
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00:19:24.240 --> 00:19:27.240
things that you would expect to see at a Halloween show,
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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
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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,51200:25:14.400 --> 00:25:17.319
because I think sometimes I'm too much into this. I'm51300:25:17.319 --> 00:25:20.240
too in the weeds, and sometimes I missed the forest51400:25:20.279 --> 00:25:22.720
for the trees because I'm so focused on what did51500:25:22.759 --> 00:25:25.000
the board vote for and what is you know, how51600:25:25.119 --> 00:25:26.960
much money did they say they have and all this.51700:25:27.319 --> 00:25:29.720
But the forest is what Scott was saying about some51800:25:29.759 --> 00:25:31.160
of the new trends and what's going on. And so51900:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.640
my favorite interaction was with the Washington Post that was52000:25:34.680 --> 00:25:36.480
there for three days. There was a reporter that was52100:25:36.519 --> 00:25:39.599
there three days, Moira, and she followed Scott around for52200:25:39.640 --> 00:25:40.240
four hours.52300:25:41.559 --> 00:25:41.920
Yeah, it was.52400:25:42.079 --> 00:25:42.319
It was.52500:25:42.480 --> 00:25:44.599
So it's interesting that you say a real reporter because52600:25:44.680 --> 00:25:47.839
I kind of noticed that too. And I actually enjoyed52700:25:47.839 --> 00:25:51.519
the trade show floor more when I was with her52800:25:51.640 --> 00:25:54.160
because I was able to see it through an outsider's52900:25:54.160 --> 00:25:56.559
eyes or a first timer's eye, you know, someone who53000:25:56.599 --> 00:25:58.720
had never been to the show before. And she was53100:25:59.200 --> 00:26:01.039
very interested in the fact that part of the reason53200:26:01.039 --> 00:26:02.799
that she hung out with me was I'm one of53300:26:02.839 --> 00:26:05.200
the few people that actually is going there, well not few,53400:26:05.319 --> 00:26:08.119
growing number of people who is there for both Christmas53500:26:08.160 --> 00:26:12.200
and Halloween. I'm looking at both sides of the trade53600:26:12.200 --> 00:26:15.759
show floor. I'm touching the product in different places. But53700:26:15.880 --> 00:26:18.920
she asked things like she asked good reporter questions. That53800:26:19.480 --> 00:26:21.039
was the thing that I really enjoyed questions.53900:26:21.079 --> 00:26:23.599
I've forgotten how to ask.54000:26:23.720 --> 00:26:25.640
But it's because, no, Philip, you are an excellent reporter,54100:26:25.680 --> 00:26:28.440
and you get all the right questions. But sometimes, as54200:26:28.480 --> 00:26:31.839
you say, when you're too when you're too comfortable, or54300:26:31.839 --> 00:26:33.880
you're too used to the environment, you're too much of54400:26:33.920 --> 00:26:36.519
an insider, then you don't know the questions that people54500:26:36.559 --> 00:26:39.759
who are not those insiders want to ask, you know,54600:26:40.000 --> 00:26:42.759
And like she would, she would see me a very54700:26:42.759 --> 00:26:44.759
specific example, she saw me go up and touch two54800:26:44.799 --> 00:26:46.640
different props and she goes, so what is that? She said,54900:26:46.640 --> 00:26:49.200
those look very similar to me, and what is the difference.55000:26:49.200 --> 00:26:51.480
Why would you choose one over the other? And I said, well,55100:26:51.960 --> 00:26:53.759
I wanted to see. I have to know what the55200:26:53.839 --> 00:26:56.880
lighting is, you know, because if it's very darkly lit,55300:26:56.920 --> 00:26:58.960
I want the brighter colored one. If it's something that55400:26:59.039 --> 00:27:01.160
is taking place in full light in a queue line,55500:27:01.240 --> 00:27:03.400
I want the darker color one because it looks more realistic.55600:27:03.400 --> 00:27:06.160
And she goes, does do people ever think about that?55700:27:06.160 --> 00:27:07.799
And I said, people have been in the industry think55800:27:07.799 --> 00:27:10.200
about it, But do outside people are first time or55900:27:10.200 --> 00:27:12.599
think about it? Absolutely not. They don't even it doesn't56000:27:12.599 --> 00:27:15.720
even cross their mind. And it was very interesting to56100:27:15.720 --> 00:27:18.640
me because every time I looked at something, she was like, well,56200:27:18.640 --> 00:27:22.000
why did you look at that versus that? And so56300:27:22.200 --> 00:27:25.640
it also kind of made me double check, gosh, am56400:27:25.680 --> 00:27:28.039
I just going through the motions or is there an56500:27:28.079 --> 00:27:31.079
actual logical reason that I walked over to one booth56600:27:31.160 --> 00:27:31.880
versus another?56700:27:32.319 --> 00:27:32.599
You know?56800:27:33.039 --> 00:27:35.240
And it's interesting because I've been going. I discovered this56900:27:35.279 --> 00:27:38.720
is my twenty third time I've attended the trans World show.57000:27:39.359 --> 00:27:47.240
And unlike most people, the grand and glorious booths that57100:27:47.279 --> 00:27:49.599
Philip was talking about earlier that are award winning booths.57200:27:49.680 --> 00:27:52.400
They're beautiful, but they're not the ones that draw my eye.57300:27:52.599 --> 00:27:55.359
The ones that draw my eye are the smaller, more unique,57400:27:55.640 --> 00:27:58.960
earlier vendors. Because quite honestly, after twenty three years with57500:27:59.000 --> 00:28:01.839
the established vendors, I know what they can do. I57600:28:01.880 --> 00:28:04.279
know what quality they can do. There are certain vendors57700:28:04.319 --> 00:28:06.119
I don't even have to really look at their product.57800:28:06.240 --> 00:28:10.039
I know what level they're capable of doing. Ghost Ride57900:28:10.079 --> 00:28:12.799
perfect example. You know, I can walk in and I58000:28:12.799 --> 00:28:15.559
can go okay, I don't have to touch it. I58100:28:15.559 --> 00:28:17.160
don't have to ask them about it. I know what58200:28:17.160 --> 00:28:19.279
the quality is. I see something I like and it's58300:28:19.279 --> 00:28:21.240
like that, and that great, let's do that.58400:28:21.599 --> 00:28:25.000
Yeah, So disorptions, all those places you want to talk about,58500:28:25.599 --> 00:28:28.519
also the community aspect and kind of the.58600:28:28.680 --> 00:28:32.119
Of course vibe. So in addition to in addition to.58700:28:32.720 --> 00:28:36.920
The actual trade show floor, there are a lot of parties,58800:28:36.960 --> 00:28:40.200
there are a lot of gatherings, mixers, that sort of thing.58900:28:40.839 --> 00:28:43.599
And I think as important as the trade show floor59000:28:43.680 --> 00:28:46.240
is for the vendors and for the financial success of59100:28:46.240 --> 00:28:48.920
the show, I think it's also important to recognize that59200:28:48.960 --> 00:28:52.119
the reason most people and I think this is it's anecdotal,59300:28:52.119 --> 00:28:53.720
but I think it's fair to say. I think the59400:28:53.759 --> 00:28:56.400
reason most people attend the show is because this is59500:28:56.400 --> 00:28:59.839
where everyone who you've ever met in this industry comes59600:28:59.839 --> 00:29:01.799
together and there's a damn good chance you're gonna see him.59700:29:02.200 --> 00:29:06.599
So the parties that happen afterwards, I feel so sorry59800:29:06.839 --> 00:29:11.759
for anyone who is staying at the Marriotte Grand during59900:29:11.799 --> 00:29:14.119
this show who is not part of the show, because60000:29:14.519 --> 00:29:20.279
the TRANSFORLT people basically take over the entire lobby, the mezzanine,60100:29:20.279 --> 00:29:22.880
over the lobby, the area out in front of the hotel,60200:29:24.400 --> 00:29:28.319
just to hang out and touch base. So, you know,60300:29:28.359 --> 00:29:32.480
both Philip and I attended several several parties, usually with60400:29:32.599 --> 00:29:35.799
people that we've worked with before or have known for60500:29:35.880 --> 00:29:39.400
many many years. In fact, there's one there's one organizational60600:29:39.400 --> 00:29:41.839
party that I think we've been to five six years60700:29:41.880 --> 00:29:42.279
in a row.60800:29:42.319 --> 00:29:44.440
It's like, this is tradition, now, you know.60900:29:44.400 --> 00:29:46.359
We got to go to these parties and see these people,61000:29:46.759 --> 00:29:48.880
and even if they're people that we haven't seen in61100:29:49.000 --> 00:29:53.000
years and years or since last year, we get together61200:29:53.039 --> 00:29:56.119
and it's it all just clicks. So, you know, as61300:29:56.160 --> 00:29:58.519
strange and as unusual as this trade show may sound61400:29:58.559 --> 00:30:00.440
to somebody who's never been the the thing you have61500:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.319
to recognize is it really is an after dark family.61600:30:03.359 --> 00:30:04.880
It really is a bunch of people who, for the61700:30:04.880 --> 00:30:08.400
most part, get along incredibly well, and you make friendships61800:30:08.759 --> 00:30:12.000
that sort of supersede the fact that people think you're weird.61900:30:12.240 --> 00:30:14.799
And maybe it's because people think you're weird that you're62000:30:14.839 --> 00:30:19.519
all drawn together in this safe space to enjoy scaring62100:30:19.519 --> 00:30:22.920
the heck out of people, or that focus on Christmas62200:30:23.000 --> 00:30:27.079
lights year round. So the cultural side of the show,62300:30:27.160 --> 00:30:29.680
I think, in my opinion, is as important, if not62400:30:29.720 --> 00:30:32.119
more important, than the actual trade show side, but the62500:30:32.160 --> 00:30:34.319
fact that they both live in the same world, it62600:30:34.359 --> 00:30:37.519
then truly becomes the epicenter of the industry.62700:30:37.519 --> 00:30:40.039
So it's a great place to be and.62800:30:40.000 --> 00:30:41.319
This is also a great place to be, which is62900:30:41.319 --> 00:30:43.079
the end of our show. Guys, thank you so much63000:30:43.079 --> 00:30:45.680
once again for joining us here at Green Tag Theme63100:30:45.680 --> 00:30:48.480
Park and thirty on behalf of Philipernandez with Gantam Lighting63200:30:48.519 --> 00:30:51.279
and Control on myself Scott Swinson with I almost said63300:30:51.279 --> 00:30:52.200
with green Tag duh.63400:30:52.920 --> 00:30:56.039
With Scott Swinson Creative Development. We will see you all63500:30:56.319 --> 00:30:58.160
next week. Thanks
