St. Louis Gets a Treat, Not a Trick

It may still be the dog days of summer, but Halloween and haunted houses are on a lot of minds.

After collocating for the past 13 years, TransWorld Exhibits' Natl. Haunt & Attractions Show and the Intl. Halloween, Costume & Party Show are being split up. Not only will the HauntShow, which focuses on haunted house attractions, now go it alone, it will move halfway across the country and be held three weeks earlier. Next year's edition will take place March 27-29 at the America's Center in St. Louis. The HCPShow, focusing on Halloween products, is scheduled March 6-9, approximately the same time it was this year, once again at the Sands Expo & Convention Center in Las Vegas.

All this – the break-up and moving one show instead of both – was in response to what exhibitors and attendees said they wanted, according to Steve Stillson, senior vice president of TransWorld.

“What we did was poll the industry when we decided to break off the show,” Stillson said. “The majority of the haunt industry exhibitors, as well as the buyers, are located in the Midwest. They chose the Midwest, and then ... chose St. Louis because it's centrally located, it's easy to get to and they have a beautiful facility in the America's Center.”

The two TransWorld shows were held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont for 12 years before both were moved to the Sands this year.

Most HauntShow exhibitors seemed pleased by the decision to move to St. Louis.

Tony Wohlgemuth, president and founder of High Point, N.C.-based Kersey Valley Spookywoods Haunted Attractions, said this year's show in Las Vegas was too expensive.

“We may expand our booth presence since it will be more affordable,” he added. “Being (that) St. Louis is a closer drive for many haunt owners, we hope to see more buyers attend.”

Stan Jung, owner of St. Louis-based Digital Sound & Lighting, echoed Wohlgemuth's sentiments: “The problems with being a tradeshow in Vegas are not only the cost that's involved with that, (but also the) majority of the haunt industry is in the Midwest to the East Coast.”

He added he heard many exhibitor complaints because of the distance they had to travel and the many distractions available in Las Vegas.

“You start gambling, ... then next thing you know, you end up either forgetting about going to the tradeshow ... or getting carried away with (entertainment) shows,” Jung said.

The move to St. Louis came as a shock to some who, though they suspected the show was moving, thought both the HauntShow and the HCPShow would be headed back to Rosemont. Part of the reason for their surprise may be the fact that Joe Thaler, chairman and CEO of Trans-World, told Tradeshow Week last March that was what was going to happen.

Jeff Mitchell, sales manager for Bemidji, Minn.-based Northern Light FX, plans to exhibit at HauntShow in 2009, but said he would have preferred Rosemont.

“St. Louis is a nice town, but this show historically has been in Chicago,” he said. “Everyone was excited in Vegas ... when they thought it was going back.”

TransWorld intended to move the show to January dates in Rosemont, Stillson said. However, once again, industry grumbling changed the plan. He added the decision to keep the show in March and out of Rosemont had much to do with the weather.

“The industry spoke pretty loud and clear to us,” Stillson said. “We had space booked in January, and the industry came back to us ... saying January was too early.”

With the change in venue comes changes to the show. Stillson said TransWorld plans to double the number of seminars and add exhibitors not previously seen on the showfloor that would be of interest to zoos, amusement parks, renaissance fairs and agritainment (activities that range from corn mazes to pumpkin patches).

Jung, whose work encompasses not only the haunt industry but also theme parks, prop sets and animatronics, said that sounded good to him.

“All (of) us vendors are really going to make it worthwhile for all the amusement industry people, as well as the haunt industry people, and make it fantastic – better than what any other show in the past has ever done,” Jung said. “I think once everybody sees what we're going to do this next year, ... everybody will definitely feel more secure and everybody will be on board.”

Well, maybe not everyone. Mitchell said he is worried about show attendance and would have preferred the two shows stay together.

“The problem with new venues is exhibitors have to guess at who is going to attend,” Mitchell said. “When a show is in the same location every year, exhibitors learn what the attendees want, and this makes the show more profitable.”

Stillson said he wasn't worried about attendance or profits with the new venue or the show changes: “Preliminary indications are showing that this will be a bigger and better show, both from a buyer's standpoint and an exhibitor's standpoint. We have the same amount of space, and we fully intend to improve upon what we had last year.”

According to TransWorld, the 2008 collocated shows together had a 200,000 net square foot showfloor with 1,949 total booths and more than 10,000 buyers. Stillson said his company has only a one-year commitment with America's Center and other venues are under consideration for 2010.

“Vegas will be one of the options, but that's about all I can tell you right now,” he added.