Viva Las Vegas
by: Kathleen Marcrum

When you think of Las Vegas, you seldom think of Halloween. Transworld Convention Services set out to change that last April, however, with the First Annual West Coast Transworld Halloween & Party Show at the Tropicana Resort Hotel on the famous Vegas strip. For the last 14 years, Transworld's Chicago show has been their only Halloween convention. "We felt that there were a large number of people in California unable to attend the March show," stated Mark Passis of Transworld, who decided to test the feasibility of a second show closer to the west coast. Over 100 vendors and their wares were displayed during the three-day show. Opening of the vender area, filled with a large selection of Halloween and party supplies, was preceded each day by free seminars, demonstrations, and workshops. Directed more at the retail end of the holiday, the seminars included topics about time management, selling Halloween, team effort, and tricks for competing in the seasonal marketplace. There were also programs and demonstrations on make-up and sales on the show floor during the trade show.

The majority of the merchants in were more than willing to show us their products and supply us with catalogs. The variety of booths held everything from complete costumes to the smallest Halloween accessory. Transworld did a good job of dividing the Halloween and Party merchants so you did not find yourself looking at a gory rubber masks next to a bridal booth. I found the Morris Costumes booth to be the most fun. A vomit spewing dummy, a bodiless speaking head, and a dark spinning tunnel were all in prime form, as was Phillip Morris himself, doing what he does best, entertaining the buyers. The Characters Unlimited booth was also a favorite. You never knew when one of the large animations might call you by name and ask you how your day was going.

Several newcomers to the Halloween genre where also great finds. Amazing Concepts caught our attention with a 5-foot tall Grim Reaper statue leaning over a tombstone holding a lifeless body. Hard to describe, without seeing, this prop was a real scene-stealer, not only for its size but for the attention to detail that you could see in the work. Its companion in the booth was also a large figure, of a woman on her knees at the bottom of a tombstone. Although the cost of one of these might be at the upper end of a small haunter's budget, either of these pieces would make a strong focal point for any graveyard set. Amazing Concepts also had many smaller pieces with the same workmanship and fine detail. Their staff was very helpful and informative. Grotesque Studios displayed several nicely detailed corpses, both male and female, some great tombstones, and a variety of skulls. The piece that caught my eye was a 22-inch high, winged Gargoyle draped over a pile of skulls. The friendly creative staff, at Grotesque were also very helpful.

In general we found the First Annual West Coast Transworld Halloween & Party Show a great event. It seemed to be well attended, and each of the venders we spoke to, said that they would come back. Hopefully Transworld had enough positive input to bring the convention back to this coast next year and for many years to follow.

Kathleen Marcrum and her husband Mike are owners of Dragons Head Productions, in Sonoma, CA. She can be reached via. email at: mmarcrum@ix.netcom.com

Haunted America's Featured Haunt Program

Dennis Gorg of Events Group Inc.announces that for the second straight year, the Internet provider America On Line, will be sponsoring and showcasing Haunted America.com, the country's premier Halloween web site. Last October, Haunted America received 6.2 million hits from AOL's 12 million-member subscriber base in only 26 days. Visitors across America were directed to local Haunted Attractions with easy access to dates, times, prices, phone numbers and photos of the "Featured Haunts." Last year 77 houses participated in the program, and received "Featured Placement" on Haunted America.com. Printable coupons and locator maps available on the web pages were highly effective and provided a means for the attractions to track the benefit of the program. "The first 50 people that showed up at my attraction, had AOL coupons in hand," stated J.B. Corn of Castle Dragon in Dallas Texas. At the end of the season, the 77 Featured Haunts divvied up $50,000 of AOL sponsorship money as a bonus for participating.

To become a "Featured Haunt" all an attraction had to do was include AOL's logo and the text "Keyword: Halloween" on all promotional materials. This provides regional media support, which drives AOL's consumers to the Haunted America web site. Last year, Haunted America had title sponsorship exposure on AOL for the whole month of October, and as a result, the Los Angeles Times chose Haunted America.com as the "must see" Halloween Internet destination.

Taking Last Year's Success to New Heights in 1998

Not one to ride on past accomplishments, Haunted America is proud to announce the addition of The Venture Group, to its already potent sponsorship team. The Venture Group is Chicago's most dynamic marketing company, and specializes in cutting edge promotional programs that will take Haunted America to the next level. The Venture Group's goal is to develop marketing alliances with mass media outlets, national and regional retailers, and product manufacturers to promote Haunted America's Featured Haunts. This will provide the program with 'in store' displays and national media support.

This year, Haunted America will once again have title sponsorship exposure to the 12 million-member subscribers at America On Line. Award money in the amount of $50,000 will again be divided between the Haunted Attractions who join the Featured Haunts program. Featured Haunts will also receive their own web page created by Haunted America F.O.C. (That's free of charge, of coarse), and receive "Featured Placement" in Haunted America's national database of 2,500 haunted attractions listed by state. "It is like mailing out full color brochures to 6.2 million Haunt Enthusiasts across the country," stated Sharon Marzano, of Haunted America, "And it is the number one way to distinguish your show from the 4,000 plus attractions expected to be in operation in 1998"

How to Sign Up

To receive detailed information on how you can become a Featured Haunt on Haunted America sponsorship program, and take home a portion of the $50,000 AOL Award Money, fill out and mail in, the Database Registration Form provided in this magazine, or you can call Haunted America at (773) 342-0771. Be sure to also visit us on line at: www.HauntedAmerica.com/signup. There you will find an online registration form, Featured Haunt agreement, web page examples and a chat line for specific questions regarding the sponsorship program.

Do not miss this opportunity to be featured on the Internet's number #1 Halloween Destination. We are confident that Haunted America will become your favorite event-marketing tool. And it's FREE!

NOTE: ALL information provided by HauntedAmerica.com is confidential, and will be used only to distribute award money and to attract additional sponsors to the Haunted America Featured Haunt Program.

The Venture Group is a dynamic Chicago marketing firm with over 20 years combined experience in the promotional areas of professional sports, entertainment properties, talent representation, consumer and retail marketing. Specializing in cutting-edge promotional programs for entertainment venues, The Venture Group plans to broaden Haunted America's reach to non-web based consumers, by developing promotional partnerships with retailers and manufacturers. Over the last several years, The Venture Group has developed similar marketing partnerships for other clients, generating millions of dollars in non-traditional revenues. Target, Sears, 7-Eleven, Montgomery Wards, Jewel-Osco, Dominick's, Kemper Funds, LaSalle Banks, and Chicagoland Cable TV Systems have all benefited form these promotional partnerships.

The strategy for Haunted America, is "critical alliance development." It revolves around partnership with a national retailer, and incorporates manufacturers for local market-by-market impact programs. The new partnerships being developed will include in-store, retail level 'Point Of Sale' displays and 'on pack' promotions, not to mention editorials in national trade and fan publications. This approach will bring both retail and corporate product partners to the already exciting mix of AOL and Haunted America.com. All with the sole objective of driving traffic to Haunted America's Featured Haunts.

Robert M. McAuliff, President/CEO and Marjorie Smith, Partner/Executive Vice President established The Venture Group in 1996. Since then, they have gained a reputation for stabilizing and turning profits for start-up companies. The Chicago Marathon, the Blaze Radio Station (WWBZ-Chicago), the Chicago Wolves Professional Hockey Team and John Madden's Sports Quiz (syndicated radio program), and Country Thunder USA (country music festival), are all examples of their work.

Looking for Lost Creatures

by: Cliff Martin

A very important aspect of crowd control and experience satisfaction, is line entertainment. My favorite line entertainment gag, is very simple, yet has many advantages. It is inexpensive, does not take extra staff to perform, can be performed over long periods of time, involves the guests in the action, and generates a great deal of excitement. The best part is that the staff can still perform their 'regular' duties while also partaking in the fun of entertaining the line:

The Set Up

Soon after a sizable line forms at the attraction, the 'entertainment' begins. Each time a staff member comes into view of the line on their regular rounds, they act as if they have lost something. They search among the guests with flashlights concentrating on the ground. Any questions from guests are denied, but with the appearance of concern and a continued search. Occasionally, the other staff person disappears from sight only to reappear in another area still apparently searching. This allows the staff person to perform repairs, get drinks, escort guests, and perform other duties while continuing the build up. Periodically staff members will publicly confer among themselves, shaking and scratching their heads, looking worried, and the breaking up to continue the search. These conferences provide and opportunity to choose a small group of 'screamers' standing in line, which will be focus for the gag.

After the build up is to the desired level, a staff person hurries past the line carrying an 'empty' burlap sack, then disappears behind something out of view. After a short time, the same staff person reappears with the same sack, which is now vibrating and shaking. Still looking around, the staff person ignores the fact that there is now 'something' in the sack. The staff person now takes a position directly behind the 'screamers' and asks one of these guests hold the vibrating sack bag, while the search continues. When someone asks the staff person to tell them what is inside the sack, he offers instead to show them, "Wanna see?"

The Pay Off

The staff person makes a 'big production' out of showing the guests what is in the bag. While trying to grab the still moving thing, the staff person first pulls out all sorts and sizes of rubber snakes and rats, handing them to guests to hold. Still grabbing for the thing the staffer exclaims, "Ouch! - Darn sharp teeth". Wiggling and shaking the bag the staff person asks one of the guests help hold the bag (a 'screamer' is best!). Finally, the staff person wildly pulls out a vibrating Bumble Ball (a toy ball with an off balance wheel spinning inside) and tosses at the feet of the screamers.

Much like Moses parting the Red Sea, guests will scatter. I have had them climb on top of fences, posts, and even other guests, screaming to the top of their lungs while pointing at the harmless Bumble Ball. After helping the guests off the ceiling, pack everything up. Encourage the chatter in the line about 'what happened a few minutes ago'. Wait until the line changes enough to have new victims, and the set up begins again.

There are many variations to this gag that can be done to fit the style and theme of your event. The rats and snakes could be substituted with - squishy and still twitching Body parts, or stranger, uglier, and the livelier alien creatures, or perhaps spell casting ingredients, some which are still alive.

The mind is a wonderful thing to play with, especially when it is someone else's.

Cliff Martin is owner of Myth Adventures in Pilot Mountain, North Carolina He can be reached via Email at: cliff@startle.com

BOOsting your Profits

by: Michael Cruz

As the haunting season approaches, we are all looking for ways to improve the bottom line. Here are fifteen suggestions that can save you time and money, and "Boost your Profits!"

1. Voicemail. Efficiency is key to helping you and your employees do more in less time. Voicemail alone can save hours of frustration when having to deal with the repetitive questions about your event. Instead of giving out your office number, use a voicemail number on advertising. With a 3-4 minute recording, the Who, What, When, Where and Whys of your event can be repeated as many times as required without an employee having to answer the phone.
2. Piggyback mailings. Seek out other companies in your area who do regular direct mailings during the Halloween season and ask to be included in their campaign. You may have to pay a percentage of the postage but it is cheaper than doing everything yourself. Just be sure your mailing piece stands out from everything else in the mailing.
3. Stretch your advertising dollar. If your advertising budget is a minimum of $10,000, consider hiring a media placement agency. They tend to have more experience placing ads and negotiating schedules that will stretch your ad budget. Best of all, their service is at no cost because the media absorbs the placement agency commission.
4. Trade-trade-trade. Since your event tickets have inherent value they can be traded or bartered for other things of value that you need. You can trade for hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of advertising, hotel rooms, restaurants, s, printing, rentals and other goods. Many of these traded tickets will not be redeemed, so trade as much as possible.
5. Use interns. Contact the marketing or theater departments at your local community college or university to announce an "internship" opportunity. Many times, students will take advantage of the "hands-on training" while receiving college credits, for little or no money.
6. Group sales. Implement a group sales program for community organizations, major area employers and local charities. Offering discount tickets to these and others like them can increase ticket sales, not to mention the supplemental increase in exposure you will capture for your event.
7. Use your customer list. Marketing research has shown that it is far easier and more economical to get a past customer to return to your event than it is bring a new guest for the first time. Collect and build a database of your customers through contests or other methods. You can use the list for direct mailings and even trade it to local corporations for sponsorship.
8. Go multi element. By adding supplemental attractions and activities to your event, you can increase the customer's monetary participation and perceived value. These supplemental activities or 'elements' can include such things as additional attractions, live entertainment, fortune-tellers or face painting. The longer a customer stays at your event, the more money he is likely to spend and the more value he feels he has gotten for his dollar.
9. Advance ticket sales. Pre-selling tickets to your event is a great way to measure the level of the event's appeal. This allows an event producer to get an early estimate of the crowds he might expect. Presale revenue acts as insurance against bad weather days and provides per-opening operational revenue. It lessens the risk of the event, by enabling the organizers to determine the effectiveness of the marketing plan and provides an early opportunity to make appropriate adjustments.
10. Use a Temp Agency. Maintaining the paperwork of tax and payroll responsibilities, consume valuable time during operations. Consider hiring your employees through a temp agency, which will take care of these headaches as well as provide some benefits for the employees. This service is not free, however, it saves you valuable time that can be use for profitable tasks.
11. Know your media. It is essential to maintain an up-to-date database of your local, regional and national media outlets. This list should include mailing and fax numbers of both print and electronic media. Be sure to have the proper spelling and current names of the appropriate editor or news director.
12. Use an alphanumeric pager. During September and October, things are hectic. One way to stay in close contact with your office is to get an alphanumeric pager. Depending on the message, you can determine which calls you need to return immediately and those that can wait.
13. Co-op Your Advertising. Get together with other quality Haunted Attractions in your area and combine your advertising dollar to get better exposure. Already very successfully in the Atlanta, Denver and Detroit markets, a cooperative effort with your competition to develop a unified advertising campaign can reach more people than either of you could separately. Each attraction will still have to do individual marketing, but everyone who visits any participating attraction in the area will receive one of your advertisements.
14. Give away your tickets. A marketing principle that is difficult for some event producers to understand is that giving away tickets is not giving away profits. Only 40-55% of the free tickets you distributed will ever be redeemed, and people like to win prizes or get something for free. When done properly giveaways generate a demand for your tickets and provide positive exposure for your event. Use the radio spots for on-air ticket giveaways, even if the station wants you to pay for this "add-value" perk, it can be worth it.
15. Shop the thrift stores. Useless items that people throw away are very valuable as set dressing for Haunted Attractions. Thrift stores and the Good Will are great places to find great buys for your show. Even antique shops can be helpful, because the piece that is too damaged for someone to sell is most likely the one you want! Why buy something new and age it when you can purchase it cheaper and already distressed. Make a habit of regularly stop buy these treasure troves.

Going for the Donation
by: Mike Tucker

From the beginning of my haunting career, I have constantly been looking for ways to cut down unnecessary spending. If you have not already found a way to get great deals on raw materials, then let me share my tactics with you.

Always remember the three "B's" of material appropriations. Bum, Bargain, and only then Buy. With your long list of needed items in hand, your first tactic is to BUM everything you can. Lumberyards are a great place to start. They produce large amounts of damaged materials that they cannot sell at full price. Looking in the cull bin alone can save you a lot of money. Be bold and ask if you can have the things that you need. Don't be disappointed if they refuse. Remember, you will never know unless you ask. After I spoke with the manager of a local lumberyard in Augusta, he pointed me to a damaged pile of wood (damaged to him, perfect to me) and agreed to give me as much as I could carry away in one load. Needless to say, I had so much wood in the truck that I barely made it back to the haunted house.

Another good bumming technique is to gather all of your future workers for a scavenger hunt. Offer prizes and rewards for the person or group that collects the most materials from a predetermined list of needs for the haunted house, with special bonus points for cool things they find that are not on the list.

If "bumming" the item is not possible, then you must resort to plan B, BARGAINING. Some stores would rather give you a discount rather than give you the merchandise. In return for a discount, you should offer to list the store's name on a donation sign. A donation sign is a large sign that you will place in the front yard of the haunted house to recognize (and advertise) everyone who donated to the event. This includes the guy at the lumberyard. Another option is to display the store's name within the house. For instance, when the guests walk through the house they might find a "Harry's Hardware" sign in the Chainsaw Room, and so on. One thing of value that you have to bargain with is tickets to the event. You can extend your marketing budget, and pick up all sorts of services and products at discounted prices, by offering complimentary tickets to your event. Be sure that the tickets are only good on a slow night, or early in the season.

After you have exhausted all other possibilities, only then should you resort to the third B and BUY the item. You can do a lot for practically nothing, so watch your spending. Little things like nails, staples, tape, and such are items you can expect to buy, but try to get them donated first.

Here are few tips to help you get stared:

If you have a tie-in with a charity, push your cause. Emphasize "charity" and the "community".

Know everything about your event, so that you can speak about it without hesitation.

Go after specific companies that might support the haunted house, or your charitable cause.

It never hurts to ask. You will never know unless you do, and the worst they can say is no.

Always look professional, be professional and have a firm handshake.

Make a good impression every where you go. The stranger that you said hello to on the street yesterday, may be the person that you are asking to donate today.

Never push anyone. If they say they can't donate, then thank them politely, invite them to the show and go to the next opportunity. Maybe they can next year.

Always write a formal thank you letter to everyone who donates, no matter how small. It is something that they can put on display or send to the home office to make a good impression.

Mike Tucker is the author of "The Do It Yourself Haunted House Guide" and is owner of Tucker Entertainment in Evans, Georgia. He can be reached at haunted@mindspring.com