REPTICON Pensacola?

Michael

It is certainly our goal to put on a show that is worth an hour's drive and $8 admission, but one thing that we've learned through promoting shows throughout the last six years is that there is no single show configuration or format that will meet every guests' expectations. This is a new show for us in an area that does not have a history of reptile shows, so it is difficult to forecast exactly how the show will develop. I can say, however, that this show is NOT in partnership with another organization as was our experiment in New Jersey, and the show here will look and feel much more like our other shows in the South-East.

We are excited about the Pensacola show, and I think it will meet most reasonable expectations. I'm confident enough that you'll be pleased with the show that I'm willing to offer you this. If you'll contact me through the "contacts" page on our website, I will add you and a guest to our VIP list at no cost. After experiencing our show in August, if you feel your expectations were met you can pay the $8 standard admission for you and your guest as you leave. If you're not satisfied, all you will have risked is a few hours of your time and some gas (which I realize is not cheap these days.)

I'll be happy to post more information on this show as it develops, but please bear in mind that we have four shows scheduled between now and August, so it will probably be a few weeks at least until we have a great deal of information to share about the Pensacola show.

Thanks for your time, and for your interest in our Pensacola show.

Billy Healy
www.Repticon.com

Originally Posted by Repticon

If you'll contact me through the "contacts" page on our website, I will add you and a guest to our VIP list at no cost. After experiencing our show in August, if you feel your expectations were met you can pay the $8 standard admission for you and your guest as you leave. If you're not satisfied, all you will have risked is a few hours of your time and some gas (which I realize is not cheap these days.)

Well that damn sure makes it worth the hours drive. Matter of fact it makes me want to rearrange my trip to the old homestead so I can see you in Ft. Myers on the 8th.

I sent you an email, Bill. That sounds like a fair deal.

Michael,

Maybe " Bebevolant Billy" will pay for your gas up front also. I have found Billy to be unprofessional along with his staff. I will never....(and that is a long time) ever attend one of his events as a guest or as a vendor. The Tallahassee show was so bad he gave me 2 extra tables to fill to make his poor excuse of a show look credible. He had vendors leaving early and the foot traffic was very low. I sold/traded more to the few vendors more so than guest. I had only brought enough stuff for 4 tables. I had to contact the folks that run the Carolina shows just to be able to attend because he would not return a phone calls or e-mails. I submitted 5 names of folks to man my tables only to hav ehis mother argue with me before finally giving me the name tags needed. It cost me money along with other vendors to due that show. The idea is to not end up in the red at the end of the show. I honestly believe Billy does not have the ability to put on a show worth attending. I would love to see some well organized shows in Florida's panhandle...............Repticon is not it.

Scott Sweeney
Sweeney's Serpents

Scott, just out of curiousity, how many Repticons have you attended or participated in? And which ones?

I went to a Repticon show in VA Beach in 05. The flyers were advertising something like 30 tables of reptiles. I got there & show seemed a little high priced at the time, $7.00. I asked if I could look in to just see who was there & was told they didn't allow that. So I paid my $7.00 & was shocked when I walked in. There were only 4 vendors & a guy with exotic cats. Of the 4 vendors, 2 were local pet stores. I was not impressed & the vendors were not either.

We have been vendors at a number of Repticon shows around Florida (and once in S.C.) over the past several years, and we always do the Ft. Myers show, since it is so close. Although a few of the various shows were very small and sparsely attended, most have had maybe 25 - 35 or more vendors (just my guess) and a fair number of attendees. I have definitely noticed that the Ft. Myers show has grown and gotten better as time goes on.

We have never done really great financially at the Repticon shows, probably because we sell mostly drygoods at the shows. But we usually cover expenses, and often make a small profit if we are able to keep the expenses down. However, some friends who sell certain live animals (especially inexpensive pet types) said they have done extremely well at the local Repticon shows. So it is a mixed bag for both vendors and attendees, depending on which show it is and how long it has been going on, and for vendors, what you sell and how expensive it is.

But I have to say that I have always found Billy, Tina, and the rest of the staff, very friendly, professional, and easy to deal with. It is probably one of the main reasons I continue to do some of the local shows, even if they are only marginally profitable for us. The staff seems to go out of their way to make things easy on the vendors, often even providing a free lunch. And they go out of their way to make it family friendly, with puppet shows and similar activities for kids. They try hard to promote local herp societies, and have attended some of our local meetings before the Ft. Myers show to answer questions. And they always provide our group with a couple of free tables to help promote us and to sign up new members, and also so we can try to raise funds selling t shirts, photos, etc.

The shows seem more geared for families getting their first pets rather than hard core herpers, but in the larger Repticon shows, there is a little bit of "hard core and more advanced" type herps available. In the past, there used to be some dealers selling some really poor looking w.c. herps. But the staff seems to have weeded out the worst offenders. I don't see too much of that anymore, at least no more than at any other show that allows w.c. animals.

So if a particular Repticon show turns out to be a dud, I wouldn't give up on all of them. Try one that has been going on for several years, like our Ft. Myers show this weekend. This is the first time it will be 2 days, and I am not sure if that will be better or worse. But it has been a very nice little one day show for the past several years.

Dearest Kathy,

I have all the respect in the world for you and Bill. I bought my first baby corns from you 20 years ago. I guess I can blame you for all the snake poop I have waiting for me...... I did the Tally show because it was close like you and the Ft. Myers show. If Billy and his mother had not been rude I may have gotten over the low attendance and lack of vendors.......I like just going to shows too. But when I bring 150 colubrids to a show and I'm the big breeder there ....wow! There was a lady that does the SC shows and if it was not for her I would have not made it there in the first place. If I had said I was Bill Love I may have gotten a call back. I can understand it does take alot of time and organizational skills to put on a show. That show just proved to me that the rumors about his shows are true. It's my understanding that he took over the Tampa show.......maybe it's different.

Scott Sweeney

Kathy, will you being attending the Pensacola show or is that too far away from Cornutopia?

We seldom do shows further away than about Tampa or Orlando unless they are pretty big (like the NARBC or Daytona shows) or unless they are more or less on the way to another show (like Tucson after the Anaheim show). I don't think the Pensacola show would be big enough to allow us to cover the expenses of getting there. When is it? It is just SO expensive to travel these days, and SO many shows that "split up the pie", making them all a little less profitable than if there were fewer shows.

To Scott: Yes, there is no excuse for rudeness. It is always possible that somebody was just having a really bad day, but I am sorry you had that experience, and I can understand your lack of enthusiasm in wanting another experience like that! But I don't think it is a common complaint for that group. I hope it was an isolated incident.

I did go to a Tallahassee show once, although I think it might have been Alex who did that one - can't remember now. But it was small and we did not do well there, whoever ran it. I haven't done any shows up in that area since then, so don't know if there has ever been a good one.