Bad Guy Repticon- Friend or Foe to the Reptile Industry?

[JMExotics]

Wow...

 

[Repticon]

Hi all, this is Billy from Repticon. I wanted to address the situation from Repticon’s perspective.

Our team has been working on a show in Myrtle Beach, SC for over a year and a half. We signed a contract with the Myrtle Beach Convention Center LAST YEAR for a show that will be held on September 24-25 of this year. We announced our Myrtle Beach show at our Charlotte, NC show on January 8th of this year. Weeks later, we began hearing rumors from our vendors that Jay Eaton was trying to pull together a show in Myrtle Beach ahead of our already announced show. Instead of dealing with the rumor mill, I attempted to contact Jay directly, since he has done business with us in the past.

When I spoke to Jay, he said that he had been working on a show before he found out about our show, and that he felt terrible about it. His exact words were that his “heart sank” when he heard that we had announced a Myrtle Beach show because he did not want to compete with us in a market that we were developing. He said that he had already signed a contract with his venue, a hotel on the beach, had paid a deposit, and that he couldn’t get his money back unless he found a flaw with the venue during his site inspection. At this point, according to Jay, he had never set foot in Myrtle Beach, and had never seen the hotel venue that he booked.

During our conversation I explained to Jay that if he was positioning himself as a competitor to our shows, we would have some concerns about him vending at our Carolina shows. Our concerns stem from the fact that we have literally spent hundreds of thousands of dollars marketing our shows throughout Georgia and the Carolinas over the past several years to build traffic at our shows, and it would not make much sense for us to put someone actively competing with us in front of that audience for the price of a $250 table fee, allowing him to market directly to his target audience at a fraction of the cost that we have paid over the years. That’s just not good business for us.

Jay explained to me that his show was not designed to compete with ours. As he described it, it was going to be a smaller, non-venomous-included 60 table show, and that he only planned to run it once a year. I asked him if he’d be willing to put that in writing, and he said absolutely. He also said that he would “give me his word” that if he vended at our Carolina shows he would not use our shows as a platform to promote his own competitive show, and that I should trust him after doing business with him for years.

I took Jay’s words at face value when he said that he was not trying to compete with us, that he had been working on his ideas without knowing what we had been planning, and that he was “trapped” by a contract with his hotel venue that he might not be able to get out of. At that point, I told him that we’d have no problem with him vending at our Florida shows (the state that he lives in), and that given the situation and the differences that he was explaining about his show and ours, we might be able to support his show in Myrtle Beach, allowing him to vend in the Carolinas, pass out flyers, etc., but that I’d need to think about that a little more.

I also told him that if he could move his dates (which he had not yet announced anywhere) to after the show that we had already announced, or to a location that was not as directly competitive with the show that we had already announced, we would absolutely support his show, and give him whatever help we could. We left this phone conversation in a very positive way. I told Jay that I’d talk to the rest of our team to get their thoughts, and asked him to keep me in the loop about how his plans developed. He agreed and said “I give you my word that you’ll be the third person alive to know what’s happening. I’ll know, my wife will know, then I’ll call you.”

When I left that conversation, I trusted Jay to keep his word, and I felt optimistic that we could work through things in a way that worked for both parties. I was quite surprised a few weeks later when, having had no more communication from Jay, we received a call from a friend of his who used to share tables with him at our shows asking if he could still vend with us. He said that Jay had told him he was promoting a “huge show” in the same venue that we had already booked, the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, and that Jay had been “banned” from our shows. I was still waiting for a call from Jay about how his site inspection went at his hotel venue, and was astonished to hear from a third party that we had “banned” Jay, which was completely untrue.

I immediately tried to call and e-mail Jay, and did not hear back from him for a few days. When I did speak with him, I asked him directly what was happening with his show, and why he had not kept his word to me about keeping me in the loop so that we could try to find a way to keep things positive. His response was “I guess I did say I’d do that, didn’t I.” That was it. He confirmed that he was moving his show from the venue that he claimed he couldn’t move out of in our earlier conversation, and that he had contacted and booked the same venue that we had already booked months earlier, for a show that was less that two months ahead of the event that we had already announced and advertised in Reptiles Magazine, on our website, etc.

I brought up to him that he had told me directly just a few weeks earlier that the only reason he was competing with us in a city that we had already announced a show in was that he didn’t know we were working on it and that he couldn’t get out of his contract. Now he was somehow able to escape the “contract,” and was choosing to book a venue that he knew that we had already booked. His response was that he didn’t want to have to buy certain required permits for an event at his hotel venue, that he had already told his friends he was doing a show, and that he was too embarrassed to back out.

Jay broke his word to me that he would keep me informed about his show plans, with no other explanation than “I guess I didn’t do what I said I would” so I’m hard pressed to trust his promise that he won’t use our shows in the Carolinas as a platform to advertise his efforts in Myrtle Beach. For that reason and that reason only, we are not open to Jay vending at our Carolina or Georgia shows PRIOR to his show in July. He’s welcome to vend at our Florida or other out-of state shows, and is welcome to vend at our Carolina shows after July. It just doesn’t make good business sense for us to lend a platform that we have built at great expense to a competitor. Jay knows this, and to the extent that he’s claiming to be “banned” from our shows, he’s being less than truthful.

Regarding Charleston, we absolutely scheduled this show competitively with Jay’s Myrtle Beach efforts, and with good reason. Jay intentionally booked a show in a venue that we are already running advertising for, knowing based on our conversation that our ads in Reptiles Magazine and in other outlets would be in circulation in advance of his show. If you’ve got a copy of the new June issue of Reptiles, take a look at how he’s marketing his show. One $40 classified listing with the wrong state listed. It seems to us that one of his strategies it to hope for confusion between the show that we’re already advertising at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center in September and his efforts at the same venue in July, efforts that he has yet to advertise in any substantial way.

We’ve spent too much time and effort over the years building our name in the Carolinas to risk that confusion. By choosing to book a venue that he knew we already had booked, Jay created a competitive situation in which we felt the need to protect our brand by clearly establishing that what Jay’s doing in July is NOT Repticon. The clearest way for us to do that is by planting our flag in a different South Carolina city on the same weekend, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.

Anyone anywhere certainly has the right to compete with any other business. That’s what a free market economy is all about. Let’s be clear: Jay has every right to compete with us. However, we as business owners certainly have the right to respond to competitors competitively.

While I don’t appreciate the fact that I feel that Jay has been less than truthful with us, we don’t have a personal issue with Jay and we don’t hold grudges. We’re NOT calling his “vendor list” or offering anyone free tables to cancel for Jay and book Charleston. Jay is not, and never has been “banned from Repticon shows.” If he wants vend in Jacksonville or Orlando in May, he’s welcome. If he wants to vend in Columbia, Atlanta, or even Myrtle Beach after July, he’s welcome. If Jay booked any other promoter’s venue less than two months ahead of their show, broke promises to that promoter, then made untruthful comments about that promoter to others in the industry, I doubt very seriously that any other promoter would welcome him back.

At no point in this process have we been anything but direct and truthful with Jay. He cannot truthfully say the same thing about his actions. We’ve made no attempts to tear down Jay or his show. I know that Jay has a family that he’s trying support, and I wish that he had made different decisions about how he chose to conduct himself in pursuit of his plans. Business can be competitive, and in this case it is, but it doesn’t have to be personally negative. That’s not good for anyone.

We wish the vendors who choose to participate in Jay’s efforts the best of luck. If he has what it takes to produce a great show in July, more power to him. It’s not easy to do. We’ll be focusing on putting together a great show in Charleston, not tearing down Jay. If we both succeed, vendors and guests have more choices and everyone wins. If not, that’s the competitive nature of business. If Jay wants to talk, he’s got my e-mail and phone number. If he chooses instead to try to tear us down on public forums, that speaks volumes about how he chooses to do business and who is actually desperate.

For anyone who’s interested, here’s the complete e-mail chain between Jay and me from earlier this year. I’ve had absolutely no communication with Jay since:

Jay,

I mentioned to you in our previous conversation that we would react competitively if you moved forward with your plans, and that I would let you know first when we did.

We just signed a contract for an addtional show this summer, and I just posted some initial information on our website: http://www.repticon.com/charleston.html

I wanted to give you a "heads up" before you hear about this from other sources, and to let you know that after the July shows, you are still welcome to vend with us at any shows you'd like, if you choose to. If you're still interested in vending at the shows prior through July, let me know and we can talk next week.

Thanks,

Billy Healy
www.Repticon.com
(863) 268-4273 (voice)
(863) 268-8191 (fax)

On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 10:49 AM, <[email protected]> wrote:
Billy,
Thanks for getting back with me. There are 7 shows before my show and 5 shows after my show. If I can not vend starting at the next show that I had on my schedule, than I have no interest in vending at any of your shows.
Jay



On Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:42:37 -0500, Billy Healy <[email protected]> wrote:
Jay,

I wanted to let you know that we just received some paperwork that we
were hoping for at the end of last week. We need to review that
paperwork, then we should be able to finalize how we will respond to
your show, including which shows will be open for you to vend at.

I can say that unless things change considerably, there should be no
problem with you vending at the shows that occur after your show is
scheduled.

I'll get back with you as soon as I know more.

Thanks,

Billy Healy
www.Repticon.com [1]
(863) 268-4273 (voice)
(863) 268-8191 (fax)
On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 1:16 PM, wrote:

Here are the shows:
March
South Carolina, Tampa
May
Jacksonville, Orlando
June
South Carolina
July
Atlanta, Tampa
Sept.
Fire and Ice
October
Orlando
November
South Carolina, Tampa
Let me know
Thanks
Jay
On Mon, 7 Feb 2011 12:45:08 -0500, Billy Healy wrote:

Hi Jay,

We're still working through a few things, but I'm hoping we'll have
things settled by the end of this week.

What shows were you looking to vend at?

Billy Healy
www.Repticon.com [3] [1]


(863) 268-4273 (voice)
(863) 268-8191 (fax)

On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 10:26 AM, wrote:

Hey Billy, just wondering if you had talked with everyone and knew
what was going on? I usually start buying this time of year getting
ready for shows and just need to know whats going on.
Thanks
Jay
On Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:56:11 +0000, [email protected] [4] [3]

wrote:
Jay - Cathy was in the hospital all weekend so we were not able to
talk much.

I'll call you when I've had a chance to talk to Cathy and Danny
more.

Thanks,

Billy
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [5] [4]
Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2011 17:43:58
To: Billy Healy

Subject: Re: Myrtle Beach/Repticon Shows

Hey Billy,
Just checking to see if you were able to talk yo everyone and see
if
you had a decision on our conversation? Call me when you have a
chance.
Thanks
Jay
Exotic Jungle

Quoting Billy Healy :

Hi Jay,

Were you able to check out your potential venue last Friday? Any
word on
your show plans?

Thanks,

Billy Healy
www.Repticon.com [6] [5]


(863) 268-4273 (voice)
(863) 268-8191 (fax)

On Mon, Jan 17, 2011 at 5:19 PM, wrote:

hey billy, give me a call when you can. 754-224-1434
thanks
jay
exotic jungle
www.exoticjungle.net [7] [7]


On Mon, 17 Jan 2011 13:36:03 -0500, Billy Healy

wrote:
> Hi Jay,
>
> I understand that you had a short conversation with Cathy
yesterday
> confirming that you've made tentative plans to promote a show in
Myrtle
> Beach, SC. As you probably know, we are promoting a show in
Myrtle
Beach
> in
> September.
>
> I wanted to let you know that we certainly understand the need
for
everyone
> to explore options to expand their revenue, and at this point
you
are
still
> welcome to vend at our shows. There will be no effect on your
placement,
> etc. Obviously, if you choose to place yourself in a business
that is
> directly competitive with us, we will be forced to treat you as
a
> competitor
> rather than as a customer.
>
> I'm a big believer in being straight-forward. If you could let
us know
how
> your discussions with the Myrtle Beach venue are resolved this
week, I'd
> greatly appreciate it.
>
> Thanks Jay,
>
> Billy Healy
> www.Repticon.com [8] [8]


> (863) 268-4273 (voice)
> (863) 268-8191 (fax)

 

[Bobby Douglass]

This is some middle school behavior from both parties.

 

[myrtlebeachherper]

sigh

jay didn't have to set foot in myrtle beach, he has eyes here, i live in myrtle and have been trying to get a show here for a couple years now. mentioned it to some of repticons employees at the columbia show for 2 years now but didn't see anything happening so i went on my own looking for someone to do it and just like i did, jay thought it was a great idea and ran with it. the myrtle beach expo was in the making before repticon announced their show here. just coincidence they came together the same year. if i had the money i would have done it years ago and jay and billy would still be sipping tea together bitching about my kick ass beach show.


free advertising goes here

 

[anaconda420]

jay didn't have to set foot in myrtle beach, he has eyes here

jay has eyes all over the east coast. i know he dors here in pittsburgh keep up the hard work jay

 

[cobraman1]

Personally, I don’t see any fault in what repticon did. They tried to work with Jay, but he apparently decided to do his own thing. Doing your own thing after people said they would work with you is ok, but you can’t get your panties all bunched up when they decide to do their own thing as well. I vend at the Columbia shows and will also be vending at the Charleston and myrtle beach shows with repticon. I have never heard anyone from repticon trash talk or even mention jay at all. It does seem that Jay has posted this thread to advertise and trash repticon, which is exactly what he is accusing them of.

 

[Focal]

Thanks for the other side of the story Billy. It seems to shine a little more light on the little details we have been given.

 

[Southern Wolf]

quote: I stumbled across the change in venue and contacted him to see if they had told him. They had not. He called them and demanded a refund on his card and they informed him that they didn't charge the cards till you checked in.
What if we would have showed up to the wrong location on the wrong date with 4 tables worth of animals and product? :endquote

stumbled across the change of venue, what if we had showed up at the wrong location AHAHAHAHAHA id say wake up outta the fog... what bs.
called them and demanded a refund huh? i would imagine he felt pretty STUPID when he found out they didnt charge his card ROFLMFAO, classic
again my opinion is they are a definate FRIEND to the reptile industry.
,,,,,,,,thomas davis

The only thing funny is you cant seem to figure a simple thing out like "quoting someone".

I had a ligitimate gripe. We booked tables for the Little Rock show. They never contacted us about a change in location. Where is the fog at smart The only reason I found out about it was because I went to their site looking to see if a vendor list had been posted yet.

Just from your replys above.. makes me wonder if your nose is three shades of brown when it comes to Repticon.

Everything with our transaction was classic bad guy. As for him feeling stupid... actually he was a bit relieved they hadn't charged his card.

 

[Lynn]

I HAVE VENDED AT REPTICON IN HOUSTON ...GREAT PEOPLE GREAT SHOW. THESE PROMOTORS REALLY KNOW HOW TO CARE FOR THEIR VENDORS..THEY MAKE YOU FEEL WELCOME AND EVEN BUY YOU LUNCH.. I CAN NOT BELEIVE THEY WOULD STAND IN ANYONES WAY.. I WILL VEND AT THEIR SHOW AGAIN.....
WHY CANT PEOPLE JUST GET ALONG.........

 

[serena wise]

I personally dont feel as if Repti-con did anything wrong here. They have seemingly come on here and made an honest and ligitimate stance as to what really went on, and accordingly seem to show no ill will towards Jay and his show.

As far as the politics and drama goes, that is everywhere in the industry. I remember Just a year ago when the 2 Hamburg promoters split shows, the rumor mill that was started. What a joke that was. All the childish behavior that took place with that mess. Over time the rumors will die down and vendors will do the shows they so choose, and everything will move in one direction or another.

It looks to me that the Myrtle Beach Show has a good vendor list going and should do well, and with such sponsors like Armstrong, and whose that other guy, whats his name, im sure it will go far.

 

[thomas davis]

Southern Wolf

The only thing funny is you cant seem to figure a simple thing out like "quoting someone".

I had a ligitimate gripe. We booked tables for the Little Rock show. They never contacted us about a change in location. Where is the fog at smart The only reason I found out about it was because I went to their site looking to see if a vendor list had been posted yet.

Just from your replys above.. makes me wonder if your nose is three shades of brown when it comes to Repticon.

Everything with our transaction was classic bad guy. As for him feeling stupid... actually he was a bit relieved they hadn't charged his card.

ok kevin lets adress a few thangs....

1.i had a legitimate gripe! AHAHAHAHAA you sound like a crying lil baby.

2.wow so they posted to their site about the venue change BOY THE GHALL... still crying

3. brown nose huh because i stated my opinion that they are indeed a FRIEND to the industry. man thats weak

4. everything in OUR transaction huh? classic badguy?!? WHATEVER! you didnt even have a transaction did you kevin, wasnt it your "friend" who had the card OHHH i guess thats the "our" part huh

5. RELIEVED!!! ahahahahahaaa if he called and DEMANDED only to find out nothing had been charged he should feel STUPID not relieved, your insinuation that Repticon would steal is PATHETIC.

now youve stated your opinion and ive stated mine cant we just leave it at that
,,,,,,,,thomas davis

 

[scaledverts]

We get it Thomas.....you think they are a friend to the industry..........

Your passive aggressive/downright aggressive posts just come off as you being cranky and are not really painting you in a good light. And in my opinion aren't helping the situation and are not needed here.

Kevin has a legitimate complaint, they changed venue w/out notification. Yes, it could have been and was easily figured out via their website but as a vendor I would hope that something as major as a change of location would be sent out. Also, had this happened to me I would also have called to ask about the table fees being returned etc. To say that calling about a refund and feeling stupid when you found out the card had not be changed is just ridiculous. I am pretty sure relief is in fact the correct word.

All that being said, I vended at many of the FL Repticons when I was living in Tampa and always had good sales there. Crap I sold more at Repticons on average than I did at Daytona.

 

[Magic Merlin]

ok kevin lets adress a few thangs....

1.i had a legitimate gripe! AHAHAHAHAA you sound like a crying lil baby.

2.wow so they posted to their site about the venue change BOY THE GHALL... still crying

3. brown nose huh because i stated my opinion that they are indeed a FRIEND to the industry. man thats weak

4. everything in OUR transaction huh? classic badguy?!? WHATEVER! you didnt even have a transaction did you kevin, wasnt it your "friend" who had the card OHHH i guess thats the "our" part huh

5. RELIEVED!!! ahahahahahaaa if he called and DEMANDED only to find out nothing had been charged he should feel STUPID not relieved, your insinuation that Repticon would steal is PATHETIC.

now youve stated your opinion and ive stated mine cant we just leave it at that
,,,,,,,,thomas davis

Take it to PM or kiss and makeup.

 

[FosterHerpetological]

Everyone and their egos.....

 

[Magic Merlin]

Any promoter that puts on a well organized and informative show, with healthy animals, is GOOD for our industry.

 

[Southern Wolf]

ok kevin lets adress a few thangs....

1.i had a legitimate gripe! AHAHAHAHAA you sound like a crying lil baby.

2.wow so they posted to their site about the venue change BOY THE GHALL... still crying

3. brown nose huh because i stated my opinion that they are indeed a FRIEND to the industry. man thats weak

4. everything in OUR transaction huh? classic badguy?!? WHATEVER! you didnt even have a transaction did you kevin, wasnt it your "friend" who had the card OHHH i guess thats the "our" part huh

5. RELIEVED!!! ahahahahahaaa if he called and DEMANDED only to find out nothing had been charged he should feel STUPID not relieved, your insinuation that Repticon would steal is PATHETIC.

now youve stated your opinion and ive stated mine cant we just leave it at that
,,,,,,,,thomas davis

Actually your the one that insinuating that. Never once did I say anything about them stealing. Those are your words.. not mine.

You're the only one throwing a temper tantrum here.

How would you feel if you paid for tables and anticipated on doing a show on a specific date and time. They change the venue and never notify you?

Actually I did have a transaction. Guess you missed the part about us going in together to get the 4 tables. He used his card and I paid him for my part.

 

[ivgonmad]

Why can't there be two shows?? Is there a rule of some sort?? Heck I wish I had more shows and we get at least one per year here is SoCal...

 

[Flatlander]

Why can't there be two shows?? Is there a rule of some sort?? Heck I wish I had more shows and we get at least one per year here is SoCal...

No kidding. Have them on different dates and everyone wins. sheesh.

 

[Focal]

Where's the OP? I wanna know who's lying here because we have two different stories...

Coming on here and trashing a competitor with lies is a real bad guy move and bad for business.

 

[JMExotics]

apparently he is not getting the response he wanted.... soo POOF he is gone..