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The new Atlanta show schedule

"Well, glad you are going to attend the
show! I honestly assumed you were with the whole herp
society defamation, take over plow which is so not
right but anyaway, glad to have you be a part of the
show. Yes, I actually think it will be not a good show
but a great show."

This was just forwarded to me from a vendor doing Tony's show this weekend that also happens to be a member of the GHS. The e-mail is from Tony Cueto I have left the vendor's name out for now(he/she does not wish to lose their table money), so you may take it as you will.

Now, the GHS, nor myself as it's acting "voice" in this thread has defamed Tony in anyway. Nothing that has been stated here has been untrue. Stating the fact that Tony Cueto misrepresented himself to the Cobb Galleria as the "marketing director" of the GA Herpetological Society is not defamation. Nor is stating that Tony has expressly been told that the GHS will no longer be a part of his Atlanta shows, the reason being his falsely using our name. It is also a fact that Tony was asked to remove the GHS from his listing of attractions, which he still has not done.

As for takeovers, the GHS did shows in Atlanta for 5 years before Tony came into town. Tony did not ask our permission or consult us beforehand so that we might work out a schedule to make both shows fit. He simply set up at the same venues we planned to do shows at within a couple of weeks of our show. The GHS is in no way attempting to take over Tony's show or defame it, but yet we did not feel the need to consult with Tony over our own business plans. He obviously did not feel the need to consult us over his business plans to do shows here.

It appears that Tony might be upset that we are getting back into the show business again and will be offering up competition to his shows. As he has shown with Columbia, it appears that Tony sets up a show in a market and believes that the market is exclusively his from then on. Tony Cueto does not own the City of Atlanta nor any of the venues in Atlanta or any other city, and it is up to them to rent to and take money from whomever they wish.

The reason the GHS has decided to go back into shows is NOT to compete with Tony or "run him out of town." The GHS is now in the process of setting up several herp conservation grants, and we decided to go back into shows to build up revenue for these grants. We are not in the show business to pay our bills or rent or to make a ton of money. We are doing our show to further not only responsible herp keeping, but also conservation and general awareness of the herps around us. We are also planning a much different event without the carnival atmosphere.

If Tony continues to do his show in Atlanta, that is fine. We are not in the business to compete with him or try to make him fail. We do not wish his shows to fail. In fact, we hope all the vendors all do well this weekend. We will simply not be involved in the event.
 
Just got back from the show and to say it was a disappointment would be an understatement. I had a table a couple of times at the Birmingham show last year and did ok there. I considered a table at this show but am glad I didn't spend the money! There were about 20-25 vendors (I didn't count, but it was a FAR cry from the 125 advertised on the website). There were few customers, nothing like the crowds in the past. I bought a few items but nothing really blew my bloomers. I feel bad for the venders who probably won't break even for this show. I hope the GHS shows are better planned (no last minute date and venue changes please!). I will attend the GHS shows and maybe vend if I think the show has potential. BTW...before anyone asks, NO I am not Rob and NO I am not related to Rob. I have had a transaction for some tanks with Rob and he has been an up front guy. (He also has a few nice snakes!)
 
I was there on Saturday. I knew 3 venders and I talked to them about 5 when everything was shutting down, they had all done very well. I agree the venders and crowd was down in sheer numbers, but the people that did come, came to buy. Of course Tony himself, does not make a commission on those sells, so his money is derived directly from the venders and patrons, and I honestly do not believe he made back enough to cover the 9k he paid to rent that place, let alone the other expenses. I have never seen the Tamps show, but from what I derive it was a bomb this year. I know that Greenville and Atlanta were bombs. That is 3 disappointments in a row for Tony, if Columbia tanks next month, he should probably look at getting out of this business. Tony, I am telling you man, Columbia is the Mecca of southeastern hot keepers, ditch your venomoid boy before that show.
 
We did extremely well at this Atlanta show. Everyone that came through the door it seemed came with cash and credit cards and were buying. They were not just buying the low dollar items either....they were spending money! I know that we brought back a lot less than we took, and we had 10 tables full of stuff!!!

I for one want to thank all the customers and vendors that did come out. Hope to see you all at the Columbia show......This one is in our hometown!! :cool:
 
I was amazed at how many people were buying. Of course, the low
numbers means that no matter how much people spent, some vendors
didn't sell much. If he can get the numbers up in June, and make sure all
the vendors show up, Atlanta in 2006 should be great. The venue
change killed him.

I really hope things go well for Tony, he's had a rough couple of days.

The second Tampa show wasn't bad at all. It was bad for vendors, as
most didn't seem to be buying. Overlal numbers weren't too bad though,
much better than the first Tampa show this year.

Eric A
 
I was a little bummed about driving three hours for a show of 20 (give or take) vendors. I cheered myself up by telling myself that I needed to buy frozen rats somewhere anyway, and the show was just a bonus. (Of course, they were sold out of frozen rats, so I was extra bummed.) I decided to at least shop for my favorite little animals -- the Cornsnakes. Nope. No cornsnakes allowed at the show. MAJOR bummer.

I wasn't too impressed with this show. (Although the show may have been geared more toward the non-Cornsnake keeper who lives closer to Atanta and feeds frozen mice only. Who knows?)

I did win a free t-shirt as a door prize. =)


Chris
 
I was the guy with short hair selling tickets up front

I drove 7 hours - from Raleigh. Thankfully, I was working for Tony, and
not going to buy stuff. For me, the trip was worth it. I got all the feeders
I needed for over a month, and I also got some plants for my frog tank.
Hell, there was a Lodge cast iron factory outlet on the way back, and I
was able to get my wife that dutch oven she wanted for christmas - I
hadn't been able to find the thing. So, despite the long ride and a
weekend away from my wife and daughter, not a bad weekend at all.

tony's really had a lot of problems recently. Some of them are admittatly
his own doing, but a lot of things were beyond his control (His car
actually did burst into flames on I-75). He's made some mistakes, but
he's honestly had a tremendous string of bad luck as well.

He really knows how to throw a show. I'm confident that he'll be able to
get things for the future shows situated once more. the postponement of
the Atlanta show was a terrible hit.
 
CJBianco said:
I was a little bummed about driving three hours for a show of 20 (give or take) vendors. I cheered myself up by telling myself that I needed to buy frozen rats somewhere anyway, and the show was just a bonus. (Of course, they were sold out of frozen rats, so I was extra bummed.) I decided to at least shop for my favorite little animals -- the Cornsnakes. Nope. No cornsnakes allowed at the show. MAJOR bummer.

I wasn't too impressed with this show. (Although the show may have been geared more toward the non-Cornsnake keeper who lives closer to Atanta and feeds frozen mice only. Who knows?)

I did win a free t-shirt as a door prize. =)


Chris


Chris,

GA has some screwed up laws about cornsnakes......and other indigenous reptiles. The only thing I had on my table that DNR objected to was 2 Florida Kingsnakes that they said were becoming indegenous to GA, so I took them off of the table, put them back in the box and went on. Other than that and my alligator business card holders, we were good to go.

Were you one of the folks that got one of our shirts as a door prize? I know we gave a bunch away!! :)


On another note.......I'm sure Tony will be fine for the Columbia show, they always say bad things come in 3's and he has had his 3 bad things (4 if you count his van)....so his string of bad luck should stop. Anyway, I'm celebrating my birthday the weekend of the Columbia show, so everone can come and help me :beer:
 
audrypayne said:
I'm glad you did well. How many vendors were there? I didn't get to attend. I was in Pa.


Audry

Small vendor turnout.....but that equaled good business for me!! LOL How did you do in PA? You coming to Columbia?
 
Well, had it been his van, it wouldn't have been a bad thing (sorry
Tony!). It was his envoy. I think the world would be better off if Tony's
van was destroyed... I had to drive that thing to Atlanta, from Raleigh, 2
years ago... a 4 wheeled nightmare it is! The Envoy was relatively nice.
A shame.

Now, all Tony has left is the van. And there were people spreading
rumors That Tony used vendor table money from the May Raleigh show
to buy a new car - yeah, I wish. Anyone who's had to drive his van got
a kick out of that one.

We now know what caused the fire. Tony relayed to me, in confidence,
that some evidence has come to his attention strongly suggesting that the
party responsible for this act of arson is none other than Cathy Elroid
herself. For shame!
 
eric adrignola said:
Well, had it been his van, it wouldn't have been a bad thing (sorry
Tony!). It was his envoy. I think the world would be better off if Tony's
van was destroyed... I had to drive that thing to Atlanta, from Raleigh, 2
years ago... a 4 wheeled nightmare it is! The Envoy was relatively nice.
A shame.

Now, all Tony has left is the van. And there were people spreading
rumors That Tony used vendor table money from the May Raleigh show
to buy a new car - yeah, I wish. Anyone who's had to drive his van got
a kick out of that one.

We now know what caused the fire. Tony relayed to me, in confidence,
that some evidence has come to his attention strongly suggesting that the
party responsible for this act of arson is none other than Cathy Elroid
herself. For shame!


You have gotta be kidding me?
 
Something is rotten in Denmark. I think it is the overwhelming stench of your pathetic attempt to place blame once again for the lack of foresight and the inability to own up to ones own failures that causes pinocchio to enlist the actions of the unwitting and the stupid to voice absurd accusations and unwarrented slander. Why don't you and pinococchio both take time to put your collective crack pipes down and take a deep breath......Pinocchio has long been short on substance and long on nonsense. His lies and insinuations are believeable only by those who don't get it and those that get it wrong. A retraction by you would be advisable although you have now made a complete idiot of yourself on this forum. Shame on you young man. The failure of the past three pinocchio shows has been a result of poor planning and organization not to mention a lifestyle of self destruction. Poor decisions followed by yet more poor decisions and nothing more are the reason things for pinocchio have gone spiraling out of control. I have tried for years to help Top Cat only to be lied to and stabbed in the back for my troubles and help. Should one be driving a vehicle without a valid driver's license and tags for lo these years now. Sympathy to a degree yes, defend an indefendable position, never! There were reportedly 23 vendors at the Atlanta show and approx `1200 attendees this past weekend. The whole circus surrounding the lack of attention to detail to this show ensured the poor public/vendor response. The only sabotage was by the key player through personal inadequacies and poor financial management. I could write a book with the knowledge I have on Top Cat and the total disarray that is now normal operating procedure for this once proud promoter.....There are many recent sins that need to be atoned for by this operation as a whole and if you were indeed told that "in confidence" wink/lol...Then why did you feel the need to share unsubstantiated accusations that were supposed to be revealed to no one? This is again yet another failed attempt to blame another for the failures that most assuredly are within house where they should have been kept. Shame on you young man if you are a willing participant in this masquerade/this charade of shame. If you consider the damage of your accusations you would be lucky not to find yourself defending them in a court of law instead of the court of public opinion. Frankly I am suprised and very disappointed in your post. I am sure that others will be justifiably outraged........
 
OMG! LOL That's too funny. Tony told me Fri when we were setting up that he had a car fire. I made the crack JOKINGLY that Cathy probably put a car bomb in his car. He laughed. I laughed...IT WAS A JOKE. I'm guessing when he relayed in confidence to you the same joke...you were probably supposed to laugh but didn't get it or took it serious.

anyway...I thought the turn out was good considering all the venue change and date change that went on last minute. The low vendor turnout rocked for me as I was the only vendor there selling handling equipment..so I had a little monopoly going and took full advantage of my cornered market.

My only complaint for the show..is the same complaint that I have for every show I've ever been to regarless of who's promoting it. Vendors leaving before 5pm. People paid to get in. The show is advertised till 5pm Sunday. I don't care who would rather be where when things start getting slow towards the end. It's not fair to the people who are still there and it's not fair to the show promoter who has to field complaints that people are packing up and leaving at 3 pm. If I were promoting, I would figure a way to fine people for packing it in early unless the place just completely emptied out...perhaps hold a deposit of 100 bucks that they can collect back after 5 if they stay set up for the entire show...lose it if they don't without a valid excuse...anyway...just a suggestion. I'd love to see all the shows boom and everyone do well and less drama/feuding. It's a pretty big country and there's plenty of places and times for shows for everyone. I don't think bickering between promoters is professional or in anyone's best interest. Cathy probably grits her teeth that I did a Tony show...but the fact is, I was pretty well broke and may not have had the funds to go do her next show but I kicked butt and now I can...I was able to make Tony's show because of the money I made from Cathy's last show. So you see...there is no reason for anyone to pick one. Can't everyone get along and be more positive and supportive? This bad blood is starting to leave stains.
 
Only around 1200 attendees? OMG! We had over 1500 at the one day(6hr) Hamburg show. And over 100 vendors. It was totally awesome! Eric, shame on you! Cathy burning TC's vehicle? Come on now, we all know that she's barely capable of lighting her own cigarettes.LOL
And she's offered to help him out even after all the BS. Arson would never be something she would do to ANYONE for any reason. And yes I'm doing the Ladson show. Two tables please. As for the Columbia show next month- well. Guess I'd better wait until we're sure that there will be one. Roark, I may have one hec of a prize to raffle. I would like the proceeds to go to the SHHS. We'll talk later on this.
 
Yep! It was a Once Bitten Exotics shirt. I received it around 2:00 or so.

(I went to the OBE booth to choose my prize and started choosing everything behind the table that I could see -- animals, chairs, everything. Unfortunately you guys didn't agree with my rules on choosing. And I had to settle for a shirt.)

Thanks for the prize!


Chris
 
No! No! A thousand times Noooooooooo! It is not a joke. It is as the author stated and let's not forget was given in confidence. A serious accusation that demands scrutiny and response. Not an infantile gloss over and Rodney King cover. One promoter has been on a mission to sabotage another's shows repeatedly with lies and malicious slander. This promoter does not get a mulligan any longer. The assaulted (Cathy) has tried numerous times both privately and publicly to get along. You can't please someone who invents reasons to hate others and needs a convenient scapegoat to avoid looking in the mirror. We have all agreed many times here to not try to unduly influence vendors/exhibitors to avoid other promotions. Only one has stayed the course of unbridled hate and relentlessly pursued war when peace was a better alternative. Check out that promoter's vendor newsletters and website material for all the negativity this industry can stand. That same promter violated the cease fire he begged me to obtain for him You won't find other promoter's trying to keep you from doing any shows but theirs, except for one, our beloved pinocchio. The sponsors and vendors are tired of pinocchio's machinations. Cathy is owed a very sincere apology by any involved with this most slanderous assassination of her character. This is not something to joke about and make light of. Reputations are being tarnished here and I for one will tolerate it no longer.. Any more nonsense out of Pinocchio's camp will result in many, many embarrassing facts being revealed in this forum. After all, after a constant diet of deceit the fine members of this forum deserve to have the truth they are so dedicated to placed in the open for all to see......
 
It may not be a joke now but it was a joke and unfortunatly, I started it with Tony...just trying to make light of a bad situation. He KNEW I was joking and took it well. I even mentioned to Jason and Cathy in chat that I made the joke. They laughed too...and jokingly (I hope) called me a few names lol...Then today just after lunch Cathy called me to tell me about this thread. More laughter and she said she didn't care. Let them think what they want or say what they want. She can prove her whereabouts. I just wanted to let people know that what I said to Tony was all in a joking manner with absolutely no smidgeon of a thought that Cathy could or would ever do such a thing. I knew it was a joke and Tony knew it was a joke. What Tony did with it when he got off with his own...who knows? I really don't believe though that Tony is blaming Cathy for his car fire. He probably just can't tell a joke as well as I can. Tony asked me why I hadn't been doing any of his shows before. He never knocked Cathy to me or her shows...he just asked why I hadn't done any of his shows. I've just started doing shows is why and this was the first one I could make. It was here in Atlanta where I live. Overall I was pleased with it. It could have been a lot better but it wasn't bad considering. Will I do another Tony show? yeah, till he gives me personal reason not to. Will I continue doing Cathy shows...or whoever is behind this Ladson show? of course ..as long as people will have me, I'll be there with bells on every chance I get. I really hope I can just sell my snakehooks and stuff and not have to deal with the drama or pick sides. I consider Cathy a dear friend. I'd do anything for her and her family and I think they would always be there for me if I needed them. I don't know Tony on a personal level. I had to ask someone who he was when I was about to set up friday night. He knows though that I'm Cathy's friend and I didn't get beat up for it at all. I wondered if I was going to be stuck back in a deep dark corner lol...but I had primo location and couldn't have been happier. I have been to several of his shows here in Atlanta and some in Raleigh as a guest and only vended at one of the Raleigh shows before this but not at my own tables...I was helping friends at theirs. I've always had a good time and have gotten to know a lot of good people. I've gotten to know some more good people at Cathy's shows. Some faces are the same at both promoter's shows...some are different. I guess maybe I just don't want to give up on anyone just yet ...kinda like I want to have my cake and eat it too. I always thought that was the stupidest cliche'. I mean, cmon..why would anyone want cake they don't want to eat? Is there really a point to that?
 
JuliusSqueezer said:
...kinda like I want to have my cake and eat it too. I always thought that was the stupidest cliche'. I mean, cmon..why would anyone want cake they don't want to eat? Is there really a point to that?

The real wording is "EAT your cake and HAVE it too." [Meaning that you can not EAT your cake now and still HAVE/SAVE it for later.]

In case you cared...


Chris
 
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