I recently attended HAuNTcon in Birmingham, Alabama last month. What is Hauntcon?
Haunted Attraction National Tradeshow and Convention which moves to a different city each year.
I have been going to Hauntcon the past few years and have wanted to post about it for a while now. This year was different tho' and very special and I'll get to why here in a few.
First however, if you have not ever gone to it and like a good haunted house or want to learn how to make things, Hauntcon is the place for you!
This year, we were in Birmingham, Alabama, staying at the Sheraton hotel. I have found that when you go to a convention, it is always the most convenient to stay at the same hotel if you possibly can. The hotel offered a shuttle bus to and from the airport which is really nice so I didn't have to rent a car and that saves another expense. Plus, what was even better was that I was able to share the room with another, Deanna Bryant-Shaw. She is someone I met at previous Hauntcons and had shared a few classes together in the past as well as sitting with her on the bus tours. She is a really nice person and very talented and creative!
Oh did I mention the bus tours? These are fantastic! Hauntcon offers pre-show bus tours to the local haunted houses. You get to go to many of the local haunts with the lights on and get a behind-the-scenes tour of how they put it together. Sometimes you'll get to go back to that haunt then with the lights off and see it in action with the actors and all just as it would be during the haunt season! I can't begin to describe how much fun these are!
All of that, is -before- the convention even starts! What a
great way to kick it off! Friday started the show with registration and classes
of all types. There are business classes for those who want to learn what it
takes to open a haunted house and all the aspects thereof. They have creative
classes with demonstrations on various things, making props or delve into some
of the psychology of a haunt. Plus, my favorite are the hands-on workshops!
Yep! You get to learn how to make stuff! AND! you get to take those items home
that you made. So its a great make and take class.
In addition to the classes, there is a trade show floor
where many vendors come and you can see a nice sampling of their products and
purchase items as well as make orders for things and talk to them one on one.
It's a great chance for networking and making those special contacts for
suppliers and vendors alike.
One of the fun night time events, aside from more tours of haunted houses, is the costume ball! I usually don't attend but this year I did and wow! What a great fun time that was!
I'll get more into each aspect of Hauntcon in the upcoming blog posts but I wanted to give an overall general view of Hauntcon and touch on some of the wonderful events you can attend and experience!
The next year's destination has not yet been determined but when I find out, I'll post of it here! :)
Don't miss out on this event! You can meet people from all over the world and not only have a lot of great laughs, but you can also learn a great deal that you can take back with you and add to your own haunt whether it is home or professional!
GP
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