January PR Newsletter

Dear IAHA Members,

There's just so much going on with IAHA right now that it's going to be difficult to include it all! If you've ever asked what benefits there are to being an IAHA member, this newsletter should be of great interest to you! I'd also suggest you visit the ABOUT IAHA website page to read a long list of benefits. Believe it or not, while we were all busy with our haunted attractions, the holidays and all our regular daily obligations, the wheels of momentum did not stop turning within IAHA! This newsletter may be long, but I sincerely hope you take the time to read all the incredible things happening in our industry and our association. These are very exciting times to be involved in the Haunted Attraction Industry! On to the news and announcements…

2008 IAHA Member Directory/Buyer's Guide

IAHA is proud to announce a new addition to the annual Membership Directory! A new "Buyer's Guide" section has been added which lists vendors who serve the Haunted Attraction industry. Directory Project Manager, Dan Faupel, said "This new Buyer's Guide will take what was already a valuable resource and make it even better. The IAHA Membership Directory has always been a book that haunter's refer to year-round for information about our members and about our industry. It's certainly a valuable part of IAHA membership." All industry vendors can be listed for free in this Buyer's Guide. Vendors who are members of IAHA receive a free upgrade to their listing. The 2008 IAHA Member Directory/Buyer's Guide will be distributed to current IAHA members starting at the 2008 Transworld National Haunt and Attractions Show in Las Vegas. To submit your company's information for the 2008 book, please email Dan at DanFaupel@aol.com .

This will be one of the best directory's that's been made, and promises to become a fixture on every haunter's office desk. In addition to the free listing, if you are a haunt industry vendor you will definitely want to help your business by advertising in this book! IAHA's advertising rates are the best in the industry, and we will get the word out about your company. Vendors who are members of IAHA save 20% off all advertising rates!!! Please contact Bill Criscione at bill@ghostlymanor.com to reserve your ad space today!

C.H.A.O.S. Program

The International Association of Haunted Attractions (I.A.H.A), together with Mobile Midway Safety Institute (MMSI), is proud to offer the haunted attraction industry's first and only voluntary national safety certification program. The Certified Haunted Attraction Operator Seminar program (C.H.A.O.S.) consists of eight hours of safety training provided by professional speakers with a background in amusement safety and loss control inspection. At the conclusion of the training program, attendees will have the opportunity to take a certification test. Upon successful completion of the training & test, attendees will be issued a certification certificate as a Certified Haunted Attraction Operator Seminar graduate (C.H.A.O.S.).

C.H.A.O.S. is an ongoing safety education program. Topics scheduled to be covered in this year's seminars include*: Fire & Panic in Haunted Houses and Attractions, Code Compliance – Life Safety 101, the Operation and Inspection of Seasonal, Temporary and Permanent Haunted Houses and Outdoor Walkthroughs, Loss Control Issues for Haunted Attractions, Pneumatic Prop Maintenance and Safety, and Safety Training for Actors and Support Staff. Additional topics will be included in future installments of C.H.A.O.S.

* Topics covered may vary slightly depending upon the location of the seminars.

Schedule:

The C.H.A.O.S. program will be held in conjunction with several haunted attraction industry tradeshows in 2008:

Saturday, March 15, 2008 in Las Vegas, NV (9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.)
Immediately preceding TransWorld's Haunt & Attractions Show
March 16-19, 2008

Friday, June 13, 2008 in Columbus, OH (9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.)
Immediately preceding Midwest Haunters Convention
June 13-15, 2008

Pricing:

IAHA Members: ONLY $85, including lunch!

Non-IAHA Members: $105, including lunch

There is also a $50 fee ($60 for non-members) if you wish to take the certification test. This fee can be paid by check at the seminar.

Registration
Register Online: http://www.iahaweb.com/event_registration.html

Vendor Discount Program!

If you haven't been following the updates to the Vendor Discount Program posted by Dan Faupel in the Members Forum of the IAHA site, you definitely need to check this out! The number of vendors who have come aboard the Vendor Discount Program has been growing by leaps and bounds. Some of the new vendors now offering discounts to IAHA Members include the following:

Midnight Syndicate
SpookywoodsFX
Halloween Scream
Gore Galore
Graftobian Makeup Company
Wristband Resources, Inc.
Rotting Flesh Radio
Mini Spotlight.com
Midwest Haunters Convention
Creative Visions / Haunt Visions
Gore Store, Inc.
Howler Brands
Admit One Products
Northern Light FX

The list is way too long to include everyone, but the above companies are some of the most recent to come on board with this outstanding program that Dan Faupel has been putting together. For a complete list, which is being constantly updated, visit the IAHA Vendor Discount page!

2008 IAHA Annual Meeting and Banquet

IAHA Annual Meeting and Banquet:
Monday, March 17th at 5:00 PM

The International Association of Haunted Attractions (I.A.H.A.), together with Transworld Exhibits, Inc. (TW), is proud to present the attraction industry's first and only Industry Banquet and Awards Ceremony. I.A.H.A./Transworld Haunted Attraction Industry Banquet and Awards Ceremony will serve as IAHA's annual meeting and will include a cocktail hour, IAHA Year in Review / Accomplishments of the 3 Year Plan, a dinner and industry awards. Award categories will be as follows:

International Association of Haunted Attractions Preferred Vendor Award

International Association of Haunted Attractions Board of Directors Recognition Award

The International Association of Haunted Attractions Lifetime achievement Award

The International Association of Haunted Attractions President's Award

In addition to these awards, IAHA will announce the 2009 HAUNT AWARDS Program. This will be an awards program with a mission of giving recognition to outstanding IAHA member haunted attractions. All IAHA members will be involved in the selection process and the first IAHA Haunt Awards will be announced at the 2009 IAHA Annual Meeting and Banquet. The program is now being developed, which is going to allow everyone the opportunity to vote! More details of this exciting new awards program will be forthcoming!

More information on the IAHA Annual Meeting and Banquet will be added to the IAHA News & Updates page soon!

IAHA / Transworld Live Auction

Every year at Transworld there is always a lot of anticipation for the IAHA Live Auction event! Dan Hall of The Boneyard Haunted House fame has been working diligently to solicit contributions to the 2008 IAHA Live Auction taking place at the Las Vegas show this year. If you have an item you'd like to contribute, please shoot Dan an email at dan@hallcanopies.com. I know he'd love to hear from you! More information on the IAHA Live Auction will be added to the IAHA News & Updates page real soon!

IAHA Masquerade Party at Midwest Haunters Convention

Saturday June 14th 8:30 pm – 1:00 am

The party will be held in a ballroom at MHC host hotel; the Hyatt Regency Columbus.

$40 per person ($35 with weekend seminar registration). IAHA members get in FREE!!! Just show your membership card at the registration table for your complementary ticket.

Admission includes the following: Heavy Hors d' ovres, DJ w/dance floor, entertainment, prizes and a place to party with hundreds of your costumed friends.

Everyone is invited; the Midwest Haunters Convention and the Midwest Fantasy Show participants can showcase their favorite Halloween characters/costumes. We'll invite the public to join us in costume too.

We'll host the following activities throughout the night.

Party starts with our DJ, Doctor O. He'll be spinning top 40 dance hits and entertaining us with his costumed characters.

Chuck Williams and Crazy Bob Turner will emcee our contests with flair!

Midwest Fantasy Show Body Art Fashion Show - Artists from around the country will be showcasing their works of body art with a Halloween theme. Partial nudity (body painted models) is a possibility.

Ms Midwest Scary Pageant – Our 5th annual competition to find the scariest female character in the Midwest. Ten contestants will be competing for this highly coveted title, along with cash and prizes. Requires pre-registration.

Scariest Character Contest –. This contests attracts some of the most frightening characters to a masquerade party. Arrive in character and stay in character throughout the evening as our judges will be roaming around the party handing out a total of 10 invitations to compete on stage. Then a panel of our judges will select a contest winner.

Listed below are approximate times for our events/contests on Saturday night:

8:30 Doors open with background music
9:00 Body Art Fashion show
9:30 Ms Midwest Scary Pageant
10:00 play music
10:30 Costume contest
11:00 play music
11:30 We'll announce winners of the pageant and costume contest
Play music until 1:00 am

IAHA Masquerade Party Admission Policy and Guest Advisory

The Midwest Haunters Convention and Midwest Fantasy Show, as well as the IAHA Masquerade Party are adult oriented events. There's a possibility of partial-nude models (body painted) at the trade show and fashion show. Minors may attend the Masquerade Party with admission fees if escorted by a parent or chaperone.

MHC Haunt Tour

Saturday June 14th 8:30 pm – 1:00 am

Information is already being released for the Midwest Haunters Convention Haunt Tour, which will be taking place on Thursday, June 12th! The first bus will depart the hotel at 1:00 with buses departing every 30 minutes. This tour will consist of 4 attractions, including Ripper's Revenge, St. Rita Haunted House, Dent Schoolhouse and the Riverside Jaycees! There will be more details and information forthcoming. You can also watch for updates and announcements at http://www.midwesthauntersconvention.com/

Reminder to Renew Your IAHA Membership!

We've said this before; we have never known the association to be as unified as it is today and to be truly SCREAMING AS ONE! IAHA has gained incredible positive forward momentum and the member benefits just continue to grow and grow! With that in mind, we want to remind you to renew your membership so that you can continue to take advantage of the benefits of IAHA Membership. The following is a letter you should have already received from IAHA Vice President Bill Criscione:

"This is another reminder to those who have not renewed their membership and assuring their name is in the 2008 directory.

We are going to begin purging the current member database for those members who have not yet renewed. The BOD wishes to thank all our members for being part of our association this past year. We also thank those that have renewed and will renew in the next couple days. For those of you that have decided an IAHA membership is not for you at this time, we hope you will reconsider and we respect your decision. We have a lot of great things happening right now and we hope you keep an open mind to rejoining this great association in the future.

As we purge the system you may find you no longer have access to this list and your membership in IAAPA will also be terminated. If you have renewed and somehow we missed it (which would never happen Smile

... not) please contact me directly and we will take care of it. My email address is bill@ghostlymanor.com. Thanks again for all your support!

Bill Criscione
VP – IAHA"

I've said it before and I'll say it again, we're overwhelmed by the showing of interest and support we've experienced this past year. All of your participation, whether it is feedback, suggestions, the contribution of an article, pictures of an event for Scream Zine, or even an email note of support, collectively motivates us and promotes and affects positive momentum. We truly are living in exciting times for the haunted attraction industry. As we continue to work together for the benefit of the greater purpose, we will all realize the potential and rewards together!

The Board of Directors and I would like to again say thanks to each and every one of you for your participation in and contribution to this association!

Onward and upward while paying it forward!

Kelly

_________________
Onward and upward while paying it forward!
www.EurekaScreams.com
www.myspace.com/eurekascreams

Here's a copy of the PR Newsletter that was sent out today as a follow up to the previous announcement:

Internal Newsletter

Dear IAHA Members,

With Transworld Haunt & Attractions Show quickly approaching and with things developing at a rapid pace, we want to keep you informed! In the previous IAHA PR Newsletter, we provided you with information on the C.H.A.O.S. Safety Seminar Program. Be sure to visit the IAHA News and Updates page at http://www.iahaweb.com/news/ for a complete listing of classes and speakers!

I also mentioned in the previous newsletter that IAHA is growing by leaps and bounds! So far, 222 people have renewed or joined IAHA this year. This includes 24 brand new members since January 1! This compares to 181 at this time last year and we have new members coming on board all the time!

The following are additional new updates and details on some of the announcements made in the previous PR Newsletter. Additionaly are some other exciting announcements from the board. As just one of our many commitments to IAHA Members, we are dedicated to providing consistent communications so that you are well aware of late breaking industry and association related news.

2008 IAHA Annual Meeting and Banquet

You asked for it, you got it! This will be bigger than the “Vegas Crown Plaza Party”

Introducing The First Annual IAHA/Trans World Haunted Attraction Industry Awards Banquet.

The International Association of Haunted Attractions (I.A.H.A), together with Trans World Exhibits is proud to present the haunted attraction industry¹s first and only Industry Banquet and Awards Ceremony.

SAVE THE DATE! The event will be held in conjunction with the Haunt & Attractions Show in Las Vegas, NV on the evening of Monday, March 17, 2008. The festivities begin at 5:00 at the closing of the show floor.

WHERE: The Sands Expo Center, Rooms 206 & 207.

PRICING : Admission is free for all! IAHA members will receive one free buffet meal and additional meals can be purchased online at www.IAHAweb.com . Pricing for additional meals for members is $25.00 and $35.00 for non-members. The event will feature a cash bar.

REGISTRATION: To RSVP go to www.IAHAweb.com. By March 7th.

You will hear about the year in review as well as the exciting programs we are working on for our industry. Learn how you can become nominated and be honored at next year¹s banquet. So come out and party with old friends and make new ones while honoring some of our industry leaders!

IAHA / Transworld Live Auction

Every year at Transworld there is always a lot of anticipation for the IAHA Live Auction event! As I mentioned in the last newsletter, Dan Hall of The Boneyard Haunted House fame has been working diligently to solicit contributions to the 2008 IAHA Live Auction taking place at the Las Vegas show this year. If you have an item you’d like to contribute, please shoot Dan an email at dan@hallcanopies.com. I know he’d love to hear from you!

Some of the past auction item contributions have included:

Full Zombie Costume – Twisted Toy Box

Scare Taker w/CD – Gag Studios

Custom Corpse Torso – Creepy Collection

Springy Bridge Kit – Creative Visions

Booth for Transworld Las Vegas – Joe Thaler, Transworld

Bruce Hung Prop – Shipwreck Productions

Haunted Horse – Scare Factory

4 Tickets for Second City Comedy Show - IAHA

Bad Boys Styrofoam Masons CD – Bad Boys

Rex Hamilton – Rex Hamilton

Bobbie Wiener, Bloody Mary Enterprises – Bobbie Wiener

Case of Froggy Fog Juice – Froggy Fog

Performer Drop Crate – Oak Island

Rubber Head/Bust - SPFX

Camo Netting – Digital Light & Sound

Slashed Torso – Forest of Horror

As you can see, there are items in the auction for everyone’s budget! Don’t miss this outstanding opportunity to mingle with other haunters, grab some deals on incredible items and have some good old fashioned haunting fun! Remember; shoot Dan an email at dan@hallcanopies.com if you have items you want to contribute!

CASKET BASKET Silent Auction!

At the 13th Annual Transworld Haunt & Attractions Show, IAHA will once again present a “Casket Basket” Silent Auction with potential baskets containing anything from gruesome props to prize-winning wine donated by haunt attractions.

This is your opportunity to showcase your talent, products, skills, or just a great way to have fun while showing your support of the International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA). All proceeds from this event will support the efforts of IAHA. In the past, the entries have been incredible and those participating in the Casket Basket Silent Auction were able to also contribute to IAHA and walk away from the show with some great merchandise or artwork for a deal! Some of the past entries included the following:

Cash Kit Basket – Bad Boy Scenic Design, Mike “Tattoo” Krausert

Wicked Treasure Chest & Spooky Audio – Something Wicked Productions, Ed Gannon

Midwest Haunters Convention & The Bone Zone - Midwest Haunters Convention

Juice Goes to the Movies – Jim Smith, IAHA Treasurer

Kitchen Witch – Marty Smith & Gerrie Wisniewski

Ghouls Gone Wild - Marty Smith & Gerrie Wisniewski

Niles Haunted House Scream Park - Niles Haunted House

Gothic Pamper Basket – Deanna Roberts-Morton

Transworld Bliss – Nightmares 4 U, Tim Gavinski

Gargoyle Head – Creative Visions

Casket Gas Grill – Woods of Terror, Eddie McLaurin

Netherworld Bag O’ Fear – Netherworld

Skullz R Us – Ghouls Gulch Productions, Michael Bizub

Alchemy Vodka Basket – Terror Behind the Walls, Eastern State Penitentiary

Stop by the IAHA Booth, number 8620, to drop off your ghoulish creations, no later than 9 am on Monday, March 17th 2007. Individuals interested in viewing and placing bids on the Casket Baskets can do so throughout the show on Monday, March 17th. Bidding will end one hour prior to show ending, so winners can pay & collect their baskets. Unclaimed baskets will either go to the next winning bidder, or will go into the IAHA Live Auction.

Baskets will be judged by a secret panel & awards for 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place winners, will be given. This year we have some incredible trophies donated by Ghost Ride Productions! The list of criteria is numerous, & ranges from Theme, Uniqueness of contents, Overall look, and many more. Another award for Most Money Raised is awarded to that Casket Baskets generous sponsor. Awards will be announced at the IAHA Annual Meeting & Awards Banquet.

Anyone interested in contributing to the Casket Basket Silent Auction, please contact Kelly Allen at info@EurekaScreams.com, no later than Friday, March 7th to ensure space availability for all Casket Basket contributions.

As always, the Board of Directors and I would like to again say thanks to each and every one of you for your participation in and contribution to this association!

Onward and upward while paying it forward!

Kelly

_________________
Kelly Allen, President
Eureka Screams!, LLC
Eureka Springs, AR 72632
info@eurekascreams.com
www.eurekascreams.com
www.myspace.com/eurekascreams
Board Member, International Association of Haunted Attractions (IAHA)
IAHA Internal P.R. Director

_________________
Onward and upward while paying it forward!
www.EurekaScreams.com
www.myspace.com/eurekascreams