Paintball Magazine Paintball Extravaganza Special Edition | Page 109

DC, Orlando or Vegas?

What’s Next?
Words By Rick Chard

THE SELECTION PROCESS has started for the 2017
Paintball Extravaganza International. Each year we receive
many suggestions from store and field owners that the event
should be moved to a warm location such as Orlando or to a
fun location such as Vegas. Being from Michigan, I too would
like to have the event in a warm or fun location, but there are
many reasons the event returns to the Washington DC Area.
At this year’s event, a group of nearly 50 attendees were
asked if the event should be moved to Las Vegas. Almost all
hands went into the air in favor of the move. The question
was then reworded; how many would want to go to Las Vegas
if the cost doubled. Almost all hands went down! This move
was discussed with the Las Vegas Visitors Bureau at length
and their suggestion was not to move the event to their
area. Main reason is the event requires a lot of space for little
return. Hotels look at many things other than the number of
rooms an event fills. Auxiliary space required, which the event
uses a lot of and food & beverage, whic h the event uses very
little of. Extravaganza is a very small tradeshow to place in
a convention center and hotels in Las Vegas are set up for
entertainment and for the large past are void of meeting
space.
Photo by Alicia Bane

Warm weather in Florida equals tourist season. We have
met with the Orlando Area Convention Bureau and visited
some area facilities. The area would be interested in hosting
Extravaganza but in the fall which is off season for tourism. An
event in the February tourist season will double hotel costs.
As in Las Vegas, the number of hotels that can accommodate
an event such as Extravaganza are few unless the event is

held in a convention center. Typical convention center events
are expensive in regards to space rental and exhibitor costs
which will push our many small manufacturers.
Baseball, Wine Tour, Washington DC Tours and even Disney
outings in Anaheim have all been tried with little or no
success. Very little shoulder dates are used for the event—
meaning few people come early or stay late. Store and field
owners come to the event and leave immediately after close.
One of the main factors reviewed when evaluating the
Washington DC Area is location. Extravaganza historically
has seen between 45-50 percent drive in attendance and
the DC Area is within a one-day drive for over 60 percent
of the United States. Dulles Airport is convenient for both
domestic and international travel. Labor laws in the Virginia
area allows exhibitors to handle materials and set up exhibits
without using expensive outside labor. This allows many
small manufacturers to participate in the event.
When evaluating a location for the event; location, travel,
hotel room charges, exhibitor costs among other items
are used in making a final selection for the next Paintball
Extravaganza International. It may surprise many that this
process takes many weeks of securing proposals, evaluating
proposals and visiting new sites as required before making a
final selection.
We’ll keep working at it and we’ll let you know what’s next as
soon as we know.! • • •

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