Showmen's Trade Review (Apr-Jun 1939)

Max 27, SHOWMEN'S T R A I ) E k 1<: V i: J'. VV Page 3 to aae Commercialism in Conventions One cannot attend two national exhibitor conventions every year for many years without arriving at the con' elusion that there is too much commercialism in exhibitor conventions and not enough accomplishments worthy of bringing a representative group together from all over this broad country. The situation has resolved itself down to that dangerous stage where it appears to be the prime purpose of all convention committees to figure out how much they can make in profit rather than how much they can do to help solve the problems of the exhibitors. In the first place the sponsoring organi2,ations should mvitt equipment manufacturers, dealers, distributors and everybody else to come and display their wares or shov^^ their product and NOT sell them the space. The exposition halls of any exhibitor convention should be crammed full of interesting equipment and apparatus essential to the safe, sane and profitable operation of theatres and product information and accessories needed to sell the attractions to the public. It is a service that should be uppermost in the minds and activity of any genuine convention committee. In the second place, ALL convention programs should be abolished as being one of the lousiest forms of rackets ever conceived and undoubtedly thought up by some master mind who was more intent on making a profit than staging a constructive and intelligent convention. In the third place, the raising of funds of ANY KIND should be taboo because it is mostly staged bunk and takes advantage of the exhibitors who are easily swayed by eloquent speakers and oral pictures of disaster that can only be averted by the massing of many dollars for the poor, over-tired committee to "carry on your, the exhibitor's, fight to keep you in business." Pure bunk. And the proponents of such drives and ideas know it full well. If there are going to be conventions, for Heaven's sake, why not present an intelligent program designed to bring before the attending exhibitors the important matters confronting their branch of the industry and make some attempt to create unity among them so that a united front might be maintained in any organi2,ed fight on which the vote of the delegates so decides. We doubt if there is a single exhibitor, and we don't mean those who are active in some unit of the national organization, who will find fault with a single word we have written here. On the contrary, thev will probably admit it to be the truth but the kind of truth that no one has uttered before. The conventions are nothing more than an excuse for the home-town unit to show the other boys how much better they can stage a convention. They go haywire in their entertainment plans and it wasn't so long ago that one "choice" bit of convention entertainment threatened to become a national scandal. And they go nuts trying to devise ways and means of making a profit for the individuals or the local group. How much the space-buyers in the display section of a convention or in the ads they buy in the racket journals, get out of their investment, you can find out for yourselves by simply asking them. But each year they are told about the imaginary "army" of buying exhibitors who will descend like an avalanche upon the convention city and spend all kinds of money buying equipment and so forth. And they'll be told how the journal will be a perpetual reminder back home on their desks and how it will pay big dividends in future business and goodwill for the advertisers and that the exhibitors will buy from advertisers if only to show their appreciation for the advertiser supporting the organi2;ation and the journal. More bunk. Not one in twenty even take the journal away with them and those that do relegate it to the junk shelf back home where they won't look at it a second time unless their picture is in it or some mention of their name. And then there are the "business" sessions of the convention itself. Holy mackerel! Did you ever hear a sensible, intelligent discussion of an exhibitor problem on such an occasion that actually accomplished something constructive or helped the exhibitor? Do tell us about it. We're doggoned if we can recall anything. But we do recall passionate appeals for the raising of funds or a patience-rending speech that involved an hour to say something that could be said more effectively in ten minutes. And those resolutions!!! To think that apparently intelligent men would spend long hours writing them. And what ever happens to them afterwards? Who knows? And then (and you can always count on this) there must be the carefully staged "fireworks" that will "rock the industry to its very foundations." Someone will get up and lambast the life out of some particular distributor over something that has been going on for years and years and which, if unfair, could in all probabilities be ironed out by a quiet discussion with the heads of the company so singled out. By which we don't mean that there aren't plenty of abuses and practices that should have been kicked out of the industry years ago. But what convention ever did anything constructive to help ( ConXi'nue.d. on paoe 5 )