Regional and National Theater Owners/Managers Conventions

[Mark Lane]

As a small theater, I would like to get others' feelings on attending regional and/or national conventions. What are your experiences?
Is there much value for small fish like me to attend these conventions. The conventions are not inexpensive to attend, when you factor in the time, travel, lodging, etc... not to mention the time away from my business. Do others feel there is enough value from these conventions to warrant the investment in attending them or are they better suited for the chain theater and multiplexes?
Thank you

[John Eickhof]

I was active in attending national as well as regional events, Showest and Rocky Mtn NATO, as both a theatre owner and as a vendor. (Theatre equipment and service) Showest was my opportunity to visit my vendors ( manufacturers) in the equipment side as I was a small time equipment and service dealer, (had approx 285 clients in 9 western states and a few stragglers overseas) and a two screen theatre in a very small town. I loved the regional event as it was an opportunity to see my customers and socialize and be able to bring them examples of what's new in the equipment world plus meet with the film distributors on a more personal basis. Showest grew into a big event, very commercialized and as the years went on it seemed to transform into more of a concession purveyor in lieu of the film distrib's showcase of upcoming product and of course as the distributors lessened their contributions, the registration costs increased. On the other hand that is what made the regional event more appealing it was possible to interact with the big boys yet be able to meet and talk with people who had small town operations too! I retired about 18 years ago and thus have been inactive in the business as well as having the digital revolution help me decide retirement, my theatre is now a museum filled with early film equipment for people to see as the 13 screen megaplex 30 miles away made it really impossible for a twin theatre to survive...but I still love the biz, I fell in love with it back in 1970 when I got a job running projectors in a small resort town theatre. I was 14 years old! So, I have met and befriended many great and interesting people through the years including the faces behind the posts here on Film-Tech, it's been a wonderful life experience for me. I know there's a great lakes convention, I would suggest you take the time and money to go at least once and see what you think!

[Mike Blakesley]

John summed it up great, and in fact I was one of the clients that he used to service.

We usually attend both CinemaCon (formerly ShoWest) and our regional convention.

The Rocky Mountain NATO convention that John mentioned above is a really good regional convention. I happen to be on the planning committee for it, so you can ask me any questions about it you have. We have a nice-sized trade show, usually at least two screenings (often three), and the smaller size makes it easy to visit at length with the vendor reps and other exhibitors. Studios don't always send people -- we usually get participation from Sony, Paramount, and Universal for sure. (Whether they send people or not, all the studios usually send a trailer reel.) The info sessions are well done and informative. And it costs about a third of what CinemaCon charges. There is a website with info at www.rmnato.com -- registration will be open pretty soon for this fall's convention, which is Sept. 19-21 in Salt Lake City.

CinemaCon is gigantic and while it gives good value for the money, you may have a small-fish-in-a-big-pond feeling, at least at first. However, the trade show is friendlier than you might expect, and the vendors are usually happy to talk to a small exhibitor because more often than not, the person they're talking to is the decision maker. CinemaCon can't be beat for seeing the latest equipment -- seats, projection, and concession, not to mention every other thing you can think of -- lighting, video displays, ticketing companies, website builders, ad services, architects, you name it -- up close and personal. And any kind of snacks and drinks you can imagine. You'll get great ideas for marketing, or find something new for your menu. The other cool thing about it is seeing the celebrities who are there to promote the upcoming movies. The celebs always have nice things to say about theaters, which is always gratifying. There are usually three full screenings of upcoming movies, plus a major presentation from each studio. The presentations often feature "behind the scenes" features or extended looks at upcoming films. There are always at least a couple studios who will show the "first reel" of an upcoming movie or two.

Most importantly, I find the conventions to be vital for keeping me charged up about the future of the business. I can tell you I felt about 1000% better about the state of the industry after last year's CinemaCon.

If you must pick one or the other, I think I would pick the regional convention for its networking opportunities. You can probably "get more done" under those circumstances. Still, while everyone's mileage may vary, for me there's nothing like the surge of enthusiasm for the business I get from going to CInemaCon. It's an experience every exhibitor should have at least once.

[Steve Guttag]

I definitely wouldn't discount the regional conventions too. They are also much smaller and less-expensive. They, likely will not require too much in the way of travel. Mid-Atlantic NATO hasn't cranked up their "Show and Tell" convention yet but we're hoping for 2024 for it to resume. As a vendor, that is the only one where we have a table (and that is all you really have for the trade show...just tables with stuff) where one can meet with local people as well as the big manufacturers. As others have stated, CinemaCon, in the US, is the big one where most everyone is there. You can get quite a bit done in a relatively short amount of time. Vegas has definitely gotten expensive over the years but one can keep the costs down if you plan ahead and think about where you want to eat/sleep. Naturally, if you get the full package, the eating part is, mostly, thought about with the package.

[Armand Daiguillon]

It can be expensive, at least Cinemacon was the year I went. (3 years ago)
But at the time I had not opened the theater yet, so it was a good place to meet vendors and be "inspired".
There is a lot of value in getting to meet and talk to your peers.
Would I go again ? Sure - but maybe once evey 3-5 years. Not enough to be gotten out of it to go yearly - especially for the smaller exhibitors, just too expensive.

[Steve Guttag]

I'm curious, what did you find to be your biggest expense?