I wasn't really a fan to be honest. The actual expo itself was well done, with a good variety of animals and different stalls and many knowledgeable people all gathered in one place. However it was incredibly packed and the army of families who turned up with prams and small children was frustrating. In my eyes RepX should have been a hobbyist event, and I am all for the education of young kids about reptiles and all things similar (and it was wonderful seeing the Bug Ed people doing really well with this, targeting the kids), but it made the event almost not enjoyable. I barely saw any of the private animal collections because of the masses of people there and pushy parents wanting their small ones to get up the front, before pushing in themselves. Definitely some amazing animals, wish I got a chance to look properly.
Thanks for attending and while the show wasn't as you'd have liked it, we take on all praise and criticism the same. The main reason why there was so many people is that we had to change how people could get in. It meant that there was a large influx but we were happy with the capacity - at least it didn't clog up. In future though, we may be looking at either the show being over 2 days, or increasing the size, or if the budget allows it - doing both.
It doesn't make the show economically viable to only focus on the hobby. Families drive a lot of the popularity of an event and for the industry, it improves things when more can enter, thus bolstering the reptile industry's economy, but also allowing more of the public to appreciate the animals. The more the public approves of reptiles, the less likely you will see negativity towards them.
The issue can be easily addressed. As a first show we were totally happy with the crowds and the fact that they were "too much" at times, means that we have done what we set out for - to make an impact.
See it was 40 minutes by public transport for me each way, so it was quite a hike for not being able to see a lot. I agree with expecting more common species to see. I think having the displays integrated into the stalls would have been better for actually seeing the animals. I've been to the same hall in the past for tertiary expos and they seemed to pack a lot more people and stuff inside the same hall. Hopefully next year they can use the lecture rooms and find a bigger space to accommodate the crowds.
Stall set ups are the way they are mostly because the exhibitors wouldn't be able to afford the types of stalls that exhibitors for tertiary expos could afford. We will be looking at better ways to address viewing of animals, but it will be difficult as we need to consider the floor space we have and the costs involved to achieve it (both for the organiser and the exhibitor).
The space has a lot of flexibility and so we need to move ahead with it incrementally. I would imagine in order to hire out the entire space with all rooms, concourses, foyers and car park would be $50k+.
So maybe one day, but everything comes down to a budget vs benefit balance.
I'm sorry you feel that way and I wasn't at RepX so it might not compare but every VHS Expo I have been to is the same and I thinks its bloody awesome. So long as the kids don't get upset with all the pushing and shoving that goes on why shouldn't they be there?
Many of the stalls in Vic set up stuff especially for the kids to see & hold that they might not get chance elsewhere including a macaw and a young salty. I fear that if it wasn't for the family atmosphere many of the herpers wouldn't turn up either, and possibly some of the exhibitors.
My 5 year old granddaughter has been to every VHS Expo since she was born and has attended 2 events interstate. She has an absolute ball and can talk you into a trance about her reptile adventures and her own animals.
We agree, kids need to be there. They are the future and to give them that chance to perhaps become the next reptile vet, influential breeders, or just all round good guy/gal, they need to be at these events. Everyone just needs to understand that an organiser has to put on a show and spread the risk by inviting a variety of audience types. If we only focused on hobbyists, the numbers would be too low, and you would never be able to sustain future attendance numbers since people will eventually leave the hobby or pass away.
Being the first year of RepX, I hope they can fix some of the things which weren't great this year and make it even better in the future. I understand your point, and agree. And it was wonderful seeing little kids learn about reptiles and bugs and how to treat them correctly. I found there was very little room though, and adding in prams and young children in the mix wasn't working well. Maybe VHS Expo could help a bit in terms of ideas and inspo for the future expos, sure would be great to be able to see a young salty!
The size of the venue is all we could afford, but we knew that it had capacity and the only reason why it felt cramped is that we got more than we were expecting - which is perfect.
We have so much to fix for next year but we found some key volunteers with real world experience in the areas we need to address and they will be consulting us on future shows, not just in Brisbane but around the country.
just on the assumption the person doesn’t know the different stages
