Regional vs. National Expos - which is better?

[NH93]

Hey all,

Just wondering what you think about regional expos, versus national expos (or maybe just larger expos in general)?

There are two reptile expos in the next 3-6 weeks around where I am in Southern Ontario, and I am trying to decide which one to attend.
There is a Canadian National Reptile Expo in Toronto in 3 weeks (it is one hour from me, $14 for a day pass, free parking).
There is also a Regional Reptile Expo in 6 weeks in the town I live in (a couple min. drive, $8 for the day, free parking).

In your experiences, do you prefer larger or smaller expos? I would think that each has their advantages and disadvantages. I personally want to attend the national expo because it is sooner, but I am worried that it might not be worth the extra money if I can get nearly the same thing from a regional expo.

Thanks!

 

[Nanci]

I GREATLY prefer larger expos. The bigger the better!

 

[Chip]

MUCH more to choose from at bigger shows. The only upside to smaller ones is travel time, and the off chance that vendors are cutting prices to not have to bring everything home.

 

[Justine66]

I'm actually interested to see what people have to say about this..

I plan on attending the one in Toronto, as its only a 45 min drive from me.
Hopefully bigger is better like Nanci said... lol

 

[NH93]

Well, I thought the larger expos would be better anyways, but I wanted to see what people who have actually attended a few had to say. I think I will try to make my way to the Toronto expo as well!

 

[crackerhead]

I have been to/participated in a lot of Expos both regional and national. I think the big difference besides possible size would be were they are held and how often. The closer they are to a big city the less they will differ from one another. So many of the same vendors that do the NARBC show in Tinley, IL (a big national show) also do the bimonthly AAE show in Wheaton, IL, Sewerfest in WI and many of the surrounding monthly shows in IN and MI.
I'd make my decision based on the vendor list and how closely in coincides with what I am interested in seeing. Chip is correct about vendors in big shows looking to not go home with animals and therefore more likely to bargain but this is not as true of the large shows that have monthly local shows nearby and use the same vendor pool for both. I noticed that the Arlington NARBC show in March is a good show for sales when I compare it to the same show (NARBC) in Tinley. I believe this is because that area only gets a chance to see/buy animals in person twice a year. Whereas the Chicago area peeps can do it year round from multiple shows and tons of vendors. I remember a couple of year's ago I brought over 400 animals (pretty much every morph you could name at the time) to the Tinley Expo, spent $700 on tables and sold three animals for the grand total of $150. The next week at the AAE show in Wheaton a gentleman came up to my table and proceeded to complain about how there were NO CORNS at the Tinley show and he was glad he had come to this show because I had so many to choose from! I laugh now but at the time I nearly jumped the table and strangled him. LOL You just never know what treasures you might find or not find at a show local or otherwise. Check the vendor list and ask around about the shows you find interesting. Or be like me and go to all of them!:dgrin:

Terri

 

[NH93]

Thank you very much for that detailed description Terri!! Very helpful much appreciated! I may take your advice and hit up both