Non-promotional discussion on Reef-A-Palooza Texas 2025

[jtroxel1]

I just wasn't sure where to put this post, which is a discussion on Reef-A-Palooza, Texas in 2025. This is neither a promotional nor derisive post, but something that was very surprising and discouraging to me, and I wanted to know how opinions are on the same.

To start - I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE trade shows in this hobby, and my reasons for going have matured as I have matured in the hobby. In the beginning, i went for the merch - the deals, the vendors, the swag! As time went on, I needed (aka, couldn't afford) less stuff and found a deeper appreciation of these events for the speakers and industry leaders who showed up. Even these guys:

I found meeting 'Dr. Tim' at one event as the recognition that these conventions are such amazing opportunities to engage directly with movers, shakers, and innovators in the hobby and the industry as a whole.

That said, the Reef-A-Palooza Texas has ... what's a good word for it... shrunk. Gotten smaller; dimunitized. The floor map for the show as of today, one month from the event occurrence is maybe 1/3 the size of my first R-a-P here in the DFW metroplex - AND nearly 1/3 of the booths are unclaimed. R=-a-P is now less than 1/10th (guesstimate) of the size of Aquashella DFW that is easily 10,000 sqft, jam-packed with everything aquatic, from vendors to competitions to Aquarium Nobility and requires the Dallas Convention Center to host this massive show.

What's happening? Is my memory failing with age and I've just mis-remembered the size of the previous events? Is this a normal ebb and flow between the largest exhibitions each year? Is the industry interest diminishing that much? (I tend to think not since I had to wait in line at Aquashella last year for nearly 30 min to get into the door of the event space.) Not only is the show dramatically smaller than in the past, but it's being advertised far less than I've seen in the past (again, from my perspective and within my media choices.). I'd love to see this show growing, not shrinking - and seeing the current state, I'm worried it may not even make appearances in this area in the coming years. Again, DFW has a huge, thriving aquatic community in both saltwater and freshwater sides of the hobby. Aquashella has businesses from all over the country flying in - I've met Jason Fox two years in a row there and have seen coral sellers from West Virginia to California, Florida to Colorado, and more. But R-a-P can't even fill the diminished 50-ish stalls when we're only a month out from the event? That just doesn't compute, Dave. And I'd like to know why.

Open to discussion: and... go!

 

[scooterh928]

Well this is going to be my first one to goto. I live couple hours away so just going to drive in for the day. So hopefully won’t be let down.

 

[KrisReef]

Economy has a huge impact on yearly shows. Vendors are in business and if they lose money just to show up then a trade show will contract. The economy is cyclical and so is the hobby for many people.

If you like these shows make sure you go.
If you like your LFS, spend more than time to support them.

Same with the site. Everyone has to pay the rent.

I love the shows too.

 

[jtroxel1]

Economy has a huge impact on yearly shows. Vendors are in business and if they lose money just to show up then a trade show will contract. The economy is cyclical and so is the hobby for many people.

If you like these shows make sure you go.
If you like your LFS, spend more than time to support them.

Same with the site. Everyone has to pay the rent.

I love the shows too.

I hear ya and I agree! Here's an example though; a local vendor of corals bought a booth at Aquashella last year and averaged $10k per day; same vendor, same booth setup (literally), same quality of goods, and if I remember, same prices - only made $2k over both days at R-a-P in the same year. He's not getting a booth at R-a-P this year.

I can't stress enough - Aquashella in this town is gang-busters! Can't find a parking spot, 30 to 45 min lines to get in, I said 10,000 sqft, but I think the show is closer to 50,000 sq ft. This show has only grown, not shrunk. So, again - I'm perplexed. You're absolutely right, if people don't show, vendors can't break even let alone make a profit. But, how do you juxtapose these two events in light of the one growing YoY and the other shrinking into obscurity. We did recently see the location for R-a-P shift from Downtown Dallas to Frisco for the first time last year, and this might be contributing, but Frisco is just straight north from Dallas, and honestly a lot easier to get to from the airport by driving due east - you'll run into it.

I'm not here to bad mouth anyone (and honestly I don't really know anyone associated with running either event), but if I had to guess - this is an issue of poor marketing, poor management of the event, and a lack of perceived urgency to attend the show. How this event manages relationships with Vendors is not something I'm aware or informed of, but perhaps that too is at play.

 

[allieW]

I hear ya and I agree! Here's an example though; a local vendor of corals bought a booth at Aquashella last year and averaged $10k per day; same vendor, same booth setup (literally), same quality of goods, and if I remember, same prices - only made $2k over both days at R-a-P in the same year. He's not getting a booth at R-a-P this year.

I can't stress enough - Aquashella in this town is gang-busters! Can't find a parking spot, 30 to 45 min lines to get in, I said 10,000 sqft, but I think the show is closer to 50,000 sq ft. This show has only grown, not shrunk. So, again - I'm perplexed. You're absolutely right, if people don't show, vendors can't break even let alone make a profit. But, how do you juxtapose these two events in light of the one growing YoY and the other shrinking into obscurity. We did recently see the location for R-a-P shift from Downtown Dallas to Frisco for the first time last year, and this might be contributing, but Frisco is just straight north from Dallas, and honestly a lot easier to get to from the airport by driving due east - you'll run into it.

I'm not here to bad mouth anyone (and honestly I don't really know anyone associated with running either event), but if I had to guess - this is an issue of poor marketing, poor management of the event, and a lack of perceived urgency to attend the show. How this event manages relationships with Vendors is not something I'm aware or informed of, but perhaps that too is at play.

They don’t spend close to $10,000 a day to show. I show and that’s a crazy number. Now the work going into it may feel like it but that’s not a realistic number.

 

[KrisReef]

They don’t spend close to $10,000 a day to show. I show and that’s a crazy number. Now the work going into it may feel like it but that’s not a realistic number.

I think the poster was discussing vendor profits each day, not the costs “They?” spend to attend the show.

Way back I attended a Pet Products Trade Show at the Long Beach Convention Center and I would guess it would easily cost10K+ to rent that venue for a day. Ten vendors would pay 1000$ each in that simple math example, and vendors do pay for space but they hope to recoup the costs through sales. The thread touched on this, (if I remember correctly) and I think the focus upon the demise of RP was that our hobby was not supporting this show with purchases, so the show is defunct.

Has RP resurrected? This thread has.
I’m off to church. Now.

 

[FernBluffReef]

Having just returned, just over a year ago, to the hobby after 22-23 year hiatus. I’ve never been to a real show.

We had a coral farmers market here last year and another this year but not a real trade show at all. I’m hoping to go to a real trade someday. I’ll be in DFW, on business and leisure, late March just missing the show there. I could come in early but it doesn’t appear there is enough to warrant my doing so and if early I could not get any corals :-(

Looking though at the shows mentioned. It seems the RaP in DFW is much smaller than RaP in other locals - why is that? In other locals it would seem RaP is bigger or at least the same size as AquaShella. That makes me wonder some. You would ‘think’ the same marketing team would coordinate these and they would have leverage to cause some of the bigger players to show up in DFW yet it’s much smaller….

If I go to any show it’s likely to be in DFW as I visit there at least once a year but disappointed as you say to see the show isn’t that large and may cause me to make a trip elsewhere. Scale is important and once you reach a certain scale things tend to snowball on way or the other (aka the right or wrong direction)

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I’m planing on attending RAP in DFW and Florida this year. I may have punted off DFW, but I’m having an auxiliary sump made in DFW and will drive there from Memphis to pick it up at the same time as this show. My best bud lives in Mesquite and I was going to drag him along. Sounds like this may not be the best venue to introduce someone to the hobby?

 

[jtroxel1]

They don’t spend close to $10,000 a day to show. I show and that’s a crazy number. Now the work going into it may feel like it but that’s not a realistic number.

Sorry, no they earned $10k (might just have been revenue, not profit) each day at aquashella. Not spent.

 

[jtroxel1]

I’m planing on attending RAP in DFW and Florida this year. I may have punted off DFW, but I’m having an auxiliary sump made in DFW and will drive there from Memphis to pick it up at the same time as this show. My best bud lives in Mesquite and I was going to drag him along. Sounds like this may not be the best venue to introduce someone to the hobby?

It used to be, and I can't say it won't be a good show this year. I'm just more lamenting that it's getting smaller and I don't understand why because this is a coral and fish state. DFW is active in the coral and fish trades and it's a growing community. Not sure.

 

[Reefer Matt]

Table fees are outrageous at these shows ($850 minimum). Couple that with travel costs, and idk how any vendor makes a profit. It seems like the only ones making money are the show organizers, and maybe the big named outfits.

 

[Trini2DReef]

I will be going, and it would be my 1st one ever. Glad I have the opportunity this round, tired of watching the youtube videos of all the hobbyists at shows

 

[Reef By Steele]

Not promotional, but we attended this year. It was our second show ever, having visited RAP NY to see if it was something we should pursue.

I cannot tell you why RAP Texas has shrunk, I do know that the vendors consider it the smallest RAP, which may actually be do to DFW having another show which from this discussion appears to be the premier show in the area. As for booth prices and trip expenses, while many vendors shared they did exceptionally well, we didn’t cover the costs. That being said, our goal is more to meet customers in person and develop friendships and relationships with both customers and fellow vendors.

To my knowledge I believe all the booths were filled, traffic was steady and we did more volume at this show than the larger San Diego RAP, but probably due to our gained knowledge from going to San Diego first.

I believe attending any of them is a good option if you can. I really enjoyed some younger children who came by and wanted to learn about the hobby, how we culture our products and why to use them.

So if you can, attend the shows near you and support both the vendors and the organizers to keep them around for years to come.

 

[Reef By Steele]

I’m planing on attending RAP in DFW and Florida this year. I may have punted off DFW, but I’m having an auxiliary sump made in DFW and will drive there from Memphis to pick it up at the same time as this show. My best bud lives in Mesquite and I was going to drag him along. Sounds like this may not be the best venue to introduce someone to the hobby?

@Ocean_Queenie and I will be in Orlando. Hope to meet you there.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

@Ocean_Queenie and I will be in Orlando. Hope to meet you there.

I will be there!! I cannot wait! I had a conflict in Dallas, which was for the best. I really want to hit Orlando. Looking forward to meeting you guys.

 

[Opus]

It used to be, and I can't say it won't be a good show this year. I'm just more lamenting that it's getting smaller and I don't understand why because this is a coral and fish state. DFW is active in the coral and fish trades and it's a growing community. Not sure.

It really isn't fair to compare to Aquashella. That show also has freshwater and reptiles, which if you did a headcount, I would put probably 75%+ of the attendees in the freshwater/reptiles side. When I read the comments on the FB Aquashella ads it amazes me how many people seem to say they are going that don't have an aquarium, they are just going because it looks like a fun event to attend. If Aquashella had always been saltwater only I'm not sure it would be much bigger than RAP, at least for DFW.

Have you attended any of the other local frag swaps? They can't get any attendance really. I went to the club frag swap at the beginning of March and I'm not sure they had much of a crowd. Unfortunately I didn't make it until the end so didn't get to see the initial crowd. DFW has just stopped supporting saltwater shows. I went to the local freshwater show 2 weeks ago and they had probably 50 vendors and the place was packed. The frag swap back in January was low attendance. My theory is the fact that we have too many garage sellers in the area that sell stuff at prices below what you will get at the shows.

 

[DeepDiver55]

This was my 1st show. I was surprised to see what I considered a low number of vendors. Tho it’s not limited to SW trade. I catch a few hobby specific shows per year and they’re shrinking too. The economy and after effects of COVID probably aren’t helping. Like a lot of people we travelled to DFW. It was 24hrs in the car & $2k weekend excluding purchases at the show. Fortunately we were able to combine it with another trade show and seeing friends & family. All that said it was nice to see things that we wouldn’t see @ the Lfs and managed to get a lot of knowledge. I also found some things I didn’t know I needed until I saw them. Of course winning 80lbs of Marco Rocks helped soften our expenses.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I will be there!! I cannot wait! I had a conflict in Dallas, which was for the best. I really want to hit Orlando. Looking forward to meeting you guys.

Have you been to RAP Orlando before? It’s such a fun show and you will throughly enjoy it if you haven’t been there!

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Have you been to RAP Orlando before? It’s such a fun show and you will throughly enjoy it if you haven’t been there!

I have not. This will be my first. I’m also planing on going to WWC.

 

[Reef By Steele]

Have you been to RAP Orlando before? It’s such a fun show and you will throughly enjoy it if you haven’t been there!

This will be @Ocean_Queenie and my first trip to Orlando as well. Super excited.