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I was excited when I first heard about a new convention this year in Indianapolis (IN), called Days of the Dead. It was billed as "a new breed of horror convention". Every week or so, a new great celebrity guest was added to the lineup.
The Days of the Dead staff is very nice and accommodating. Adolfo Dorta (co-Promoter of Days of the Dead) is active on the Days of the Dead Facebook page, answering questions and making announcements. I contacted Adolfo and asked him a few questions.
The Days of the Dead staff is very nice and accommodating. Adolfo Dorta (co-Promoter of Days of the Dead) is active on the Days of the Dead Facebook page, answering questions and making announcements. I contacted Adolfo and asked him a few questions.
Q-How did the DAYS OF THE DEAD convention come to be?
Adolfo Dorta-Aside from DAYS OF THE DEAD, I also run a website called From Dusk Till Con (along with co-founder, Rick Lara) which covers the horror convention scene and culture behind it and has been growing quite steadily since its inception on Halloween of 2009. Originally, DAYS OF THE DEAD was going to be the mid west expansion show for one of the long established horror conventions on the east coast (which I am not at liberty to name) and they approached From Dusk Till Con about sponsoring an event for that show. A few months later, the original promoter changed his mind and Rick and I were offered the opportunity to take their place as a partner and the face of what went on to become DAYS OF THE DEAD. As huge horror fans who go to about 4-7 horror conventions a year, it was an offer we simply couldn't refuse.
Adolfo Dorta-Aside from DAYS OF THE DEAD, I also run a website called From Dusk Till Con (along with co-founder, Rick Lara) which covers the horror convention scene and culture behind it and has been growing quite steadily since its inception on Halloween of 2009. Originally, DAYS OF THE DEAD was going to be the mid west expansion show for one of the long established horror conventions on the east coast (which I am not at liberty to name) and they approached From Dusk Till Con about sponsoring an event for that show. A few months later, the original promoter changed his mind and Rick and I were offered the opportunity to take their place as a partner and the face of what went on to become DAYS OF THE DEAD. As huge horror fans who go to about 4-7 horror conventions a year, it was an offer we simply couldn't refuse.
Q-Is the plan to make this an annual event and would it always be in Indianapolis?
Adolfo Dorta-We didn't start out with any other plan but to put together a solid "by the fans, for the fans" type show that stayed true to all of the things we felt were most important to a great convention - a guest list with plenty of fresh names appealing to fans of all kinds, plenty of events and other fun things to do throughout the weekend, and most important of all, enough value for the patron to where they don't feel like they are being nickel an dimed in order to have a good time. The success of the first show would dictate if we would do a second show. So far, DAYS OF THE DEAD has been surprisingly well received for a first time convention and we are proud to say we are in the process of securing a date for a 2012 show in Indianapolis. We wouldn't be against taking the show to other cities around the country at some point, but only if it made sense and only if we could maintain the same ideals and level of quality as the show we have now.
Q-How many people do you expect will attend for the weekend?
Adolfo Dorta-I used to work doing concert and club promotion in my native state of Florida and predicting attendance was always a dubious science at best. However, I will say that we have pre-sold way more tickets than we expected to have people in total attendance, so the show is already MUCH bigger than we would have originally ever predicted. DAYS OF THE DEAD is being called "the most anticipated show of the year" by Goblinhaus, and has been covered by such media outlets as Bloody-Disgusting, Dread Central, Blabbermouth, and even USA Today. I don't think we were really anticipating this much attention in our first year, but the horror convention fans have done an excellent job of spreading awareness of DAYS OF THE DEAD by word of mouth, and we expect to see them come out in droves next month. We look forward to showing them a great time.
I am really looking forward to this convention. Interesting celebrities, hard-working nice staffers and unique events add up to a winner and Days of the Dead looks to be a winner!
I am really looking forward to this convention. Interesting celebrities, hard-working nice staffers and unique events add up to a winner and Days of the Dead looks to be a winner!
