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New York

Hi All,
We produce a Halloween themed event every October on the East and West coasts called RISE of the Jack O'Lanterns. We would like to give dedicated pumpkin growers the opportunity to glean massive exposure by displaying their large 1000+ lbs. pumpkins at our show. We have thousands of people that walk through out event each year on Long Island, LA, Boston, and NJ. If you are interested, please let us know and we will work out the logistics with you, as well as reserve (free) space for you in our pre-show areas. We are thinking of some type of signage so your name or business is available to the public/press. Please act fast, as we are in the process of laying out the show now. email asaid@therise.org. Thanks.

5/4/2016 2:54:22 PM

Brownsville, MD

Last time one of my pumpkins was used in a display, I got paid $250 cash for a 478.5lber

5/4/2016 7:26:03 PM

Central NY

Could we set up a vending table in that free space?...just curious

5/4/2016 8:05:05 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

i see that you sell tickets to this event. I am wondering where do the proceeds go?

5/4/2016 8:33:32 PM

stoughton WI

may be a way for some to get attention to club and new members...

5/4/2016 9:04:49 PM

Torrance, Ca.

Great idea Rick.

5/4/2016 9:59:10 PM

Brownsville, MD

It would be interesting to see if "massive exposure" at this event does translate into significant new member registration. How many registrations would it take to make this "opportunity" worthwhile?

Take into consideration the logistics of transporting a 1000+lb pumpkin to one of the 4 sites- the grower is expected to pay out of pocket for this?

The Rise website states that they carve nearly 5,000 pumpkins at each site, each year. That's nearly 20,000 carved pumpkins total- we're talking about some serious cash being thrown around by this event.

Pay me $1/pound and I'm there; but as the offer stands currently- in my opinion- they should feel embarrassed for coming here and trying to smooth-talk people into giving them something for free.

Thomas Morgan

5/4/2016 10:45:24 PM

Brownsville, MD

More from the website FAQs:

"RISE ticket rates vary depending on the date, time, and location but range from $22-$30. You can sign up to receive a promocode for discounted tickets by visiting therise.org/ghost."

Unfortunately, no information on where the money goes.

http://www.therise.org/faq

5/4/2016 10:52:18 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

$1.00 per pound plus $200 delivery fee is my standard price for a large pretty orange pumpkin. I frequently deliver pumpkins to the surrounding area. Email eastparkrider@yahoo if interested, when the time comes.

5/5/2016 8:58:27 AM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

This post gave me a good laugh. What a golden opportunity for pumpkin growers to display their pumpkins "for free"....cmon.

Sure, it might be a good opportunity for the WOW company or RTI or another for profit business to gain exposure for the products they sell, but this is a poorly painted proposal if you think pumpkin growers are gonna help you out for "free" so that you can have a successful event and get something for nothing...

5/5/2016 10:10:29 AM

Austin MN

Yeah people normally get paid but last 15 years me and my neighbor who grow donate a big pumpkin over 500+ to the local family store. Yeah we don't get anything but alor of people enjoy it and that's what this hobby is about :)

Plus always cool to go there and brag about your pumpkin to the family's!

5/5/2016 8:50:07 PM

Oak Grove, Mn

The way I look at it..if a person want thousands to see a pumpkin...they could display it at a local mall. One thousand pound pumpkins are something that most people would be interested in looking at. Done right, could be used as a fundraiser for charity of choice. We spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to grow these things...why give them away for someone else to make money on them.

5/5/2016 9:14:49 PM

Brooklyn Corner, Nova Scotia

Some of you guys are brutal. The only thing I can see wrong with the original post is that it wasn't directly aimed at vendors or someone who could take advantage of the exposure this event would offer. The average back yard gardener would not benefit from this, but as Glenn stated, WOW, RTI and others could.

I read the FAQs and all the answers are there, nothing sinister that I could find.

Every year Digby Nova Scotia hosts the Wharf Rat Rally, an event that attracts thousands of visitors, mostly biker enthusiasts. On their own dime, vendors like Harley Davidson, Victory Motorcycles and many more attend the event. The Harley Davidson entourage brings two tractor trailers filled with the latest models. They offer test rides and they actually sell a bike or two. Is it cost effective, no. Is it good for business....they keep coming back.

Point is, I don't think the poster was trying to smooth talk anyone into anything. For most of us, it's not applicable or worthwhile. For some, it could be an opportunity for exposure, whether it be a club, product or business. Take it or leave it, it was only a pitch.

Did anyone even bother to e-mail the poster to gain more insight?

PS- I never heard of Rise of the Jack'O'Lanterns before this post.

5/5/2016 9:39:02 PM

stoughton WI

it does seem as they are asking for something, for nothing, maybe individuals or clubs could respond to them and see what you can work out. we did a garden show in Wisconsin. one in which our club had to pay to have a booth. but in turn. from doing this we signed up I believe more than 30 new members. money for club to do other things.. maybe a club or clubs could cover the cost. it may pay back dividends in the end.... also have them let clubs set up booth to sign new members and sell seeds, shirts, hats whatever..

5/5/2016 10:03:55 PM

New York

Hi All,
Thank you for the overwhelming amount of responses. We appreciate the interest in our post. We have purchased giant pumpkins for our shows this year from local growers, and will always continue to do so, but since we have the extra space, we thought it might be a nice opportunity for others that would find this a benefit to their business as there is no real benefit for us to have extras since we purchased them already as a point of interest for our guests. As this would be our first run at offering space, we decided to post here. For those that offer their pumpkins for sale only, we will certainly keep you in mind for the future as we already purchased a few per venue before this post. Please inbox me if interested asaid@therise.org

5/9/2016 11:13:55 AM

Commack, NY

Anyone who wants to know the real deal on this inbox me. I won't publicly bash someone but i will say this, there are a good number of you that are on the right track. There is only one charity here and that's their pockets

5/12/2016 6:43:26 AM