A Sad Ending!

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[Don Smith]

In a conversation with Jenny Bolton this evening she infomed me that she had sent an e-mail to the ITA Board of Directors stating:"After much discussion within our own organization and with other key players in the tanning industry, we ahve come to the conclusion that the best interest of the industry will be served by the discontinuation of the 2001 Chicago show by LOOKING FIT Magazine."A sad ending to a great trade show. Jenny Bolton deserves better after working so hard to improve our industry for the past 11 years.The real losers are tanning salon owners and I'll have more to say about that in future posts on this forum. Because of the role that Bruce played in bringing this sad ending about, I will no longer post on TanToday.com.Don

[CHUNN]

Don,I hate to hear this about the show! Competition would have served to make both shows better.Thanks alot Bruce!Michael

[Rayztanning]

Yeah guys, I killed the show?With that power my ad rates should go UP by a factor of 20.Go to you know where and read the real reason the show died.Scapegoats needed, and some are refusing to admit that reality intervened...

[Dave D]

Don,With utmost respect, it might be beneficial for us salon owners to know what it was exactly (facts, if possible) that Bruce did to bring about Chicago's fate. I'm an outsider and not interested in the gossipy emotional version from anybody.I will always follow and support wherever you go, as most of us do. Please don't take this inquiry as confrontation, I'm just doing a little prodding for more information so that my time is spent interacting with people of only the highest quality. Just so you know, wherever Don Smith has posted, Dave is always very quick to read 'cuz Dave knows its gonna always be quality stuff.Ultimately, I am truly troubled to see it end. And I am secretly praying that it doesn't take the wind out of the TSO sails -- it has come too far on behalf of all of us to be even slightly affected! Maybe a signal for redirection or a point toward other avenues? No idea, but willing to keep the spirit alive. We are very new to this industry, but falling in love already. The real question is (isn't it?), how many others are willing to do this, too? And to what extent?

[Don Smith]

Dave:First of all, I would like to tell you that Jenny Bolton, although small in stature, has the courage of a lion. People twice her size would have folded under the pressure she has been under for the past year.Imagine, Dave, that several of your best customers decided to open a tanning salon in competition to your salon. And add to this equation the fact that you were dependent upon these people to support another business you operated. How, then, would you compete with the people you depended upon for your other business?That is the heart of the problem faced by Jenny and LOOKING FIT Magazine. She had the impossible task of, on the one hand, competing with the vendors who control ITA, and, on the other, needing their support for her magazines. So, first of all, the vendors who had prospered because of the business they had generated over the past 11 years at the Chicago trade show and who turned against her must share a great deal of the blame for the demise of this trade show. They played economic "hardball" and the forced her to throw in the towel on the trade show or risk losing the advertising necessary to support her magazines. That fact of life is the "bottom line" of this matter!Imagine how, in the example above, you would feel if your former clients who you had to depend upon to support your other business, made it clear that this support would vanish and your main business would fail if you did not close your tanning salon. That is exactly the position that Jenny was in and I don't think that you would like it any more than she did. And it wouldn't be any more ethical and fair in the example I gave than it was in this case.I am from a generation where we stand by our friends and honor our word. I realize that those concepts are not in vogue in this era of "political correctness". But it is too late for me to change, so I will continue doing what I consider to be "right" even when it means going against the grain.Bruce, in my opinion, eliminated any chance Jenny had to save the Chicago trade show with his negative posts on TanToday.com immediately after the show ended. This was not just "reporting" as he is trying to "spin" the story today; rather it was, in my opinion, a calculated and cynical decision to put himself on the side of the manufacturers who control ITA. It is one thing to decide to go with the group you believe will prevail; it is yet another to actively work to help that group prevail.As I stated on my LAST post on TT, with friends like Bruce, who needs enemies. Now, Dave, your right to choose which trade show that you would like to attend is gone. Las Vegas must become a "regional" ITA show or the vendors will not agree to exhibit just like they did with Chicago. And after seeing Looking Fit throw in the towel, do you think that Today's Image will stand up to the ITA bullies? So how does the end of the Chicago trade show help tanning salon owners?TSO spent a great deal of time preparing scientific seminars and the Master Tanning Professional curriculum for this year's Chicago trade show. We felt that competition between the two shows to put on the best programs would benefit tanning salon owners. Now, there will be no competition.Both shows kept the rates for tanning salon owners very low in order to encourage attendance. Do you think that this will continue in the future?ITA has stated over and over again that the proceeds from their show will be used for the good of the industry. It is my opinion that the majority of the funds raised at the Nashville show will go to the expensive Washington, D.C. lobbying firm recently hired by ITA. Moreover, Dave,do you really think that this firm will lobby for the best interests of tanning salon owners or for the best interests of the manufacturers that control ITA?It is my opinion that a "shell game" is in progress and tanning salon owners have not kept their eye on the ball very well. We do not seem to understand as a group that we h

[CHUNN]

Don,As always I have supported your efforts and when we talk I rarely talk about the political agendas at hand but the problems facing us as tanning salon owners.I hope that you will not allow the recent events to stop your progress in any way! Of course Bruce's next stop is the demise of T.S.O. He will not succeed at this one!I love irony! Bruce had people believing that TanTalk was the ITA, TanTalk was a part of the Borg, that TanTalk had sold out. Now we see that Bruce himself, TanToday, has been the puppet strings of someone high in the ITA. Do you know who that person is?Bruce is in it for the "bottom line." TanToday is owned by the advertisers. I'm not sure why that has not been obvious to everyone??? When his advertisers threaten to pull funding he listens! One minute he's promoting LOOKING FIT and the next ( after the Nashville show ) he's promoting the ITA, ETS, and the likes.Don, stand strong, there is a high place for the TSO. Time will reveal! I appreciate the hard work and wisdom you have contributed to the industry. It will continue to pay off.Michael

	First Merchant Funding

[Marty & Carol]

Ditto------------------We support TSO Working together we can and will make a difference!

[BOBER96]

Don~I also 'ditto' the above.Is there anything that us concerned salon owners can do to remedy the situation or change the mind of anyone at Looking Fit? I am also curious...is the magazine going to cease to exist as well?

[Shari Jones]

The cream always rises to the top...that is what i have been told and also what i believe...Don...you know where i'm at on this and where i shall remain..."Working Together We Can Make A Difference"I do not like politics and I am a salon owner...Long live the TSO!!!!Shari