From Local Roots to Global Roars: Why We're Evolving to B2B
- Lauren Billings
- 4 days ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
4/24/2025 Edit: Point #1 has been edited for clarity. We do not blame any of our local community for the lack of support. The people have been wonderful. We have edited the point to be a bit more specific without naming people. Thanks, AD!
For years, The Dinosaur Company has welcomed thousands of families through our doors for public tours, birthday parties, and community events. It's been a joy to share the wonder of animatronic dinosaurs with our local fans, and we’re so proud of the connections we’ve built right here at home.
But now, it’s time for something bigger.
We're Evolving: A Shift Back to Business-to-Business Only
As of May 25th, 2025, we’ll be officially wrapping up our public tour offerings and retiring the birthday party and merchandise side of our business. Instead, we’re focusing entirely on business-to-business (B2B) partnerships.
What does that mean?
It means you’ll see our dinosaurs out in the world more than ever before—at zoos, museums, traveling exhibits, theme parks, and other partnered events. We're using everything we learned from our community-focused work to bring even more wonder to more people—across Texas, across the country, and around the globe.
What’s Changing
🦕 No more public tours after May 25th
🎉 No more birthday party bookings
🛍️ No more on-site merchandise sales
✨ More energy toward national and international experiences
What Happens Now?
You can still visit us for a tour until May 25th!
Be on the look out for a bigger media presence after tours go away.
All our merchandise is going to go on clearance!
We will be pushing to be in the schools more, after the change. Y'all need us and dinosaurs more than ever!
We can still set up local events! Want one near you? LET YOUR CITY KNOW! Heck, tell us! Advocacy starts with you!
📚✨We are releasing a digital download book for the kids to explain what is happening. 📚✨
Why We're Evolving
We’ve spent the last few years opening our doors to the public—offering tours, parties, and local events. And while that chapter has meant a lot to us, it’s time to close it.
Here’s why.
1. The Governmental Support We Hoped For Never Materialized
When we were invited to build here, we believed in the vision. We invested in this space and opened our doors to the public—hoping to grow alongside our community. The people who visited us always supported what we did. They understood the mission. We will always be eternally grateful for them.
But the support we counted on—through partnerships, visibility, and shared responsibility—never fully showed up. We love our customers, but the B2C business only made up less than 10% of the income of Billings Productions, Inc. Over time, it became clear that if we wanted to keep growing that side of the business, we’d have to lead that growth ourselves.
We began to encounter roadblocks. At first, they seemed reasonable. Then, they were everywhere. Everyone had a reason to say “no.” It became increasingly obvious that the decision-makers weren’t interested in saying “yes.”
There was no room for animatronics. No acknowledgment, space, or protection for a woman-, family-, and minority-owned company doing something rare and remarkable. We built amazing things—but it was easier for others to overlook our value than to champion it.
You could argue that’s what HUB and DEI policies are for. But the truth is, we still weren’t protected. We still weren’t supported.
To protect what we do, we’ve had to fight for it. Advocate for it. That advocacy is a full-time job in itself. And while we do it because the future depends on it—because if we don’t, who will? We’re not made of infinite energy. Something had to give.
We’re proud of what we built here. But we know our impact will be even greater working with people and places ready to grow with us. Or better yet, when we carve our own path: the “Billings” way.
We didn’t have a guidebook when we started building dinosaurs. We certainly don’t need one now to keep making a difference.
2. Our mission is bigger than one city.
We want to help more people. This local model was a start, but the truth is—our work, our team, and our message are meant for a bigger audience. Sometimes it feels like even this community isn’t ready for what we’re building. But the world is.
3. We believe in planting seeds that grow.
We’ve learned something powerful: if you teach a student, you help that student. If you support a teacher, you support an entire generation. That’s the scale we want to work on—equipping educators, building tools, and inspiring curiosity in every classroom we can reach.
We firmly believe in it taking a community to raise a child. We're just wondering if you're going to join us.
4. Public-facing work is exhausting and expensive.
The reality? We’ve spent a lot of time and energy managing customer expectations, not creating impact. There’s a cost to the mindset that “the customer is always right”—especially when the treatment isn’t respectful. We’d rather put our time into doing meaningful work than constantly defending it.
5. We were expected to give more than we could sustain.
We were approached again and again for free services, discounted offerings, and promises of partnerships that never delivered. These weren’t small asks—they were big commitments made in good faith, and we upheld our side. But many of those agreements weren’t honored.
That took a toll—on our team, our time, and our trust. It’s not sustainable. And it’s not respectful of the work we do.
So we’re making a choice to protect what we’ve built—by being more intentional about where we give our energy.
Still Want to Stay in the Loop?
Just because we’re shifting focus doesn’t mean we’re going quiet. We’ll still be sharing event appearances, public exhibit announcements, and special community projects—and we want you to be the first to know.
We want to hear from you too! If you're a Title 1 school or a small community that needs support, we would love to advocate with you! Our world needs us. We love our community, and we don't plan on abandoning it. We just need to take what we learned and show the world.
Going forward, you can reach our team directly for any event appearances, partnerships, or outreach opportunities at:📧 outreach@thedinosaurcompany.com