sport show

[Guest dragonslayer]

When I hear "Outdoor Show"

LAST thing that comes to mind is " running, hiking, photography," Granted those activities are outdoors

(I know I can't fit my canoe in my tub)...

booth are set of as real estate (pack e'm in and charge for the sq. ft)

Let me clarify... and keep in mind these are my thoughts over years of viewing venus and talking with poeple at these venue's (and this happens to all venus, not just our the show here)

The orginizers and venue agents, SHOULD set aside "1 area" in the building where everyone who want to sell whatever i.e cheese to dish pad scribbers are ALL in 1 area and not interminggled between actual people there trying to market what the show is actually about. This way poeple can get what they want to do in a manner where your not having to side track cheese or sock dish scrubbers...

If I want cheese I don't go to marks work warehouse, if I want socks I don't go to a cheese house... GET MY POINT

I like to get in see and get out (and last thing I want to do is fight my way down the isles only to find out theres a bottle neck cause somebody has blocked the isles to look at SOCKS)...

again, these are my thoughts (yeah I know I am pretty vocal about them too)...

Regards

D

[nateandrychuk 15]

thanks dragonslayer i think your the only one that really got my point. and bear by posting it here i was just trying to make people aware of what i noticed and show there is someone willing to speak up and as people are showing there is other people as well and the more people to speak up the more things can get changed and bear as far as i know you are one of the only guys that fix's trolling motors in our area and do a dam good job at it if you don't mind me adding, i'm amazed you don't have a booth to get more buisness. well let me ask you this did you have the chance to get a booth if you wanted one? and if you didn't, you being from the kenora area how could anyone else in the area if you didn't hear about it because as far as i can tell your a guy that seems to know alot of whats going on in the outdoors in this regin so if you didn't have a chance how can other place's that arn't as well informed? i remember when we had all different shows here, we had a car show, a sport show, all different shows not all the shows packed into one. like look how pathitic thunder bay is when we only have one charter boat you can book here as far as i know and don't get me wrong he does an amazing job but with lake superior on our door step don't you think there should be alot more? with all the hunting and lakes in our area don't you think there should be alot more lodge's and out post and local guide's around here? in kenora and sioux lookout those kinda of place's and people flurish and we have all the oppertinaty here to do the same but we don't.

[Castnblast 86]

thanks dragonslayer i think your the only one that really got my point. and bear by posting it here i was just trying to make people aware of what i noticed and show there is someone willing to speak up and as people are showing there is other people as well and the more people to speak up the more things can get changed and bear as far as i know you are one of the only guys that fix's trolling motors in our area and do a dam good job at it if you don't mind me adding, i'm amazed you don't have a booth to get more buisness. well let me ask you this did you have the chance to get a booth if you wanted one? and if you didn't, you being from the kenora area how could anyone else in the area if you didn't hear about it because as far as i can tell your a guy that seems to know alot of whats going on in the outdoors in this regin so if you didn't have a chance how can other place's that arn't as well informed? i remember when we had all different shows here, we had a car show, a sport show, all different shows not all the shows packed into one. like look how pathitic thunder bay is when we only have one charter boat you can book here as far as i know and don't get me wrong he does an amazing job but with lake superior on our door step don't you think there should be alot more? with all the hunting and lakes in our area don't you think there should be alot more lodge's and out post and local guide's around here? in kenora and sioux lookout those kinda of place's and people flurish and we have all the oppertinaty here to do the same but we don't.

[Castnblast 86]

Thank god for the one operator that makes his service available.

Of course we have the same opportunities as Kenora or Sioux Lookout. Just do it.

[nateandrychuk 15]

i would try and start something here if i haven't spent the last 13 years in the kenora and sioux lookout areas guiding and starting Flatout Fishing. I am mainly known for my musky fishing so for my self it wouldn't be a smart move for me to work so hard to get where i am in the musky world, just to move where there is no musky's and start all over again.

[Davis Viehbeck 25]

I have to chime in on this topic. I've attended the Toronto Sportsmens Show, the former Spring Fishing Show and the current Toronto Fishing and Boat Show on behalf of Rapala for the last 8 or 9 years. The shows have changed considerably from when I first started attending them. Fewer fishing and hunting retailers displaying product, Shimano and Loomis (industry giants) don't even have booth space, and you're seeing more non-typical booths on display rather than fishing, hunting, boating and other outdoor-related exhibitors. These are two of the largest shows in Canada and they're shrinking, so just think about what we have to draw on in Thunder Bay and surrounding area. I agree, I'd love to have more fishing and hunting related displays in Thunder Bay, but the reality is, we're quite limited in terms of outdoor-related retailers to draw on. Resorts are a tough sell as well. The larger local resorts often attend, but are more or less out to attract seasonal RV sites and the odd cabin rental. We're so blessed to have countless lakes in the Thunder Bay area, that not all that many local residents seem to venture too far from Thunder Bay with the exception of the odd group that does a houseboat trip on Lac Seul, trolling for lakers on Nipigon or some fly-outs to remote lakes; hence the overall lack of tourism operators from other areas attending. Most of the larger fishing industry companies (Rapala, Purefishing, St. Croix, etc) are wrapped up with displaying at larger shows like Toronto, Calgary, Montreal and likely can't justify attending our show based on attendance and the location. I would contact the Chamber of Commerce and offer some constructive suggestions on what you would all like to see at the Outdoors Show. I'm sure the organizers would greatly appreciate some insight from attendees.

On a separate note, in terms of seminars, how many of you would attend a series of seminars held over one day covering off a variety of topics from different speakers?

DV

[Lyle Reiner 174]

Good to have a industry perspective chime in!

And Davis, I would gladly attend seminars!

[Jayfishin 63]

Well said Davis. And very true...I also think the internet has alot to do with dwindling attendance as well. So much information and knowledge can be acquired online these days. As well as the hugh online shopping that is now available to us, especially south of the border.

Jay

[nateandrychuk 15]

well said Davis, i'm not compairing our show to the big show's in TO or other place's you can't, we are not the city they are. so you can't really compair us to them and the cost to go to a show like that and get a booth is way more then ours here. of course i'm not expecting the big wigs like shimano and that to get a booth at our show we are not big enough for that. but you have a very valid point with what you are saying. but i allso think it's alot of the people in thunder bay that stray alot of people away from the outdoors here and people from coming into our area by the lack of sharing information and people not being very friendly about it, i have been told this from alot of people.

[nateandrychuk 15]

if i was going to get usefull information i would sit there all day to watch seminars and learn. i would even offer to do some.

[Gone8to1248 158]

I have always thought of having a TBF booth there. But then I think..... What to offer? Also I don't know if I would be able to do a whole weekend there unless I had some help.

Roger

There has been a lot of great stuff brought up in this thread along with some great ideas so lets look at some of them. Lets start with the idea of the show. Someone can up with this idea and sat down and figured out what it would cost to put it on. They came up with a name such as "Sport Show" or "Outdoor Show". That is the theme of what it is about. These same people now have to come up with a plan on how to recover the money to pay for this,you can't do it for a lost and keep it going very long. So the figure we have this much square feet and with booths of this size(and they come up with a size) we can have 62 booths or spots which recupe X number of dollars. Thier goal is to fill those spots with vendors that fit into the theme of the show and if they can't then they are forced to fill them with anyone who will pay for those spots. They probrably then ask how many peope can we draw in for this show? Once they establish that number the cost of the tickets are established base on realalistic numbers. Face it if the Thunder Bay area people are 150,000 then your not going to base a price on 300,000 people coming! There are many behind the scenes cost that people aren't aware of or don't bother to take into consideration. Lets just use Liablity Insurance for an example in case of injuries and damage that might occur at the show. these policies aren't cheap and you MUST have them whether 1 person or 100,00 people show up. I think we all get the idea of this part of it now.

There were comments in the thread and some were modified or removed for one reason or another. One that I really wanted to use as an example is no longer up here. That person had a whole lot of things listed that he felt didn't belong at the show, yet every single one of them fitted right into thee Theme of the show. Walking,hiking,photography, kayaking are just some of the things he mentionned. My only question there was, if those don't belong in an Outdoor Show , then what really does? How do we get out fishing? We drive for most parts and then we walk. How about the hunters? If they don't walk and hike, who does! Some of you Hike and back pack in. Look at the pictures that members put up on the board of different trips they make. I guess that put Photagraphy in. A lot of you photograph people in my book have some fantastic skills and I for one enjoy looking at them. They almost make you feel like your there. Kayaking is another one. It has become a very big sport and I know a lot of you up there do it. You can go down the list and it's endless that fits into the theme. If we all sat down and made a list startting from the time we are sitting at the kitchen table having our coffee(or beer if your Canadian) thinking about going fishing what all we heve to gettogther in order to go,including what we will be wearing, I think you might be a little surprised what just might be on that list. Everything from clothes,transportaion, safety gear,fishing/hunting equipment on down the line. Now couldn't all these things have a place at a "Sports Show"?

Seminars was another big issue talked about in the thread. Everything from to long,to short,to much information, to not enough helpful information. We all know Nate on here posts his Flat Out Fishing videos on here and we all like to watch them. Most of the time it was basicly only watching big Musky being reeled in. I sent him a PM and asked why he doesn't go into detail about the gear he is using and how to PROPERLY use it. He sent me back a PM with a link to one of his new videos where he has startted to address those issues. It's very informeded and I highly recomend it to anyone to watch.

He said it's the first of a new series and the next ones will be even more in detail. What I enjoyed about it as he was fishing and descrbing not only the what he also talked about the where. (meanning the structure not the body of water) It made me feel as if I were in the boat with him. Who gives these seminars and what are thier qualifications. A lot of these people have taken classes or just from over the years of doing it have masted it. Everyone asumes that only a Pro Staffer can do this. Lets take a minute to look at the term Pro Staffer. Most people think that stands for PROFESSIONAL. In some case ys and in most cases the answer is no! It stands for PROMOTER. I'm going to use to members from the site as an example. When I see these 2 names and that would be Gord Ellis and George Clark I don't see the word PROFFESSIONAL, yes they both catch fish, one a lot better than the other, I'll let them fight it out which is which. In Gords case I see Promoter because he is passionate about the sport of hunting and fishing and pushes it. George Promotes Products and the Sport. I rate both of these gentleman right at the Top of the PRO STAFF FIELD and would go to any seminar they would put on. Then on the other hand just picking on 3 other members of who I would classify as Poffesional Fisherman, those would be Cory,Trevor,Roger. All 3 of them are known for thier fishing skills. Again if they put on a seminar I would go to it. With one set of people I would learn about the sport and the equipment and with the other group I would learn styles and method. I think we all kind of start seeing the picture on this issue.

I'm going to stop this here and continue in another posting.

[PRO V 26]

I thought about Nate and the videos he makes also, i would think Nate you would have enough material, video, photos, gear, and knowledge to get yourself a booth and put on a great presentation.

I'm not sure if you work for your self or different lodges but it would be a great way to promote yourself, the lodges, and musky fishing itself. I know we don't have musky fishing in our area but

Sioux Lookout, Dryden is just a short drive away.

Mike

[Gone8to1248 158]

I have always thought of having a TBF booth there. But then I think..... What to offer? Also I don't know if I would be able to do a whole weekend there unless I had some help.

Roger

Back again.

In both of my post I startted with Rogers posting about having a booth at the show and his reasons why he doesn't. I did it to get people focussed on it, and the reasons why. ProV (Mike) made a good point about Nate which I had intended to bring back into this. Could you imagine a person having a 2 day booth just about musky fishing or any other single species. After the first 30 minute seminar where would you go from there?

Now If you set-up a TBF Booth and everyone got together and took some of that 2 day time and gave THIER short seminar I think it would really keep things flowing. Add that with guys on the board who sell merchandise like Gary from Rockwood Baits Or Bear who sells his products and I'm sure there are probrably others that sells things they make were to take some time to work the booth and show and sell and explain what they have. You now have people to work the booth and things to have in the booth. You get guys such as I mentionned up above to give short seminars abouut methods and ways that THEY have found to work in the lakes and waters around the Thunder Bay area. The down side of that is you would be giving up some information and are you willing to do that. What kind of baits do you use? Why do you use that particular bait over brand X, what are good ways to work that bait? Are you willing to answer questions like that? If so then those are the people that you want working thier products at the booth. The guys who are good with outdoor and wild life photography can give small presentations on tips how to improve our skills. Guys who understand equipment like different rods and different reel what they are used for. Here is trick question for you. Your watching a video or a TV fishing program and the person is talking about working a bait at a fast retrieval rate and you need to by a new reel. What would you buy, a 7.3:1 or a 5.2:1? I would like someone who reads this to post the right answer and why that choice. There have been many things mention in this thread about getting a fly-in and dropped off and tent camp fishing trip, how about organized canoeing trips where you take novices out and do a float trip for aday. What you could bring to the booth is endless. Some of you would have to gettogether and kick ideas around, ask around even by posting on here to get peoples feedback and questions and recomendations. So now instead of having 25 people wishing they had a spot, they have one sspot and the time they need to do thier presentations.

I'm sure thier are a lot of members who can add to this and expand on it in areas that I didn't even mention. One thing i would HIGHLY recomend is having some fishing seminars that are directly aimed a smaller kids just getting into the sport. Don't asume that they will learn it at home because some parent don't fish themselves. Those seminars can be long running because the kids attention span is longer than ours on somethings and fishing is one of them. Well I kicked the ball now YOU keep it rolling.

Bernie

[nateandrychuk 15]

7:3:1 to 5:2:1 the 7:3:1 is a faster retrive. brings in more line pure crank of the handle of the reel. meaning the spool will turn 7.3 times pure crank of the handle over 5.2 times on the 5:2:1

[nateandrychuk 15]

to prov i thought about getting a booth last year but didn't because i didn't have the time for it. This year i would have loved to get one but as i said before i didn't see anything anywhere to be able to book a booth.

[nateandrychuk 15]

i'll have to argue the promoter over the pro fact because to become a promoter you would have to be a pro because a fishing company is just not going to grab any guy they see out there. guys that promote products if you look at there background they all have been unreal anglers in the sport and they have been proven to catch fish. To be able to fish and be in the outdoors all the time a pro has to promote products or they don't make enough money to support it. yes a promoter promotes products but at the same time they are teaching you ways to fish as well. you don't hear gord just talking about the products he use's he also wrights alot of good info on how to catch fish as well.

[Pro fisherman-Stud Muffin 420]

Back again.

In both of my post I startted with Rogers posting about having a booth at the show and his reasons why he doesn't. I did it to get people focussed on it, and the reasons why. ProV (Mike) made a good point about Nate which I had intended to bring back into this. Could you imagine a person having a 2 day booth just about musky fishing or any other single species. After the first 30 minute seminar where would you go from there?

Now If you set-up a TBF Booth and everyone got together and took some of that 2 day time and gave THIER short seminar I think it would really keep things flowing. Add that with guys on the board who sell merchandise like Gary from Rockwood Baits Or Bear who sells his products and I'm sure there are probrably others that sells things they make were to take some time to work the booth and show and sell and explain what they have. You now have people to work the booth and things to have in the booth. You get guys such as I mentionned up above to give short seminars abouut methods and ways that THEY have found to work in the lakes and waters around the Thunder Bay area. The down side of that is you would be giving up some information and are you willing to do that. What kind of baits do you use? Why do you use that particular bait over brand X, what are good ways to work that bait? Are you willing to answer questions like that? If so then those are the people that you want working thier products at the booth. The guys who are good with outdoor and wild life photography can give small presentations on tips how to improve our skills. Guys who understand equipment like different rods and different reel what they are used for. Here is trick question for you. Your watching a video or a TV fishing program and the person is talking about working a bait at a fast retrieval rate and you need to by a new reel. What would you buy, a 7.3:1 or a 5.2:1? I would like someone who reads this to post the right answer and why that choice. There have been many things mention in this thread about getting a fly-in and dropped off and tent camp fishing trip, how about organized canoeing trips where you take novices out and do a float trip for aday. What you could bring to the booth is endless. Some of you would have to gettogether and kick ideas around, ask around even by posting on here to get peoples feedback and questions and recomendations. So now instead of having 25 people wishing they had a spot, they have one sspot and the time they need to do thier presentations.

I'm sure thier are a lot of members who can add to this and expand on it in areas that I didn't even mention. One thing i would HIGHLY recomend is having some fishing seminars that are directly aimed a smaller kids just getting into the sport. Don't asume that they will learn it at home because some parent don't fish themselves. Those seminars can be long running because the kids attention span is longer than ours on somethings and fishing is one of them. Well I kicked the ball now YOU keep it rolling.

Bernie

well said bernie, i think there is enough knowledge on here to have a so called expert or avid fisher of each species do a seminar.

topics are endless

steelhead

fly tying

jig painting. spinner making

knot tying

spring summer and fall walleye

spring summer and fall bass

downrigging

smoking fish

tournament fishing strategies

outboard maintenance

how to use all your fish finder features

ice fishing

even do some hunting seminars

reloading

grouse

archery

moose

deer

wabbit

and every presenter can print relevant topics from site to hand out