The ATA Show is six days off! What’s the buzz? Are we back to new products coming out on an “ATA deadline”? Will we have some bowhunting.com live footage? Anything cool up your sleeves? Wish I could make it. Will plan to attend my first one next year. @Justin (does Todd slum the forum? Dustin? Clinton? Others?) Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Justin and Co. usually run a semi-live thread and also dedicate several BHOD episodes to it- usually 1-2 full length episodes then several minis dedicated to specific products. I imagine since it's in Indiana it's still a go...Hoosiers pretty much DGAF about no COVIDs.
It’s in Kentucky this year, but from the ATA website Kentucky is in Indiana’s boat as they say they have no intention of enforcing masking. Typically vendors will know insider info if anything might change. From the youtube channel I knew they’ve covered it in the past. Just looking to see if all systems were go, who was heading there, and if they are doing anything new to cover the event. Guess I’ll have to start talking smack to rattle some cages! Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
We'll be in Louisville on Weds night and start setting up our booth on Thursday. We'll try to sneak in a few posts and whatnot during the day on Thursday with most of the coverage coming on Friday and Saturday. There are quite a few companies not coming this year, and with the C19 surge, I imagine a lot of dealers opt-out as well. If there is a poor dealer turnout, this could spell the end of the ATA Show as we know it. So we better make the most of it while we can! Todd is just getting over either the flu or C19 and still feels like hell, so he won't be going this year. Which means I'll be running the show solo this year. There are 9 of us going in total. What's the over/under on number of guys who come home with Covid? I'm putting it at 7.
Nobody wants to step into Todd's shoes to be your partner in crime? Everyone else has a face for radio or what? That stinks that so many companies aren't coming. Looking at the floor plan it looked at least 95% full, but maybe they are using less floor space than in the past or a number of those listed on the floor plan have pulled out. I don't have past history to go off of. Either way, that's kind of a downer. Question for you @Justin, who do you think the trade show is the most important for? New start ups? Existing companies creating new product buzz? Media like you guys? Retailers? Manufacturers? Non-profits? Sponsors? Industry as a whole? I was fully planning on going next year so hopefully it hangs on.
I would say the show is most valuable for the small start-ups to get in front of dealers, buyers, and media people. It's the best way to make connections and get the word out about your product. Many small business owners are not very good at marketing, and without the ATA show, they're going to have a hell of a time getting the word out there to the right people. IMO that's the biggest area that will suffer. The big companies with established dealers, salespeople, rep groups, etc will be just fine. Most of their business isn't done at the show anyways. For us media people, it's all about convenience. It's easier to see all of the people and the products in one building and create content there than it is to chase everyone down by phone or email, organize Zoom calls, get products shipped to us, etc. It's just a lot more leg work for us to not have the show where it's all under one roof. We have met a considerable amount of our sponsors/partners at the ATA show through the years as well. It's hard to meet people and create new partnerships virtually. That will always be best done in person. They reorganized the floor plan to fill in space of people who aren't coming so it looks fuller than it is. All of the big bow companies already backed out, which is a tremendous amount of floor space. Pradco just bailed out this week, which is Moultrie, Summit, Code Blue and some other brand I can't remember right now. I've talked to a ton of exhibitors who are all bringing skeleton crews this year. IMO this is the end of the line for the ATA show as we know it. And I'm not going to be mad about it. I'd prefer to stay home and hunt anyways.
Being vaxxed or having a previous infection seems to not matter for Omicron. We're all bringing it home.
who ever is going, Go to Elite and ask them when/if they are coming out (mid year release ?) with a longer A-A version (33-34") of the EnVision ... thanks .... wait, I just saw above, NO Elite ?? ....... crap
OR an opportunity for small businesses to get on the social media/podcast bandwagon rather than rely upon one 2.5 day event. New options popping up all the time. Invite a bunch of content creators to a live interactive share, find some brand ambassadors, make some connections, and get after it! I would guess the ATA show has a list of attendees. Ask for the list, contact them, listen to podcasts and make note of who they have on, who are their sponsors, etc. Make their own podcast....get connected. Kill or be killed! Yeah, that's gotta be the biggest bummer...but you seem to be ok with it. Everyone will adapt. There are technologies that will be out in the coming years that we haven't even thought of yet that will fill the gap. #capitalism So even though it's far more convenient for you the juice still isn't worth the squeeze for you to hate to see it go. That's interesting. Well that tells you all you need to know right there. If the value doesn't justify the cost/effort then grandma is being kept alive for selfish reasons (it's how we've always done it). For me, I like the shows (local/regional boat, fishing, camping, etc.) I've gone to even though I've never been to the ATA Show...which is a good 8-9 hours from me. Definitely wanted to attend an ATA Show...dang covid.
I will be attending the festivities myself. Will be interesting to see how everything plays out. Lots of folks pulling out of SHOT this week. Might be safe to say that trade shows may look drastically different in the future?
LOL - none of the big bow companies are going No Mathews, Elite, Bowtech, or Hoyt. I think PSE and Bear will be there.
I went to the trade show in Indy waaaaay back ('04 I believe) when I managed one of the shops I had a chance to, it was fun and it was packed ... I enjoyed meeting some of the big names back then, now I could care less about them ... without the major bow companies (among other companies/groups) it looks to be worthless IMO ....
I went to the last 2 that occurred before Covid and I had a BLAST! Sucks that it may change or eventually fall by the wayside. Have fun guys and take plenty of pics!
We got back last night and are currently regrouping and organizing content. We'll have something posted later today, and probably start having the next few videos posted starting tomorrow. Overall it was a good show. A little bit more relaxed and less intense than years past, which was nice. There was a significant decrease in the amount of "celebs" there and not many bedazzled jeans to be found. Just a bunch of bearded dudes in flannels and black vests.
