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| Message Subject: HOW TO IMPROVE THE MUSKY SHOWS | |||
Veithr3293 |
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Posts: 192 | My dad and I went to my first musky show in Wausau this year and told him he could have just left me there. I very new to musky fishing and agree that the shows should do more to target fishermen who are on the fence about getting into musky fishing because it took me three seasons to even realize they held shows like this. There is so much musky fishing knowledge at one of these shows and im not against paying the extra 10 dollar entry fee to get some of it. | ||
| ToothyCritter |
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Posts: 661 Location: Roscoe IL | I'm always looking for show specials, reduced prices and colors that you would not normally see on the racks. Why drive to a show, have to pay to park, pay to get in and have to pay full price? Yeah, it’s a social gathering too, and that said why not serve beer and good food. I know they sell beer at the Milwaukee show but not at Chicago. Then there’s the problem with the quality of the food, we leave the events to eat anywhere but the show. In most cases, we don’t bother to come back. Serve beer, have a place to eat and I don’t need to tell anyone that girls in tight shorts can sell a Popsicle to an Eskimo. Get Hooters to sell wings and beer in the concession area, have more products on sale and you can expect sales to double! | ||
| Musky Brian |
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Posts: 1767 Location: Lake Country, Wisconsin | Slamr - 3/12/2013 7:48 AM DO SOMETHING NEW, or at least do something better. I agree with this...Speaking for myself, to me the Chicago show just has gotten very stale. For the last 5+ years I feel like nothing has changed...the same people, in the same booths, in the same spots every year. Out of the many booths at the show, I can say usually 30% or often less appeal to me. As mentioned, there's not much of anything in terms of deals. The same lures can be bought online at anytime for the same or cheaper. Yes there are new lures that come out...but you can also wait for feedback as the year progresses from other anglers online before you go and possibly waste your own money on new experimental baits. While it is nice to see familiar faces, when the place is jam packed-boiling hot with nowhere to sit and eat/drink anything it's not exactly setup for socializing | ||
| ToddM |
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Posts: 20231 Location: oswego, il | sell the chi show and the new owner move it to the schaumberg convention center. agree with sled, a pool demostration using a mast system would be great. Edited by ToddM 3/12/2013 2:26 PM | ||
| handlebarz |
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Posts: 123 | In 2011 Muskies Canada Odyssey started family pricing $15 advance or $20 at the door no parking fees this includes your ticket your spouse and kids under 18 this was a great hit as there were a lot of people with there kids at the show. I had a family come by my booth his son told me he was saving his money all winter to buy some musky lures I cut him a great deal (his father jokingly asked for the same price his son got a chuckle as he did better then dad) so he would have more money left to spend else where in the show he came back and spent the rest in my booth and got a huge deal my reward for this was knowing that in the summer he had a blast catching musky with them. As for deals I give them I dont advertise them before the show as its SHOW ONLY PRICING as others have pointed out my retailers would not like it and its not fair for them to have people pointing out that they can get it cheaper at a show every other year through me. I do reward the people who come out and support us vendors at the shows with great prices compared to others out there. I dont get out to a lot of shows as I am like most others here just a guy working his butt off to pay the bills and have great times with the family and to go to the shows with my family it is to costly $20 each to get in plus the food for the day and gas its just not doable. In my area the only close show was in Michigan and we were not able to go the last two years and this year was canceled if its back next year I want to go as its only 2 hours from my house that is not a bad drive for a day. What I would like to see in a show is more local guys who know the waters we are fishing in the area of the show not always big names who fly in for the show and are gone again. Yes you need a draw name but also get first hand local guides or bait makers or just the guy who catches a lot of fish and does not tell the world fill the main speaker spots and in between the main speakers have the other guys talking. Deals are a must I feel that if people are coming out reward them with a good price break from retail prices your retailer will understand if its not advertised pricing and show only. Custom show colors are cool I do like to see them when I do get to a show. | ||
| edalz |
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Posts: 458 | -Better prices then what I can get online. Maybe buy 5 get one free and I team up with my buddies to buy baits. -Custom baits. Why would I buy a standard color bait for full retail at a show? -It would be nice if the speakers were not an infomercial. If a guy is sponsored by bait X and in his presentation he only talks about bait X then he loses credibility with me. -Maybe a motivational speaker (like a sports coach) that talks about the mental aspects and what to do when you are in a slump. -Better food and drinks would definitely help and I agree that if you leave for lunch sometimes you just don't come back. | ||
| DonPursch |
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Posts: 540 Location: Leech Lake, Walker MN | Well I'd like to join in here ans look at it from a lodge owners perseptive. Every body talks about " the deals" the ." Newest" greatest big thing and we as lodge owners sit or stand in our booths and watch every one walking around with bags and 300.00 rods and nobody talks to us or very few anyway they have to through the lure in a lake some where and we are a captive audience.we do not expect every one to book a trip but we all would be glad to share all the info you could Handel or even remember at the time for free,just talkin muskies.we spend LOTS. Of money to go and be there for you.and every one is hungry for info about all types of waters from dirty to clear one. You see allure and you buy it and give the guy your money we go there with hopes of talking to some one who sounds interested and may be books a trip by the middle of June we never know what's going to happen kinda just like fishin. So stop the whining and take it for what it's worth and just enjoy what is in front of you at the time. Just sayin.ALWAYS CALM WATERS TO YOU ALL.Maybe we will see you on the dock some day | ||
| MD75 |
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Posts: 682 Location: Sycamore, IL | Great topic! I truly enjoy going to muskie shows and will probably continue to go regardless of any changes. However, here are some things that I love and don't love about these shows... Things I love about Muskie Shows: 1. The seminars- Especially ones focused on techniques or how to do something. I would love to see experts talk about-small river fishing, trolling, row trolling, live bait presentations, equipment modifications, reel repair, boat rigging, how to use your sonar better, filming your catch ect... 2. Free stuff- Stickers!!! Hat or T-shirt with purchase. BOGO. Hell... what about extra hooks or soft tails when you buy a bait? 3. Boats- I love looking at boats in person. A larger selection would be awesome. What about some gear from the boat manufactures for sale:hats, shirts, stickers,ect. 4. Equipment: Custom lures that you can't get else where. Custom rods. Latest and greatest reels. Rods and reels are especially the items that I need to hold in my hand before making a purchase. 5. The great customer service and personalized attention at some booths. Tony Grant and his team does an awesome job at this...vendors take note. Things I don't love about Muskie Shows: 1. The seminars- I don't like to feel like I am in an infomercial for a certain product or location. 2. The raffles- I don't like being heckled to sign up to win something or to plan my financial future and then being harrassed when I get home to participate in some travel agencies sales contest. 3. The food (poor quality) and lack of beer(at Chicago)- Like a previous poster said once I leave to get food I am probably not coming back. 4. The lack of customer service at some booths. When a customer enters your booth welcome them and make a connection, discover what they are interested in and respond. I realize that everyone is not a born salesman but it shouldn't be so hard to get a conversation going about your product....and the customer shouldn't have to do all of the work! Some other ideas: 1. What about having different levels of admission: Example- $5 gets you in; $10 enters you in a raffle for lures; $15 raffle for lures and rods; $20 two day admission entered into raffle for lures, rods and reels; $30 two day admission entered in all raffles and you get a T-shirt or hat; $50 two day admission entered in all raffles free tshirt/hat and one year membership to Muskie Inc. 2. Auctions, contests and competitions... 3. More places to sit down and hang out and look at all the cool lures you just bought....think about what else you NEED:) 4. A basement bait makers showcase with ongoing lure making demonstrations. 5. A movie theatre set up to screen muskie videos with a presentation from the host and Q+A afterwards. 6. Garage sale area where you could sell used gear. Could be set-up with Muskies Inc. with a table fee to sell that gets donated to Muskies Inc. or a local charity. I know this is a stretch with the vendors but it could work in their favor too. The seller ends up with extra cash and space in the tackle box for new stuff and an angler who was on the fence about trying a lure discovers a new favorite and buys more next year. That's how I got into Sledge's...thanks Scott! 7. I feel that three days is to long for these shows. Make them two days and over lap the seminar speakers. This would create demand and eliminate any down time between speakers. Make people have to choose which seminar to see, you could schedule the more popular seminars twice to bring folks back for what they missed the day before. 8. Prizes for kids at various booths. You could make it like a scavenger hunt with clues about muskie fishing and get the youngsters excited about catching and releasing muskies. | ||
| ToothyCritter |
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Posts: 661 Location: Roscoe IL | Don, Stop the whining and take it for what it's worth? Was this a sales pitch? Did I interpret that reply wrong? | ||
| DonPursch |
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Posts: 540 Location: Leech Lake, Walker MN | No sales pitch just sayin | ||
| muskyroller |
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Posts: 1039 Location: North St. Paul, MN | I'm shocked...I brought up the same exact thing about the MN show last year and got absolutely blasted! I thought the prices were the same or higher than what I can get online...blasted. I thought the price to get in was high...blasted. So, now it's okay to question the shows? I specifically remember asking, "what happened to the deals?" I remember going to the show at the sports center in Blaine and picking up a bunch of baits, talking to bait makers, and still leaving with a few bucks. The last two years at Concordia I've left with all my money in my pocket and saved it for O'Gara's..."used baits." With all this being said...I'll be at CSP the first week of April. The bottom line is, I love looking at the lures, talking muskies, and taking in a seminar. I just know that I won't spend a ton because I can get a "deal" elsewhere. Steve | ||
| Guest |
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Everyone loves the swag. I've had stickers made and it's affordable to have 200 decals made. And I know that Musky Armour was giving out free hats with two baits purchased a couple years ago. That was pretty cool. It's cool getting free stuff and then I don't mind wearing and advertising for them. I'm just wearing my muskie love on my sleeve so to speak. But it's not worth it to me to spend $5 on a decal just to advertise for someone. But getting that stuff would be a draw for me. And after a while, shows stop being important as buying events. They are for me now, and for a lot of friends. If we go, it's to maybe "buy a few baits" for the helluvit and mainly see friends. After a while you know that a white pounder from Fleet Farm will catch as many fish as a custom painted one at a show and you don't need to go to the show. And that's where the free swag comes back into play as a draw. | |||
| Jimmer Negamanee |
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| Im 24 and I like going to the shows but hate being treated like a child by pushy sales people. Yes I know what the lure is, yes I know how it works, SHUT UP and let me look please!!!!...... Props to the guys who let there products do the talking. | |||
| jdsplasher |
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Posts: 2283 Location: SE, WI. | I'd like to see the 10$ entry fee good for all 3 days...;) | ||
| Tamarack |
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| I will have exhibited at all of the major Muskie Shows this year. Chicago, Milwaukee, Wausau and Minneapolis and 2 last year - Milwaukee and Minniapolis. My goal at the shows is of coarse to get a booking or 2 from each one. But for me it is really more about planting seeds, and getting my brand out there. Yes I realize that 80% of the people are there for the lures and deals heck, I buy some too. I love meeting them, we talk about their day jobs, yes most of them don't do it full time even some bigger ones like H20 and Chaos Tackle, but I think we are all missing something here. I can't speak for everyone but I enjoy the whole event. I love talking and visiting with my customers, I love checking out the deals, and yes spending too much money. Heck I bought a Musky Rod for my wife from a girl that was too cute to say no too (Tooth Tamer), got a t-shirt and $30.00 went to cancer research. I love being able to meet the people in this industry, both well known and average Joe's. I love learning from them and finding out how they tick. How often can you rub shoulders and speak to Jim Saric, Ty Sennett, Gregg Thomas, Steve Heiting, Tony Rizzo, Larry Dahlberg and on and on and on. These guys all share information and help educate us and help us catch more fish. That is likely more valuable than the 10 best lures in our boxes. You can't buy that. I also love to take in the swap meets and have met some wonderful people there. I met Todd and Wayne, average working guys from Minneapolis who fish my waters but don't stay with me...yet. And we regularly go to dinner together at the shows. I love those guys. Heck I bought a brand new Frabill Musky Net last year in Milwaukee for $100.00 and filled up an old Plano tackle box with lures for $75.00. As for the pros pushing products, the Pro's have to or they won't have their sponsors for very long. Just take some of what they push with a grain of salt and make up your own mind on it. It is the corporate world we live in today. I love going to the show, for me it helps get me primed for the season to come and I look at it like going to a ball (hockey) game or a movie. it is a night out for me. Sorry for rambling, just my 2 cents. Todd | |||
| TomSS20 |
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Posts: 52 | First, I'm new to muskie fishing and am attending the MN show for the first time. I am pretty jacked up about it. I went to Thorne Bros. for the first time a few weeks ago and almost lost it. So, attract new people that can see, touch and smell this stuff. Second, this is not the first hobby that I have taken on in my life. I go to other shows and get bored of them as well. Why would I attend those time and again? Current or interesting information in seminars, deals on equipment, access to manufacturers, free stuff for the kids or special attention for kids in a booth for them to get them in the sport, etc. They always have a trout pond at sport shows. So, a Muskie pond? I meant that as a joke, but now I'm getting pretty excited about it. Cabin fever... | ||
| LarryJones |
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Posts: 1247 Location: On the Niagara River in Buffalo, NY | I'm not sure that Musky Shows on their own can get back to the level they once were at,all fishing & hunting shows have been down as well.I think an All Esox Show-Muskie-Pike & Walleye would bring more fishermen through the doors.Also the Seminars are Great,but actual How To Side Room Classes on leader tying,lure tuning,lure painting,reel cleaning etc.. would help bring some additional people to the show.They need to get the major rod,reel,line,electronics etc.. MFG's back to the Shows in a MFG Only Area,give them a Free Booth to show products only. | ||
| chasintails |
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Posts: 461 | Seminars are my main reason for attending a show. I realize the cost of having quality seminars is expensive. Maybe instead of charging a general admission, you pay to see a speaker. Maybe instead of having speakers just promote their guide business, you have more classroom type seminars. It would be easy to determine who was successfull and who shouldn't be asked back to speak. I'm past the acquire baits stage, but still feel the need to acquire information. | ||
| HoulihanJustin |
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Posts: 46 | Great question Chuck. I am headed to the Minnesota show in a few weeks and hopefully can add more when I return. After being to the Chicago and Milwaukee shows these are my thoughts. 1) The more pre-show information the promoter can provide the better. The list of those buying space buying space is a must. It lets you know what direct sellers and retail shops you may see, and also those who may not be there from the years past. A map would be great, but is not a must. I know that the shows are not huge, but since the promoter must have one to set up booth spaces, putting it online seems to be quite easy. Any information about a "bait swap" would be great. I have been to these and they seem to be very well attended. This may grab those who are both new to the sport saving money, and those who have been fishing for a while and trading for newer items. 2) Any promotion I feel is great, and free is of course best. I like getting the Chicago mailer, but feel it should be promoted several weeks 4-6 in advance, especially for those making plans to come out of town. Free promos or information online seems to be great. Many retailers and guides are posting information on a daily/weekly basis. If one show is doing this and others are not then it only seems that one will do better than the other in both the short and long term. I have been a show customer for about 5 years now. Some things continue to be the same (having no problem paying $10 to listen to the best speakers in the muskie world teach us all) and some things not (like most have agreed paying $25 for a $15 item from my computer seems crazy). I feel like only having the direct baitmakers at the show could be great (eliminating the large retailer), but could have consequences for both the baitmakers and us the buyers. It would give the makers the chance to show everyone why there product may be the one to buy. It would also allow them to make the price or deal. This would allow them to both sell products at a great value, and to let the customer know what deals can be had vs buying at the bigger stores brick and morter and online both. One question I do have is "Who are attending these shows and who are those who the shows are missing but hoping to attract in the future?" Are there any demographics to the age/city/income/distance traveled? I know this may be hard to collect but may figure out why one show is doing better than another. | ||
| giroux |
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Posts: 43 | Bring in the Lakemaid beer girls, | ||
| 0723 |
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| Todd M spot on for chicago show in some ways.Show needs to be sold the person running it time has past.Location farther south majority of your muskie fisherman are on the south side of chicago and south suburbs.Tinley Park convention center would be ideal plenty of hotels and restaurants and it is a block off of the expressway.0723 | |||
| theswan |
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Posts: 30 | BoothBoss.com Streamlines and automates the registration process for exhibitors,which brings down the price of booth space, allows vendors to pick booth location in a live stream fashion. People that can't mark the show have instant access to every exhibitors website and contact info by going to the shows page. Have seen it used at different trade shows around the state and seems pretty slick. | ||
| jchiggins |
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Posts: 1760 Location: new richmond, wi. & isle, mn | The internet is definitely the biggest competitor of all shows. I still go for the sole reason that I get to see long time friends that I don't get the chance to see as often as I would like. It's worth the price of admission for me just to say hi, and catch up on the past year. But what's really a hoot. bring someone new to this crazy obsession. Watch their confidence build with their bag of new secret weapons. I'd hate to see the shows go away completely in this wal mart internet world we live in. But It's been said " the times they are a changin " | ||
| sworrall |
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Posts: 32900 Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | And yet coverage of actual shows here is very popular. | ||
| bowhunter29 |
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Posts: 909 Location: South-Central VA | I'm hardly a seasoned veteran of musky shows, going to MN this April will be my 5th. In the short amount of time I've been 'in the business' I've learned some very valuable lessons. I've really enjoyed getting to know other vendors and having the chance to meet some of the big names in the industry. I've only had one bad show and that was in Michigan last year. I appreciate all of the hard work that guys like Doug Reuter do to make a show a success. For a show promoter, there are a ton of issues to deal with and lots of hidden costs that guys like me would easily overlook. I can pretty much only do two shows a year. I've chosen the Milwaukee and MN shows and I have no complaints about them. I think the show promoters do a great job of advertising and the people who stop by my booth at those shows have been great. I look at it as advertising, not everyone who stops in is going to buy a custom rod or lure. The only suggestion that I have is to have a casting tank at each show for the vendors to showcase their lures in. I realize that casting tanks are expensive and they take up a ton of space and the show promoter gets no income from them, they are only an expense. Edited by bowhunter29 3/15/2013 9:03 AM | ||
| Kirby Budrow |
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Posts: 2337 Location: Chisholm, MN | sworrall - 3/15/2013 8:05 AM And yet coverage of actual shows here is very popular. Yes, the teaser coverage only makes me want to attend the show even more. I don't see how the internet could hurt the shows. | ||
| Guest |
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| Internet advertising, promoting, and hype help a show. The ability to purchase and shop on the internet could have a negative effect on people who might be on the fence with attending a show or making purchases at the show. | |||
| jchiggins |
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Posts: 1760 Location: new richmond, wi. & isle, mn | sworrall - 3/15/2013 8:05 AM Love the coverage on this site. I just think the ability to purchase on line has taken away some of urgency in consumers in general. I just think is a sign of the times. There's more e mailing, texting ,and other social media. Which is all great,don't get me wrong. But in this fast food society we live in, face to face socializing seems to suffer. Everybody seems to be engulfed in their own busy lives. How great is it as a business owner to book trips or sell baits on line. Web sites like this to get unlimited info is fantastic. Personally myself, I will always prefer to have a face and a handshake over a chat online. Just not always possible.And yet coverage of actual shows here is very popular. | ||
| Guest |
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| I know it's been said before, but I just want to make it clear on why the "deals" by the manufactures have gone away... They can NOT undercut the retailers or the retailers will pull their product from their store. Without retailers, these small business are gone. It's a fine line you have to walk to keep the customers happy and the retailers happy. That is why the builders and makers of these baits have mostly show colors because they can't sell stock colors and compete with retail sales. | |||
| Junkman |
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Posts: 1220 | I pretty much have a pure ball at all the shows, but I would certainly agree that that the "digs" at the Schaumburg Convention center just down the road from Harper College experienced by a lot of us a week later, were just a "Bunch" better in every single way! I love the Chicago show but the way to get out of a basement, is to "get out of the basement!" | ||
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