NSSF is proud to announce that the SHOT Show Birdies for the Brave golf outing at TPC Summerlin raised more than $100,000 for military homefront groups.
This was the third straight year that NSSF hosted the charity golf event at the SHOT Show in partnership with the PGA Tour for Birdies for the Brave. This is the second year in a row the event raised more than $100,000 for the eight charities supported by Birdies for the Brave. It’s a great opportunity for our industry to provide even more support for those who have sacrificed so much for our country.
Birdies for the Brave is a national military outreach initiative proudly supported by the PGA Tour. It was founded by PGA Tour pro Phil Mickelson and his wife, Amy.
“Thank you to the PGA Tour, to Birdies for the Brave and for your leadership and unwavering support of the United States Military,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Joe Maguire, President and CEO of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, an organization that recently paid the tuitions of 19 sons and daughters of brave soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan. The Special Operations Warrior Foundation believes that no child should be provided with less opportunity because of their parents’ brave sacrifice to our nation.
NSSF is a proud supporter of this event and thanks all the event sponsors and everyone who came out to the course to show their support for these organizations.
Social Media Spotlight: Final of a Four-part Series
Some folks aren’t so lucky as to be able to travel to Las Vegas this month for the SHOT Show. You can reach more prospects in real-time and continue to reap the marketing benefits of a video. Leveraging live video to increase market share requires a serious plan of action, though. No one knows this better than Traci Browne.
The author of “The Social Trade Show” has graciously provided us with a series of blog posts that we’ll be posting each week for the next four weeks prior to the 2014 SHOT Show.
I’ll also be giving away the final free copies of Traci’s book this week. The first two exhibitors (and you need to be a SHOT Show exhibitor to qualify) to send me an email (be sure to include your mailing address) requesting a copy will receive one. Ready. Set. Go!
How To Live Stream Your Booth Presentations
You put so much effort into planning your in-booth presentations, why limit who is able to participate? Your biggest potential customers might be sitting back in the office wishing they were at the show. Well, invite them in and turn your presentation into a hybrid event.
Two Different Audiences
It’s not enough to stick a camera in front of your demo area and hit record. That’s not an engaging demo, that’s C-SPAN. You want to deliver an experience to your audience watching from their home or office that keeps them engaged. You do this by enabling your two audiences (the ones sitting in your booth and those who are at their computer) to participate as one.
You need to provide your in-booth audience with a comfortable place to view your presentation. You also need to design your environment, so that everyone can see what is taking place and hear and interact with the speaker.
Your virtual audience is no different. Of course you cannot choose their seating but you can make sure they are comfortable by providing and easy to use viewing platform, a way to interact with the presenter (chat function which is monitored by someone in the booth to relay questions for the speaker), and a camera that that follows the action.
Technical Requirements
You’ll need a streaming provider. These are the folks who capture your video feed, compress it, and stream it over the Internet to the viewing platform. There are free services available such as Ustream. A low cost option is Livestream. After that there are many different providers in the higher-end range.
You will need a viewing platform. A viewing platform is basically the website that your audience goes to view your presentation and interact with your presenters and other virtual attendees. Ustream and Livestream provide both the live stream and the viewing platform.
You will need an A/V or production provider. These are the people behind the camera and those directing the production. This can be an outside company who specializes in this service or Joe from accounting who videos the Pop Warner games on the weekends.
Fine Tuning With Backgrounds, Lighting, and Speaker Tips
The two most important things you need to make sure are covered are sound and lighting. Run a test over the live stream to make sure your virtual audience can hear the speaker clearly and see everything that is happening. All your efforts will be wasted with a video that is too dark and sound that is garbled.
Beyond that pay attention to the background. The cleaner the backdrop behind your presenters, the better for your virtual audience. They are seeing the presentation as a flat two-dimensional image. So that logo positioned behind the presenter becomes a distracting growth coming out of the side of his head. The seam that is barely noticeable to the face-to-face audience becomes a distracting line projecting from the top of the presenter’s head.
Let your presenter know what color the backdrop will be so they can dress appropriately. If they match the backdrop your virtual audience may be frightened by what appears to be a floating head and hands doing the demo. Also, let them know a white dress becomes washed out on camera and is hard to look at. Navy blue and black suits lose their detail and become blobs. Fine patterns like herringbone and checks produce a wavy effect on camera.
And if you are shooting in HD it is considerate to let your presenter know. They may want to apply a bit of cover-up and dab some powder on oily skin, which is enhanced in high definition. Be sure they understand they have an audience online and remind them to look into the camera every now and again so the virtual audience does not feel ignored Especially when they are taking a question from the virtual audience.
Internet Connection
Plain and simple you are going to need a dedicated T1 line in your booth if you want to create a professional, clear broadcast. You cannot depend on the show’s wireless connection to get you through a broadcast. The bandwidth is not intended for uploading video and your live stream could drop in and out.
Live streaming your booth presentations may seem a daunting task and does require a plan.
Virtual Emcee
To create an interactive experience for your online viewers you may want to have a virtual emcee. This person is present at the event and not only introduces your presenters, but also represents your virtual audience as a whole. The virtual emcee becomes the voice of your virtual audience as well as your virtual audience’s eyes and ears in the room.
She is the bridge that connects your virtual audience to the face-to-face event. She’ll be the one taking questions from your virtual audience and relaying them to the speaker. This can be a professional or someone with an outgoing friendly personality from your company. A good virtual emcee is friendly and easygoing and also able to multi-task.
Instructions On How To Use The Platform
Make sure your virtual audience has all the information they need to participate in your live-streamed presentation. They should know what time it starts and when it will end. Also include instructions for the viewing platform including who to contact for technical problems and how to use the chat function. If you are using a Twitter hashtag be sure to let the audience both in your booth and at home know what it so they can participate that way as well.
Include the presenters’ names, titles, bios and contact information. If the platform has the capability you may want to include a graphic called a lower third that runs at the bottom of the viewing window and tells the audience who is speaking at any given moment. Don’t just flash it at the beginning of the presentation. Include it throughout intermittently.
What To Broadcast
An easier question would be what not to broadcast. The world is your oyster; don’t be afraid to try something new. In-booth presentations that can go virtual are (but certainly not limited to):
Product launches
Product demos
Industry education and interviews with thought leaders
Q&A sessions
I hope you can see an excellent way to get more bang out of your trade show budget is to expand what you are already doing for your face-to-face audience by including the virtual audience.
But this is not something you just tack on at the last minute. This audience must be considered throughout the planning process. Presenters need to be prepped and the environment needs to be designed to accommodate extra equipment while not taking away from your in-person audience.
Traci Browne
Author of “The Social Trade Show – Leveraging Social Media and Virtual Events to Connect With Your Customers www.TheSocialTradeShow.com
Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.
We are just days from SHOT Show! As a reminder, we selected Las Vegas-based ConvExx as our new SHOT Show management company. For the final installment of the series of “who’s who” blog posts to familiarize you with the ConvExx team, meet Regina Clark who will be the Sales Coordinator for SHOT Show. Get to know more members of the management team, here.
Name: Regina Clark
Position/Title at ConvExx: Sales Coordinator
Family Members: Daughter- Rachel
Son- Ryan
Education: Attended college at Missouri State University Warrensburg Mo
Work history: ConvExx for 10 years prior to that I was a stay at home Mom
Favorite book: The DiVinci Code, The Help, Eat, Pray, Love, Autobiographies
Favorite movies: Star Trek series, The Avengers, The Hunger Games, Charlie Chaplin films
Hometown (where were you born): Buffalo, Mo
In Las Vegas since: 2003
Favorite Thing about Vegas: There is always something to do whether it be shows, concerts or special events.
Favorite Quote: Life is a canvas-throw all the paint you can at it. Danny Kaye
What are you most excited about for SHOT: Learning about a new industry.
Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.
In case you haven’t heard the good news, Las Vegas-based ConvExx was named our new SHOT Show management company. For the next installment of the series of “who’s who” blog posts to familiarize you with the ConvExx team, meet Cassandra Stock who will be the Registration Manager for SHOT Show. Get to know more members of the management team, here.
Name: Cassandra Stock
Position/Title at ConvExx: Registration Manager
Family Members: Nicholas (husband of 4 ½ years), Asher (6 ½ month old), and two cats Paris and Sahara (yes, named after the Vegas casinos)
Education: B.S. in Advertising and Public Relations from Southern Utah University
Work history: Experient 06 – 09, ConvExx 09 – present
Hobbies/Sports: Reading, Floating in my pool, Field Hockey
Favorite book: Anything by Nora Roberts
Favorite movies: Love Actually, X-Men Movies
Hometown (where were you born): Augusta, GA but home is Frederick, MD
In Las Vegas since: Lived in Vegas after college from 04 – 05. Ended up moving back in January 2009 for a boy and a job.
Favorite Thing about Vegas: You can find anything you want to eat 24 hours a day! (Very handy when pregnant)
Favorite Quote: “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened” – Dr. Seuss (OR “Whoever said that money can’t buy happiness, simply didn’t know where to go shopping.”) – Bo Derek
What are you most excited about for SHOT: I will be the first to admit that I do not know much about the firearm industry. I am excited for the opportunity to expand my knowledge and work with some really great people along the way. Not to mention, this has to up my cool factor in all of my guy friends eyes!
Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.
Social Media Spotlight: Third of a Four-part Series
The mantra “If you build it, they will come” just isn’t enough these days. The good news is that the mileage potential on your marketing effort has grown exponentially in recent years, and you can now reach hundreds, thousands, millions of customers with little effort. No one knows this better than renowned tradeshow industry consultant and thought leader Traci Browne.
The author of “The Social Trade Show” has graciously provided us with a series of blog posts that we’ll be posting each week for the next four weeks prior to the 2014 SHOT Show.
I’ll also be giving away free copies of Traci’s book. The first two exhibitors (and you need to be a SHOT Show exhibitor to qualify) to send me an email (be sure to include your mailing address) requesting a copy will receive one. Ready. Set. Go!
How To Find Potential Customers On Social Media
Before you can decide which tools you are going to use in your social media strategy, you have to find out where your customers are and what tools they are using. Where are they going to be receptive to your messages? And by messages, we don’t just mean advertising and product pitches. Your customers are looking for support and helpful information.
Facebook – The SHOT Show has a very active Facebook page where they post, not just news about the show, but valuable industry information. This is a great place to meet members of your community and see what they are interested in. Just remember, you want to participate in the conversation…not force your marketing messages on the community.
LinkedIn – If Facebook is a casual party, LinkedIn is all about business. The SHOT Show has their own LinkedIn group, but do a group search on LinkedIn for “sport shooting” and you’ll see there are 14 different groups. Some have just a few members and others have thousands.
Start by observing what members are discussing and jump in when you can offer information people are looking for. This is a great place to bounce new ideas for products and services off enthusiasts.
Twitter – Do you think Twitter is just a place for Justin Bieber fans? Think again. The SHOT Show (@nssfshotshow) has over 10,000 followers and the official Twitter account of USA Shooting (@USAShooting) has over 12,000 followers. Start connecting to their followers and share valuable information with them.
Remember, on Twitter you want to practice the 80/20 rule. Spend 80 percent of your time talking about others and 20 percent talking about yourself. In no time, word will get around, and you’ll develop a good following of your own. Also be sure to stay up-to-date with show information by following the SHOT Show hashtag #SHOTshow. Twitter is great during the show, because it’s quick and easy to use when you are on the move.
What’s in it for you?
It’s important to remember that it’s not only potential customers that are part of your community. The media is spending a lot of time in these online communities as well, and they are on the lookout for a good story and/or experts to interview.
Social media gives a voice to many who would never have been heard from before. Someone in your company could be the next industry thought leader just by participating in these social media communities and putting people in touch with valuable educational information.
When the SHOT Show rolls around attendees will know you as more than just a brand, but a provider of valuable information.
Traci Browne
Author of “The Social Trade Show – Leveraging Social Media and Virtual Events to Connect With Your Customers www.TheSocialTradeShow.com
Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.
Change is good, sometimes! The firearms, exhibition and event industries, as well as the Las Vegas business community, continue to respond positively to the selection of Las Vegas-based ConvExx as our new SHOT Show management company.
The news has been met with encouragement and congratulations from SHOT Show exhibitors and attendees alike.
For the next installment of the series of “who’s who” blog posts to familiarize you with the ConvExx team, meet Sheldon Kaye who will be the Systems Coordinator for SHOT Show.
Name: Sheldon Kaye
Position/Title at ConvExx: Systems Coordinator
Family Members: Wife: Tera
Education: MIS / Accounting Degree from UNLV 2010
Work history: ConvExx has been my only real job besides internships.
Hobbies/Sports: Target shooting, video games, IT consulting
Favorite book: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
Favorite movies: Star Wars, The Shawshank Redemption, Fight Club, Se7en, The Prestige, The Big Lebowski
Hometown (where were you born): Albuquerque, New Mexico
In Las Vegas since: 2005
Favorite Thing about Vegas: Always something new to experience
Favorite Quote: If you can dream it, you can do it. – Walt Disney
What are you most excited about for SHOT: Helping support and grow an industry I am passionate about.
Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.
We are just a couple of weeks til opening day. This year, we selected Las Vegas-based ConvExx as our new SHOT Show management company. For the next installment of the series of “who’s who” blog posts to familiarize you with the ConvExx team, meet Jennifer Carr who will be the Director of Operations for SHOT Show. Get to know more members of the management team, here.
Name: Jennifer Carr, CEM
Position/Title at ConvExx: Director of Operations
Family Members: Dog named Jasper J
Education: Eastern Illinois University
Work history: 2½ yrs in Convention & Tradeshow Department at Smith Bucklin, 11 years at ConvExx
Hobbies/Sports: Swimming, Travel, Chapter Advisor for Sigma Sigma Sigma Sorority at UNLV
Favorite book: Harry Potter Series
Favorite movies: Caddyshack, Shawshank Redemption, Better Off Dead
Hometown (where were you born): Bloomington, IL
In Las Vegas since: Summer of 2002
Favorite Thing about Vegas: Weather
Favorite Quote: don’t have one I can list
What are you most excited about for SHOT: Working with the SHOT team and getting involved with the industry
Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.
We’re sure you are busy getting ready for SHOT Show, but do you know who will be onsite accommodating all of your needs? This year, we selected Las Vegas-based ConvExx as our new SHOT Show management company. For the next installment of the series of “who’s who” blog posts to familiarize you with the ConvExx team, meet Christine Bulmann who will be the Account Executive for SHOT Show. Get to know more members of the management team, here.
Name: Christine Bulmann
ConvExx Title: Account Executive
Family: I have (2) grown boys, 3 grown step children and (5) grandchildren. A lot of family all over the country but no one here in Las Vegas, yet.
Education: B.S. in Management and Marketing, University of St. Francis, Joliet, IL (I graduated college the same year my younger son graduated high school)
Work History: I have worked at various times in the Trade Show/Convention industry for over 30 years. In that time period, I was also an entrepreneur and owned (3) businesses with my family.
Hobbies/Sports: White water river rafting, tennis, and had to give up playing golf but I can still drive a mean golf cart. I love movies and live music.
Favorite Book: Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Life by Dr. Wayne Dyer
Favorite Movies: Titanic, The Last Samuri, The Matrix, Star Trek, Star Wars
Hometown: Born in Evanston, IL (Chicago)
In Las Vegas since: July, 2001 to open an office for a trade show exhibit company
Favorite things about Las Vegas: Not only is Las Vegas the entertainment capital of the world but it is wonderful to see friends and family that come for the Las Vegas destination. And it doesn’t snow here (usually)! A few years ago, my brother was visiting Las Vegas from Chicago in December and we had 3 inches of snow! He was snowed in here in Las Vegas for 2 days and could not get back home to Chicago. True story.
Favorite Quote: “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” Walt Disney
I am most excited about SHOT with the opportunity to be an integral part of one of the largest trade shows in Las Vegas. Both the exhibitors and attendees need our assistance in making these 4 days the most successful as is possible for their investment of time, effort and dollars.
Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.
Social Media Spotlight: Second of a Four-part Series
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what’s the price of a moving picture? Some video is worthy of high-quality production but you can also get a decent bang for your buck with a smartphone and a quick upload to YouTube. No one knows this better than renowned trade-show industry consultant and thought leader Traci Browne.
The author of “The Social Trade Show” has graciously provided us with a series of blog posts that we’ll be posting each week for the next four weeks prior to the 2014 SHOT Show.
I’ll also be giving away free copies of Traci’s book each week. The first two exhibitors (and you need to be a SHOT Show exhibitor to qualify) to send me an email (be sure to include your mailing address) requesting a copy will receive one. Ready. Set. Go!
Five Tips on Using Video To Generate Excitement
With YouTube being the second most popular search engine just behind Google and 800 million unique users visiting each month, why wouldn’t you want to add video to your marketing mix?
1. Give SHOT Show attendees a sneak peek at new products or services.
Are you introducing a new product or service at SHOT Show this year? Give attendees a little taste of what you are going to present and get them excited about coming to your booth to see the real thing. Don’t give away too much on the video. If it’s a product you could just show the silhouette and leave them hungry for more.
Do you have a new service? Tease attendees with a few key features and invite them to your booth to find out how it can benefit them. The idea here is to present just enough information to leave them wanting more.
2. Use video to tell attendees about a big announcement you are making at the show.
Some companies only need to mention they are making an announcement at the show to generate excitement. Maybe you want to keep it top secret and even a peek at your product is too much to reveal. Create a video that lets attendees know where and when you are making your announcement and then be sure you’re ready for the crowd. For an idea how to do this, take a look at Samsung’s teaser video for their product launch at International CTIA Wireless 2011.
Just make sure your announcement warrants something so secretive, or it will backfire when attendees leave your booth having expected something bigger.
3. Create a video invite to your presentation.
Are you presenting as part of the SHOT Show educational program? Or even an educational presentation in your booth? Give attendees a taste of what they can expect by having your presenter share key takeaways of the presentation.
Keep it short. The object isn’t to give a condensed version of the entire presentation — just good reasons for why they should attend and what they’ll miss out on if they don’t. And don’t forget to include dates, times and locations for the presentation in your video.
4. Use video to live stream or capture in booth presentations
Not everyone is going to be able to attend your live presentation. Have someone capture it on video, so it’s available to attendees later. And not just attendees but once it’s online you have a nice piece of marketing the whole world can view.
Just make sure if you are shooting video of a product demo the camera should be focused on the product — not the speaker. Also be sure to zoom in on key features as they are presented.
5. Capture amazing marketing moments during the show.
You just never know when marketing gold is going to walk into your booth during a show. Have that video camera ready for impromptu interviews with customers who are excited about your company and or your products. No one can sell you better than a happy client.
Otterbox captured a great customer testimonial in their booth when one excited customer stopped by to see what was new. You can view that video, here.
A good video should be representative of your customer, engage the viewer, show not tell, and be shorter than 3-5 minutes. It should also have a clear call to action at the end.
Post these great videos on YouTube and start sharing. Just don’t forget to take the time to include keyword tags when you are posting to YouTube so people can find them when they are searching the Internet.
Traci Browne
Author of “The Social Trade Show – Leveraging Social Media and Virtual Events to Connect With Your Customers” www.TheSocialTradeShow.com
Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.
The 2014 app places everything SHOT Show at your fingertips: educational sessions, events and appearances, discounts and rebates, product showcase and floorplans. Its advanced features will provide you with a truly personalized experience: create shortlists in the Show Planner, plan your agenda, request appointments and callbacks, take notes, create a SmartRoute and more.
To help make using the app easier, the Sands Expo recently completed a $1.6 million WiFi upgrade across the convention center’s 2.2 million square feet of flexible exhibition and meeting space.
All-in-all I’m confident that you’ll like the 2014 SHOT Show Mobile app. We encourage you to download it and begin familiarizing yourself with it.
NSSF is proud to announce that the SHOT Show Birdies for the Brave golf outing at TPC Summerlin raised more than $100,000 for military homefront groups.
“Thank you to the PGA Tour, to Birdies for the Brave and for your leadership and unwavering support of the United States Military,” said retired Navy Vice Adm. Joe Maguire, President and CEO of the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, an organization that recently paid the tuitions of 19 sons and daughters of brave soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan. The Special Operations Warrior Foundation believes that no child should be provided with less opportunity because of their parents’ brave sacrifice to our nation.
Name: Regina Clark
Name: Cassandra Stock
LinkedIn – If Facebook is a casual party, LinkedIn is all about business. The SHOT Show has their own 
Name: Sheldon Kaye
Name: Jennifer Carr, CEM
Name: Christine Bulmann