The 2011 Exhibitor Manual is now live online at www.shotshow.org.
Exhibitors can access the manual to:
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In order to protect our valued exhibitors and their investment in attending the SHOT Show and in supporting NSSF’s mission as the industry’s trade association, our rules strictly prohibit solicitation, “suitcasing” or “outboarding” by attendees who transact business at the show or in SHOT Show hotels and do NOT have exhibit booths.
What are suitcasing and outboarding?
Suitcasing and outboarding are unethical parasitic business practices in which non-exhibitors attempt to gain access to trade show attendees and/or exhibitors. These practices skirt the support of the organizer and the industry.
Suitcasing refers to those non-exhibiting companies or persons who go to shows as an attendee but “work the aisles” from their suitcase (briefcase) and solicit business in the aisles or lobby area.
An example of this occurred last year when a well-known cutlery maker sent out alerts to potential customers that while they will not be exhibiting this year they will have personnel walking the show floor and will be offering a SHOT Show Special. To protect our exhibitors and their investment, we revoked that company’s SHOT Show credentials and escorted them from the show floor.
Outboarding refers to non-exhibiting companies that set up exhibits at off-site locations — hotel hospitality suites or restaurants — and encourage show attendees to leave the show floor and spend time with them.
An example of this occurred last year when rather than exhibit at the 2010 SHOT Show, a well-known firearms maker set up a hospitality room in a hotel off the show floor and invited retailers to leave the show floor and visit their suite. To protect our exhibitors, the hotel agreed to shut down the suite, as provided for in its contract with the SHOT Show. The manufacturer attempted to relocate to yet another hotel, which refused to allow the manufacturer to outboard the show.
By suitcasing or outboarding the show, an attendee gains an unfair competitive advantage over SHOT Show exhibitors that have invested money and other resources to exhibit and deprives NSSF (as the show’s owner) of income we use to support our many programs and initiatives. Please keep in mind, this is not just a SHOT Show policy; it is an industry standard recognized by the International Association of Exhibitions and Events (IAEE).
Any SHOT Show attendee, who is observed to be soliciting business in the aisles or other public spaces, or uninvited attendees in another company’s booth, will be asked to leave immediately. Likewise, known commercial activity conducted from a hotel guest room or hospitality suite, a restaurant or any other public place in proximity to the SHOT Show by non-exhibiting companies, will be shut down. Those found to be involved with suitcasing or outboarding will no longer be welcome at the SHOT Show.
For more information on suitcasing and outboarding, please visit the IAEE website.
Media at the 2011 SHOT Show will notice several improvements to the show’s press room. Not only will the room be five times the size of last year’s press room, but there will also be some new features that are sure to please our growing contingent of working press.
The following update comes from Mark Thomas, NSSF’s managing director, marketing communications:
In the next week or so, you will be receiving information on how to register. We strongly recommend using our convenient online registration system to cut down on your wait time to gain credentials and make your show as productive and efficient as possible. We look forward to seeing you in January at the 2011 SHOT Show, and please don’t hesitate to contact us for story ideas.
Attendee registration for the 2011 SHOT Show is now open at www.shotshow.org.
In a short video invitation, National Shooting Sports Foundation Chairman Bob Scott encourages all buyers and retailers to sharpen their competitive edge by attending the 2011 show in Las Vegas.
“Our new SHOT Show logo is just the beginning of what’s new and changed at this year’s SHOT Show,” said Scott.
Watch the video and register today for NSSF’s 2011 SHOT Show.
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We were pleased to learn that our SHOT Show partner The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino has been honored for the fourth year in a row with “elite” status for the Gold Key and Gold Platter awards.
The prestigious honor was awarded by Meetings and Conventions magazine for 2010 based on voters’ experiences.
The Venetian is the only property in Las Vegas to consistently receive the “elite” status over the past four years; the Venetian has won the Gold Key award 11 years in a row and the Gold Platter award nine years in a row.
The Gold Key award recognizes the property for staff attitude, quality of meeting rooms, quality of guest services, quality of food and beverage service, proficiency of handling reservations, technical/support equipment and range of recreational facilities, while the Gold Platter award recognizes the resort’s catering department for excellence displayed in creativity and culinary experience through staff enthusiasm and professionalism, quality of food presentation, creativity of menu, originality of theme-party concepts, helpfulness and budgeting considerations, excellence of staff service and dining room ambiance.
Congratulations to The Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino!
Exhibitors at the 2011 show will have a much easier time identifying true “buyers” thanks to changes to the attendee-registration process.
Attendee badges will be more specific, enabling exhibitors to better identify various buyer categories.
This change is based on feedback from our exhibitors, who stated that the traditional red attendee badges used at the show do not clearly identify who from an organization is the decision-maker in buying.
Web-based registration will start out by asking if attendees are buyers or non-buyers. From there, the attendee will filter through the demographic questions that will assist us in determining the categories of people attending the show.
Past show attendees should be able to find their information in the system and should move through the process quickly. The identification and verification policy that was started at the 2010 show will continue for the 2011 show.
In addition, attendees will be able to purchase tickets to SHOT Show University, State of the Industry Dinner, register for free education sessions online within the registration process and have the ability to pay for registration and special-event fees.
SHOT Show has initiated a modest price increase for attendee registration. As many of you are aware, the show has not increased its registration prices since 2007.
Online attendee registration will be available at www.shotshow.org starting the first week of September.
We encourage all attendees to register in advance of the show.
One advantage to registering for the show in advance is the convenience of having your badge mailed to you ahead of time.
If you choose to wait and register on site, you will end up paying more and you also risk spending time standing in line that could be better spent on the show floor.
We look forward to seeing you all at the 2011 SHOT Show.
Thanks to everyone who participated in our second live chat.
Many of the questions focused on booth selection, floor-plan layout and our plans for enhancing the customer experience.
NSSF, Reed Exhibitions and the Sands Expo & Convention Center have been working on improving that experience.
Our SHOT Show committee will conduct a site inspection in Las Vegas in early October, so we can see the renovations first-hand. When we return, we’ll host another live chat to report on our findings, and I hope to post a few pictures as well.
If you missed the chat, you can view it at nssf.org/shotshowchat.
NSSF Senior Vice President Chris Dolnack introduces the new SHOT Show logo and discusses a few planned adjustments for the 2011 SHOT Show.
One of NSSF's many strengths is solving problems by listening to you — our members, customers and influential leaders.
Over the past several years, you have told us that the SHOT Show logo is dated and does not reflect the show's exhibitors, attendees and key audiences. For the first time in 34 years, beginning with the 2011 SHOT Show, we are updating our SHOT Show logo with a more contemporary take on the logo that served us well for more than three decades and draws upon the brand equity the SHOT Show already owns.
The target is the evolutionary element we carried over from the past logo. The font is a san-serif font, which is more readable and modern. By eliminating the hunter and the dog, the logo now better reflects shooting, hunting and law enforcement. We have used the NSSF green in the target element to bind it closer to NSSF.
We strongly believe that this logo will help us communicate the show as it is today and be much stronger graphically. We have already seen its power on mock-up signage for the upcoming show, which was one of the major complaints we received from last year's attendees. This logo, due to its unique elements and clean look, makes the signage pop, easier to read and work with in all types of marketing and communication scenarios.
The selection of the new SHOT Show logo culminates an 18-month process in which we saw over 390 logo suggestions from two outside award-winning design firms and our own in-house creative services department, which designed the logo you see here.