35 years – SHOT Show Blog

Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show Sets Attendance Records

The Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show^®) concluded four successful days at the Sands Expo and Convention Center, setting new attendance records and marking the 35^th anniversary of the event.

The largest trade show of its kind in the world and the fifth largest trade show in Las Vegas, the SHOT Show attracted a record overall attendance of 62,371, including a new high for buyers and more than 2,000 media representatives. More than 1,600 exhibitors filled booth space covering 630,000 net square feet. The show, which is a trade-only event, attracted industry professionals from all 50 states and 100 countries.

Exhibitors and attendees alike said the SHOT Show is critical to the success of their businesses.

“The SHOT Show is the springboard for every new product that we introduce each year,” said Frank Devlin of Otis Technology. “It gives industry the opportunity to see our new products and allows us to get feedback from them to know that we are heading in the right direction.”

John Anthon, president of GATCO Sharpeners/Timberline Knives, said, “For the 24 years we’ve been going, the SHOT Show is the most important show we do each year. It is the largest venue globally and the most important. Every important customer comes to the show for that reason.”

Industry veteran Ron Coburn of Savage Arms said, “It’s the industry’s trade show. Everybody who’s in the trade needs to be here to see what’s going on. It’s the place to see friends and showcase our own products.”

Dwight Van Brunt of Kimber said, “It’s a powerhouse show—the place where you can talk to writers, dealers and industry VIPs.”

“We get to talk to our biggest customers and show them what we have,” said Ernie Callandrelli of Quaker Boy Inc. “We’ve been here all 35 years of the show, so two important benefits are seeing old friends and building key relationships.”

The SHOT Show is owned and sponsored by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry. Revenues from the show support NSSF’s many programs that carry out its mission of promoting, protecting and preserving hunting and the shooting sports, along with promoting responsible firearms ownership and safe storage practices.

Showgoers recognize that the SHOT Show’s importance to industry extends beyond selling and buying on the show floor. “What this show generates for our cause is absolutely critical,” said Tom Taylor of Mossberg. Added Steve Lamboy of Micheli-Lamboy Marketing, “We need to communicate more to our members that the funds from this show are going to build the entire future of our industry.”

The $4.1 billion firearms and ammunition industry supports many small businesses and helps preserve the more than 200,000 jobs associated with the shooting sports.

NSSF added significantly to its membership ranks at the show, pushing its overall total of supporters to more than 8,300.

With the show taking place amid heightened national attention about firearms ownership and potential legislation, NSSF President and CEO Steve Sanetti addressed more than 1,800 industry leaders at the State of the Industry Dinner. “I don’t think many of those who disagree with what we do appreciate the many things we’ve done to advocate personal responsibility with firearms,” Sanetti said.

“Ours is a responsible industry,” said Sanetti, “that makes and sells lawful products to law-abiding citizens. They in turn exercise their constitutional right to own, use and enjoy firearms safely and responsibly for all lawful purposes.”

NSSF supporters filled the sold-out hall for the State of the Industry event, which was sponsored by Outdoor Channel and included a review of NSSF’s accomplishment from the past year and entertainment from popular ventriloquist and impersonator Terry Fator.

Many awards are presented at the show. NSSF presented FMG Publications with its Ken Sedlecky Achievement Award for its longstanding support of NSSF’s First Shots program through funds raised at its Shooting Industry Master events.

Retired NSSF President Doug Painter was honored with the Professional Outdoor Media Association-NSSF Grits Gresham Shooting Sports Communicator Award for extraordinary achievements in communications in support of hunting’s heritage and firearms freedoms.

Approximately half of the media on hand to cover the show attended SHOT Show Media Day at the Range, where they had the opportunity to review and test products offered by 100 exhibitors.

In conjunction with the SHOT Show, NSSF sponsored the PGA Charities’ Birdies for the Brave golf tournament that raised $100,000 for groups that provide support for injured armed service veterans.

The SHOT Show will return to the Sands Expo & Convention Center January 14-17, 2014.

“Hats off and thank you to the NSSF for putting on a great SHOT Show,” summed up Dave Baron of Baron Technologies.

SHOT Show’s Host Cities: SHOT Show at 35

It’s hard to believe for those that have been there from the beginning, but 2013 will mark the 35th SHOT Show. Throughout the year we’ll be looking back at the show’s history, from its inception in 1978 and its official opening in 1979, up to where it stands today as one of the largest and most vibrant trade shows in the world.

The Elite Eight: SHOT Show’s Host Cities

Only eight cities have served as home to the NSSF-owned Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show in its 35-year history. From a modest start in 1979 in St. Louis, the SHOT Show has increased in size and importance, consistently ranking among the largest trade shows in North America.

Year	City	Attendees
1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012	St. Louis San Francisco New Orleans Atlanta Dallas Dallas Atlanta Houston New Orleans Las Vegas Dallas Las Vegas Dallas New Orleans Houston Dallas Las Vegas Dallas Las Vegas Las Vegas Atlanta Las Vegas New Orleans Las Vegas Orlando Las Vegas Las Vegas Las Vegas Orlando Las Vegas Orlando Las Vegas Las Vegas Las Vegas	5,600 8,500 17,800 17,850 20,000 22,000 19,200 20,950 19,500 19,800 23,500 23,523 25,525 23,262 25,030 27,800 29,600 28,500 35,102 32,759 25,814 29,607 25,496 31,342 27,494 33,264 37,730 40,892 42,216 58,769 48,907 58,444 57,390 61,017

A Look Back at the First SHOT Show: SHOT Show at 35

St. Louis, 1979: A Look Back at the First SHOT Show

SHOT Show Directory, St. Louis 1979 — The first SHOT Show Directory was 100 pages, one quarter the size of recent show directories.

On Jan. 19, 1979, at the opening ceremonies of the first SHOT Show, Bill Talley, chairman of the NSSF Board of Governors, remarked, “This show, soon to open, is the realization of a dream of many years. We’ve long wanted a forum for products allied with hunting and shooting, and now we have it. The support and enthusiasm you have all displayed has been extremely encouraging, and we know that this will be an important beginning for an annual event of growing influence.” Prophetic words, indeed.

The St. Louis SHOT Show opened its doors with 290 exhibitors occupying a total of 52,153 net square feet of exhibit space. Show manager at the time, Jerry Van Dijk, admitted a few years later that he had laid out the show with aisles on the diagonal to create the illusion of a larger overall footprint. There was, however, no illusion in respect to the success of this inaugural event.

Fears about the lack of dealer support were laid to rest when almost 4,700 attendees crowded the show floor and kept manufacturers busy for three days. As the show wound down, press notices were highly favorable, with all segments of the industry–dealers, distributors and manufacturers–overwhelmingly endorsing the SHOT Show as “the” annual trade event for our industry.” Harm Williams, at the time president of Browning, summed it up when he said, “In retrospect, I don’t know why we were so worried in the first place.”

Developed for the first SHOT Show, the “hunter and dog” SHOT Show logo was used through the 2010 show.

The SHOT Show was a turning point not only for NSSF but for industry as a whole. For NSSF, the show not only provided significant new funding but also substantially raised the visibility and stature of NSSF within the entire hunting and shooting-sports community.

The show was also the first time the industry–not only major firearms and ammunition manufacturers, but hundreds of companies whose products are used in the hunting and shooting-sports world–united behind a common cause. After 1979, industry companies no longer formed just a “section” of the sporting-goods business but instead had their own showcase event, one that allowed many companies to dramatically grow their businesses and enabled everyone to stand proudly together.

Up Next: The Elite Eight: SHOT Show’s Host Cities

Former Texas Governor John Connally (center right) joins St. Louis Mayor John Conway in cutting the ribbon to officially open the first SHOT Show on January 19, 1979.

From its earliest days SHOT Show has received excellent coverage from outdoor and mainstream media.

A busy show floor and 290 exhibiting companies marked the first SHOT Show at the St. Louis Convention Center.

How SHOT Got Its Name and Plans for the First Show: SHOT Show at 35

How SHOT Got Its Name and Plans for the First Show

Two men who played major roles in creating the first SHOT Show, Arnold H. "Rock" Rohlfing, executive director of NSSF, and Bill Talley, senior vice president of Winchester Group, Olin, at the first SHOT Show.

After getting the green light from industry in 1977, an NSSF-appointed committee began work on planning the first show.

Show committee member Ted Rowe, then president of Harrington & Richardson, came up with the now-famous acronym.

“I guess,” said Rowe at the time, “I am usually given credit for the name. The show committee was fiddling with other combinations of the letters and then ‘SHOT’ just seemed to be a natural.”

The name SHOT (for Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade) was adopted as the official name for the show.

With the groundwork in place, plans for the first show went into high gear during 1978.

An extensive direct-mail and trade-advertising campaign was launched featuring the original SHOT Show slogan, “We Won’t Waste Your Time.” Former Texas Gov. John Connally accepted an invitation to be the keynote speaker as part of the grand-opening ceremonies that were planned.

As opening day grew closer, there was considerable speculation about the potential success — or failure — of a trade exposition exclusive to the firearms industry. While exhibit-space sales had been encouraging, would retailers from across the country attend?

“Hunting buyers are cool to the idea of an NSSF Show” was the headline in a story in one trade magazine. The president of one large sporting-goods dealership was quoted as saying, “There are too many shows to attend now . . . the last thing we need is another show to kick tires at.”

On the eve of the first show, even NSSF’s then executive director, Arnold H. “Rock” Rohlfing, was quoted as saying, “Boys, I sure as hell hope someone shows up tomorrow morning.”

Rohlfing need not have worried. All the hard work of the many who were involved in the planning and execution of the first SHOT Show paid off.

At 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 1979, the first SHOT Show opened its doors and almost 4,700 attendees crowded its floors.

Up Next: The First SHOT Show

How It All Began: SHOT Show at 35

It’s hard to believe for those that have been there from the beginning, but 2013 will mark the 35th SHOT Show. Starting today and continuing up until the show, we’ll look back at the show’s history, from its inception in 1978 and its official opening in 1979, up to where it stands today as one of the largest and most vibrant trade shows in the world.

How It All Began

For many years prior to the SHOT Show, NSSF and industry companies were exhibitors at the National Sporting Goods Association's trade show.

For many years before the formation of the SHOT Show, industry companies — from firearms and ammunition manufacturers to hunting and shooting sports accessory firms — had exhibited at the National Sporting Goods Association’s (NSGA) annual trade exposition, a show that encompassed a broad range of sporting equipment, from team sports to camping and fishing supplies.

In its heyday the NSGA show was considered a “mega show,” attracting close to 3,000 exhibitors and from a purely business perspective it was an attractive and successful venue for individual exhibitors in the shooting, hunting and outdoor industry.

During the mid-70s, the National Shooting Sports Foundation had developed major new programs and desired to continue to expand educational, safety and promotional efforts. This prompted NSSF and its Board of Governors to consider options for new funding sources.

Since its formation in 1961, NSSF’s sole funding — as with most industry associations — was from member dues. Some 15 years later, with essentially all the major companies in the industry as strong NSSF supporters, significant new income would have to be generated from a source other than membership.

Facing similar challenges, other industry associations had started their industry’s own trade show. Was it now NSSF’s turn? Was the firearms industry now ready to break away from the NSGA show and stand on its own two feet? The key question came down to this: Did the NSSF membership want to take a chance on a new venture that, if successful, would enable the Foundation to become a stronger and more capable entity that would better be able to meet the industry’s current and future challenges?

In the summer of 1977, NSSF mailed a questionnaire to hundreds of industry companies to gauge their interest in starting a separate trade show. When the responses were tallied, 81 percent of potential exhibitors voted “yes” for a new show.

With a green light from industry, NSSF formed a committee to direct the launch of the new trade show. The Charles Snitow Organization (later the Cahners Exposition Group and now part of Reed Exhibitions) was selected to manage the show. St. Louis was selected as the site for the inaugural event because of its central location.

Up Next: How the show got its name and preparations for the first SHOT Show.