Comedian Bill Engvall to Perform at SHOT Show State of the Industry Dinner

He’s a hunter. He’s a target shooter. He’s one of the top comedians in America today — and among the busiest. He’ll also be our 2015 SHOT Show State of the Industry featured entertainer.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation is pleased to announce that comedian Bill Engvall will perform at the SHOT Show’s annual State of the Industry Dinner, set for Jan. 20, the first evening of the show in Las Vegas.

Bill has starred in numerous television shows, including solo specials, and appeared in several feature films. He is perhaps best known as part of the enormously successful Blue Collar Comedy concert films, which have sold more than 9 million units and are some of the most watched movies and special in Comedy Central history. The soundtrack for Blue Collar Comedy Tour — One For The Road (Warner Bros./Jack Records) was also nominated for a Grammy Award. This fall, he appeared on the top TV hit, “Dancing with the Stars.”

Bill has been at the SHOT Show before and proudly supports America’s hunting and recreational shooting traditions, so he knows that a full house will warmly welcome him.

We look forward to seeing everyone in Las Vegas next month at our biggest and best State of the Industry Dinner to date.

Learn more and order tickets here.

 

Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.

Are You an NSSF Member? If so, Save Big on SHOT Show Registration Fees

NSSF is urging all members of the firearms industry to complete their registration to attend the 2015 SHOT Show now and to take advantage of the significant savings offered to NSSF members during registration.

Due to multiple trade shows taking place at the same time, hotel rooms across Las Vegas are in exceptional demand during this year’s SHOT Show and we want to make sure everyone who wants to attend can and has a place to stay. It is critical that everyone who plans to attend the show complete the registration process as soon as possible.

As an incentive, remember that this year qualified NSSF buyer members receive a complimentary ticket to attend the show, and we’ve reduced the price of NSSF retailer and range member registration for SHOT Show by 50 percent over the non-member pricing. Join NSSF now as a retailer or range member (some other buyer categories also apply) and the fee to attend SHOT Show is just $35, half that of the $70 non-member fee.

NSSF also discounts the non-buyer member rate. NSSF members who are not buyers can register to attend the show for just $175 versus $350 for non-NSSF members. Media, as always, may attend the show for free, but still must register if they did not receive the emailed invitation to register.

If there’s only one trade show you can attend, this is the one you don’t want to miss. Register now. Join NSSF here.

 

Diedra Cauley is the Director, Exhibitions and Conferences, for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow her on Twitter at @dcauley.

NSSF Statement on Jay Leno Cancellation of SHOT Show Appearance

We are clearly disappointed by Jay Leno’s decision not to perform at the 2015 SHOT Show State of the Industry Dinner. He unilaterally cancelled his promised appearance due to pressure from the anti-gun lobby, which included false statements about our industry and its commitment to genuine firearms safety, which we attempted to personally correct with him, but to no avail.

We are not deterred by their publicity seeking nor are we unfamiliar with the bullying political tactics of the gun control groups that seem to have as little respect for the First Amendment as they continually demonstrate with regard to the Second Amendment.

We are proud of the many programs that we run that meaningfully contribute to public safety including our long standing Project ChildSafe and Don’t Lie for the Other Guy initiatives in addition to our members everyday work in compliance with comprehensive federal and state laws. We will not allow the lawful commerce in firearms nor our industry to be demonized and we will continue to speak out for the Second Amendment rights of the millions of law-abiding citizens who are our customers.

Despite Mr. Leno’s cancellation, we look forward to having our biggest and best State of the Industry Dinner to date with a performer that respects the contributions of our industry and the customers it supports.

Exhibitors, Advertisers—SHOT Show Directory Deadline is Friday!

There are dozens of ways for exhibitors to get noticed at SHOT Show, but the one every attendee—media, buyers, range owners, retailers, and more—will see is the SHOT Show Directory. This is the book every show attendee uses to find you on the show floor and make contact with you throughout the year after the show is over.

It is crucial that all exhibitors must have their company update information submitted for listing in the Directory by the close of business this Friday, November 7. This is also the deadline for exhibitors and companies who wish to reserve advertising space in the directory.

“If there’s only one place you can afford to be seen this year, make sure it’s the 2015 SHOT Show Directory,” said Chris Tatulli, NSSF Director, Exhibit & Sponsorship Sales. “With more than 1,600 exhibitors, this is the single resource every one of the more than 62,000 attendees at the show will have in their hands, and the one resource each of those people will use every day, every week and every month throughout the year to contact you. Additionally, all exhibitors and advertisers displaying in the Directory will automatically find their listing on shotshow.org (a PDF of the full and final exhibitor listing will be uploaded there in the weeks before the show opens), and the Directory ties directly to the SHOT Show Mobile App so that attendees can instantly locate your booth and set appointments. Do not let the deadline pass to have your company information accurately updated or reserve the additional advertising space you need in the Directory.”

For more information on having your company exhibitor information displayed in the 2015 SHOT Show Directory, contact exhibitorhelp@shot.convexx.com. Those needing to reserve advertising space should contact Chris Tatulli, ctatulli@nssf.org. You can also click here to access your Exhibitor Dashboard and update your company information for the printed directory, online Show planner, and mobile app. You will need your exhibitor ID to log in. If you do not have your exhibitor ID, contact Show Management at 855-355-7468 or email regmgr@shot.convexx.com.

Dave Jeannette is Senior Director, Sales for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @DaveJeannette.

SHOT Show Exhibitors—10 Tips For Successful Press Kits

As an exhibitor at SHOT Show, your primary focus is, without a doubt, about selling. For just a few short days, you have the highest number of current and potential clients available to learn about what you offer in a face-to-face setting—and there’s no better way to sell. But wholesalers and retailers aren’t the only folks who need what you have.

I’m talking about the media. No, they don’t need 20 or 2,000 or 20,000 cases of what you’re selling like a buyer for a range or retail store would (though they might need a sample for testing and evaluation). What they need from you at the show is information—and they need it in a press kit.

Truly, the magazine staff, bloggers, photographers, radio hosts and videographers you’ll meet at SHOT are, perhaps, your greatest selling tool after the show. These are the people the consumer trusts to tell it like it is before they invest their next paycheck in a $35 duck call or a $55 box of specialty ammunition or a $2,500 binocular. But they can’t get the word out without you.

Press kits should be at the top of your show marketing tool lists. If you haven’t composed one before, and even if you’ve provided them in the past, here are 10 tips that can make this easy on you and have every media person there grinning from ear to ear and sharing your business all year long.

  1. Digital is a must. Gone are the days when media returned home from with SHOT lugging cartons of catalogs and CDs. At the most, your press kit should sit on a collection of portable computer flash drives. Even better? Make it a website portal and put that website address on a media-only business card to hand out, eliminating annoying passwords and IDs media members have to remember.
  2. At the very least, your products should be photographed on a white background. All photos should be hi-resolution, full-color and with a minimum size of 300 dpi. That said, writers appreciate it when they have a variety of images to choose from. Variety helps your products appear fresh and exciting in the many publications and websites they may appear—and most writers sell their stories to more than one place. Take photos of your product from varying angles, with different backdrops, and include realistic action photos with humans actually using them if possible. Not sure of your photographic abilities? Hire a local photographer to spend a day with you—it’s a few hundred dollars that could reap huge benefits for you when those pics get coverage by the press.
  3. This may sound tedious, but rename your photo files with the product they are. Happyduckcall1.jpeg, 223bestboattailever2.jpeg, Riflemodellongrange2miler3.jpeg. When writers are working with editors and graphic artists to coordinate text and captions and photos, having a list of photos with file names like 987X$5nh123@#.jpeg can get very confusing, very quickly—and the last thing you want to see is your tack-driving wondergun Long-Range 2-Miler identified as a .22-caliber youth model.
  4. Put photos of both your brand new products and all other current products you’re selling in your media kit. If you’re still making it, you’re still selling it. Remember, too, that media need material all year long, and the brand new stuff gets covered early and often.
  5. Create a press release or at least a full specification sheet for each new product you’re introducing at SHOT or soon after. Help the press selling your product by selling them on it first!
  6. Put your press releases in Microsoft Word documents at least of generation Word 97-2004 Document (.doc suffix). Most writers we talked with didn’t like PDFs, and don’t even think about using something weird like Google Docs or Microsoft One Note, or some other ancient typing foundation like Word Perfect or Text Maker.
  7. Clearly identify exactly who your media contact person is and be sure to include their phone number and e-mail. One of the constant complaints we hear from press members is that all they often get for a contact is some media@whatevercompany.com general mailbox that never gets looked at, never gets responded to.
  8. Clipart of your company logo and branding images are appreciated.
  9. Most press members we talked to say they do not need your entire catalog PDF’ed in a press kit.
  10. Keep it organized. Simple things like labeling product folders on a jump drive (or in a dropdown on a media-only web page) as “New Products 2015,” “All Current 2015 Products,” “New Product Images 2015,” etc., can go a long way toward making sure your products are correctly identified in the press.

One final tip. If you run out of press kits during SHOT and a press member asks you to mail them one, do it—and we do not mean months after SHOT Show is nothing but a distant memory. Magazines and other print media highlighting new products go to press within weeks of SHOT Show ending. Web, of course, is most often in real time. After the flurry of new product write-ups are over, the press is in the field, this time using and testing all those products so that they can produce more articles on them. Take six months to mail a press kit and you might as well just say, “I’ll catch you next year.”

5 Important Resources of SHOT Show

As the size of the SHOT Show continues to increase, it seems like more questions are asked by attendees. To ensure you and your company are ready for everything the SHOT Show can throw at you, utilizing the many SHOT Show resources is crucial.

With the steady advances in technology, the many SHOT Show resources are rarely out of reach. Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets have incredible power that can be essential to have at the show. Remember, help is literally at your fingertips!

Here are five valuable SHOT Show resources:

 

1. The Website

The SHOT Show website is a “one stop shop” for answers, because it gives you access to all of the SHOT Show resources . Exhibitors, media and other attendees can browse through commonly asked questions that appear throughout all phases of the show. From booth information to sponsorship opportunities, the SHOT Show website is a resource that you can use to find most answers.

 

2. Social Media

Whether you are in the heat of the action or preparing for the show well in advance, social media is a valuable resource for timely, important information. Social media offers a unique way to find answers and news by providing a live channel of information from everyone attending the show. Follow the SHOT Show action on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.

If you have a SHOT Show related question, tag either me (@dcauley) or @ChrisDolnack on Twitter.

 

3. Blog

The SHOT Show blog brings you the latest news and advice from the people running the show. It’s a great source for anyone interesting in learning more about the show.

 

4. The App

Are you looking for an easier way to stay on track at SHOT Show? The SHOT Show Mobile app allows you to view the SHOT Show schedules, discounts/rebates and floorplans. The app also features advanced settings that allow you to create notes, plan your agenda, request appointments and callbacks, create smartroutes and more.

 

5. SHOT Show Hotline

The SHOT Show Hotline is the most direct route to get answers about the show. The 24/7 service is available for any questions regarding travel, lodging, logistics, booth information, events and other SHOT Show inquiries.

U.S. (toll free): 855-355-7468
International: 203-270-2370

We are here for you!

Diedra Cauley is the director of exhibitions and conferences for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow her on Twitter at @dcauley.

2015 Registration Fees and NSSF Member Discounts

Your participation in the SHOT Show funds and supports the many NSSF programs that promote safety, protect our industry, and ensure the sports and livelihood we love are sustainable for years to come. However, with mounting pressure for increased gun regulation and restrictions, the NSSF’s government advocacy initiatives need more reinforcements than ever — your registration fees have a direct impact on our ability to continue our aggressive and focused initiatives on Capitol Hill.

The 2015 SHOT Show registration fees are being modified as a result of growing demand for aggressive advocacy and regulatory initiatives on behalf of our industry. You can further support these initiatives by joining the NSSF membership.

The NSSF is pleased to announce that not only does each qualifying NSSF Member company receive one complimentary SHOT Show registration, we’re also providing new, discounted SHOT Show registration fees for our valued, current buyer members:

Qualified Buyer Categories

Pre-Registration:
NSSF Members $35 (Non-members $70)
(members must register before Jan. 13, 2015 to qualify for pre-registration)

After the Pre-Registration Deadline or Onsite:
NSSF Members $70 (Non-members $140)

Registration fees for all non-buyer categories will remain the same as previous years:

Pre-Registration: $175
After the Pre-Registration Deadline or Onsite: $350

To qualify for these special member discounts, members must:

  • Register using their NSSF membership number
  • Attendee must be an NSSF member company with appropriate credentials to attend SHOT Show as a buyer. One complimentary registration per NSSF member company.

Registration for the 2015 SHOT Show will begin mid-August (specific date to be announced soon). For more information on how to register for the SHOT Show and receive your member discount, go to shotshow.org. To apply for NSSF membership or renew a lapsed membership, please click here or call 203-426-1320, ext. 209.

Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.

First SHOT Show Exhibitor Academy a Hit

Last week in Las Vegas, representatives from 100 exhibiting companies attended the first-ever SHOT Show Exhibitor Academy to learn how to maximize their time and budgets while exhibiting at the world’s largest trade show for shooting, hunting, outdoor and law enforcement products.  Filled to capacity, our first SHOT Show Exhibitor Academy was a home run and included presentations on how to build the right booth, garner media attention, use social media, develop a show budget and navigate the show’s Exhibitor Resource Center, in addition to meeting and asking questions of the show’s management team.

Attendees were also treated to a back of the house tour of the Sands and the opportunity to experience several potential hospitality venues first-hand.  One of the highlights was a presentation on using social media to promote your exhibit by social media expert and book author Traci Browne.

Another was the opportunity to meet one-on-one with individual SHOT Show vendors including the Sands Expo, Freeman, CompuSystems, Century Security, onPeak, Venetian/Palazzo and all of the hotel partners in Las Vegas, as well as many other vendors that help produce the SHOT Show each year.

Our goal was to provide exhibitors with information that would make their SHOT Show experience more cost-effective and less stressful while increasing their ROI.  I’m pleased to tell you that 97% of the attendees said that they would recommend SHOT Show Exhibitor Academy to other exhibitors and that the experience was worth their time.

The exhibitor academy was something that ConvExx mentioned in their presentation to us last year and planning began soon after we selected ConvExx as our new show management partner.  That kind of creative, value-added, experiential exhibitor education makes our customers more successful in the long run and that helps make for a stronger show and industry.

Chris Dolnack is Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDolnack.

NSSF, Sands Expo Extend SHOT Show Agreement to 2020

The National Shooting Sports Foundation and Sands Expo and Convention Center have followed up the 2014 record-setting Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) by adding another two years to their agreement.

Under the new terms, the SHOT Show will be presented at the Sands Expo through 2020.

The 2014 SHOT Show, which ran Jan. 14-17, attracted more than 67,000 in total attendance, an all-time high, and was the fifth consecutive SHOT Show held at Sands Expo. NSSF had previously announced, in February, that it was extending its stay at the venue through 2017.

“We’re pleased with the multi-million dollar investment that the Sands Expo has made in order to meet SHOT Show’s needs,” said Chris Dolnack, NSSF Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “The 2014 SHOT Show was the highest rated by both attendees and exhibitors alike, and we want to continue to build on our success here in Las Vegas.”

SHOT Show is the fifth largest trade show in Las Vegas and the largest trade show of its kind in the world.

“As one of the largest events we host at Sands Expo, it has been exciting to watch SHOT Show grow every year,” said Ashlyn LaPorte, Sands Expo Executive Director of Event Management. “We are proud of the partnership that has developed between our venue and show management, and look forward to continuing this relationship through the rest of the decade.”

The Sands Expo and Convention Center houses more than 2 million square feet of meeting and event space.

The SHOT Show generates more than $73 million for the Las Vegas economy.

The Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) and Conference is the largest and most comprehensive trade show for all professionals involved with the shooting sports, hunting and law enforcement industries. Follow SHOT Show on Twitter at @nssfshotshow.

Exhibitors: Are You an NSSF Member Yet? If Not, You’re Missing Out on SHOT Show Savings and Discounts

Membership in the National Shooting Sports Foundation, your industry’s trade association and the owner of the SHOT Show, has a long list of benefits.

For SHOT Show exhibitors, one of those benefits can mean huge savings on booth space at the show.

Non-members are paying $35 per square foot (or $3,500 for a 10×10). NSSF Supporting Members pay $30 per square foot (or $3,000 for a 10×10, a savings of $500). That $500 savings per 10×10 climbs to more than $2,000 for the average size booth at the SHOT Show.

The June 2 deadline for savings is right around the corner. You must be an NSSF member in good standing by this date to receive this booth-space discount.

NSSF-member exhibitors also increase their chances for a booth change at the show.

Priority points continue to be a key factor, but NSSF membership level increases your chances for a booth change considerably. For example, an NSSF Supporting Member with 55 priority points will have a better opportunity than a non-member with 110 priority points. We’ve received more than 500 booth change requests, so we encourage all exhibitors to improve their chances for a change by becoming an NSSF Supporting Member.

If you aren’t an NSSF member yet, please consider joining today — not only to save your company some cash, but to join the more than 10,000 other members that support our industry’s trade association and its mission to promote, protect and preserve our industry and our sports.

To join NSSF or renew your membership, visit nssf.org/join. Contact NSSF Member Services Coordinator Samantha Hughes at shughes@nssf.org with any questions.

Dave Jeannette is Senior Director, Sales for the National Shooting Sports Foundation. Follow him on Twitter at @DaveJeannette.