Tom,
First any help you need in getting ready for 2006 please don't hesitate to ask. I've been thinking about the "rod builder's theater in the round" and integrating the fly fishing / rod building portion halves of the show. While it was certainly nice to have the rod builders area "set aside" it seems to me that one way to grow the building community might be to try to set apart a "middle ground" for a "how to" interest section that might siphon off some of the 'off the shelf buyers' and get them interested in building their own rods - or at least an area where they could be more knowledgeable when they look at off-the-shelf rods. The area where the (absolutely stunning hand laid wood ) canoe has been for at least the last two years seems like an ideal "neutral " area between suppliers, builders and purveyors of clothing, fishing accoutrements (lures, flies) and guide services. Personally I think it would be outstanding to have people demonstrate "how a fishing rod is made" with people on hand to field questions on all types of rods - not just fly rods. I didn't have ONE person drop by to take one of the three fly rods I had on hand over to the casting pool. They just sat in the corner whimpering like small children begging to go out and play. It seemed to me that the fly fishermen sort of "cruised through the rod building area" without stopping (at least on Sunday when I had time to notice). The possibilities are seemingly endless to make this an educational experience for more builders - and an interest generator not only for potential customers but also to draw new builders.

I agree and we tried to do something along those lines the first year. We wanted to have an ongoing series of rod builders demonstrating each step in the process of building a rod, all day long. No one took us up on it. Even this year, only two custom rod builders bothered to display (Sammy Mickel did well - sold 13 custom rods and took orders for a handful more).

It would be nice to have more rod builders actively participating in round the clock rod building demos. It's still something I'll revisit as I plan for next year.

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Thanks Tom - I know organizing all this has to be a huge pain. Now that more rodbuilders showed up maybe more will be willing to help put on the on-going demos, donate the time and kick in a share of the costs for the space and so forth. Dividing the cost among several of us (No, you can't contribute as you already put in enough) might work out well for everyone. I'm glad Sammy did ok . He's a nice fellow but I didn't have much time to spend chatting with him.

Sharing booth spaces isn't allowed, and for good reasons. So this puts the idea of several builders buying a single booth and all working (or selling) out of one isn't likely to fly. But there are some alternatives that I'll cover once we get the 2006 dates set and a few other things nailed down. We'll begin in earnest on this in about 30 days.

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Tom,

Unfortunately I didn't get to make it to the show. However, how about a 'tackleworks' booth. It would be bought by tackleworks and could showcase guys doing repairs and full rods. That could eliminate the idea of a couple guys trying to buy booth space and sharing. It would also get tackleworks out there and guys in the fishing community could see just what you can and can't fix.

Thanks,
Rick

That's a good idea. Thanks. Count on it for next year. We'll do it for sure. TackleWorks will have a booth there. Frankly, we should have done it this year, but I just didn't think of it.

And, that won't limit other demos. We'll do as many as we can and in as many ways as we can.

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Fantastic idea Rick!