The Fly Fishing Show will not return to Charlotte, NC in 2007.

A representative from The Fly Fishing Show visited with me yesterday to take a look at what I've done in setting up the 2007 International Rod Builders Exposition. The Fly Fishing Show enabled us to get off the ground by providing us space that first year and now I'd like to return the favor if possible. Everything is favorable and once I revise some figures and get them a price they'll make a final determination as to whether or not to lease space from me for their own 2007 event. According to what they're telling me, they like what I offered them and will more than likely sign on sometime late next week.

Like myself, they see High Point as being a superior location for the show. Easy to get to, plenty of hotels at a wide variety of prices, totally free parking anywhere you look, etc. And, a much nicer facility for the shows.

Our only sticking point will be the differences in ticket prices. As they are wanting to charge considerably more than I will for the rod building event, we won't likely have a reciprocal agreement between the two shows for attendees to be able to attend both on the same ticket. I would like to see one ticket cover both, just as it has the last 3 years, but it's something we'll have to hash out over tne next several weeks. I'm sure there is some type of compromise, but I'm not going to raise prices on the rod builders just to make this reciprocal deal happen. We'll see how it pans out and I'll let everyone know as soon as we ink that part of the deal.

The two shows will not be in the same hall - the Rod Builders portion will be in the East Hall and the Fly Fishing Portion will be in the West Hall. These two are separated by a 50 foot wide atrium so it's not like they're terribly far apart.

In years to come, I may open up more space for other fishing related events at the same time (I have the entire facility leased so this isn't a problem) but my main focus is to provide the best quality event and most enjoyable experience for the rod builders and rod building vendors. That will remain the priority and I won't add anything additional unless it provides a better value for the rod builders without creating any possible problems.

One last thing - Although I wasn't going to spring for it, i've had enough folks request it that I think I am going to cough up the extra for coat-check services at the door. We have a nice area specifically created for just that very thing so might as well take advantage of it.

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I should also have mentioned, that in the East Hall where the Rod Building Show will be, I am setting aside some areas for general socializing among rod builders. This will consist of an area with large round tables and chairs where you can take a load off and talk with other builders out of the aisles and out of in front of the vendor booths. Less congestion in the aisles and a nicer area for sitting a bit and talking with other builders. I'll also put the casting area in that same general area as well.

Seminar rooms will also be in the East Hall, so no more having to leave the hall, go up two or three escalators and then worm your way around and through corridors. Everything thing will be done in one 40,000 square foot hall so you can view products, talk to other builders, cast, find a restroom, get a snack or drink, attend a seminar, all in the same large area without having to visit different levels in the same building.

Only thing not done in the same hall will be the RodMaker Reception which will be held on the 5th floor in a large reception room with truly huge outdoor balcony that can handle about 500 people. If it's warm enough, we can do the whole thing outside, but in February that's not likey to happen. No matter, the indoor reception room is still larger (and nicer) than what we had at the most recent event.

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I would hope that a compromise can be reached to permit the Fly Fishing Show to lower general admission prices to the public. From a rodbuilders perspective it would seem that all involved vendors would appreciate anything to get more fishermen on the Show Room Floor. I do not think that the admission price ever enters the equation for a custom builder. The value is just too great!

I know that more custom builders would feel better about booth space fees if the general fishermen turn out was higher. The only way that I can see the present show format to be improved is to create a situation where more custom rods of all types could be sold to the fishing public.

The profit incentives that some show promoters have concerning admission pricies continues to baffle me. I have always wondered why a large boat show charges $ 10 admission prices for one day so someone can get in to buy a $ 50,000 boat!

I too hope a compromise can be reached. For the casual builder/fisherman the combination makes the entry fee insignificant. I honestly don't remember what they were for either of the last two years. It didn't matter. However, I did thoroughly enjoy both the rodbuilding and the flyfishing booths, vendors, and forums. Just my 2 cents.

I agree that the admission fee is pretty insignificant although I have no idea how the general public feels about it. Although I have no interest in the Fly fishing show, I can see where they would complement each other and give the general public "more bang for their buck". The problem that I see is how would you divide ticket revenue? Also, how would you determine how many people were drawn to the Rodbuilder show or the Fly show?

Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2006 04:42PM by Mike Barkley.

If we want more general interest fishermen to attend, then the admission price has to be kept low. Most general fishing and boating shows only charge about $6 admission. When you move into the $14 realm, you're looking at attracting only those with a special interest in the particular event. If the local bass fishing expo moved from $6 to $14, I'm pretty sure their attedance would fall by 80+%. I'd bet money on it.

I'm sticking to an $8 admission price and if the Fly Fishing people want a reciprocal agreement, they'll have to reduce their own ticket prices. Besides, I'd rather see 6000 people at $8 each, than 3000 people at $14 each.

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Not hard to do - this is an excellent facility and the way it's set up it would be no problem to have separate ticket lines and booths for each show. Fly fishing to the left and rod buliding to the right. In fact, this has already been suggested. One thing I have heard overwhelmingly from rod builders, is that most of them did not even venture into the fly fishing area this past year. I doubt that the majority of the rod builders attending now are fly fishermen. A good many, perhaps, but not a majority. And I want to see us gain many hundreds if not thousands of general interest fisherment this coming year for those custom builders who are there to sell custom rods. This is the last missing piece to the show and I'm focusing my efforts on taking care of that this year.

As I said, I'm more than happy to get the Fly Fishing Show in on this but my priority is the rod building show. I've already booked the hall and if need be, we can certainly do this alone and certainly bigger and better than what we did in Charlotte at the 2006 event. So I'm hoping for a little gravy but won't sweat it if turns out that we can't make that happen with the Fly Fishing Show.

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"setting aside some areas for general socializing among rod builders. This will consist of an area with large round tables and chairs where you can take a load off and talk with other builders out of the aisles and out of in front of the vendor booths"

Tom,. that's a great idea. That was one of the major reasons the NERBs decided to get a booth - so we had somewhere to go after walking around for a couple of hours. What I didn't expect, was that I wouldn't get a chance to even walk around, lol!

So let me get this straight, you want to turn our fly fishing show into a general fishing show and move the venue in your backyard. Is there anything else?
I would like to see the builders and fly show tickets broken out into separate fee's. I think you'll see the traffic generated by the builders show alone would be a mere pittance of what you get now.

So let me get this straight, you want to turn our fly fishing show into a general fishing show and move the venue in your backyard. Is there anything else?
I would like to see the builders and fly show tickets broken out into separate fee's. I think you'll see the traffic generated by the builders show alone would be a mere pittance of what you get now.

Jack, I think that you would be very surprised. Even the Fly show promoter admitted that the builders show carried the Fly fishing show and had decided not to hold the Charlotte show next year. Tom decided to take the builders show to the next level and now he wants to piggyback on to it.

Mike

If that's really the case, Mike, I applaud Mr. Kirkman! I've heard for a few years the Charlotte show was doomed. I always wondered if it wasn't almost planned that way by the promoters. As you might recall, they dropped it from a 3 day show to a 2 day show yet raised the entry fee. On top of that, they seem to have another show on the other side of the country on the same weekend. I always wondered if our show wasn't diluted somewhat because of that.
I have to say, like Girl Scout cookies and the first robin, the rod shows are something I look forward to every spring. If, for some reason an agreement can't be reached with the promoters a good option might be a show put on by private clubs. I go to a show in Michigan sponsored by the Michigan Fly Fishing Club (mffc.org) It is always highly praised by the attendee's and exhibitors as a grand show without the dogma. Two years ago a bunch of members made an entire bamboo fly rod during the course of the two days. It went from raw cane to a finished product in that time. That went over real big!

Best of luck and thanks for looking out for us!

Your fly fishing show? No offense, but I think it belongs to someone else. And no, it's not up to me to turn it into anything. Rather than see it disappear entirely, I offered to lease space to the promoter, in a better facility in a more user friendly city, and at a cost reduction to him of about about 40%. I get along good with these folks and we have a great relationship, but decisions they've made in the past few years have not, in my opinion, been condusive to the long term health of a fly fishing event in this area.

I haven no plans to turn anything into a general fishing show. But, we do want more general interest fishermen at the show and I will promote to them as well, which is something the Fly Fishing Show has never done. We also know that about 50% of the folks at the 2006 event were there for the Rod Builders Show. So our contribution is much more than a pittance. In fact, Barry's partner, Chuck, told me on Friday afternoon during the show set up that I had "saved the Fly Fishing Show." Perhaps he was just making small talk, You'd have to ask him.

My backyard? I guess so, but I only wish I'd thought of it sooner. High Point is home to one of the world's largest trade shows (International Home Furnishings Market) and for good reason. Few places can compare to what this city offers in terms of hosting consumer or trade shows. Unless you just want to go to after hours nightclubs, you'll find everything you want right here and in a form that is far more user friendly than most places. (Free parking may not mean much to a lot of people, but others who attend 2 and 3 day shows, they tell me it's tough to cough up daily parking fees. This is just one of many things that makes this a much more affordable place for most to attend a show.)

I'll also throw this out for whatever it might be worth - people have been having rod building seminars, shows, etc., for about 30 years now. All well and good. But until I started the Rod Builders Show in Charlotte 3 years ago, no one had ever drawn more than about 150 people to any sort of rod building event nor pulled off a truly large scale rod building event. The first year for the Rod Builders Show, we brought in no less than 2 to 3 times as many attendees and vendors as the next largest rod building event that had ever been held. The next year doubled that one. And this past year saw another solid increase. My point is, I know what I'm doing. The 2007 event will be bigger and better on all accounts. Much, much, much better in fact. And, it'll cost everyone less to attend - both vendors and attendees.

Talk is cheap - I'll stand on my record. Best regards and hope to see you at the 2007 event. I would never be so naive as to say the show will be perfect, but it'll be pretty darn good. I think you'll be impressed. I also hope the Fly Fishing Show can carry on - I've gone out of my way to help them keep it going in this area.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/2006 08:04PM by Tom Kirkman.

Jack, Are you in Michigan? I'm not a flyfisherman yet (twice) but want to learn. I went to that show with a friend last year and was really impressed.

Mike

Mike, I was from Michigan and live in NC now. If you are in Michigan I would highly suggest you join The Michigan Fly Fishing Club. At the very least, take a gander at their website and the linked newsletters. A finer group of people is hard to find. The classes they put on (the MFFC is mainly an educational club) cater to all skill levels.
If you're in NC I would be more than happy to help you out!

Tom, if I'm not mistaken I said 'our' fly fishing show. Without us (the customer) would we even be having this discussion? ;)

Jack,

Good point.

Barry will ultimately decide where to have the Fly Fishing Show if he continues to have it at all in this area. I hope I've made it affordable enough for him to keep it here in NC. All I can tell you at this point is that he has told me that it will not return to Charlotte in 2007.

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