After the ICRBE event last February, I mentioned that two major sportsfishing magazines would be doing feature articles on the event in their summer issues. Both editors have been in touch with me this past week to let me know that the articles will run, but not until the January and February issues respectively.

I was a little disappointed because I had hoped to see them sooner (one editor spent nearly 8 hours at the event on Saturday - he was very impressed). However, the later publication dates are actually beneficial due to the timing of being presented 45 to 60 days prior to the actual event. That's about right insofar as the articles being able to generate additional advertising and recognition for the event. So overall I'm pleased.

One editor has already told me that they plan to give the event a full 6 color feature pages in their publication. He interviewed several of the vendors at the event, along with some of the rod builders and said those comments along with about 8 to 10 color photos will be used in the article. Prior to attending the event, he was unaware that anything like this took place for custom rod builders. He said he was "captivated" by the event.

This is the sort of thing that brings custom rod building to the forefront among the millions of general interest fishermen across North America. I expect it will help custom rod building all the way around, plus bring in a few hundred more people to the Expo.

As soon as I have the actual publication dates I'll announce the magazines so you can be on the lookout for them at your local newsstand.

.................



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/29/2007 11:32AM by Tom Kirkman.

Great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Tom,

Are there going to be any major publications at the 2008 ICRBE?

Sean Endres
North East Rod Builders
New London, CT

Yes. The excitement that was created by the success of the last event was noticed by more than a few national sportsfishing publications. I know of at least 3 in addition to the 2 there last year that will be on hand.

I do not yet know what their plans are or whether or not they'll do anything on the event after the fact. But this thing is big enough and done well enough to the point that outside of perhaps the ICast and Fly Tackle Dealer Shows it is the most prominent fishing related craft type show done in the U.S. I suspect there will be some good press after the show.

.................

An interesting thing happened when we parted ways with the Fly Fishing Show held in Charlotte - the Rod Building Show got larger! We drew more builders and the vendors set a new sales record. Several vendors told me it was great not to have to deal with so many "tire kickers." It left them more time to deal with the serious customers.

So when I was trying to decide if I wanted to add more general interest fishing items, in order to draw more general interest fishermen to the event and hopefully grow the sales of custom rods for the builder there, I had to weigh many things. First, just putting a couple thousand fishermen in the hall doesn't guarantee that the rod builders will sell more custom rods. Only a small percentage of fishermen will ever buy a custom rod. And I didn't want to just put a bunch of "tire kickers" in there to jam the aisles and take up the vendors' time. How do you reach those fishermen, and only those fishermen, who are actually interested in buying custom rods? You can do it, of course, but it would take a broad advertising campaign that costs a lot of money just to reach that 2% of the market (perhaps) that you're trying to reach.

So when I met these editors last year and got wind of what they were planning to do, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. Now hundreds of thousands of general interest fishermen across the U.S. will see these articles on the event, but the only ones that will travel to the show will be those who are truly interested in seeing custom rods and perhaps buying one. So this ends up reaching our intended target audience. They'll all find it interesting, but only those who are willing to buy custom rods are going to "jam" our aisles. So, no tire kickers - just customers. This is what I wanted all along.

I cannot overestimate the importance of these articles to this event. Wait and see.

..................

It sounds great Tom. No one with any brains should second guess you. The very first year of this show you accomplished something that no one else ever had and that many said could not be done. I heard rumors after that third year that leaving the fly fishing show was a terrible mistake and that you would never be able to pull off such an event on your own. Not only did you pull it off, you made it far better than it had ever been when it was with the fly fishing people.

I think all the rod building shows and gatherings are great and can be a lot of fun. But all serious rod builders should travel to the ICRBE at least once in their lives. It is the Mecca of custom rod building.

did you split off before the old show to make this new show? you said more people attended but what happened to the show that you split from? are they doing just as well or is that show a lesser show now?

Jon,

Tom's is the ONLY show. The "Old" show was the same but it was held in conjunction with a big flyfishing show in Charlotte. It didn't take long before the rod show had eclipsed the fly show as the bigger draw. When Tom took the show on it's own and moved it to High Point, there were some that said it couldn't survive as a stand alone show and he would fail. He not only didn't fail, it grew significantly and is one amazing event as you will see in Feb!!!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

They have been on the decline for several years now. A continued increase in the admission fee is at least partly to blame, in my opinion. At $15 or more now, the attendance isn't going to be what it was when the admission was only half that. I know the 15 bucks doesn't sound like a great deal of money, but for most, well... they just won't pay it.

How important was the rod building show to them? Barry's Fly Fishing Show partner Chuck, was speaking to me just before the opening of the event that 3rd year and said, "You saved the Fly Fishing Show here in Charlotte." I took some measure of pride in this because the feeling among those who don't really understand or have a good track record with similar undertakings was that the rod building show was only riding the coattails of the fly fishing event, and couldn't exist on its own.

The fact is, I needed to be with them the first year because the facility was already paid for and I was able to try the rod building event without sinking the kind of money into it that I do now. Of course, Barry and Chuck made a good deal of money off of my event those 3 years and obviously hated to see me depart. But, they weren't going to pay my seminar presenters nor drop the admission fee and I just felt I could do more for our people (the rod builders and rod building component exhibitors) by leaving them. No hard feelings on either end but we're in a better situation now. I like to think we benefitted each other very well those first years. I think they'd agree.

The Fly Fishing Show will again be held in Charlotte either the first or second week of February. I like the show and go every year.

..................

I ran across this today while searching on some reloading forums. Thought it was interesting and proves that many are taking note of the rod building Exposition.


HR > Gear and Ammunition > Handloading and Reloading > Handloaders Expo?


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jpr9954
February 20th, 2007, 01:55 PM
I just spent the weekend at the International Custom Rod Building Expo in High Point, NC. It attracted almost 2,000 custom fishing rod builders, 30-40 manufacturers and dealers to a two day show. It featured manufacturer's exhibits, custom rod builders, and many seminars. People came from all around the US and there were a few from Japan and Europe as well. I've put the link the the Expo's website below so you can see exactly what I'm talking about.

[home.earthlink.net]

Also see [www.rodbuilding.org]

I'm wondering if something like this has ever been in the reloading field. It is not like the SHOT Show where you have manufacturers selling to dealers and publicizing new products to writers. It also isn't like a gun show where you have a lot of dealers selling their product. Instead, it features like-minded enthusiasts getting together with dealers and manufacturers to put on a show that features a number of booths PLUS seminars. It combined education, sales, and product awareness into one complete package.

I see many similarities between the custom rod builders and handloaders especially the desire to make a product that is better than they can buy retail and to make it fit your needs exactly. I could see a magazine like Handloader being the sponsor and running with it similar to RodMaker Magazine sponsoring the ICRBE.

I'd love to hear what others think about this.

Awesome!!!!

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

I did not attend any of the events when they were held with the fly fishing people. My first time was this past year and I was very impressed. I had read a lot about it but even then it turned out to be much more than I was really expecting. I'll have two or three more builders with me when I come up this year.

I was very impressed by the show last Feb. I had not attended the previous shows but really wanted to. The thing that I remember most and will probably always remember is the friendliness of everyone and the spirit of cooperation and "let me show you" approach that we saw everywhere. It is a very unique experience and one I truly hope that I can repeat. The show can only get better and better and I hope bigger and bigger. It would be nice to fill the center with exhititors and people.Now that I have attended most of the seminars, I can concentrate on each of the booths....