I was at the show today, and thought it was great. I know it can't compare to the Custom Rod Expo. But it was great to have something close to home that I could go to. I'm not sure who was responsible for putting it on or I would thank you personaly, but thanks to all who where responsible. I'm not sure of the financial sucess, but the people there seemed to be enjoying the seminars and where leaving with bags and boxes of merchandise. I found the presenters and merchants to be very friendly and socaible. I met a lot of the people that i've seen on the rod board for years and it was great to do some meet and greets with them. Thanks Terry, Billy, Jim, Collene, Mark, and Bill Batson for making my time at the show great.
I posted a few pics from the show today..



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2008 12:52AM by Lonny Bacon.

Nice to see the pix Lonny. Thanks!

I soooo wanted to be there especially to meet Terry Henson and
all the east coast clan. Alas, it just wasn't in the cards for me. I'm bummed!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

Ditto to Lonnie's post



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2008 01:28AM by Tim Sullivan.

I wish I could have seen more of it.......but I had folks at my booth the whole day and that was GREAT!

It looked to me as though the show was a success. I saw a lot of people walking around with purchased rod building items. There was a lot of ocean fishing rod builders there and I will tell you this.....their work was incredible....The two booths next to me were incredible builders with stunning rods for sale and display.

For me, I was there just to hang out and network. Selling rods was not my focus. I did both and did one feather inlay seminar. The seminar set up was similiar to Highpoint and worked........... ok. Lighting was really insufficient and next year I am going to take a little more active role in the video and presentation portion of this show. (Hopefully) A little better background and lighting and all of the presentations can be much better.

You really can't compare Highpoint to this show. Tom has it wired and puts on a true first class show and that comes with experience.......

Mark, Doc Scott and Steve did an outstanding job with this show. KUDOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It will get better and bigger. I saw a good base of people coming by and spending time at my both and can't help to think it will grow..................

Ray, I am still looking forward to meeting you as well.......may be next time and Lonnie.........you are welcome and thank you!

Terry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2008 10:46AM by terry henson.

You have to start somewhere. The fact that some folks out that way stepped up to the plate and actually did something is a good sign. Hopefully it will be bigger and better next year.

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I, my wife, and my son were at the show yesterday. I was knocked out. Very good crowd, lots of merchandise, and loads of great custom rods. I'm primarily a salt water fisherman, so I was very very happy to see the number of saltwater rods and merchandise--trolling rods, huge surfcasters, spiral wrapped roller guide rods....you name it. Some fantastic West Coast custom builders were out there, as well as the NERBS folks, and it was really something to see. I got some great blanks, including two 9 foot jigging blanks at great prices, and picked up a nice 9 foot trout rod for my son, made by none other than Mark's son! Beautiful rod, by the way. I had a ball, and made it from about 9 to 4 before I had to go. Saw two seminars as well. Nice location, nice weather to boot. It was fun meeting so many nice folks again. I went to the N.C. show last year, and
hope to make it back there again, but I sure hope that the Southern Cal. show is back next year, and given the success yesterday, I imagine it will be.

Charles he should cherish that rod. Not only because it is beautiful, but because it was built by a very special guy who sadly, is no longer with us. I'm sure he will be smiling down from above, seeing that someone is catching some good trout on a rod that he built.

Bill in WV

Bill, it was built by another of Mark's son's, who is very accomplished and had a number of fly and spinning rods at the show.
Just the ticket for long, long casts from the shore with small amount of weight. Built on a nice rainshadow blank, beautiful and understated wrap or burgundy with a single bluish metallic thread in each. Feels great, and I know my won will cherish it forever.

Thanks for the response, my mistake!!

Bill in WV

I do not think it is a stretch to say that it was-is the very best of any of the small rod building shows out there. A two-day affair would be preferable but it was fun while it lasted. I have no illusions about it becoming something like the big Rod Expo out east coast way any time soon but given time over a few more years, who knows.

The NERBs had a BLAST at the show, and can't wait for the next one.There were a lot of people at the show, and we were busy doing what we do until the crowd thinned at about 3PM. Tehre was a nice mix of Exhibitors, from guys sellig custom rods, guys showing off custom rods, retailers & tackle shops who sell components, blanks, etc, several major blank and components Manu's, and even a couple of fishing related booths with Accurate and Melton. It will grow next year, there's no doubt.

I'd like to give Mark, Colleen, and the rest of their family a big THANK YOU for everythign you guys did for me personally this weekend. Another big thanks goes out to Doc Ski and Steve Gustlin for putting all this together. Finally, Laurie Gustlin did an amazing amount of work this weekend, and those who enjoyed the show should know that she broke her behind on FRiday preparing & coordinating everything for those who were setting up. Thanks.

I also wanted to thank everyone involved for putting on a great show. I'm sure it was a lot of work for Mark and Colleen, Doc, Scott, Steve and Laurie and everyone else who helped out. I had a great time. The seminars were very informative, and there were lots of cool components and rods for display or for sale. The show will get even better as it grows. Finally got to meet Billy, Mark and Colleen, Bill Batson, and several others. I'm already looking forward to next year!

Can you imagine if just one person had to do all that work and more? You know what I am alluding to. Hard to imagine.

Glad it turned out nice. Rod building has sure come a long way from where it was back in the supposedly good old days.

I will just add in my two cents. To start off with those of us who were toted as Promoters learned a lot about the pros and cons of putting something like this together. Yes we have new respect for the hard work that Tom puts into his shows. I can tell you from just my standpoint it aint for the faint of heart. For a first year and one day event we were pleased beyond belief. Do we need improvements? Your Betcha and I knew that going in. For me it was wonderful seeing so many Professional Rod Builders congregate in one area. One Section was dedicated to just them. I hope to give some of the first time exhibitors a little help in improving their look but all in all we had a fine showing and the excitement level among the people who attended was extremely high. All we can say is we did our best and hope to make it better in the future. He have a bigger venue for next year and know a few things that will help improve it. Having Billy there was a blast. Even Snoopy had to bow (wow) to the King. Our after show charter was also a blast and of cours the topic if the entire trip was custom fishing rods aka shop talk. Still fun fishing though. Our intent was never to tryp to make something as large as the EXPO we just wanted to get some networking for our west coast community and promote custom rod building in general. I think we at least scratched the surface. Thanks to Tom for his advice and letting us take up some space on his site from time to time to yak about this event. Now I am going to take a vacation - I NEED it. LOL. Thanks for all the supportive comments for those who attended

There is really no need to compare the two events. For those that want to, I'd tell them to compare the west coast event to the first event I held in Charlotte five years ago. That would be a more fair comparison.

After so many years hearing folks out that way talk about doing something, it was refreshing to actually see some guys step up to the plate and do this.

No event is ever perfect. After 5 years I'm still finding areas where I can improve my own event. If I do it again in 2009 it will better than what I did in 2008. I suspect the same will be true for the folks that put on the west coast event. And that's the key, to keep improving in every area where it's possible to do so.


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*** "Can you imagine if just one person had to do all that work and more? " ***

Ahhhh, NO?

I saw Richard's post and almost started a new thread to say that, but in the interest of bandwidth I'll just tag on here.

We took a BIG step in the learning curve in a very short amount of time. There were five of us working on this, PLUS all of the volunteers that Steve and Laurie put together for set-up and show days. To say my hat's off to Tom is an understatement. A Deep Bow is more like it.

A show to parallel the EXPO was never the intent. A regional "Custom" show is what we were shooting for from the get go, and that's what we'll shoot for in the future as well. All of us were hoping to raise the awareness and benefits of custom rods to the Fisherman who had none, or limited exposure to them. "Talk to the manufacturers, get an idea of what you're after, then step on over to one of the builders booths and make it a reality" was the intention.

While we DID draw a good number of fisherman who DIDN'T build rods, I had hoped that the rod builders displaying were going to be busier than they were. The builders went through lots of cards and many DID sell rods as well as take deposits for new builds, however I had hoped to see their booths as busy as the dealer booths. Many of the down falls that we saw like seminar lighting, camera angles, etc... are an easy fix. Opening the eyes of the fishing public isn't going to be as easy, but we're committed to figuring that one out.

Thank you Tom for the support and guidance that you lent. It went a long, long way.

Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

The rod builders at my own event had been through the same experience. But, in the past couple of years they've started to make money - most at least pay for their booths now and some actually turn a nice profit. Yours will too, but it takes a few years to get there.

The other thing that many custom builders who display at these events forget, is that the show is about more than the money you leave with in your pocket. For the amount charged for a booth or table, you'll get more exposure than you'd likely get in your local newspaper with an ad (and which is likely to cost even more). Building a brand image, or putting your name in front of people during such an event is worth more than you can imagine. You may not sell many rods at the actual event, but you're apt to sell a few afterwards, perhaps even months later, from folks who saw you there and remember you and your products.

Shows are more than a 2 or 3 day dollar and cents event - they're advertising that can go on for a long, long time after the itself is over and gone.

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