The 2023 International Custom Rod Building Expo has concluded. By all accounts it was one of the very best in Expos history. Tripling the direct mailings had a major impact on attendance, flooded exhibitor booths and packed the seminars and Learning Center with attendees both days. New product introductions, new companies and new faces were everywhere. The Internal Custom Rod Building Challenge showed yet another leap in rod creativity and precision. And, of course, many old friends made many new friends. I'm sure there will be plenty of photos and stories in the comming days.

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Product amount and availability was the best I think I have ever seen. Way too much to see in a single day. Ernie Horvath's seminar on modern guide systems was as good an explanation as I have ever heard and Tom's seminar on rod ergonomics is going to get a lot rod builders rethinking everything they are doing with handles and grips. I have not been to all the Expos over the years but very glad I managed to get a day in at this one. Enjoyed all the saltwater stuff that the very early Expos did not have much of. This one was packed with it. Great work everyone.

Great show and a great mix of all things - info, education, hand on learning, Product, new stuff. Great buzz and vibe at the show with a strong crowd all day Sat and much of Sunday. Most folks have no clue to the amount of work and energy that goes in behind the scenes for months and months to pull off a show like this. Thanks Tom for your efforts for creating such a venue and gathering opportunity.


Some stream of consciousness thoughts as a vendor & participant before the thoughts fade….

Show promotion - Was great to see the increased crowd - and glad to hear of the increased direct mailing. A multi-channel marketing program is key to promotion and that’s hitting all the paths to eyeballs - print, mail, email and also all the social channels - and that’s also a responsibility of the vendors. I’m still always amazed by the number of folks that ask “what’s ICRBE”, or “where / when is it”. We have to remember there are always new folks to reach and ones we haven’t so it’s critical to drive the publicity in every way. On social it can’t just be posting to your own page but has to involve directly posting to the dozens of rod building pages so increase chance of reaching this eyes - of and then Instagram and TikTok which have large rod builder followings as well with the demographic that is the future of the rod building community…

Learning Center - I hope to see the Learning Center concept continue to grow as I believe it was also a contributor to the increase in attendance as it provided another thing for attendees to get from their attendance and perhaps even cause them to come for 2 vs 1 day in many cases. This creates a reason for folks to come from further away. When you could talk to all the exhibitors and see what you wanted and attend a few sessions within less than a day it may be hard to justify an 8 hour drive or a plane ticket. But when it’s a true conference with education tracks in parallel with exhibitors as well then it true it becomes something worth a multi-day trip from afar. The combination of the traditional “sit and listen” seminars, and the “hands on” in the Learning Center creates that critical mass. I also realize show space cost, but something like the LC can’t be borne by one individual - all vendors benefited from it and I think a different model needs to be explored there in how to make that happen. Learning the craft is core to our art and benefits everyone involved at the show.

Feedback - maybe there is a mechanism though I’ve not seen it - would be good to capture attendees emails and such or have some way to get feedback - where they came from, how they learned of the event, what was most valuable, etc. And share this out to the vendors / sponsors (at least the feedback - understand perhaps not the emails).

Weather - can we guarantee more NC false Springs every year? :) What a perfect weekend!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2023 10:59AM by Michael Ward.

Oh - one other point. It was AMAZING to see the kids at the show getting involved in Rod Building - I mean the 8, 10, 12 year olds as well as a few older. Seeing them sitting at Mary & Wes Christie's booth wrapping diamond wraps and working the crowd was great- Billy Vivona being a part of as well as David Dysart teaching weaving to the kids (and the big kids) . Kudos to the parents for bringing the kids and getting them involved - a big thanks to Mary & Wes for purchasing booth space to create a venue where the kids could learn as well - and to the kids for being there and inspiring the rest of us. THAT is the future of our craft....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2023 11:00AM by Michael Ward.

Tom - BTW, Ernie had 113 people in the room for his seminar. I know. I counted. You had about 50. Just ribbing a bit!

Well, it's hard to compete with Ernie. He's an exceptional seminar presenter.

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

We put 100 chairs in the main seminar room and the very first seminar, Ernie's I think, left some people standing. We rushed to put in another dozen or two and even then a few seminars during the day filled them all. The seminars were certainly well attended.

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

Attended my 1st Expo this year. Definitely valuable for me for following reasons:

1) Was able to checkout, hold and flex blanks from several different manufacturers. Also able to talk with several of the people that either design or produce the blanks. Also was able to see various other components and even get printed catalogs (yea they still do that). Also bought lots of cool stuff.
2) Enjoyed talking with several other builders. Even got to meet Norm Miller.
3) Attended several seminar sessions and sat in on Learning Center sessions to see some demonstrations and do hands-on activities. Thanks Tom Kirkman and David Boyle!
4) Last but not least was fortunate enough to take home one of the grand prizes, a FlexCoat power wrapping/finishing machine, at the Saturday Evening RodMaker magazine reception. Still feeling like a kid at Christmas reading up and watching most all of the "How we do it" videos from Flex Coat. Big THANKS to Tom Kirkman, John Cates and Roger Seider. Going to be fun learning how to work that machine.

Had a really good conversation with the Chief Tech Office with a new blank manufacturer that will soon be selling a brand new series of blanks. Company is called Composite Forge and their blanks Rod Forge. I picked up a 7' M and 7' MH to test em out. The CTO previously was with Rodgeeks. They will also be offering a nice color palette of painted blanks. He showed me the samples and I think there is around 15 colors or so and they are pretty sharp (several very similar to Auto OEM colors). So if you are needing a painted blank this company will be offering that very soon. Will be interesting to get some CCS data on these two blanks. I'm thinking this company will soon be making some noise in the industry. He indicated they are very close to being able to start taking orders for these new blanks.

All and all was a really good 1st Expo and definitely planning to attend in the future. Bought a bunch of new blanks for some upcoming projects and pretty much feel like I'm all-in after bringing home the power wrapper/finisher. Got a few more projects in mind to get my shop (basement) ready to go.

Here's a few pics:
[www.dropbox.com] ------ All the goodies from the Expo
[www.dropbox.com] ------ Got some catalogs to peruse
[www.dropbox.com] ----- Some more reading material
[www.dropbox.com] ----- Thanks RodMaker Mag and Flexcoat
[www.dropbox.com] ----- Beautiful hand turned wood grip



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2023 09:02PM by Kevin Fiant.

Wow @ Kevin,

Sounds altogether like a win win situation.

You're going to love the DC777 wrapper. I added a tension rod and shortened the hand rest by 1/2 to give a place to set my epoxy tray on the left side of the slide. Did a couple other things too but what a great score and experience for you!

Cheers,

Kevin - congrats on winning the wrapper - big score for Sat night.... I walked away with a great deal - not as good as that, but still great - on a Flexcoat 4-rod dryer in the waning moments of the show during breakdown..... when some show profits meet not then not wanting to ship it back, good things happen :)

Bob Foster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Wow @ Kevin,
>
> Sounds altogether like a win win situation.
>
> You're going to love the DC777 wrapper. I added a
> tension rod and shortened the hand rest by 1/2 to
> give a place to set my epoxy tray on the left side
> of the slide. Did a couple other things too but
> what a great score and experience for you!
>
> Cheers,

Bob if you have a few minutes you mind posting a pic of your thread tray modifications? Was wondering about a tension rod because that is what I am use to with my hand wrapper. Nice when you have to back up a few turns to make an adjustment and still want hands free.

Michael Ward Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Kevin - congrats on winning the wrapper - big
> score for Sat night.... I walked away with a
> great deal - not as good as that, but still great
> - on a Flexcoat 4-rod dryer in the waning moments
> of the show during breakdown..... when some show
> profits meet not then not wanting to ship it back,
> good things happen :)

Mike - yea, I've got my eye on the flexcoat 4 rod dryer. I had my Honda Accord (normally my daughters car but drove for better gas mileage) packed full with the DC777 a bunch of blanks and other goodies I picked up at the expo. Since my current shop is in my basement (cool) I need to build an enclosed wall "drying box" and add some heat for better epoxy cure out. It will be big enough to fit the flexcoat 4 dryer unit directly inside. In meantime I'm going to use some portable dryers.

Kevin Fiant Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Bob Foster Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Wow @ Kevin,
> >
> > Sounds altogether like a win win situation.
> >
> > You're going to love the DC777 wrapper. I added
> a
> > tension rod and shortened the hand rest by 1/2
> to
> > give a place to set my epoxy tray on the left
> side
> > of the slide. Did a couple other things too but
> > what a great score and experience for you!
> >
> > Cheers,
>
> Bob if you have a few minutes you mind posting a
> pic of your thread tray modifications? Was
> wondering about a tension rod because that is what
> I am use to with my hand wrapper. Nice when you
> have to back up a few turns to make an adjustment
> and still want hands free.


This is a pretty decent shot of it....I noticed in your dropbox link that you have a crb hand wrapper...that is the tension rod I used. Drilled a hole at an angle being careful to not go all the way thru the base and the angle lets the tip of the tensioner locate in front of the "goal posts" when the tension rod is under full flex. It works super well. Also the tension rod lets me pause a wrap indefinitely and come back whenever I like.









If you look at the fence you can see where I added some 1 x 2 stock to the base bottom as well as the top of the fence. This gives me a place to attched my lit magnifier and makes the fence permanent to the base and ensures the extra weight of the magnifier does not cause problems down the road. Not my finest carpentry moment but is quite effective.

Love this magnifier...



Shortened hand rest. Found I like to put my epoxy tray there and I was always reaching over and around the rest. Works for me.



Seems I can't say anything without posting a thousand pics....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/01/2023 12:25PM by Bob Foster.

Apologies for jacking the thread a bit there...

I am still exhausted... Thanks Tom and Mike Ballard for you kind words. I am always glad to share information with all builders, weather new or old to the craft. I appreciate the opportunity to share knowledge of our craft with everyone. The learning center was a big plus, although like many vendors, I did not have a chance to attend any sessions. Barry, Tim and I were thankfully very busy in our booths working with customers and educating the proper use of the components we sold. But our biggest challenge was keeping those folks, Aaron Lowe and bill Falconer, from Anglers Resource in line. Just kidding...... I did have a chance to speak to Alex and discuss the availability of the new carbon fiber blanks for speckled Trout applications. A 7ft. lite or medium lite would be a great addition to the Point Blank blanks I now use. Looking ahead to next year, I see even better possibilities for a great Expo. Thanks again Tom

Bob Foster Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Apologies for jacking the thread a bit there...

Bob - thanks for the pics. That gives me some ideas on some projects. Atleast for me you didn't jack the thread one bit.

Does anyone remember the name of the lady that won the Renzetti Craftsman lathe? I seem to misplaced her information.

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

Tom
It was either Cindy or Cathy from New York
I sat next to her

Kevin -

Thanks for the summary! Can you please edit your post to take out the link for Composite Forge? They are welcome to become a forum sponsor and have it hosted properly.

Thanks for your understanding.

Best,
Aleks

Good Evening Tom,
That was my wife Cindy Lees that won the Grand Prize! Thank You for putting together the exposition, and Thank You for the opportunity to win such a great tool. I am still trying to figure out where we are going to put it in the shop. I hope to try it on the next build.

Thanks again
Scott