Dudley Do-Wrong
Senior Member
I talked to Sam Stowe of the Georgia Wildlife Federation; we discussed the attendance drop off at the Fisharama/Turkeyrama. Below are some of the things we discussed:
1. The lack of vendors: Anyone who has attended either the Atlanta show or Perry show over the years can attest to the fact that there are not as many vendors as there used to be, mainly small timers like me. This can be attributed to 2 factors; (1) The cost of a booth coupled with hotel and other expenses, (2) The lack of consumer attendance.
Sam informed me that not all of the booths were sold at the Perry show. The Perry Ag Center is an extremely expensive venue and that is the reason the booths there are more expensive than the Atlanta show. But, he realizes that $500 is a lot for folks like me and they are looking at ways to reduce the cost of booth fees. But, the only way they can do that is if they sell all the booths. I’m going to suggest that they contact area hotels to see if they can get some sort of group discount.
2. Attendance drop off: About all they can do is look at how they advertised the shows, you can’t force folks to come. It cost $8 for and adult to attend the show, I forget how much for a child. Face it, that’s not very cheap. There is a possibility that they can drop the price of attendance. Nowadays, the everyday consumer is looking to buy the cheapest product they can find. My calls are all hand made, there’s no way I can drop my prices to compete with Wal-mart and Bass-pro.
3. Change of venue: Not an idea I like; the Perry Ag center is an ideal place to have it. It has the space and can handle large crowds.
So, what can we do? I informed Sam that I would help in any way I can; he asked me to talk to other call makers and inform them that they are aware and are trying to make it more profitable for us. I know that this year’s show is done, but we need to think about what we can do to keep the show going. Sam is going to go to several shows to get ideas that can possibly be implemented here.
1. The lack of vendors: Anyone who has attended either the Atlanta show or Perry show over the years can attest to the fact that there are not as many vendors as there used to be, mainly small timers like me. This can be attributed to 2 factors; (1) The cost of a booth coupled with hotel and other expenses, (2) The lack of consumer attendance.
Sam informed me that not all of the booths were sold at the Perry show. The Perry Ag Center is an extremely expensive venue and that is the reason the booths there are more expensive than the Atlanta show. But, he realizes that $500 is a lot for folks like me and they are looking at ways to reduce the cost of booth fees. But, the only way they can do that is if they sell all the booths. I’m going to suggest that they contact area hotels to see if they can get some sort of group discount.
2. Attendance drop off: About all they can do is look at how they advertised the shows, you can’t force folks to come. It cost $8 for and adult to attend the show, I forget how much for a child. Face it, that’s not very cheap. There is a possibility that they can drop the price of attendance. Nowadays, the everyday consumer is looking to buy the cheapest product they can find. My calls are all hand made, there’s no way I can drop my prices to compete with Wal-mart and Bass-pro.
3. Change of venue: Not an idea I like; the Perry Ag center is an ideal place to have it. It has the space and can handle large crowds.
So, what can we do? I informed Sam that I would help in any way I can; he asked me to talk to other call makers and inform them that they are aware and are trying to make it more profitable for us. I know that this year’s show is done, but we need to think about what we can do to keep the show going. Sam is going to go to several shows to get ideas that can possibly be implemented here.