| FREQUENTLY
ASKED QUESTIONS |
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- How do I enter the trophy contest?
- When can I bring in my trophy?
- How do I enter the photo contest?
- Do you have security?
- How do I enter the turkey calling
contest?
- Am I considered an exhibitor if I
bring a trophy for the trophy contest?
- Do you have a shed antler contest?
- What does a trophy entry cost?
- Who measures the trophy?
- What measuring/scoring system is
used?
- I’m from out-of-state. Can
I enter my deer?
- What prizes are given for trophy
and photo contests?
- Do I have to leave my trophy all
weekend?
- Can anyone else pick up my trophy?
- What other expos do you have?
- Who’s going to be at the expo?
- Do you have anything for kids?
- Are there nearby hotels?
- My wife isn’t a hunter. Is
there anything for her?
- What’s it all about?
- Is there anything else in the area
to see and do for those members of the family who
may not want to spend the entire weekend at the expo?
- How do I get a copy of the PREVIEW
magazine?
- Do you have group tickets?
- Will there be food at the expo?
- When do ticket sales begin?
- Do you have multi-day tickets?
- Do I have to be an exhibitor to advertise
in the PREVIEW?
- How do I get a booth at the Expo?
- Who is your audience?
- Can’t my dealer do your expo
for me?
- How much product do I have to sell
at the expo to make my time and dollars worthwhile?
- What is Tradeshow Friday?
- What benefits do I get from exhibiting
in the Tradeshow?
- Does it cost extra to exhibit in
the Tradeshow?
- Do I have to exhibit all weekend
to participate in Tradeshow Friday?
- What extra visibility do I get when
I participate in Tradeshow Friday as an exhibitor?
- Can I exhibit in Tradeshow Friday
if I don’t have a new product?
- How do dealers know I’m a
participating manufacturer?
- How do I as an exhibitor know they’re
a dealer?
- Where are you getting dealers names
from?
- Who is invited?
- What is the New Products Area?
- Is there a fee to put my product
in the New Products Area?
- Can I put my new product in the
New Products Area?
Just bring your trophy to the expo. All registration
will be done on-site. There is NO advance work. DO NOT
buy a general admission ticket. Take your trophy to
the ticket turnstiles and ask for the trophy contest
registration table.
Any time between noon Friday and 10:00 a.m. Sunday.
After you have purchased your general admission ticket,
take your photos to the show office. Register them there.
Yes. There is security during the day and armed security
at night.
Contact the National Wild Turkey Federation state chapter
in the state where the expo contest is being held. At
the moment, this is only at Illinois and Ohio expos.
No. You are an attendee with a trophy to be proud of.
No. In fact, we don’t even let shed antlers in
the building, except for exhibitors bringing them in
as part of their booth display. Shed antlers tend to
get carried in hand, which happens to be right at kids’
eye level. That’s too dangerous.
$15, no matter whether it is entered in the trophy contest
or just brought in for measuring. The work and time
is the same. Contest entries are measured first, so
they can be put on display. Measure-only entries are
not put on display.
In return for entering a trophy, you get a three-day
pass to the expo ($27 value). This pass is good only
as long as your trophy is in the contest.
Certified measurers … certified by a state record-keeping
group, or state department of natural resources, or
Boone & Crockett Club, or Pope & Young Club.
There are B&C and P&Y measurers at every expo.
The system used by the Boone & Crockett Club and
the Pope & Young Club.
You can at some expos, but not at all of them. Check
the trophy contest rules and entry categories on the
expos’ individual pages.
Award trophies and participation ribbons for the trophy
contest. Award plaques and participation ribbons for
the photo contest.
No. But it must be there until 4 p.m. Sunday (when the
award program begins) to be eligible to win an award.
Any trophy checked out early is automatically removed
from award competition. Also, trophies NOT entered in
the contest are measured last, because people come to
the expo to see a lot of trophies, and that’s
what they should get.
Yes, if they have your gold copy of the trophy contest
registration form. Without that form, the trophy stays
in the building. It’s the only secure way to handle
trophy release.
We have deer and turkey expos in Illinois, Ohio, Michigan,
Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Knowledgeable hunters/seminar speakers … a lot
of manufacturers of hunting equipment and accessories
… guides/outfitters ... and a whole lot of deer
and turkey hunters.
Names vary from expo to expo, making this a question
impossible to answer in a phone call. That’s what
web-sites and PREVIEW magazines are for. Check elsewhere
on this web-site for details.
Yes. Natural history displays (deer and turkey skeletons,
fur-bearing animal hides/pelts/furs), archery shooting
lessons, airgun range, flint knappers at a couple of
expos, laser ranges (shooting at video footage of game
animals filmed in the wild), live game animal display.
We’re constantly working to increase this section
of the expos.
Yes. Check the hotel page on the individual expo home
pages.
Yes. There are several exhibit booths with ‘outdoor
lifestyle’ items - crafts, gifts, clothing, artwork,
jewelry, cookware, seasonings/marinades, meat processing
equipment, sausage and jerky making items, binoculars/scopes
(for bird and wildlife watching), books, videos, and
a range of products for home/den/cabin décor,
tables, mirrors, etc. Sometimes some campware. Plus
the natural history items, shooting ranges, photo contest,
venison butchering and cooking demonstrations.
There are three main legs of the tripod, so to speak,
supporting the expo - trophy contest and display, exhibit
booths and new products, and seminars. All the other
special displays, shooting booths and such enhance the
experience.
Yes. Many families stay at a full service hotel with
a pool, game room, etc. There’s plenty of shopping
near all the expo facilities, too. Call the Convention
& Visitors Bureau of the host city and ask them,
or go to their web-site. See the individual expo home
pages for details.
Attend an expo and put your name on your ticket stub,
then drop it in one of the plastic boxes on the registration
tables.
Yes. Minimum group of 25. Two-dollar discount on one-day
adult tickets. No group discount on youth tickets, because
an individual discount already exists. See ticket prices
page for details on each expo.
Yes. Every event has standard concessions service and
fare.
Friday - approximately 30 minutes before the expo opens.
Saturday - 30 to 45 minutes before the expo opens. Sunday
- 30 minutes before the expo opens. There often are
outside sales of one-day-adult/exact-change-only tickets
to help move the ticket line. All expos have multiple
ticket sales windows. (Tip: Ticket window lines change
as parking lots fill and empty. For fastest entry, go
to the parking lot least filled. See the floor plans
for ticket window locations.)
We have two-day adult tickets. We tried three-day tickets,
but so few of them sold that the effort proved impractical.
Do I have to be an exhibitor
to advertise in the PREVIEW?
No. But if you are an exhibitor, advertising will help
drive people to your booth. You will help your sales
by letting them know you’re there.
How do I get a booth at the
Expo?
Get the booth information packet from our main office
and study it, then call 1-800-324-3337 and talk with
Cheryl Keller.
You have to be a committed sports person to attend a
hunting show in the off-season. Our attendees are exactly
that. In addition to purchasing product at the expos
(see demographics for exact percentages and dollar amounts),
attendees are opinion leaders. They go back home and
talk all year about the products they saw and liked
at the expo. They become unpaid sales ambassadors for
you. That’s a valuable ripple effect your exhibiting
created. Attendees create that invaluable word-of-mouth
advertising ... “the BUZZ” that is growing
in effectiveness day by day in all aspects of all marketing.
Not really. The dealer can sell your product, but you’d
better be there with all your bells and whistles if
you want to have the necessary impact throughout the
expo’s major market area. A dealer has dozens
of products from several manufacturers.
As a manufacturer, you have your product line.
* No one knows your product like you do. No one cares
about it like
you do.
* No one can show, explain and sell your product like
you can.
* No one knows the features and benefits like you do.
* No one knows your product’s value to the customer
like you do.
* No one can build your total market like you can.
* No one else can support ALL your dealers ... or sign
up new ones.
You’re the expert on your product. You shouldn’t
hand the ball to someone else at an important time in
your company’s marketing program.
This is difficult to answer, for you should have more
objectives than on-site sales.
* Introduce new products
* Build your corporate brand name
* Open new markets
* Build customer confidence
* Deepen existing market penetration
* Build word-of-mouth promotion for additional sales
* Reach prospects the way they want to be reached --
face-to-face, interactive, immediate, hands-on,
personal
* Support your dealers and
* Sell product
Friday has a TRADESHOW for all dealers of hunting and
shooting equipment throughout each expo’s multi-state
market area. This is a BONUS OPPORTUNITY to write orders
and meet new dealers when you exhibit.
Less than 25% of all hunting/shooting dealers attend
national tradeshows. Many solid dealers never or very
seldom see people “from the factory”. This
is a market you now can reach easily. You never know
which of those smaller dealers may be tomorrow’s
powerhouse.
More sales at low cost. The dealers come to you, saving
you time and money. Introduce your new products; show
your product line; write orders; make the valuable personal
contacts that create more business. The value of your
investment in time and effort for the entire weekend
increases.
No.
Yes.
You will be listed in a directory given to all attending
dealers; your booth will have on-site identification,
and you will have badge identification indicating you
are participating.
Yes. The New Product Special Display Area is a separate
item that will be in place for the entire weekend.
By on-site, in-booth identification above the booth;
by checking the directory they receive when they register,
and by noting the special identification you and your
booth work crew will be given. In addition, products
displayed in the New Product Area will have identification
information, including booth number.
Dealers will be given special, highly visible identification
badges/ribbons when they register.
Some from publishers, some from exhibiting manufacturers,
some from web-sites, some from industry associations.
Dealers of hunting and shooting equipment from throughout
each expo’s multi-state market area.
Part or all of fourteen states make up the major market
area for the five expos. This equates to 40%-45% of
the total U.S. hunting/shooting market. See the DEMOGRAPHICS
pages for details.
It’s a bonus to all exhibiting manufacturers.
This special display area will be set up as close as
possible to the main entrance on the show floor at each
expo, right where everyone will see it first. Many people
want an opportunity to examine a product before talking
with a factory representative or a sales person.
There is NO EXTRA COST to place your product in this
special marketing area.
Each displayed product is identified by name, manufacturer
and booth number. Interested prospects will come to
your booth for details.
If you are an exhibitor, yes.
No. |
