ICAST 2003 Exceeds Expectations; Show Floor To Expand In Coming Years
by Janet Tennyson
On the final day of ICAST 2003, all across the show floor, response from exhibitors and buyers alike showed the American Sportfishing Association's International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades exceeded expectations as a strong catalyst for sales and the place to be to forge relationships with key players in the sportfishing industry.
The world’s largest sportfishing expo was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, where more than 6,000 representatives of the sportfishing community came together July 9-11. More than 50 percent of an expanded show floor was booked for next year by show’s end.
“If you went deer hunting and sat in a tree stand for 3 days and 100 of the biggest deer in the country came by, you’d think you had a pretty successful hunt. More than 100 of the biggest buyers in our industry came into our booth at this show and we think it was tremendously successful,” said Randy Lemcke of Plano Molding Company.
“From my perspective, ICAST is by far the most important show I’ve seen anywhere during the year,” said Ken Elie of Outdoor Pro Shop, Inc. “Any independent dealer who doesn’t come is missing the boat. What you're able to learn about products is far greater than distributor shows or just waiting for sales reps to come see you.”
“We were the busiest we’ve ever been in many, many years,” said David Pfeiffer with Shimano American Corporation. “We had more booth space here and more staff to work the show this year and we could hardly keep up. It seemed to me there was a great deal of positive energy on the show floor as a whole.”
Carl Liederman of Captain Harry’s Fishing Supply said, “If you’re serious about running a successful tackle business, ICAST is definitely the place to be.”
“If a company didn’t do good business at this show, I’m not sure they shouldn’t re-evaluate the business they’re in. Not only were the key buyers here, but their attitude to do business was tremendous,” said Joe Hall of Blakemore Lure Company. “I can’t remember a show were every single buyer was as positive as they were at this show.”
John Beckwith with Falcon Rods put it simply: “The best show we’ve ever had.”
“ICAST continues to provide the ultimate arena for serious networking with buyers, media, and other manufacturers from around the globe,” said Jeff Jost of Albackore. “In only our second year at ICAST, our business relationships in the industry are substantially strengthened. As the ink now dries on the exciting agreements we've reached this week, we are looking forward to the upcoming year.”
“The show was excellent,” said Hank Hultstrand of Normark/Rapala Corporation, “We were booked from morning til night. All the buyers were here and the excitement ran very high. We’re very satisfied with our decision to pick this venue to introduce our new spinning reels. An opportunity like this, with major buyers all assembled at the biggest fishing show in the world, doesn’t come by every day. We look forward to 2004 and our next trip back to ICAST. I can’t imagine why anyone would even contemplate not being a part of this industry’s show.”
“We decided to come back this year, and it’s been productive,” said Paul Schluter of St. Croix Rod. “A lot of the retailers we’ve seen are existing customers, but we’re definitely at a disadvantage if we’re not here, so we’ll be back next year.”
“I would use two words to describe this show: Quality and Quantity,” said Jerry Gomber of Bimini Bay. “This has been the best quality of buyers we’ve seen in years and the best quantity of buyers and dealers that we've ever seen.”
“We are very satisfied with the number and quality of buyers at this show. The show has worked very well for our company,” said John Jilling of Eagle Claw Fishing Tackle. “I would say this ICAST has risen above the difficult economy and business climate.”
“ICAST has been especially inspiring this year,” said Mike Nussman, President and CEO of the American Sportfishing Association. “When all our members come together under one roof we can definitely sense the positive energy, and this is just what we need to capture and continue to keep our industry strong and vital.”
The sportfishing industry’s trade show will be held again at the Las Vegas Convention Center in 2004 and 2005, and the American Sportfishing Association plans to expand the show floor to meet increasing demand. This year’s show hosted 324 exhibiting companies with 960 booths making up a 209,000-square-foot show floor. Turnout by industry buyers was more than 1,700 and 400 media representatives attended.
The American Sportfishing Association is the recreational fishing trade association, uniting 500 members of the sportfishing and boating industries, state fish and wildlife agencies, federal land and water management agencies, conservation organizations, angler advocacy groups, and outdoor journalists. The American Sportfishing Association initiates and supports efforts to advance fisheries conservation, fishing opportunities, and a profitable sportfishing industry.
