Casting microscopic flies to fish that have doctorates in entomology might not make much sense, but at least AFFTA’s decision does
As is now well known amongst industry players, the American Fly Fishing Trade Association has severed its ties with Nielsen Business Media and the associated Fly Fishing Retailer trade show. According to the announcement, AFFTA and Nielsen have been in discussions for some time as to how to improve the show. Nielsen’s latest proposal was to combine FFR with the summer Outdoor Retailer Show in Salt Lake City, which Nielsen also owns. The AFFTA board considered the proposal, but the final pitch from Nielsen essentially amounted to a watered-down addition of fly fishing related vendors, and it was summarily declined.
This matter has been subject to much speculation, and much second-guessing. I’m not an industry player, nor do I claim to be. I’m just an ordinary guy with nothing to lose, who conveniently happens to have spent a decent part of his working life advising (or directly managing) companies that were either under-performing, or literally on their deathbeds. I don’t understand the fuss. If I was a fly fishing retailer or manufacturer, I’d applaud the decision.
Not so nuts
Several years ago trade show attendance began to decline. The drop wasn’t isolated to Fly Fishing Retailer, or even the fly-fishing industry – it was spread far and wide.
Part of this decline can be attributed to the economy. That’s right folks – we’re in a recession. Not just any recession either – it’s a bubble-on-top-of-bubble recession driven by the biggest bust in consumer/commercial finance and residential/commercial property the world has ever seen. The stock market sits at a level reminiscent of a decade past, and federal, state and local budget deficits are beyond irreparable. Why anyone thinks for a millisecond that a highly discretionary (and extremely expensive) sport like fly-fishing would not feel exponential pain is beyond me. TFO pricing strategies might seem like a saving grace, but let me tell you boys and girls…they still aren’t anywhere close to an Ugly Stick from Walmart.
The other reason for trade show softness is speculation on my part, but I’m going to bet it has something to do with technology. In the last six or so years we’ve seen an explosion of communications enabling technologies, many of which cost precisely zip to use. Free phone calls and video conferencing, as well as social networking, blogging, micro-blogging, and even ubiquitous mobile messaging have all made it easier to do what traditionally gets done at trade shows, meeting and greeting, and wheeling and dealing.
Right this moment, retailers (and manufacturers) should be hunkering down, cutting costs wherever they can, and finding new ways to reach customers and market their products. Not breaking the bank for the next trade show that comes along. The whole process is ripe for restructuring.
Integrity is hard to find
As for AFFTA, I say this: An industry association, if committed to serving its constituents with the highest regard, would not be doing so by hastily agreeing to a half-baked combination, a show within a show. It serves nobody’s best interests but the owners/promoters of the show, and would inevitably piss off members with the redheaded stepchild treatment. This is what I perceive AFFTA is doing, refusing to settle for less. Acting with its members’ long term best interests in mind is what I call integrity. I’ll take that integrity over slight of hand with hat in it, anytime. And particularly in troubled times.
No shrimp for you
Sure, there might not be a decent fly-fishing-only industry trade show this year. And so what…have you seen the price of airfares lately? Retailers could use the money saved to pay off a few vendors, get some more stock in the door, and satisfy the only group that really matters in the end, the customers. Manufacturers reps can use those same savings to spend more time at the shops, which by the way have just paid their last invoices. Sure, nobody will get his or her all-night beer swilling, shrimp eating fest. But I’ll bet that the same folks that are crying a river about that now will be looking for another industry veil to hide behind when the next upturn begins.
Finally, as for the idea that trade shows are critical to meeting industry players, and developing the bonds that result in fruitful business, I throw the bullshit flag. The fly fishing industry isn’t a stadium filler – heck, it would barely pack my hall closet. And that’s just fine.
Everybody already knows everybody anyway – for goodness sakes they’re all friends on Facebook!
MG signing off (to catch more fish than those whining about the trade shows)
Posted in On The Fly
| Tags: AFFTA, Fly Fishing Retailer, Nielson Business Media, trade shows
Feed 
on comments or
trackback from your site
|
Share
December 2nd, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Love the commentary Michael, it’s a good read. I have to disagree on a few points though… primarily that the trade show has been made essentially obsolete due to communication technology. This is a hot topic of course in the trade show world (in which I work but not from which I originate). Technology facilitates everything from order writing to sharing fishing spots as well as simple conversation (and of course surfing porn). The problem used to be not enough timely information. Now, the problem has reversed to too much information and it’s up to the dealer to try and make sense of the billions of bits flying around the blogosphere. Who, back in the day, would even read this far in a non-vetted print magazine? Technology both helps and hurts the tribal gathering cause. It certainly does not replace the need to look someone in the eye, feel their handshake, and field answers to pointed questions. Especially if they are an important current or future business partner.
The other is that your perspective, educated and thoughtful though it be, does not represent a retailer’s perspective. A retailer has litte time to devote to learning best practices with OTB, or how to use Social Media to market store news/events, or what up and coming endemic technology will need to be carried in store to catch the approaching next wave. The reality is that the pace of business change is quickening, and trade shows are one of the most efficient ways to get one’s head out of the day to day crisis management game that is running retail stores and take a few days to consider the future mix of intelligence and products…. referred to as ‘making your money on the front end’. And retailers relying on sales reps for advice on global trending and industry innovation is a waning hope, at best. There are few in the fly business that could rise to that enormous (and growing) challenge.
I think that AFFTA is a strong organization with strong brand leaders, and I am honored to have worked and learned from such an elite group of business people. The hardest thing we do, as leaders in an industry steeped in a rich tradition, is to move on from failing models. In this time, as you so poignantly describe in the first paragraph above, solutions must come from fresh thinking, and linking arms with a like-minded set of businesses that deliver an economy of scale (at the expense of a little exclusivity) is the right thing for Fly Fishing today; like it is for Paddlesports, Climbing, Backpacking, Adventure Travel, Endurance Sports and the other market sectors that call Outdoor Retailer home. These are tribes not unlike Fly, and they all gather themselves in SLC, as well as flow with the tangential markets to create new opportunities and exposure. That is what fly fishing needs the most, IMHO. And taking your ball to play alone in another remote pond only perpetuates the spiral. Again IMHO.
December 2nd, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Kenji -
Appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to contribute all the great insight.
I’d like to note that I didn’t mean to attribute trade show obsolescence to technology, or infer that the trade show concept is near the end of its useful life. It is in decline for the above mentioned reasons, and a certain amount of that decline is simply a sign of the times (both economic and technological).
As for retailers being “overworked” to the point where they can’t fit some of the above mentioned technologies into their business processes, fair enough. But like many industries (and segments) before them, that “failure” will eventually result in theirs. It may not be an internal implosion directly resulting from following the path of the Luddite, but competition will eventually come along and wipe the slate from the comfort of their iPhones. Competitive cost structures are a very difficult thing to fight. There are already a lot of players in the fly fishing business who are embracing those very same technologies with fervor, and seeing success as a result. This change is inevitable.
I agree there may be some synergies with the other OR factions. Time will tell if that is the permanent case. Let’s just hope the actual timing is right.
December 5th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Just heard something about Chuck Furimsky doing his own industry show in Fla. And lets see if AFFTA ends up taking iCAST up on its recent offer. I don’t think any firm decisions have been made……but what the hell do I know.
December 5th, 2009 at 11:09 am
That is the line TT. But I still wonder if participation will increase simply because of a change in venue/promotors, or whether the recent declines are more a systemic issue.
UPDATE: There’s more on the iCAST development here. Personally, I think the fly fishing industry would be better served showing its face alongside conventional tackle than amongst climbers and kayakers. Then again, what do I know?!
December 5th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I agree. But will large fly-fishing egos let that happen?
December 5th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
TT – Good point! I’m more the catch ‘em any way I can type. I’d rather sit in a beach chair with a fruity cocktail and teaser rod than sprint up and down the beach after those pesky roosterfish.
So I’ll say it again…what do I know (besides how to have fun)?
December 5th, 2009 at 6:45 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Who wants to run down the man when you could chase a buzz instead? Thats what I like about ya. But what the hell do I know? Lets just leave it at both of us don’t know [REDACTED]. I’m just going to go fishing and quit trying to analyze what tweed-wearing, bamboo-chucking, dryfly-fishing industry professionals are thinking. Going to Fla with Cookie and McKittrick(hopefully) next week. Leaving on Sat and there till Tuesday the 22nd. Got a couple of dates with Capt. Pier Milito, Larry from Hells Bay, and the Shallow Waters guys (Location X). Looks like I might even see our buddy Snyder. I’ll funnel you some pics. Stay warm next week bro.
December 14th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
The flyfishing industry is shrinking, FTR has disintegrated and the sharks are circling. Personally I think that it is a good thing. We are still recovering from a bubble and it is going to take some time to remove the chum from the water. We still have too many manufacturers and dealers. Slowly, they are drifting away and maybe we will be left with a healthy industry, maybe.
Let’s start with the shows:
Outdoor Retailer- too early in the season for fly shops.
iCast-it’s in Vegas, in the summer. But if you want to see companies that are stealing your ideas it’s a great place to be, and you can turn your product into a commodity!
Chuck’s show- ok, I might bite on this one. If it’s a loser I won’t be out a lot of money.
And the next question is- do we need an industry show? Of course you can find whatever you want on the internet, but every web site that I have visited has put their product in the best possible light, kind of like a beer commercial. And every Mickey Mouse manufacturer can make himself look good on the web. On the other hand, five minutes of glad handing at a show doesn’t accomplish much either. If a dealer looks at 300 products in three days, how much can he remember?
How about a viral web site with product reviews from consumers? Dime to a doughnut, most dealers do not use all of the products that they sell. They don’t have time to fish. Just an idea. We have always found that the best advertising is word of mouth. It can spread quickly on the web.
December 15th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
Chris -
I obviously agree with what you’re saying there. A show might be a much better production after the inevitable consolidation, etc. As for WOM marketing via the internet, there are folks trying it out, but I also think that with the wide variety of avenues being tested, it’s going to take a while to see prove-able ROI from those efforts.
Hope all is well down south.
MG