Men are stupid

Right now the Great Alaska Outdoors show is going on here in Anchorage. There will be car and truck dealers, gun dealers, motorhome dealers, ATV dealers, guides and outfitters for fishing trips and hunts for sheep, goat, bear, deer, and so on. The last time I went to this annual event, some years back, they were gigging you five bucks to park, and gouging almost fifteen bucks to get in.

Another month from now will be the Great Alaska Women's show, with numerous sellers, vendors, tour guides, and so forth, in numbers equivalent to the outdoor show. Know what my wife will pay to park? Zip. For admission? Nada.

Women are too smart to pay for the privilege of being sold to. It makes sense to charge vendors for their booth space, because they gain an opportunity to reach new customers and clients. But why should potential customers to pay to listen to the sales pitches?

C'mon guys! Let's act smart like the girls. Boycott these shows that charge admission!

Jim

RolandtheHeadless said:

Right now the Great Alaska Outdoors show is going on here in Anchorage. There will be car and truck dealers, gun dealers, motorhome dealers, ATV dealers, guides and outfitters for fishing trips and hunts for sheep, goat, bear, deer, and so on. The last time I went to this annual event, some years back, they were gigging you five bucks to park, and gouging almost fifteen bucks to get in.

Another month from now will be the Great Alaska Women's show, with numerous sellers, vendors, tour guides, and so forth, in numbers equivalent to the outdoor show. Know what my wife will pay to park? Zip. For admission? Nada.

Women are too smart to pay for the privilege of being sold to. It makes sense to charge vendors for their booth space, because they gain an opportunity to reach new customers and clients. But why should potential customers to pay to listen to the sales pitches?

C'mon guys! Let's act smart like the girls. Boycott these shows that charge admission!

Jim

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Jim,

I'm +1 with you and so have not been to that event in many years.
Being a Capitalist, I understand that it costs a lot of money to put on an event of that size.
However, $5. parking, and $15. admission is more than I care to spend on such a thing.
And, the food there is a bit of a gouge as well.
But, there evidently are many Alaskans who feel that show is worth the price.
I'm all for them having a good time.
I'm just not one of them.

Cheers,
Paul.

If women want equal rights, then they can pay the same as we do.......or we shouldn't be charged. How sexist of the outdoor industry!!!

On a different note, I used to go to a lot of the local gun shows.....the used to have a very eclectic group, and you could find just about anything you wanted that was firearms related: books, reloading supplies, parts, cleaning supplies, holsters & cases, etc. I used to go because I got some good deals on powder, primers, and bullets. Then they started charging admission, and then for parking, and any savings I got quickly disappeared.....so I quit going.
After about 10 years, I decided to check one out.......it was VERY disappointing. No longer much in the way of hunting rifles/shotguns; pretty much ALL black rifles/AR15/military surplus/concealed carry. On top of that, dealers are charging top dollar for powder that was made 25+ years ago (in rusty cans, no less) and ammo that hasn't seen the light of day since the 1960's. The show was only about 1/4 to 1/5th the size it used to be.
I won't be going to any more............................................... Whatever I need now, I can get off the internet (and even with shipping, it's still cheaper!)

I have never paid full price to get into a sportsman's show in more years than I can think of. I also don't pay for parking. If you look around you can find discounts for the shows, I have seen them all the way up to half off. And as for parking most of them offer free parking in a parking lot quite a ways away but offer free shuttles.

I can understand why they don't charge the women, if they did no one would show up.

It's like "Ladies night", at the local watering hole. They get in for free, and the men will show up knowing that the women are there.

Strategic marketing.

Dress up in Drag

LOL. I'll pass on the boycott. I look at gun shows, outdoor shows, etc as basically entertainment. At least where I have lived, twenty bucks is a pretty cheap afternoon.

I looked up the Great Alaska Women's show to see what it's about. After seeing some of the topics there's no way you could pay me enough money to go to that so I can see why it's free.

Interesting point! Why do we pay to go to this stuff?

I agree with you Roland. I haven't been to the Sportsman show for several years partly because of the reasons you bring up. I like the smaller shows such as the Wasilla gun show ( that supports youth hockey program) and the Alaska Wild Sheep banquet.

Mekaniks said:

I agree with you Roland. I haven't been to the Sportsman show for several years partly because of the reasons you bring up. I like the smaller shows such as the Wasilla gun show ( that supports youth hockey program) and the Alaska Wild Sheep banquet.

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+1 with you on the local gun shows Chuck.
The door take goes to a worthy cause (plus, parking is always free).
Furthermore, the various tables of eclectic, used firearms are my type of entertainment, as opposed to the multitude of Sportsman's Show seemingly endless booths with mostly fishing charters and trinket vendors.
I don't think of myself as joining a ground swell movement to break the Sportsman's Show.
I'd not want to see that show fail necessarily, because I know many other people do seem to enjoy it.
It's more like I'd rather go to four separate gun shows around here than one Sportsman's Show, for about the same amount of money spent.

Velo Dog said:

Jim,

I'm +1 with you and so have not been to that event in many years.
Being a Capitalist, I understand that it costs a lot of money to put on an event of that size.
However, $5. parking, and $15. admission is more than I care to spend on such a thing.
And, the food there is a bit of a gouge as well.
But, there evidently are many Alaskans who feel that show is worth the price.
I'm all for them having a good time.
I'm just not one of them.

Cheers,
Paul.

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I didn't go either, same reason