2019 Safari Club International Show Summary

I believe some people are having a great time at the convention. Some people. But for the average guy who paid $500 to get in and $2500 for travel and lodging, it may not be all that much fun. The walrus and the clams. Regurgitating ad copy about a' rousing success' sheds no light. Did you ever see an ongoing endeavor that said "we had a total failure, so please rent booth space from us?'....Of course not. They always report a success. But for whom? Wildlife? The inner sanctum of dignitaries? The average guy on the floor? To know what's really happened, do a serious exit poll on the average young attendees who went for only a day or two. See what they thought. While I believe hunters would benefit from attending at least once in their lifetime, most will find that they are clams...................FWB
 
AH has become a show unto itself. At least as it relates to Africa. AH is open 365 days per year. There are 7,232 people on the floor as I write this. 58 official exhibitors along with a few exhibitors that are just walking the isles.:sneaky: Friends abound whenever I sign in.

As AH grows, a new and younger generation is exposed to hunting that will not travel to Reno or Dallas.

I was slow to accept the internet. When I first got an email address, I would check it every month or two. I never researched anything on the WWW, I used the 1963 edition of the World Book Encyclopedia. Something about old dogs and new tricks. That has changed and now I probably spend too much time on the internet.

Backwoods is the local show in Oklahoma City. It is small and limits African exhibitors to around 5. A couple years after I joined AH, I told one of the African exhibitors at the Backwoods show that I had booked a couple of hunts through AH. He thought I was stupid. I told him he should join and post on AH. I had actually known this outfitter at the Backwoods show for ten or so years. I knew some of his clients that would hang around the booth. This outfitter comes to America and spends six weeks going to around five shows and sees past clients at home "shows". How much do these six weeks cost? I don't know, but it can't be cheap. The cost is obviously justified as he continues to do this year after year.

One thing I notice about most outfitters who are sponsors on AH. Most don't participate in the general discussions much these days. Probably less than ten have over 1,000 posts. Does this equate to buying a booth and setting in a chair and playing with your phone as customers walk down the isle? I don't know. When I go to DSC, there are exhibitors that are friends I look to see, outfitters I am interested in hunting with I will talk to, but when I walk down the isle and exhibitors don't say hi or ask if they can answer any questions about _________. I just walk on by. I know most of the outfitters/sponsors who have been on AH for five plus years. Unfortunately I don't know most of the outfitters who are sponsors now on AH. They don't participate in general conversations like this thread, so I probably won't buy from them since I don't know anything about them, other than a hunt special they have posted. I sent a pm to an outfitter on AH a month or two ago. He has yet to respond. They have a great name and reputation. Will I ever hunt with them. Not if they never respond.

I'm not trying to tell outfitters/sponsors how to run their business, but if you pay Jerome to be in this exhibit hall, wouldn't it behoove you to participate and take advantage of the thousands of people that walk down the isle every day.


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Hi Bob,

I hope I am not the outfitter that you were speaking of, I tried e-mailing you concerning questions. Not sure if you received. Then we have had some problems here in Zimbabwe and the govt. cut all communications, social media, internet, telephone. I was able to get a couple of Sat phone call made to out of the country but they were blocked inside the country. Again I hope it was not us that you were referring to.
 
I was there all 4 days .... 4 very long days.

The attendance was significantly down. Numbers of under 8000 are mentioned.... taking into account that most attendees bring a partner I guess you can do your own math on how many attendees that could be a client to the thousands of booths.

I also did not see many young faces which is a real concern.

Shuttles and traffic was an issue at times.

Reno is not a very visitor friendly city . Weather can have a severe impact on attendence by road and air.

A client of mine does most of the taxidermy shipping between DSC and SCI .... next year having a day less for travel between Dallas and Reno on either 70 or 80 is going to be a challenge for those shippers. I unfortumately see a disaster in the making.

Day auctions clear the show floors where all the bargain hunters flock to snatch hunts at avg of 20 % of the value.

Booth prices were significantly increased this year.....

There are a lot of long standing exibitors that said worst show in 15 years ..... most said not going back .....also a lot of attendees say not back to Reno next year.

Show layout was horrible and very confusing to say the least .

I guess only time will tell but I do not see a good outcome for next year !!!
 
Hi Bob,

I hope I am not the outfitter that you were speaking of, I tried e-mailing you concerning questions. Not sure if you received. Then we have had some problems here in Zimbabwe and the govt. cut all communications, social media, internet, telephone. I was able to get a couple of Sat phone call made to out of the country but they were blocked inside the country. Again I hope it was not us that you were referring to.



Lon,

Don't worry, I was not referencing you at all. You have done a great job of getting back with me. (y)

Traveling between countries, time in the bush, etc. I always take that into account and consideration.
 
I was there all 4 days .... 4 very long days.

The attendance was significantly down. Numbers of under 8000 are mentioned.... taking into account that most attendees bring a partner I guess you can do your own math on how many attendees that could be a client to the thousands of booths.

I also did not see many young faces which is a real concern.

Shuttles and traffic was an issue at times.

Reno is not a very visitor friendly city . Weather can have a severe impact on attendence by road and air.

A client of mine does most of the taxidermy shipping between DSC and SCI .... next year having a day less for travel between Dallas and Reno on either 70 or 80 is going to be a challenge for those shippers. I unfortumately see a disaster in the making.

Day auctions clear the show floors where all the bargain hunters flock to snatch hunts at avg of 20 % of the value.

Booth prices were significantly increased this year.....

There are a lot of long standing exibitors that said worst show in 15 years ..... most said not going back .....also a lot of attendees say not back to Reno next year.

Show layout was horrible and very confusing to say the least .

I guess only time will tell but I do not see a good outcome for next year !!!


That's unfortunate to hear. SCI at the chapter level is made up of a bunch of good guys. At the national level, I am reminded of Nancy Pelosi's comment about tax cuts being crumbs.

A year ago a couple of SCI executives came here on AH and made statements that changes were in the works. Haven't heard from them in a while.
 
didn't go to SCI this year because it was in Reno. As regards the "shows" in general I go to a show to meet outfitters face to face and to see old friends etc have a good time. Reno is inconvient for many including me. Really a poor choice for SCI! I am a SCI member, a measurer, etc BUT like someone mentioned some SCI execs showed their face here then left never to be heard of again. Have never been to DSC but would like you guys to tell me if it is bigger better than SCI aka more outfitters? I go more often to NRA and SHOT show. NRA conventions are literally shoulder to shoulder packed maybe SCI should ask themselves how that happens?
 
Yes! Supply is much the same, or going up (general statement and demand is going down at the shows as the shows themselves haven't done a good job of showing what their value add is to new/younger clients.



Very relevant!

You're the case study of what the shows have done wrong. They haven't embraced the internet, nor do they understand how the new/younger hunter shops. The main advantage to the shows, IMO, is meeting with an outfitter face to face. As you're more aware than I am this just isn't as important to the younger generation and thus why you don't understand the "value" of the shows.

I go to DSC every year. But, its really a social event for me to see old friends and meet new ones. I've talked business there, but have never actually booked a hunt from DSC. It's given me ideas and sent me in a particular direction, but I've never booked as a result of being there.

There’s a lot to be said for meeting your outfitter face to face. I met with mine at DSC on Friday- they had me booked for the wrong dates! As convenient as email is, sometimes a good ol’ face-to-face is required.
 
This plagerized from another board, but ......

"The "SCI Was A Real Success" article was the main topic floating around the DSC show set up a couple of hours ago. I mean 'everyone' was reading the press release and having a good giggle. I agree it MUST have been written before the Reno convention even started. Kind of a " Hillary Wins In A Landslide" article the day before the election. I must have gotten confused and attended the 'other' Reno show, because the one I was at was poorly attended,and from the large number of guys I personally spoke with, especially in the safari world, sparse indeed in booked hunts dept."


And a very disturbing one.....appears SCI is a farce

"If you want to become ill. Look at SCI's IRS 990 and how they spend their money. Look at the amount of wages and benefits.

Then look at their largest grant which is to the SCI Foundation. Then look at the SCI Foundation 990 and see how much they spend on Wages and Benefits.

IIRC, when you remove double counting Revenue for SCI/SCI-F combined is about $17.4 in revenue with $7.4 (42%) spent on wages and benefits.

Of the total of $17.4 million approximately $1.1 million goes to actual in the field conservation grants or 6.3%

SCI 990 and attachments link

https://projects.propublica.or...anizations/860974183

SCI-F 990 and attachments link

https://projects.propublica.or...1349349302244/IRS990"
 
I went to both shows, for work. I have gone to SCI for the last four years and Dallas show since the mid 1990's. If I wasn't going for work I would skip SCI and attend Dallas. A much friendlier feel and considerably less expensive.

Interesting note on how the internet has changed our way of shopping. I used to look forward to the DSC show months in advance and save up all year to purchase vintage hunting books for my collection and would usually leave the show with some great collector pieces. This year while looking at books I couldn't help but compare prices on ebay and other web sources and walked away empty handed. Hard to pay 1500 for a vintage book that I can buy on ebay for 10%.

With that said, its kind of sad really, the excitement is gone and it has to be hurting the vendors.
 
I've booked 3 hunts at shows and really like to meet the outfitter face to face and and a couple of them I visited with for a few years at the shows before booking.
 
I joined SCI a year ago (January 16th to be exact) just to see what they could accomplish. We had a couple of the execs join AH and the conversation was great for a few days, then nothing. Read the thread again and see what they ACTUALLY responded to questions posed. Then I tried to access the SCI auctions on January 1 and was told my membership expired December 31. I spent over $12,000 on hunts with them last year. It is sad that things are not going well for them, but they will get to muddle along without my support. I feel bad for the vendors and attendees that spent money and time. Again, only $50 for four days at DSC.
 
Wow, Jason, that is scary..............the hatred that the Left has for many things is going to be a problem. On the one hand, they are attending Kumbaya meetings against bullying, and on the other, they are shouting down free speech and burning cars.....................the future of hunting is, well, scary..................I went to lunch with a nurse who was totally opposed to hunting. She ordered "The Big Beef Burrito" from Garcia's Mexican Rst..............that says it all...............Oh,and she had a $1500 Louis Vuitton leather handbag.................is common sense doomed? (Not to hijack thread but PM me regarding first edition books, am old and have them.........from Count Teleki to Sir Richard Burton, to African Game Trails).....................FWB
 
@Ridge Top Ranch Thank you for your comments as I think it sums up what I would say far more concisely. I have been receiving a lot of feedback on the SCI show and we are taking all into consideration. I have my own opinions on how and where the show should be, but keep in mind, that these decisions are not made by one person despite popular belief. This being said, we are looking at all the feed back to see what we can do to improve, but one thing that isn't being discussed was that an exhibitor survey was conducted before the decision to move back to Reno, and it was an overwhelming majority who wanted to move back to Reno as is was considerable less expensive then Vegas. I am sure there will be folks who said they didn't get the survey, etc. but I have noticed time and time again that a great deal of communication goes ignored and after the fact folks will be unhappy if they didn't get the result they want. I will be the first to admit that attending the SCI show is not inexpensive, but the feedback I have always received from exhibitors is that the cost of attending SCI tends to equate to serious buyers because they already made a financial commitment to attend versus a show that is open to the general public at a much lower cost. The last bit of feedback that I haven't seen on here, is that a lot of exhibitors describe as folks who show up, grab a brochure, but may not be really interested in booking a hunt, which goes back to people who are committed to doing business. I am a life member of SCI, DSC, and HSC, and I enjoy all the shows and I think they are all great shows and I want everyone to be successful as we are all fighting the same fight together!

@One Day... I will say there are a lot of discussions going on, and I am not sure who you overheard, but in regards to item #2) I will say that the information you overheard isn't even close to being accurate in regards to any sort of penalties, changes being made, etc. I'm not sure where that came from, but I am never surprised to hear some far fetched rumor, etc. floating around. In regards to the statement about airlines asking folks to leave a day early is another piece of erroneous information as we worked with the airport authority to provide more airlift which worked well for me as there were direct flights from Atlanta to Reno which is something we haven't had in quite while. I do appreciate you all providing feedback and attending the show and I hope those who haven't attended will give it a go.

This being said, I booked four hunts myself and it seems to be a mixed back on who was busy and who wasn't. Just my personal opinion, but it seems like some locations are more in favor then others.

Lastly, thank you all for your honest feedback and comments and please feel free to contact me directly if you would like to ask questions, make suggestions, etc.

Good hunting, Paul
 
Paul thank you for clearing up some misunderstandings, there is always no shortage of rumors, most with out basis !
 
My feedback is different than most as I did not attend the show, but every year I attend ATA and SHOT (this year I was not at shit as I was out if country for work), and other distributor and/or buy group shows. For me, the trade show season is packed enough to where it's just too difficult to add another in.

Now, I also consider myself a younger hunter, age 32, whom has been fortubate enough to have gone over to Africa twice so far and planning a third. I work in the hunting/fishing/outdoor industry so being able to come home between shows even for a few days is a big help to the family. Now, many of my colleagues and friends of my similar age in the industry would love to hunt Africa and have expressed interest to me in doing so. We've discussed attending SCI or DSC but it's just a little much in January to add one more show. We basically rely on AH or direct industry connections.

I know show schedules are set for reasons, but this timing right between or overlapping ATA and SHOT is what keeps me away, along with a few friends whom would also like to attend. Granted, there's only so many days in January...
 
Thanks for taking time to respond. I have attended many "trade shows" over the years and there are always people who say the show should be shorter. It should be somewhere else. This is a wastes of time. These are the same people who are on their phones, computers and visiting with others away from their booth. Seems people who pay attention to the attendees, engage them with the proper attitude are always busy making sales.
 
Ill give my 2 cents as a member of this online community and a young hunter. 37. I totally support all the clubs and shows but i just don't have the time or money to participate in these types of extracurricular activities. I wish I could but i just can't and even though I have a decent job and own a home and what not, the margins just aren't within reach. Like i said I wish that wasn't the case but that's my reality. I hope somehow someway things can change in the future but until then all i can do is view from a distance
 

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