a Huge Success

Perth 4WD & Adventure Show A HUGE SUCCESS By Chris Morton

If you were one to place a wager, then you would have been quietly confident that this year’s Perth 4WD and Adventure Show was never going to happen. With a pandemic lock down fresh in everyone’s mind and subsequent outbreaks on the east coast it would have been a fair assumption. Fortunately for Western Australia we have a government that was prepared to make hard short-term decisions to shield us from the worst of it. Being only our second 4WD show since taking over the reigns of Western 4W Driver we were a little worried as to how the show would perform. We had spent months planning and discarding possible scenarios until we ultimately settled upon keeping things simple. Unlike many vendors our supply chain is very short. We either bring stock from our storage unit or we order stock from our printing partner Vanguard Press in Northbridge. Blessed with great weather the show was inundated with visitors with almost a 30% increase in attendance compared with last year. We were three times busier than last year and speaking with other exhibitors can safely say that this was a common trend. Phil Bianchi was on hand to launch our much anticipated The 4W Driver’s Guide - Canning Stock Route, with a daily presentation and Q&A session as well as book signing. Phil’s CSR talks were all well attended as was a live stream that we uploaded to FaceBook.

Autographed copies of Phil's new CSR guide book were very popular.

We welcomed Bob Cooper into our stand who was also a key presenter at the Fourby Forum. For the first time we had Bob’s complete catalogue of survival items available for sale which proved to be extremely popular. This year we made some subtle changes to the popular Fourby Forum which was held in a larger marquee to accommodate the COVID Safe requirements. Seating was dispersed and we did away with the large outdoor TV screen on the stage, opting for multiple LED screens instead. We tried our hand at a live stream of the show over the three days from which we learnt some great lessons and are already making plans for next year. This year both of our daughters assisted for the entire event, happy to get a Friday off school (don’t worry they are both getting excellent grades). They ran our point of sale and ensured that our book stands were always stocked. We couldn’t have done it without them. Karen and I love meeting current and new subscribers to the magazine and despite the exhaustion and long days on our feet, get a real boost when we do. It is great to get constructive feedback and hear the stories of your adventures. A dedicated team of volunteers worked behind the scenes to ensure our success. A special thanks to Ben from Goldfields Off Road for your tireless efforts and commitment. Bobby from LensNation who was throwing the switches, directing our live stream and capturing digital content. Shane (the Shark Caver), always ready to lend a hand and even get arrested (watch the video at www.YouTube.com/ Australian4WDriver - it's hilarious!), Siani for giving up her free time and jumping in front of the camera for us. Last but not least Josh. Josh is a film student who answered our call for a camera operator and wanted to help as part of his work experience requirements. We think you will be ‘seeing’ more of Josh in the future. A special thanks to our Fourby Forum presenters Steve and Richard (who have yet to be mentioned) as well as to everyone who came and visited us at the show and who subscribes to the magazine.

We were inundated with visitors to our stand all weekend.

Our 'Are We There Yet?' photo board was popular with kids and adults alike!