ON THE HORIZON

from SHOT Business November / December 2022

FYI

Horizon ON THE

SHOT Show® 2023 is just around the corner.

by Brian McCombie

Well before the first person walked through the doors of SHOT Show 2022, held last January in Las Vegas, Nevada, the naysayers were out in force across the social media landscape. No one is going to come because of Covid! A complete disaster in the making! The place will be like a prison because of Covid restrictions! Might as well stay home!

On and on the naysayers went. And then a funny thing happened: people and exhibitors actually attending SHOT Show 2022 began posting their own very positive experiences to social media. The actual in-person SHOT Show, they said repeatedly, was a huge success, and they were very glad they’d attended.

“With our largest floor plan in history, more than 2,400 attending exhibitors, and thousands of buyers here to make new and meaningful connections, we couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome of this SHOT Show,” said Chris Dolnack, NSSF® Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer, shortly after show’s end. “This is a very tactile business, and it meant a lot to buyers to be able to see and handle our industry’s products in person.”

That largest floor plan ever included the long-awaited expansion at Caesars Forum that provided hundreds of companies the opportunity to move from the show’s waiting list to booth space on the show floor. Small- and medium-size companies, in particular, benefitted by being able to reach thousands of potential customers. This new venue received high marks from exhibitors and attendees and provided a spacious area for the show’s New Product Center as well.

Overall attendance to the show was down about 22 percent, Dolnack admitted, and some exhibitors did pull out due to Covid concerns for their employees. “But almost all of those exhibitors have re-signed for SHOT 2023,” Dolnack says. “And based on the surveys we did after the last show, the somewhat smaller crowds actually improved the engagement quality between attendees and exhibitors.”

SHOT Show 2023, January 17 to 20, 2023, promises to be an even better experience. Held at the Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum, the show will host an estimated 2,400 exhibitors and more than 45,000 attendees, providing all the standard SHOT events and venues.

SHOT Show 2023 will also provide a retail sales area, where exhibitors will be able to sell product to attendees. This new attraction will be located right outside Caesars Forum on the Caesars Plaza (aka the Great Outdoors Pavilion). It will be limited to 20 spaces reserved on a first-come first-served basis and will be limited to products that do not require an FFL transfer.

Exhibitors can let the world know that their brand and products will be on display at the 2023 SHOT Show by posting an official exhibitor social media graphic available for download in the Exhibitor Marketing Toolkit. This graphic can be repeatedly posted, too, to tease any new products. The kit offers many tools to help an exhibitor promote their booth, including an official exhibitor logo, customizable web graphics (where the company’s name and booth number can be added), customizable customer invites, and more.

As always, SHOT UniversityTM will be in full swing to help educate retailers, shooting range operators, industry manufacturers, and distributors on better management practices and new ways to make retail and shooting

 In addition to new product introductions, SHOT Show 2023 will also offer a wide range of retail education seminars.

range businesses grow. SHOT University courses will be available a la carte, with at least a dozen classes, and will run Tuesday, January 17 through Friday, January 20. Session content will cover topics such as customer communications, selling used firearms, welcoming and encouraging new shooters, ATF/NICS compliance, digital marketing, and much more.

There will also be an ATF/NICS Town Hall meeting with representatives from both these federal entities on hand to present information and answer questions. “There’s a good deal of anxiety about what’s being termed a ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy for FFLs concerning record keeping and firearms transfers,” Dolnack says. “We will certainly be addressing this and related issues at SHOT University and with other presentations.”

Among other SHOT Show week events is the 2023 NSSF/HAVA Golf Classic (January 15) at Bear's Best Las Vegas. HAVA (Honored American Veterans Afield) is an industry-run organization that helps the healing and re-integration of disabled combat veterans back into normal life through participation in hunting and shooting sports. Dolnack, who is a member of HAVA’s

Leapers UTG is one of the SHOT Show exhibitors that made the move to the spacious Caesars Forum.

board of directors, says the organization is committed to directing resources to help heroes and their families. All the proceeds from this event will benefit HAVA outreach programs, and this event promises to raise more than $50,000 for American veterans.

Industry Day at the Range is the most influential one-day trade event in the hunting and shooting sports industry. Held the day before SHOT opens at the Boulder Rifle and Pistol Club, Boulder City, Nevada, this is the only range event officially associated with SHOT Show and is sponsored by the NSSF. Industry Day at the Range

Exhibitors can let the world know that their brand and products will be on display at the 2023 SHOT Show by posting an official exhibitor social media graphic available for download in the Exhibitor Marketing Toolkit. This graphic can be repeatedly posted, too, to tease any new products.

brings together invited media members, buyers, and manufacturers to preview and test the latest products.

SHOT Show 2023 will also offer another of the well-attended and popular Governor’s Panel presentations. Last year, the panel featured the governors of six states courting shooting sports businesses to relocate to their states.

“There are some big challenges in our industry, but it’s important to know that a number of states actually want to work with us,” Dolnack says. “These governors and their state economic development agencies offer help and incentives to those companies considering a move to places with pro-business and pro-Second Amendment environments.”

The last Governor’s Panel included Mike Dunleavy (Alaska), Mark Gordon (Wyoming), Asa Hutchinson (Arkansas), Brian Kemp (Georgia), Kristi Noem (South Dakota), and Pete Ricketts (Nebraska.)

And don’t forget SHOT’s host city, Las Vegas, itself. As Dolnack notes, there’s a great deal more to do in Vegas than gamble—though, of course, gambling opportunities abound. “A lot has changed and been added to Las Vegas in the last few years,” he says. “There are many new restaurants and entertainment venues, plus professional sports.”

 SHOT Show remains a premium venue where manufacturers, retailers, marketers and members of the shooting sports press can meet face to face.

See us at SHOT Show Booth #20326

MANUFACTURER OF TACTICAL SHOOTING PRODUCTS precisionreflex.com

IT’S A

MARK YOUR CALENDARS JAN. 17–20 | 2023

THE VENETIAN EXPO + CAESARS FORUM LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

SHOTShow.org

The Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League, for example, will be hosting three home games during SHOT Week: January 16 vs. Dallas Stars, January 19 vs. Detroit Red Wings and January 21 vs. Washington Capitals.

All in all, the SHOT Show 2023 promises to be an event you definitely won’t want to miss.

(shotshow.org)