Mississauga Boat and Sportsman Show

[MuskieBait]

Agree with much of what OT and Jeremy had said.

I'm recently taking a miniMBA course...so forgive me if I'm always sounding like I'm doing a case study of things...but we do need to do some analysis and provide some recommendations...

1) Too many shows

There are different issues here...

a) Too many shows on similar topics and similar target consumers.

b) Too much variety and lacks focus.

c) Consumers has limited time and money to attend similar shows.

d) Lack of corporate sponsors.

To address these issues...

a) A couple of "big variety show" is adequate. Niagara is 1 hour away from Toronto, London is just 2 hours away. There is no need for a Niagara show and a London show. Strategically, you can have one in Toronto, and one in Ottawa or Kingston to capture most of the target market. If people can drive 1 hour from Markham to the Mississauga show, they can drive 1 hour from Niagara to Toronto. The Toronto Sportmans Show is good to serve this "variety show" premise. These big variety shows are great for average joes, beginning anglers and people who just like to hang out. But it offers little to the more experienced and refined anglers who know what they want to see and learn.

b) This concept of "everything one roof" is good for big shows...but it really fails for the little shows (like Niagara or London shows). In a big show, there can be a mix of "desirable" and "undesirable" products and services that people are looking for...and given a large selection to choose from, everyone will always walk away with something they want to see or buy. But in smaller shows, you have limited selection...and unless you know what you are looking for, it is often more miss than hit. For smaller shows, I think it is important to really focus on a niche market. There has already been a start with a recent Icefishing Show in the fall. I think that's brilliant. For example I think there are capacity for a Spring Trolling Show. The same organizers can host this show at a smaller space (cheaper venue cost) with a much more focused offering. Owen Sound, Long Point and Mississauga can be the targeted location (instead of Toronto...since Mississauga would already capture all areas from Port Dalhousie to Port Hope...within reasonable driving distance). With a focused show, manufacturers can properly reach their target market. As such corporate sponsors should be more willing to support such shows (eg. Scotty, Northern King, Okuma, Daiwa...etc). Do they same for a Spring Bass Show in May in Peterborough and Parry Sound. Do the same for a Musky/Pike Show in again in Peterbrough, Parry Sound and Ottawa. I'm aware there are smaller seminars and shows done by clubs...but what I envision is a bigger show with more manufacturers and more speakers. A booth from Daiwa, Shimano, Okuma, Fenwick, St. Croix, Musky Mania...speaking about their species specific tackle and seminars from the pros...plus lure manufacturers and small home business lure makers to showcase their products.

c) I really hate the shows bringing back similar content every year. I get the mentality that "Hey, Bob Izumi did a great job this year talking about flipping for bass. We'll bring him back next year to give the same seminar to draw the large amount of people again!" Sorry...maybe that's great for people with the attention span of a child. Personally, I see a seminar once, glean the info that I need, and I don't need to see the SAME seminar again, and again, and again for years and years. DIVERSIFY!!! All these shows talk about, year over year, are the same bloody techiniques that are 10-20 years old. I want to learn something new...something radical...something I've never thought about...not how to fish crankbaits over a rocky hump. I already knew how...and I'm not learning anything new! Same thing with some of the tackle vendors. They are there every year selling the same baits over and over again! I think the show organizers need to review who and what they are hosting...and spend more time on the product (the show exhibitors and the seminars). Mix it up a little! We don't need 5 vendors selling senko imitating worms at the same price! We need some revolutionary products...and I would much rather see these products showcased by the manufacturers at their own booth, than have an airhead temp salesman at "name your store" trying to sell me a lure that they had never used...just because "it looks good". I want to talk to reps from LiveTarget...not "Joe" at LeBaron. We need more of that. It's all about quality and not quantity when it comes to exhibitors. The show organizers need to put pressure on speakers and vendors to deliver innovations. (To me, adding a few new colour patterns to a mix of lures is not a significant an innovation...it's just adding variety. Adding a little more salt to make your worm float a little better is not an innovation...it's an improvement, but it's not going to make me go WOW! Now, show me a new drag material, or a new line material, or a new rod construction, or a new hook placement like that of the Killer Frogs that radically improve performance...that would get my attention). When suspending crankbaits came out 15 years ago, that was the WOW! When Japanese oiled fiber drag washers came out, that was the WOW! When you give me a new colour for Rapala F7...that's just meh...

So in conclusion, I think we need just a couple of big shows, a number of smaller focused shows at strategic locations, and really bring quality back to the shows.