Dallas Safari Club Convention Summary

[Green Chile]

I think the letter starts out with an important point...it was the CEO's first week on the job. Very difficult timing with all that is going on. I'm sure he feels like he is drinking from a fire hose while the building is on fire. I look forward to seeing what is sorted out and as Dave said, it's a minefield of competing priorities and personalities. I hope they are successful. Perhaps we need a change of marketing and communications leadership to show accountability and ownership of failures.

 

[Red Leg]

I should note, what I believe has been one of the meaningful contributions to the decision to openly review the show and the way going forward, and the CEO's decision to update the membership directly which was released today, has been our discussion on this thread.

 

[wesheltonj]

I am glad to see they are working on "solving the problem." But I am afraid, it's going to be death by a five cuts. I looked at ProPublica, if correct they have about 11 million in assets down from 15 million in assets at the highest. I understand the buyout to get out of Atlanta is 5 Million (could be more or less, that's the number floating around). Gossip is a buyout and moving to San Antonio. I really don't see that happening as the buy out is almost half their assets. More, likely they will stay in Atlanta but that's going to require spending a lot on advertising (and it will not be Safari Classic shows - Track Across Africa, Hornady's Dark & Dangerous, World of Sport Afield) and if they don't get the floor traffic they will lose exhibitors and money each year. Meanwhile, SCI/TTHA next year will take all the space that DSC would normally take. Texans, don't really want to travel to Atlanta, and DSC cannot count on that traffic, it's going to stay in Dallas at SCI/TTHA. It will be interesting to see what solution they work out.

 

[Doug3006]

Per Mr. McCanna; “there is a broad concern from our convention stakeholders regarding our ability to enjoy the degree of success for all stakeholders that we have become accustomed to over the years should our convention remain in Atlanta.” There’s only one solution I can think of that will address this concern. Get out of Atlanta!

 

[mdwest]

The problem is… leave Atlanta and go where?

Nashville and Dallas are now taken..

Orlando is big enough.. but is that the right destination?

Vegas is big enough… but is that going to work?

Etc etc

 

[Inkgardener]

The problem is… leave Atlanta and go where?

Nashville and Dallas are now taken..

Orlando is big enough.. but is that the right destination?

Vegas is big enough… but is that going to work?

Etc etc

I’m a little biased here…

Is Tulsa fairgrounds big enough? Not too far from Dallas.

 

[Northern Shooter]

Call me crazy but it should remain in Texas.

 

[Russ16]

I can’t believe there isn’t a place in the metroplex that can handle the show. The Gaylord comes to mind among many others.

 

[WAB]

San Antonio was mentioned earlier. I’ve been to many oil industry events there. Great town for a convention.

 

[mdwest]

And the national shooting complex in San Antonio is outstanding…

AH skeet or sporting clays shoot anyone?

 

[wesheltonj]

The problem is… leave Atlanta and go where?

Nashville and Dallas are now taken..

Orlando is big enough.. but is that the right destination?

Vegas is big enough… but is that going to work?

Etc etc

Only three places in Texas that are big enough. (1) Houston - already has HSC; (2) Dallas - already now has SCI/TTHA; and (3) San Antonio

 

[Lone Star Bluegrass]

My two cents:

The Paul Harvey explanation for the move to Atlanta will likely not become known for years, if ever.

I wonder (or maybe more accurately, I doubt) that they explored the option to run a concurrent show with HSC at George R. Brown in Houston. The HSC show is modest in size but the venue is large enough to accommodate DSC. I think this would have been possible if handled properly, but cards on the table I don’t know the personalities involved.

An improved communication plan is obviously in order, but I don’t think that will be enough to put a tourniquet on the number of people that simply won’t make the trip to Atlanta. The comments from some that are active in their industry and attend trade shows is valid—I’m one myself—but most of us do so out of necessity. When you’re talking about vacation time and pastimes/hobbies, that’s a different matter entirely and simply shopping of a population center with a huge convention hall is not enough.

 

[dogcat1]

Tulsa Fairgrounds is plenty large enough and has better parking.
It is a great city, safe and lots to do. They hold one of the biggest gun shows in the country there.

San Antonio is great but it is the headquarters of SCI....and SCI holds their event in Nashville.

Las Vegas and Reno are terrible places.

Phoenix is a good choice for weather and people. Good airport.

ATL is fine but has no "soul". Deep South, lousy downtown area, great airport, long way from Dallas where the foot traffic carries the day.

 

[mdwest]

The problem with Tulsa is multi-faceted.. but the single biggest issue would be hotel space..

Tulsa actually knows this is what keeps really large events out of the city and there are discussions ongoing about how to deal with this..

How many hotel rooms in downtown Tulsa will bring in bigger events? 2,200 isn't enough

Despite all the new construction of hotels in downtown Tulsa, the city is still behind while Oklahoma City and others are investing in hotels with enough capacity to meet the

tulsaworld.com

specific to the tulsa expo center area, there are very limited upper end full service (4 star) hotels in the immediate area which is what an event like DSC or SCI typically requires.. so most attendees and exhibitors would be commuting rather than walking or taking a short uber daily.. which would be a very big issue..

Personally I like Tulsa.. the event space is big enough.. its a reasonably short drive for most of the regular TX attendees, etc... and Im not one to care about staying in a hotel close to the event (wife is an executive with a hotel management group, so we get great hotel discounts and generally stay wherever we can get the best rate.. ).. but I don't think it would be appealing to most of the other people that go to DSC..

 

[Green Chile]

One of the ways this could proceed would be for DSC to say sorry we didn't involve you more the first time around. This time we are going to present you with some options to give us feedback on. All of these options have some kind of compromise but we look forward to your input as we have a few years before we can get back to normal.
- Tulsa - 4 hour drive from DFW but big convention center, etc but hotels are limited
- San Antonio
- ATL (they should include that as an option and see what people say)
- etc

For that matter, DSC could come on several forums like this and gather feedback through a survey tool. I would suggest including a variety of sources of feedback. Then report back honestly on the results. Begin making decisions after that.

 

[Inkgardener]

The problem with Tulsa is multi-faceted.. but the single biggest issue would be hotel space..

Tulsa actually knows this is what keeps really large events out of the city and there are discussions ongoing about how to deal with this..

How many hotel rooms in downtown Tulsa will bring in bigger events? 2,200 isn't enough

Despite all the new construction of hotels in downtown Tulsa, the city is still behind while Oklahoma City and others are investing in hotels with enough capacity to meet the

tulsaworld.com

specific to the tulsa expo center area, there are very limited upper end full service (4 star) hotels in the immediate area which is what an event like DSC or SCI typically requires.. so most attendees and exhibitors would be commuting rather than walking or taking a short uber daily.. which would be a very big issue..

Personally I like Tulsa.. the event space is big enough.. its a reasonably short drive for most of the regular TX attendees, etc... and Im not one to care about staying in a hotel close to the event (wife is an executive with a hotel management group, so we get great hotel discounts and generally stay wherever we can get the best rate.. ).. but I don't think it would be appealing to most of the other people that go to DSC..

I didn’t realize there was a hotel problem in Tulsa .

I think the DSC should be in…Dallas. It just sounds goofy to be somewhere else. Figure it out. Sounds like incompetent planning to me. I don’t see Jerry moving the Cowboys to Atlanta when they are doing stadium work?!

 

[Troubleshooter]

One of the ways this could proceed would be for DSC to say sorry we didn't involve you more the first time around. This time we are going to present you with some options to give us feedback on. All of these options have some kind of compromise but we look forward to your input as we have a few years before we can get back to normal.
- Tulsa - 4 hour drive from DFW but big convention center, etc but hotels are limited
- San Antonio
- ATL (they should include that as an option and see what people say)
- etc

For that matter, DSC could come on several forums like this and gather feedback through a survey tool. I would suggest including a variety of sources of feedback. Then report back honestly on the results. Begin making decisions after that.

I agree. The letter from the new CEO is a good start, but obtaining feedback and subsequently buy-in from the membership and other stakeholders will go a long way towards fixing this situation.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

I would suggest including a variety of sources of feedback. Then report back honestly on the results. Begin making decisions after that.

Surveys were sent out to exhibitors yesterday.

 

[Dhutson]

I was at the show on DSC last Saturday and have the following comments:

1) the relatively low attendance was good for me as i was able to walk right up and talk to whomever i wanted to. I did not have to wait at any booth
2) i thought the number and variety of exhibitors was excellent
3) Feedback i received from several exhibitors was negative on DSC choosing Atlanta
4) the check at the event was alittle slow for us but they got it done
5) i did not find the “vibe” of Atlanta outside teh convention to be good
6) i probably will not make the trip to Atlanta again (I am from Texas)

I attended the Houston show today, much smaller event but the feel was good and I enjoyed it more.

I too went to the Houston show. I was surprised at the number of people in attendance. There were not as many vendors there but I am sure that its because the attendance has been so poor for the past few years. With all the issues with DSC is having. Houston has a great opportunity to capitalize and make their show a premier event. Just not sure that it's part of their thinking.

 

[wesheltonj]

I will make three cases:

First option, move to San Antonio. SCI took your dates in Dallas, move to their home turf. Convention space is large enough, plenty of hotel rooms from La Quinta to the Grand Hyatt in short walking distance. Lots of tourist restaurants on the Riverwalk. Downside is the the Airport sucks, International travelers will have to fly into Austin or change planes and would required a large buyout payment

Second option, Move to Houston. They have two convention centers that can hold the convention. A major airport (under a remodel, awful traffic and most flights are on United - which sucks) and hotels rooms not as convenient as San Antonio, but you can run Buses like in Dallas. Downside you are cutting into HSC home turf and would required a large buyout payment. Also might have to cut a deal or merger with HSC.

Third option, stay in Atlanta and hope of good weather and heavy foot traffic. Downside, die in 5 years.