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Exhibitor Information |
Unlicensed Export Of "Technical Data" On Firearms And Ammunition Is Illegal
Thank you for choosing to exhibit at SHOT!
This page provides links to the items that will help you prepare for successful participation in the event. Check back often as this page is constantly being updated.
Booth Operations
Pre-Event Planning
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FREE Customer Invitations - Take advantage of this NO COST* program that allows you to highlight your exclusive Show Specials & Deals or a New Product Launch at the 2010 SHOT Show. Invite your best customers and hottest prospects to visit your booth with a customized Print Invitation, Email Invitation or both. This is your opportunity to attract qualified attendees to your booth, gain valuable face time and renew relationships with all of your contacts. Click here to get started. |
Alert Your Customers to Your Presence at the SHOT Show As Soon as They Visit Your Website.
Place this web banner on a high traffic area of your website!
Simply click on the image to download, save as a GIF file & place the image on a high traffic area of your site.
Other Information
Personal Firearms Carry Policy
Per Sands Expo Convention Center (SECC) policy, personal firearms or ammunition are not allowed. Only firearms on display by exhibitors whose firing pins have been removed (and have been inspected by SHOT Show Safety Advisors) will be permitted on the show floor.
SHOT Show Publicity Opportunities
Exhibitors have a great chance for media exposure . . . if they do things right
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By Mike Walker, President
The Walker Agency |
As you plan for the SHOT Show, why not make use of the publicity opportunities it affords to boost your booth traffic and reach prospective customers. More than a thousand of the top shooting sports and outdoor writers from all over the globe will be looking to discover what's new for their readers and listeners.
PR-savvy companies make certain their information reaches the editors and writers weeks, and sometimes months ahead, establishing relationships that can pay off big, long before the show. What companies are these? Just read the trade publications; you'll find them.
Don't know where to begin? First, identify the trade media that cover the shooting sports. Call now or send a letter or e-mail with information about your company and your new products. Busy editors prefer e-mails. Be sure to include your contact information. Because most trade publications have lead times of several months, make contact as early as possible.
If writing a press release seems daunting, just remember the basis of news: Who, What, Why, When and Where. Explain the newest thing your company will have on display. Perhaps it's an interactive exhibit. Or the unveiling of a new product. Or the attendance of the person who came up with the idea for a new product or service your company now offers.
If writing isn't something you enjoy, then just use your letterhead and create a Media Alert listing the five "W's" as bullet points, and you've made it easy for the writers. Proof read for accuracy. Print enough copies for the pressroom. Visit the show pressroom daily to make sure your materials are in good supply. Leave a supply of your catalogs if you have no formal media kit. If you want a kit, but don't know what goes in one, contact any of the PR agencies that are members of the NSSF. They are committed to the industry and know how to produce a kit and work under deadlines. Make sure your Webmaster puts your news releases and booth number on your Web site as well.
NSSF reserves a room for press conferences, and it's always close to the pressroom. Try to schedule a new product introduction, update, or other announcement early in the show (see How to Hold a Press Conference).
While this effort is good to get you through the show, you will benefit most from a planned series of publicity releases. A public relations program can't be turned on and off like a faucet. Out of sight really is out of mind when it comes to PR. Vince Lombardy once said that winning is not a sometime thing; it is an all the time thing. So it is in product publicity.
Unless you have developed a publicity plan, hire the services of an outdoor-oriented PR agency that not only understands how to generate publicity, but also knows the industry's writers and editors and what the media are covering and when.
Think of the SHOT Show as first day of the season and the "hunters," the writers, are on the hunt looking for quarry. But unlike wild game, don't hide if you want to reap the benefits of publicity.
Mike Walker is president of the Walker Agency, which has been dedicated to outdoor recreation accounts for 27 years serving clients such as Toyota, Bushnell, Yamaha, Columbia, ZipVac, Skeeter and others. Visit www.walkeragency.com for more information. He is lifelong hunter, a member of POMA, vice president of the Outdoor Writers Assn. of America and past president of SEOPA. His agency is a member of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.