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Featured
Article: Show Coverage |
ICAST, the largest fishing trade show in the world comes to Las Vegas (Part 1-Overview)
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Date: |
7/22/02 |
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Location |
Las Vegas,
NV |
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Admission |
Buyers/Press
only |
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Reviewer: |
Team
TackleTour |
Introduction: Las Vegas, July 17th-19, 2002: ICAST returns, and is
a annual opportunity for manufacturers to present their latest and greatest new
products to the buyers and press. Last year marked the best show in over five
years as turnout for the show was outstanding. This year ICAST boasts even
greater industry representation, and TackleTour was there to cover the show.
Impressions: This year ICAST was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center
which is right off the famous Las Vegas Strip. This huge complex houses all the
largest tradeshows in Las Vegas including Comdex. To be able to fill the entire
building with different fishing related manufacturers says a lot about the
health of the industry.
When we first arrived at the show we were excited to see the entire room filled
with buyers and the press as well as every inch of space on the LVCC floor
occupied by a manufacturer showcasing their latest offerings. For Buyers ICAST
is the show where they can get a glimpse of new products that can help bolster
their distribution or retail portfolio. For the Press ICAST is the first
opportunity to see the latest products that will hit the market in Q3-4.
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ICAST is
housed in the famous Las Vegas Convention Center, which is directly
connected to the Las Vegas Hilton |
Seminars: During show hours when the display floor
is buzzing with activity ICAST also hosts free seminars aimed at providing
helpful information to buyers. The three highlighted seminars this year were:
"Making industry statistics work for you," "Paying the federal excise tax for
dummies," hosted by the IRS and "Fighting for your freedom to fish," presented
by the ASA.
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Welcome to
the show |
Industry Representation: The industry came out in full force this year
as representatives from rod, reel, lure, line, apparel, and watercraft
manufacturers all came out to showcase their products. Shimano, Pure Fishing,
Rapala, Zebco, Penn, and Shakespeare had the largest presence in terms of
display space this year. But this show wasn't just for the industry giants. Many
smaller up and coming companies came to the show to exhibit new ideas and test
the water for industry response to their products.
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The entire
show floor was filled with manufacturers displaying their newest products |
Displays: All of the manufacturers displayed their wares in manner
in which you could not just look but also touch and test the products. For
example, Pure Fishing showcased new reels from their Abu Garcia family and
allowed people to time the freespool on their souped up new EON PRO reels. Other
lure manufactures put their lures in plexi-glass water tanks to demonstrate
exactly what their lures really looked and acted like under more realistic
conditions. Unfortunately, many manufactures didn't allow us to take very
detailed pictures of many tests and displays as they featured "sensitive"
products that would not be available to market for quite some time.
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Just when
you think you've seen it all... |
Taking care of Business: After
talking to many industry leaders, 90% of them agreed that this year they had a
very successful show. Not only were many manufacturers able to take orders
during the show, but others felt validated that the products and direction they
were moving in was indeed a good one.
Conclusion: Overall ICAST was a great show in terms of providing an
opportunity for industry leading manufacturers to reach out to the Buyers and
Press, and not only do business but also collect valuable feedback. Judging from
the feedback, attendance at the show, and healthy product offering it looks like
the industry is doing fantastic. Now with all that said, we are currently
finalizing our picks for the soon to post "ICAST Best of Show" article. In this
article we highlight the newest industry leading products that really stood out.
(Stay tuned for Part 2 of this article where we
highlight our picks for best of show products!)
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