Conventions have always seemed to start on a Thursday, for years now it seems vendors are packing to leave starting at lunch on Saturday. So if the general schedule is 8 to 5 or 6, Thursday and Friday but with a shortened day with vendors leaving during the day Saturday. Surely there must be a better schedule than this. Out of towners and locals, still have to take off work to show up thurs or fri. If they are off work Saturday then they need to make purchases maybe before lunch before dealers start packing. Vendors whose main purpose in coming is to sell items are limited in sales by crowd size and hours of business. Maybe a weekend centered event would generate better attendance, in a time of low attendance. Trappers and vendors still might take same number of days off work, maybe two days one week and one if needed following week. Maybe dropping Thursday in an effort to increase attendance and sales over the weekend wouldn't work, but attendance isn't setting records the way it is now either.

Conventions use to be weekend events. Saturday and Sunday sales were good for vendors. Then over time, Sunday customer numbers declined to none. I stayed many a Sunday until noon and had not one sale. Still Friday and Saturday were great for sales. Then a few years back, customers started to be no-shows on Saturday afternoons. The vendors were there, but no one was coming to buy. I have noticed over the past few years that even on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, customer participation becomes almost non-existent after 3pm. This past NTA convention on Saturday afternoon, I had no customers from 3:30 until I left near closing. How do you expect the vendors to hang around when there is no one buying?

Even those conventions where they're open only on Friday and Saturday, it's the same thing. It dies in the afternoons. That's been the trend for the past few years.

I am actually cool with this trend. I can get away during the week but my weekends are kind of busy.

I saw one large vendor near Paul leave around four Friday afternoon. Saw several others packing at ten Saturday morning. So basically it was a Thursday/Friday for most everyone. Larger crowd those days. Few new tailgaters Saturday morning and everything in the tailgate section had been picked over before Saturday. Maybe a Friday and Saturday meet?

we have a no pack up an leave policy an leave early at are show, an it works good not to many customer coming in late but some ,I found out if you shorten it till 2 on Saturday then they have no one coming in after 12 ,I believe convention should be about seeing people an old friends an making new friends an getting supply ,I think we all need to slow down an enjoy are life's more

The Thursday and Friday attendance is dependent on folks either not working or taking days off of work, with exceptions for guys on night shift or something similar. Young kids same thing, dads are still missing work somehow to bring them. I'm not suggesting vendors should be coerced or mandated into being some place they can't justify being. But maybe there is a schedule that would draw higher overall attendance when attendance is needed and currently seems weak. Attendance and sales would motivate change in dealer participation decisions.

We're always looking for ways to boost attendance, but unfortunately fur prices are the main driver of attendance. We bounce ours around so we can catch the people that can't travel as far to the conventions. We do surverys at the gate for people attending, but it's hard to survey the people that don't come. It's not like people are surprised when conventions are going to be, the date is almost always the same weekend so you can make plans to attend well in advance.

Let’s not forget, folks can order virtually anything on the web. Don’t even have to speak to someone, just put it in the “cart”, while sitting in McDonald’s drive thru line. Want to chew the fat with other trappers? Join Tman. Watch demos online. Heck watch the convention online.

It would be interesting to get the license buying population numbers surrounding the convention location. Population at 50 miles then every fifty after that to say 250. How many people in reasonable driving distance. How many show up? More importantly how many stay home, and why they chose to do so.
The survey at the gate is going to have a population that will show up almost no matter what, plus your local.popultion that may not travel at all. Either way you don't learn what really needs finding out.

We have breakdowns be county/district where our members are, you can extrapolate nonmembers from that.

Most people just have other things to do.

What would change their minds?

If we knew that answer we wouldn't be having this conversation.

Dealers don't come at all or leave early because of no customers, but the customers don't come at all or leave early because no vendors. Kind of a viscous circle.

Had this conversation with a major dealer the other day. We are both of the opinion that the days of large dealers going to conventions is probably over. There just isn't enough money in it for a dealer to warrant the gas, travel, lodging, labor costs, etc. for a convention . . . even a "large one" like the NTA. Customers have everything at their fingertips online now days. Order from MTP or F & T and its here in a day or two. These large dealers can't haul everything they sell to a convention and naturally the one thing a customer wants is the item the seller left at home to make room for other things he or she believed would sell well at a show. And most conventions not only charge the vendors for their sales space, they usually expect a donation or two as well. I think sellers with unique or less known items (items that a customer needs to see in order to appreciate or understand its value) still make sales at conventions, and large bulky items like cage traps still have the attraction of saving the customer some freight, but I really believe the days of seeing large vendors coming to a convention are about over.

Or will the large dealers still come to have a presence. Maybe just a table or two to showcase special items or new products. Take orders and offer a "free shipping" special. Anything so the trappers know they are there.

When a certain dealer doesn't show up, it causes Talk (rumors) to spread like wildfire.

Just saying.

WTA has had a two-day Fri-Sat convention for a couple decades. We still have some that stop by on Sunday to buy stuff, many just never really paid attention to the change, some do this deliberately and hope to get better deals from those vendors not off the grounds or packed up.

Most vendors I talk with are now realizing that on the Friday-Saturday rondys the bigger day is rapidly becoming Friday, especially for those that are buying supplies, They want the full range of stuff and be gone when done. So many vendors doing demos want Fridays now where 10 years ago most wanted Saturday. There may well be some discussion regarding how Saturdays are done and or how vendors that leave early are dealt with but those are very sensitive issues that need a lot of discussion and maybe some decent lead time. Maybe we need to think about having a demo and purchase day and night and an organization day? That way vendors that stay are rewarded to a certain extent. We also need to be reminded that fall rondys for many trapper associations are revenue generators and for many the largest one they have annually. The goals and the plans for the organization have to weighed into all this as well.

Bryce

Fur price has a definite impact as is evident in the number of kids getting interested in trapping. Fewer trapping equals fewer customers for the vendors. Raising prices across the counter has another impact as well. The buying online has put a crimp in many businesses as well. I view it as many reasons all adding up to the demise of what we all love. If it wasn't for seeing friends I would save a bunch by staying home and buying online even taking shipping cost in account.

What if the th,fr,sat, conventions went to Fri , sat, with Fri evening thrown in. Say dinner break from 5 to 6, then sales and demos from 6 to maybe 8. Move before lunch demos to after dinner. When you look at the general schedules, guys have to take off work to be there. How many locals might stop by if it didn't cost them time at work. Then how many guys within couple hours drive time, might attend if the schedule was more practical for them.
The guys who show no matter what are still going to be there if Thurs is dropped, or Thurs and Fri for that matter.

Problem with that is the evening's are generally when the business meetings or auctions are going on. The volunteers and vendors would probably revolt going that late

We also have to remember the 3rd party in this, the facility owner and lender. They can and do have influence on the size and scope and layout of events, all of which must be factored into the cost of planning, organizing, managing and pulling off a rondy and with almost 100% volunteer crews. Trapping is also considered by many a commercial venture, not necessarily profitable but commercial. Natural resources are harvested under a regulated system to be marketed for currency more like commercial fishing etc. I have farmers I trap on their land where deer hunters pay $3600 for the right to hunt on 40 acres. I can earn maybe 2-300 dollars gross trapping 40 acres.We just are not in the same league as many in other hunter or extreme sports. Spend a day at an outdoor show and see what some of the more lower end range package hunts or even gear cost.

BRyce