What I plan to tell you about is the many good people I met yesterday during Day 1 of the show. Some of them are good friends. Others I was introduced to for the first time. The common factor these people have is their love of the outdoors. As my good friends from Mossy Oak say, "It's not just a job, it's an obsession."
Women as a group are the fastest-growing segment in the outdoors, especially when it comes to the shooting sports. No one fits that profile better than Deb Ferns, the head of Babes With Bullets and a member of the Women's Outdoor Writers Association. I met Deb on a waterfowl hunt a year ago and like a good communicator, she stays in touch. She's also a tremendous promoter of the shooting sports through her writing and Babes With Bullets events.
Deb is a "character" and anyone who has ever met her will not forget her quick one-liners and her fun-loving attitude. She's all business when you put a firearm in her hands and she's quickly become a great friend to not only me, but many other members of the outdoor media. If you ever met Deb, ask her how she sizes waders. I promise you will laugh until you cry when she tells you the story. If you are a writer and are looking for a good personality piece for a magazine or on-line column, do yourself a favor and interview this woman. You won't be sorry.
One of the greatest writers, not to mention the fact he wrote about the outdoors, was the late Jack O'Connor. He wrote for Outdoor Life for years and was also the author of several books about hunting. His son, Bradford, was at the show Tuesday in the Winchester booth with some of his father's firearms. I had the opportunity to speak with Bradford at length about his father and got the chance to handle one of his father's hunting rifles. Bradford spent the day posing for photos, taking about his father's hunting adventures and I imagine signing autographs. Many thanks to my good friend Kevin Howard of Howard Communications for introducing me.
Walking the show floor I ran into long-time friend Phil Larson from the little town of Boone, Iowa. Phil has written an outdoor column for the Boone paper for longer than I can remember and has traveled the world hunting and fishing. Both Phil and I have had the privilege of serving as president of the Association of Great Lakes Outdoor Writers. Phil had never been to a SHOT Show. It was fun getting to take him around and let him also run into his many friends who are here and introduce him to some of mine.
If you are a fan of good literature, do yourself a favor and take a look at Galen Geer's "The Pines Review Literary Journal." Geer is a great writer and editor and you will truly enjoy reading the fine articles in the "Review." It is some of the best I've ever read. Contact Geer at ggeerpinesed@mlgc.com to get on the list.
As with any undertaking the size of the SHOT Show, there are a ton of folks behind the scenes that work for months to make this event work flawlessly. Thanks to NSSF's Vice President of Marketing and Communications Chris Dolnack, Marketing Director Mark Thomas and Communications Director Bill Brussard. They and countless others from NSSF work tirelessly before, during (often well after the show closes each day) and after the show ends to make it easy for folks like me to be able to come here and work successfully. Again, thanks to those folks for their help.
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