It was fabulous…
Actually there were a few things I wanted to see that weren't there. A couple bait makers that I like to talk to, etc. Pretty much just all of your basic online stores you already have linked to the top of your window, but in real life. Didn't do any seminars or anything.
The swap was good. I sold a fair amount of stuff, as did a couple others. I had my eyes peeled for a few specific items that I was not able to find that I had passed on a couple years ago when I was there.
I prefer this setup for location over the previous. Everything in one spot was great. We left once to get real pizza, but other than that there was no reason to leave. I have never heard Duke say anything overly foul, but I suspect his vocabulary would have been expanded greatly in trying to describe how truly putrid the pizza at the resort was! Hopefully the show will be less "compressed" in the future, with people sharing booths and bringing the minimums. (compared to the other venue a couple years ago). Perhaps marketing and promoting have something to do with that???
Also, pretty much everyone of the exhibitors stayed at the resort, which made for more interaction with industry people.
St Croix won some awards and had their new premier big rubber rod there, and the new 10' series. Not a huge fan of either, but I think the 10' version of the big nasty could be trimmed to the exact version of a 9' 3-4" that I created for myself by extending and trimming, but without all the extra work!
Hi-lite of the trip for me was the trip to Giordano's tho…
I spent my money at the Musky Innovations booth on a couple colors of the new chrome-style paint versions in pounder, regular, and dyin dawg. The new paint is pretty darn cool, as is the new rubber. I am having them paint an old pattern on the new rubber for me, but have to buy enough I should never run out! And, no, I am not really interested in selling any of them…
We did pick up a few packages for the banquet that I am pretty excited about! Adam did a great job working with Red October and TRO, and I saw a few other things sneak into bags and boxes that will be great additions to the banquet!
"Duke" said:
Awesome recap JP! Thanks from those of us that regretfully had to miss it, always a good timePro move slipping out to Giordano's. On that topic- does the Holland location stack up to the Chicago originals? Wondering if anyone has had both? I assume so, because the Detroit shop does.
I was at that one about 2 weeks ago. It was very good, however I don't think it was quite as good as the Chicago location. So close, however, I would not second guess a decision to stop in Holland.
Chicago show was great. I'm at a point where I mostly just go for the interaction with friends and to get recaps on everyone's successes and failures, oh and to pick up replicas and order more. Met quite a few new people and put faces to names which is always nice. I always enjoy the swap and this years location was much less congested compared to previous. I sold quite a bit of gear and really this is the best place to do it at. Our group seemed to hold it together enough to not go to jail or the hospital so it was a win in my book.
Fun to hang out with the guys for the weekend and as Nick said that's the highlight. I could have skipped the show itself but did get some banquet shopping done and I bought two lures for myself from H20. The swap was decent, the location was nice and as JP said being able to stay in one place for everything was really cool.
"swanezy" said:
Giordano's in Holland is literally no different from ingredients etc..The flavor may be slightly different because of the water we have here compared to Chicago, but that would be the only difference
The only difference I noticed was in the texture of the crust. I almost commented on the different treatment of the water, even though it all comes from lake Michigan! But also, a texture difference could be something as little as mixing time or rising time and temp/humidity of the dough. Everything else is pretty spot on.
I had a good time at the Expo/Swap although my wife put some time in at IKEA and outspent me again. And Nick – she apologized a couple times for not saying hi to you on Saturday night. [smilie=hahaha.gif] Nice to stay on site, rooms were mid range hotel standard and ok price at $95 a night.
Lots of good stuff at the Expo, I added to my Phantom collection there and at the swap. Went to 4-5 seminars and liked them, especially the one where they took over the pool and did bait and retrieve demos. Gave me a new appreciation of triggering and how much roll/flash a jerk bait can give when used correctly. Was able to see several club member's replicas on display before they picked them up. Looked great!!
Swap was fun, except they burned through the donated keg of beer before I got there at 7:05! Even then the cash bar price was ok compared to how they jab us at other shows. And yes, the Giordono's pizza was great.
368
23
1 Guest(s)