AAR: NRA Convention 2013 (Very Picture Heavy)

[techres]

After a 16 hour ride home and a very long night of sleep, I have been able to process some of the pictures from this weekend's work at the 2013 NRA Convention held in Houston, TX.

70,000+ people attended this year along with some very big hitters in the rehlms of politics, industry, media and writing were present and we 7th stepped every one of them that we could get our hands on.  It was very hard work for all of us with long days on our feet and short nights with very little sleep.  But this team was up to the task.

On to the AAR itself:

Day 1

The Indiana Contigent loaded up the jeep on Wednesday at 5pm in the hinterlands of southern Indiana and drove through the night in order to get to the convention hall 16 hours later.  Brown, Hawkhavn, SPQR and I (Techres) arrived and unloaded our gear ready to get going.  Soon we were met by the Ohio contingent and some of the local Texas crew.  That meant it was time to get set up.









This year we came prepared far better for the press.  We even had press kits ready to roll!






As well as cards about us, texas and supporting industry partners like Tech sights:



Not to mention the Promag sponsored battle road maps:



Soon we were done for the day and went off to the hotel for some relaxation.

Day 2

This was the first day the convention would be open to the public.  We did our final preps and were ready when the doors opened and tens of thousands walked in.

Fred was on scene to meet with the public.



While the event boss Hawkhavn coordinated the booth team and the industry teams on their way to their separate tasks.





The day was hours of smiles, talking and more smiles.




The day was full of hard work done by all and many moments of humor, like when SPQR convinced a reporter he was handsome enough to require a signed Appleseed Magazine.





When the day ended we got the group picture of those who had spoken to thousands upon thousands all day long.



And went out to eat and debrief

Day 3

Another day up early and ready to go at the attendees with our message and materials.  Here is RH Barbie with a set of our flyers in front of the rifle table.



Here is RedDot, Hawkhavn, Fred and Scout all working out details of the operation and other Appleseed stuff.



We sent out floor crews to get the interest of those in the isles.  Nothing like a Garand to get attention!




All while the booth workers talked to a wave of people that would end up being over 70,000 in attendance.



Not all Appleseeders were wearing AS colors this weekend.  Riflewoman was over with her company rocking the Magpul Minigun VW Van:

Day 4

Day four and we were all dog tired but ready to stick it out another day.  The crowd had thinned a touch and the media were abounding.  Each of us got the time to break away and see what was in the convention as fun:

Here I am looking at a new .22 that I really would love to try against the AQT.



While back at the booth, Kate was a big hit.



Oh, and if I get hurt, this is the wheelchair I want.



SPQR spent time feeling rifles he wants very badly:



And slim as well - you can tell it in the epicness of their posing.



Soon the day was over and all that was left, was the work to tear down everything, the 16 mile trip home, and a bunch of smiles from each of us all.



Thanks to everyone who made this possible, both those who came to help and those whose help spanned months of hard work before the event even opened.  You all did great work and professionally did a difficult job which will end with rewards for everyone in this mission.

I trust that everyone got home safe and sound.  I also hope you got a good bit of rest.

You all worked very hard and earned it.

[Corvette]

Congrats to everyone for a job well done. I look forward to hearing all the stories from the Ohio team on the AS trail this summer.

Corvette

[slim]

Due to OPSEC concerns, I won't be able to tell all the stories. But, I can assure you, we did everything we could "for the mission."

[AFTERMATH]

Due to OPSEC concerns, I won't be able to tell all the stories. But, I can assure you, we did everything we could "for the mission."

As long as it's for the mission.   

[Mudcat]

Great job guys and gals!

[Carlson]

Those are some beautiful red Appleseed T-Shirts.     

Where can I get one?

[hawkhavn]

Those are some pretty sweet shirts.
First, thank you to the Ohio crew for a) designing and b) purchasing the shirts for the NRA Show workers. They asked for anonymity but they should all hear our thanks.

Second, we are working on making them available to the Instructor corps, so details soon.  But all of us there heard many variations of 'Look at those Appleseed shirts' from show attendees as we were walking around.

HH

[didactic]

   WOW!

My feet have recovered, and my voice and mind might be un-rasped and un-buzzed by tomorrow.

"Red shirts" were the booth crew, and the "suits" were the industry and media team.  At least that was the plan.  And it pretty much worked that way.

We gave out promo targets.  ('Bout 4,500 of them.  See http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=35540.0) 

We gave out tri-folds. 

We gave out little flyers about Appleseed and about Tech-sights. 

We gave out info sheets about the College Station venue (closest site we have, to Houston).  SNAITF and Sleepy Joe, look out!  If even 5% of those who said they'd go actually do, you guys might get covered up!  Watch the pre-registrations and holler for help early, if you need it!

We gave out hard candies, and snarfed up a few of them ourselves, to try to preserve our voices. 

I totally lost count of how many times I asked people what happened on April 19th, 1775.  And then proceeded to tell them, when they didn't.  But a surprising number DID know!  And, compared to last year, a lot more of them HAD heard of Project Appleseed.

For the first two hours and last hour of every show day, when the booth wasn't totally avalanched, I took promo cards and promo targets, and went booth to booth, 7th stepping the other exhibitors.   For anybody that showed more than polite interest, I got cards and passed them along to SPQR or Steel Thunder or caseten, so they could follow up.  And they did, and it worked.

What did all this activity to for the Mission?

Well, a WHOLE LOT more people know who we are, and what we do.

We made lots of contacts in the industry, or followed up on contacts made in the past.  Pretty much most anybody who is anybody in the world of shooting had some sort of presence at the NRA Convention.  What will that do for us?

Too early to make any announcements, but I'm pretty sure we've secured at least two new venues where we really need them. 

And maybe a couple more sponsors, who might put something of ours in the box with their product, or help in other ways.

If I give any more details, it'll be sure to sour things.  So no more until they're "done deals."

Summary:  A lot of work, and a good time among great folks, and a lot accomplished.  But what else would you expect?  They're Appleseeders!

[SteelThunder]

The booth team did awesome...they came, they shook hands, they 7th stepped non-stop for 3-4 days. 

As part of the industry partnership team, I got the chance to talk to the owners/key corporate sales and marketing people of medium and large companies.  I expected to "talk to the hand" and have most people say "Appleseed who?"  Instead, we usually had people know who we were and those that didn't by and large immediately "got" who  we are and what we're about.   

Favorite highlights -- Meeting some great company owners and hear their rags to riches stories and how much they credit this great country of ours for the opportunity.  To have a company say "I'm in!" after only a few moments of telling them about the mission.  To have a company track us down at the booth and say "I love what you do...I want to help you".  To have another say "you guys are doing great work".

Rest assured that there are those in the industry that are starting to hear our message and are supporters.  We have lots of followup and work to do but we have people out there ready to help us bail.

The only pix I got with my iPhone.  It was crazy busy all the time -- running from booth to booth meeting with those in the industry.

I squealed like a fanboy at the chance to take a picture with Jessie Duff


Please...talk to me when you have a safe big enough to hold even 25% of my collection


Best part of the Magpul VW/minigun was the dashboard hula girl


An AQT with a KSG would only take 4-1/2 rounds of 00 buckshot.  You could shoot 4 AQTs with no reloads.

[peterlandsiedel]

Bravo ladies and gentleman! Looks like an extremely productive weekend for Appleseed!

[ATM]

Sounds like another awesome convention success, way to go!

A huge thank you to everyone involved in the planning, execution and follow-up. 

Your dedication and efforts will pay dividends we probably have yet to even realize for the mission and ultimately for our posterity. 

[DGMilty]

Way to go!  I can't wait to hear more stories about how things went and to see the final outcome!

Thanks to everyone involved for making the sacrifices and taking the time on the Convention!

[dragonfly]

With the smell of freedom and liberty in the air God Bless Texas.
Thanks for everyone's help in making this event a big success. It was great to meet and work with new folks.
Thanks to all who traveled far and thank you Texan's for making this happen 
D-fly Keeping the Faith

[Pitmaster]

I'm sure this is the tipping point and we need to get ready for the ride. Great job guys.

With the industry showing more interest and the Libertyseed push I see great things for the United States.

[imadentist]

I cannot thank you guys enough for all your hard work.  I was not aware of this opportunity in time to help but now that I am aware I want to be part of it next year. 

[SureShotSpartan]

Thanks to all for your efforts!! "HOOZAH!!"

[George Hacker]

To everyone on the NRA Convention promo team:

Thank you!  Working large shows are a lot of fun, but they are also a lot of work - both physically and emotionally.  The press release packets look pretty slick.  Looks like we learned a lot from our previous NRA conference experiences.

techres, thank you for the pictures.  When I look up "epic" in my dictionary, I see a picture of SPQR and Slim posing with shotguns.

ShadowMan

[Johnnyappleseed]

Good job Appleseeders ^ 5?

[techres]

When I look up "epic" in my dictionary, I see a picture of SPQR and Slim posing with shotguns.

It only got worse and the longer they held them.  Here they are pretending to be on safari:





The up side was that everyone loved the Garand.  They loved it even more when Barbie was the one walking it around.

The shirts worked wonders for the wandering 7th steppers and we will leverage that in the future.

The main thing was smiling energy, happy Appleseeders, and a room filled with people that knew about us and support what all of us, every one of us in the program, is doing nation wide.

Each of you in this program can take a bow - cause people are praising you all.

[Nero]

OK, so who from the crew is going to step up and write a newsletter article on Appleseed's NRA show - including some inside dirt - so our shooters can see what we're doing?   

This would go in the July - August issue, so you've got time to collect some photos and find out what possible partnerships can be talked about.  Post or PM me!

[Barbie]

It was a blast working the NRA convention with the crew.  We talked to a lot of folks, both attendees to the convention, exhibitors, media, industry... all sorts of people. 

Kudos to ya'll.  I look forward to seeing/working wtith everyone again sometime soon.

[plinker]

I bumped into the Appleseed gang when I was coming down the escalator!  They stopped and told me that they had been told that if they saw anybody in "Diva Gear" that they better stop and talk to me!  LOL!  Had a great time talking with them, and while we were there, my friend Mike from Ghost Targets walked up too!

[PHenry]

 

[mac66]

Sooooooooooo......let's get crackin'   

[dart67eb]

Awesome!

[Orangedotfever]

Great work, all of you!

[Ratchett]

Sorry for being MIA since the convention! I just want to thank all the Appleseed cadre who made the convention a success! There were many behind the scenes workers who did not make the trip but were paramount in the effort! The folks who made the trip---it was great working with the NRA Convention 'veterans' and new folks; you were all amazing and worked 200% every day! To our gracious hosts---yup Texans do it right!!

THANK YOU Texas cadre for making us all feel welcome and at home!!!!