It's a wrap...WV Appleseed's first appearance at a gun show was a success! O0
Appleseed had a presence on Fri. and Sat. at the Old Dominion Gun Show in Charleston; thanks to a table donated by siglite, and some dedicated WV volunteers who ran it. I want to thank V for providing us a banner on relatively short notice for this show.
Spanner and I did the initial set-up and staffed the table on Fri. We were pleasantly surprised to see siglite, Beth, Alex, Mudslide, and Margaret at the show too. Beth lent a hand with setting things up, and Mudslide answered some questions for passerby's. Spanner provided a 10/22 LTR and a M1A for display, along with some promo material he donated. I had my laptop on the table playing a continuous loop of scenes from ASs. We had a magnetic board with targets displayed in the sequence that they are shot at an AS.
At the conclusion of Fri., I had an offer to check out a private gun club range near Huntington for hosting ASs. There were also several people who stated they would be attending one of our events. Lot's of literature was distributed, and a general enthusiasm for the program was expressed by everyone that we talked to; even the gentleman from VA who hosted the gun show.
Barry-WV and his son did a wonderful job of staffing the table most of Sat. until SuzyQ and I arrived. Barry had his laptop running a loop the way I did mine on Fri. The laptop idea seemed to be a good tool to draw attention to the table and allow folks to see what takes place at actual AS venues. A bunch more literature was handed out and the supply of promo targets was depleted. Two more prospective volunteers left their contact info--one a target supplier--and I gave the "pitch" to two lady MPs who were doing security work at the armory. The one gal is an Air Force Combat Arms Instructor who never heard about the program, but said she would now help spread the word around her AF Reserve unit. Oh, there was an offer to use some land around Beckley for a possible DAR. ;)
We need to keep doing these gun shows on a regular basis. If the results from this one are any indication, we could possibly have the entire state infiltrated with AS events in a year or two. :) Gun shows are an easy, and effective promotional tool, to efficiently utilize time and resources. It's a perfect opportunity for people who aren't currently tied up instructing, or doing some other time/labor intensive work in the program, to help keep the "Applecart" rolling.
Here's a pic of the table from the show. Not the greatest quality photography ( ;D), but it gives a general perspective of the layout...
(http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=8502.0;attach=10739)
A big THANK YOU to all who made this work! I look forward to doing more of these...matter of fact; another one will be at this same location on Oct. 23-24. Anyone--aside from the IBC attendees--interested?
Very Nice! O0
Glad things went well. I'll stick around more for the next one. One of our members has put together a comprehensive gun show schedule for WV here. (http://pub9.bravenet.com/calendar/show.php?usernum=766486048&y=2009&m=08&d=09)
It looks like I might be going to Beckley next weekend. After that it looks like the next show is in Parkersburg. However, I don't know or have an agreement with the Parkersburg promoter. I've never spoken to them. This is something I'll remedy in late August.
I use this site to check for upcoming VA gunshows but you can pick any state and the gunshows (dates, locations, etc) show up down below on the page.
http://www.gunshows-usa.com/west_virginia.htm
Siglite has just informed me that he is donating a table to the RWVA at an upcoming gun show in Charleston on April 23-24th, 2010. The show will be held at the same location (National Guard Armory) as the one we did last year. [see Aug. '09 post]
I plan on being there for both days. Anyone else interested in lending a hand on this one? Remember, aside from SGN, word-of-mouth is the best way to get students to our WV shoots. I want to make a concerted effort to hit all the public venues in the state that we can in 2010 for this reason. Thanks goes to siglite for jump starting this effort in 2010! O0
I will be at the Beaver Falls, PA shoot April 24-25 (near Pittsburgh).
Quote from: Spanner on March 01, 2010, 10:40:30 AM
I will be at the Beaver Falls, PA shoot April 24-25 (near Pittsburgh).
I understand. There will be other shows at the same location throughout the year. I'll get the schedule and pass the dates to you.
Addendum - A listing of all 'Old Dominion' gun shows in WV can be found by clicking "Calendar" on their website: http://olddominionshows.com/gunshows.aspx
No one needs a formal invite to work any of these shows...it's an equal opportunity choice, to help further our Cause. :)
PM me and we will get you all set up with a table and promo materials.
I will be attending at least Saturday for the WVCDL so I am more than happy to do dual duty for the Appleseed as well! :)