Project Appleseed

AAR -- Gainesville, GA Gun Show -- Aug. 18-19, 2007

In an effort to increase the visibility of the Appleseed Program, I 
rented a table at the Eastman?s Gun Show at the Georgia Mountains 
Center this past weekend.  The 'traveling RWVA banner' turned quite a 
few heads, and provoked many questions/comments from those unfortunate 
souls who had not yet heard of Appleseed.

Son of Martha, Jim, and I handed out over 200 copies of the 
customizable RWVA flyer and of the Appleseed Primer, as well as a 
hundred of TruckinMike's bifold wallet cards.

Quite a few passers-by were not familiar with Appleseed (the key word 
being the past-tense: 'were').  Almost as many initially didn't recognize the name, 
but then realized we were introducing them to 'that Appleseed' when we 
resorted to some name-dropping and brought up Shotgun News' most 
famous commentator -- Fred.

Two of our first visitors had attended a shoot at Ramseur last year.   
Several more had heard of and were interested in attending Appleseeds, 
but didn't realize they were available locally.

The editor from Georgia GunOwner (http://www.gunownermagazine.com/) stopped by and asked for some info on the program -- I invited him to join us at Toccoa in Nov.

Of course, there were the usual head-strong individuals who were 
Legends in Their Own Minds with regards to shooting, and who felt that 
they needed no form of marksmanship instruction.
Strangely, none of these Steely-Eyed Doughy-Bellied Hombres took me up on my offer of the Texas Challenge.

We did have the fortune of meeting 2 gents fresh in from the Championships at Camp Perry, where they took 1st Place (regionally, if I remember correctly).  They had heard good things about Appleseed, but asked (and I believe, legitimately so) if there was anything our little program could offer advanced shooters.  Jim began to outline a few recent advancements, including Son of Martha's  'white-star-on-a-black-background-NPOA-targets'.  The two exchanged  looks, then one asked the other if he thought their wives would give them 'one more weekend off to go shoot.'

Quite a few younger and older attendees had some questions about the 
program, the sort of questions that made it sound like they were actually interested in attending.  Many seemed surprised that a  nation-wide program would be coming to a little town like Toccoa.   
"That's one of the differences in our program vs. the ones at Front Sight or Valhalla.  We know you have better things to spend your money on than air-fare.  We bring the marksmanship instruction to you."

Strangely, no one posed the "Why don't ya'll have one in MY town?" question.  Too bad, because I was ready with the Standard Reply: "Find  us a range, we'll get you on the schedule."

The M1 Garand (set as bait) garnered the lion's share of the  attention.  More than 1/3 of those who stopped at our table asked "How  much?"
"Well, that one's not for sale.  But I can tell you how to buy one just like it for $425."  Pause. "Or you can just buy one here at the gun show for $750 or more."
After that sales pitch, the we gave the details on how to purchase  Garands and other neat items from CMP, as well as how RWVA and  Appleseed can help one accomplish this.  The bulk of our audience was surprised that such a program was still available, and that it was available to them.

What's the "take-home"? -- For $60 RWVA gained 2 days' exposure amongst 
a group of people who don't have to be convinced that shooting is a  good thing (not that too many of them actually do it very often).   There are very few areas where one can get that kind of exposure for so little money.
We also encountered a greater-than-average number of people who recognized that they could stand some improvement in their ability to shoot.  Having a print-out with the details of the upcoming local shoot was essential, as it gives people something tangible to stick in their pockets and remind them of the details of where/when/how much.   

The flyers from the website were good, but a tri-fold pamphlet (with an add-on schedule added) would be better. The CMP/Garand angle is a superb way to sell the program, since everybody wants a Garand but nobody wants to spend $750+ on a rack-grade one.

Side-note -- I went looking for a cheap used 10/22 (or 3).  I had no luck in the cheap department.  I spotted 2 used ones for $225 each and a couple of new ones for $245-$265.  Apparently, these folks haven't heard that WalMart  has new full-sized ones for $232, and BassPro went even cheaper recently.

a note on 10/22 prices - stopped in a Dick's Sporting Goods store Monday night.  The blued 10/22's were $190.  Didn't even check out the stainless one but I'm sure it was a little more.

Just so y'all know, some Gun Shows will give non-profit organizations FREE tables.

And we are a non-profit.

GR who has dibs on the banner next? It needs to be in the mail already! Great AAR.

I hope I get it next for the show next week or the week after rather.

I will display at home range until the show and pass it on after.

Good stuff, and I'll be using some of it.

Vermonters, if you've got some ideas, let me know. I work most of the gun shows already, and we can make some space to promote the program, as we already do.

I know several of the promoters, so we might be able to get a free table, if we can muster the manpower to man it. And, I already have the CMP M1 and CMP 1903 Springfield for display.

Quote from: Grin Reaper on August 22, 2007, 01:31:57 AM
AAR -- Gainesville, GA Gun Show -- Aug. 18-19, 2007

... as well as a 
hundred of TruckinMike's bifold wallet cards.

Help.  I have gone looking several times in the last year and can't find the file with TruckinMike's bifold wallet cards.  Can anyone point me to a link?

Thanks,
Rumpshot

QuoteJust so y'all know, some Gun Shows will give non-profit organizations FREE tables.

Eastman's does not -- no surprise.

QuoteHelp.  I have gone looking several times in the last year and can't find the file with TruckinMike's bifold wallet cards.  Can anyone point me to a link?

http://www.rwva.org/yabbse/index.php?topic=1009.0