NRA CON 2014 Indianapolis

[hawkhavn]

All,
Placeholder for the real AAR, since I am mid move to Idaho my AAR will be delayed.  Post your observations, pics, etc. Up here now.

But first a huge thank you to everyone that made this event a huge success and for Fred's attendance, support and kind words to everyone.

HH

[colycat]

Barbie and Cam  interview. Barbie comes on at 44.50

http://www.nranews.com/home/list/cam-company 

[number6]

April 27 episode

Barbie and Cam  interview. Barbie comes on at 44.50

http://www.nranews.com/home/list/cam-company

[techres]

Full picture set from the Youth Day event that we staffed:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/13203642@N06/sets/72157644397906714/



More to come.

[techres]

From the convention:

[techres]

Here are some of the videos that we played in rotation at the convention on those three big screens:

Appleseed: Distance Shooting

Who Is Appleseed?

Appleseed: Past Present Future

Appleseed:  A Nation Of Riflemen

Appleseed: Friends & Family Time

Appleseed: Discover Yourself

Appleseed: Video Wall

Appleseed Tough: Wolf Performance Ammunition

Appleseed: Real America

[Barbie]

I had an amazing time this weekend.  It was great seeing everyone, and also nice to put a face to a name for those folks we've only spoken to via the forum.  The booth looked great, and the backdrop was by far my favorite part.  Friday night's Libertyseed presented by YHJ was spectacular, and folks really enjoyed hearing the 3 strikes.  Booth staff spoke to heaven knows how many folk and that, combined with tons of folks wearing Appleseed shirts.... it all created a buzz!  I initially planned on going rogue and attend seminars and such but that quickly changed after getting  an interview with Gun News, NRA News, Cam & Co., and a request for an article to be wrote for Hot Brass.  This was by far my most successful convention to date and I am ecstatic that Appleseed has gotten soo much good publicity. Thanks to everyone who showed up to show their support! Now, the countdown to NRACON 2015 Nashville edition!

[AAOptics]

Barbie and Cam  interview. Barbie comes on at 44.50

http://www.nranews.com/home/list/cam-company

Very cool

[dart67eb]

It sounds like you guys and gals rocked it at the convention.  I'm taking vacation to be at Nashville.  It'll be nice to meet ya'll or youse guys or I'm so confused coming from Jersey and living down here:)

[Charles McKinley]

Hey Dart its "Yinz n'at" (pistburg eeze).

So any plans on doing the Great American Outdoor Show in Harrisburg, PA?

Great job Guys and Gals,  I hear AS staff WAS the Youth day staff!  Way to step up.

Stand

[techres]

Here is the final set:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/13203642@N06/sets/72157644309106251/

Best, most repeated quote, at the convention:

"I never heard of you guys before Friday.  Since then you are everywhere, all over the place with so many people wearing your shirts and gear.  Just who the *&$# are you and how many are you?"

Competition shooters, industry leaders, all of them were stunned - except for the ones who already are on board.  We flooded the floor and made a huge showing not only in the most professional presentation ever, but also just in our people (attendees as well as volunteers) blanketing the venue like a biblical locust swarm.

Fun, productive, and so very worth it all.

[techres]

P.S. ATM was a circus barker in a previous life.  I have no question in my mind any longer.

[Ramblin' Wreck]

This event could only have been better if we'd had one more day on a KD line. I think we will see a lot of those folks on the firing line in the months to come.


Looking forward to 2015 in Music City. Y'all come now, ya hear! 


Wreck

[mac66]

Been a life member of the NRA for over 25 years and this was my first NRA convention. I have however been to many national conventions, conferences etc so the setting was familiar.

It was my first involvement on a national level with Appleseed.

Some impressions....

1. I was impressed with the scope, design, effort and expense put forward in regards to the booth. It was first class and professional all the way. We had a very big presence as you can see from the photos. It really was a big deal for us to stand out like that.

2. The scope of the Appleseed community is equally impressive. The NRA is a big presence and commands a very high level of identification simply because they are who they are, the biggest dog on the block.  NRA supporters who choose to identify with Appleseed (wearing AS shirts instead of NRA shirts) at the national NRA gathering says a lot. One would walk around and get shouted out by vendors, families (other Appleseeders), and others who are aware of what we do.  I don't think we are or will be the best kept secret in the shooting sports for much longer.

3. We still have a long road ahead of us to get the word out. Lots of people have heard of us but many, many have not  That includes many in the industry.

4. The NRA convention is a gathering of the faithful but it is apparent to me the simply belonging to the NRA is not enough. Most of the people there don't know what the next step is. They belong but haven't stepped up yet. They need us. We put the shooting sports (marksmanship), and gun ownership in proper historical context. The Appleseed Project is unique, nobody does what we do. We should all take pride in that. 

5. I had a good time and is was nice to meet many of the people from the forum.

[GoldFish]

This weekend was absolutely fantastic!  I had a total blast working this year, talking to all sorts of folks ranging form your everyday Convention goer to Mr. Larry Potterfield himself; yeah, that Mr. Potterfield, like the one who's company (MidwayUSA) sponsors the whole freakin' convention.  I believe that we had a great presence there and were very affective with that, and that was not just because of the AS exhibitors.  Dozens and dozens of individuals and families sported AS gear and were more than happy to discuss it with other attendees.  I lost count of how many people asked me if AS had a booth here and where it was so that they could go check it out.

slim, Hippie Chick, corvette, and everyone else applicable should post about how the NRA Youth Day event went and what will come of that; it looks like the NRA really likes our involvement with that and we just might be back.  Even with plenty of room for improvement, it looks like that was a smashing success.

Oh, and slim, you need to post that selfie taken from the AS booth of us and Dick Heller.
Thanks, tech, for taking all the pics; I especially like the one of that studly looking guy standing next to the studly looking picture of a guy on the backdrop.

I walked over to meet and talk to Chris Costa (an incredibly influential man in my life) for a few minutes; I thank him, we talk for a few minutes, and then he asks, "Are you with Appleseed?  How's that going for you?  I really like what you guys are doing; keep it up."

The entire trip was summarized on the way back, when at the airport a guy saw me wearing my super duper tactical promo shirt and asked me how the show had gone for me; I said it had gone really well and he asked who I was with; I told him I was with AS and told him a little bit about us.  His response: "Oh yeah, everybody knows who you guys are; you had a huge showing at the convention this year, I mean, you could barely turn around and not see you or hear someone talking about you."  We then went on to talk about some more things, including who this guy was and how the show had gone for him.  Turns out that this jean-and-causual-dress-shirt-wearing-gentleman was of about 2-3 regional coordinators for Sig Sauer; in other words, he handles everything Sig "West of the Mississippi."
This and one other event significantly the weekend the reputation that we have built over the past few years.  Slim and I went to an NRA Special presentation moderated by Mark Keefe (Editor in Chief of the NRA publication Rifleman with the speak being Martin K. A. Morgan (noted historian and exceptional speaker).  We walked in and sat in the front row just about directly in front the stage about 2-3 minutes; Mr. Keefe and Mr. Morgan both saw slim and me at about the same time, both stood up, both came off stage, and both shook our hands and talked with us for a few minutes right before the presentation...in front of 300+ people.
Yep, real good weekend.

Other than eating 13 pancakes in 20 minutes on a Saturday morning, what could be more fun than talking about AS at the NRA Convention?

Lessons learned, fun had, food eaten, but most importantly, Mission advanced...

[HippieChick]

Youth day, overall, was a great success. Like with the main booth, about ten minutes in I was already thinking of what could be better next year. Also similar to the main floor, AS had a huge presence in the youth day room. Slim in some period threads, holding a musket screaming "Huzzah!" didn't hurt in getting folks attention. Beyond that, we had AS volunteers in nearly every booth. When volunteers from other organizations didn't show up, we came and saved the day. At one point, our volunteers were running the registration table. Appleseed shirts at the door and nearly every booth thereafter. Attendees noticed. The NRA noticed. I was able to speak with one of the NRA PR folks during the morning shift. She was excited about what we were doing, not only as far as our mission, but what we were doing as far as helping out the NRA folks as well.
Finally, the youth day organizers were incredibly thankful for our efforts. Numerous times I was told "we couldn't have done this (youth day) without you all." And AS could not have done it without all of our fantastic volunteers! As things for next year get sorted out, I'll keep folks posted on our involvement.
Thanks again to everyone who helped out!
Bekka/HC

[mac66]

For those of you who worked the youth day, do you think it would have been beneficial to be identified as "Appleseed Volunteer"?  I got the impression at the convention that while lots of people see lots of Appleseeders running around, most don't understand that we are all volunteers.

[Trisha]

What an amazing weekend! I am so glad I was able to make it to this event and help out as much as I did. I worked the booth some while carrying out the M1Garand, which did get people to stop and ask about it, which then turned it into talking about what Appleseed is and how they can get a Garand sent right to their house.

Most of the time I spent walking the floor, usually with someone such as SPQR, Techres and AB. AB and I worked extremely well together. We decided on who, which booths to hit up and just went for it. We also did what we could to find tv crews or talk to many of the celebrities there and did some 7th stepping. For instance, we talked to Jessie Duff, took a picture and I gave her my card. I also talked to Megan from the USA Shooting team, who is a shot gun shooter but is interested in learning more about other firearms. AB and I also had the chance to introduce ourselves to one of the crew members of "Shooting it Straight", we swapped cards and I ended up introducing myself to Jim Scoutten, got a hug and a picture with him too. Everywhere we went, we kept and eye open for any type of media walking around. We figured it would be best to get our shirts/Appleseed logo out there.

We also talked to the lady from Flash Bang Holsters and she seems interested in having an AS, maybe I will make it into a Ladyseed, Taurus seemed interested as well.

I will add more later along with some pictures. 

[HippieChick]

For those of you who worked the youth day, do you think it would have been beneficial to be identified as "Appleseed Volunteer"?  I got the impression at the convention that while lots of people see lots of Appleseeders running around, most don't understand that we are all volunteers.

Maybe. I think that would have required a badge or even another shirt as some of our folks who showed up weren't our usual volunteers, but participants that answered Slim's call. We are hoping to have the event advertised as " Staffed by Project Appleseed " or something similar next year. I'm also hoping we have more than ten days notice next year :-)
I would have definitely liked to have had all of the AS folks in there looking a little more uniform, but we at least had everyone in one AS shirt or another.

As far as people not getting that we're ALL volunteers, I do think it'd be nice to have it identified somehow. Although it is somewhat amusing to see their faces when they realize not a one of us is paid a cent to represent, yet we carry a pretty legit presence.

[AuntieBellum]

THANK YOU to all of our Appleseed supporters who stopped by and flooded the convention!  Your presence was noted at every corner of the convention center, and we appreciate your dedication to reawakening Americans.  Keep 7th stepping...send more people our way...Appleseeds, Libertyseeds...we'll be there.