Third Annual SHOT Show Exhibitor Academy Invaluable to New and Veteran Exhibitors

To: ALL MEDIA
For immediate release

June 27, 2016

For more information contact:

Bill Brassard
203-426-1320

Third Annual SHOT Show Exhibitor Academy Invaluable to New and Veteran Exhibitors

LAS VEGAS — More than 100 SHOT Show exhibitors last week attended the 2016 SHOT Show Exhibitor Academy, where exhibitors filled seminar rooms at the Sands Expo Center to learn how to maximize their return on investment and exchange ideas to improve the show experience for all in attendance.

Treated to numerous seminars and one-on-one sessions covering everything from budgeting, advertising opportunities and vendor contracting to interacting with the media, lead retrieval and improved logistics handling, attendees learned that the Academy strongly encourages interaction both between exhibitors and with show management and their partners. The SHOT Show Exhibitor Academy kicked off with an all-star panel of retailers who answered the universal question of how exhibitors can attract the attention of buyers and draw them into the exhibit. Among the special highlights to these sessions was the presentation by noted social media expert Traci Browne. The author of The Social Trade Show emphasized how exhibitors can capitalize on the power of social media through a dedicated plan of before-, during- and after-show outreach campaigns, and her engaging speaking style had even the most experienced vendors taking notes and asking questions.

“It is gratifying to see both old and new exhibitors take advantage of these two days in Vegas and leave with actionable plans that will improve the return on their investment in the show,” said Chris Dolnack, NSSF Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer. “With our ongoing NEXT and NEXT 2.0 efforts to create fresh space for exhibitors who’ve never before had the opportunity to display at SHOT Show, the Exhibitor Academy is now more important than ever.”

“Especially for our newer exhibitors, the Academy not only provides them with a more complete picture of the logistics involved in exhibiting so that they don’t become bogged down in the details of a show this big, it supplies them tactics and ideas that can allow them to take those four days at SHOT Show and turn them into profitable business the year round,” added Dolnack.

The 2017 Shooting, Hunting, and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show will be January 17-20 at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Registration to attend will open in the Fall of 2016. For more information, visit www.shotshow.org.

NSSF would like to extend a special thanks to its SHOT Show partners ConvExx, Freeman, the Sands Expo Center and The Palazzo and Venetian hotels (NSSF’s headquarters hotels for SHOT Show) for their contributions to the 2016 SHOT Show Exhibitor Academy.

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About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 13,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, visit www.nssf.org.