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Chattanooga Outdoor Exhibit and Gear Swap


Kudzu

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Spent yesterday at the Outdoor Exhibit and Gear Swap in downtown Chattanooga. I have to say even though I have no desire to live in town, I was impressed with downtown Chattanooga. Coolidge Park where the event was held is the location of Outdoor Chattanooga and the event, right on the river front. Very bicycle friendly, lots of cyclists. The bridge behind us is a pedestrian/bicycle bridge that goes across the river to another down town section. The Tennessee Aquarium is just a few blocks upriver from here.

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Event went well. Talked to a lot of people and passed a out a lot of cards. I learned a lot about doing shows. Number one is most people know NOTHING about skin boats. Something I should have thought of. I wasn't dealing with a educated crowd, most had never even heard of skin boats so I had to do a lot of educating and answered the same questions over and over and over. :)

I expected to sell a few copies of book but didn't sell one. As my smart wife pointed out, "They would have to want to build one and these folks don't even know what they are".

I had Stonefly, Shad and Cast Away on display. I thought that gave me a good showing of the diversity of my offerings. I would have liked to taken a bare frame but I wasn't sure how to display it so that it wasn't in the way. Didn't really have room to display it but will work on that. To my total surprise Stonefly, far more than any other boat, was the center of attention. Cast Away caught a few fishermen's eye's. 2-3 people I talked to were kayaker's and talked about Shad. I realize that I was dealing with a non-kayaking crowd. I can see that even though I don't care to paddle a canoe, I have a Tangerine build in my future if I am going to do more shows.

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A big part of doing shows is figuring out which ones to do. Not sure what that is for you. It is easy to find people who are intrigued by stuff. And they love to look, and ask questions and such. Finding the people who want to spend money can be a real mystery, it is to me anyway.

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Maybe it would be good to have a little DVD player there to have your videos playing. The ones you have at your site that explains the building process. Some samples of products you sell, like the nylon and polyester cloth, back strap, foot pegs, etc. Pictures hanging around of kayaks that customers have built. The display area looks a little sparse.

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Yea, not a lot of options here. We don't have any dedicated small boat shows that I am aware of in a reasonable distance. Kayak crowd is small, canoes probably have more appeal. But it gets my name out there and someone may know someone..... I am may try an arts and crafts show. Not my crowd but I am sure there are Husbands there that are bored and you never know.

My main goal was to get people to one of my internet sites. I didn't expect to 'sell' anything, but mainly cultivate interest. I am going to watch close and see how many new likes I get on Facebook and see if there is spike in web site traffic. That can lead to some sells.

I did have a couple of people that might end up being clients. There was one fellow that was very interested in a canoe. They have a canoe and his wife could not lift it over her head and help him get it on the car so they never used it. Of course you never know but he asked a lot of questions and thought the price of a complete boat was reasonable. Would not be surprised to hear from him again.

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It is a challenge here in MO. to stir up interest in building a boat...On the Ozarkanglers forum I offered to help someone build a boat free of charge in my shop, had a few people wishing they lived closser...got one local taker and now his S&G is ready for the water...I think he is interested in building a SOF for his daughter next...Good luck..

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Maybe it would be good to have a little DVD player there to have your videos playing.

We had no electrical power or I would have had a laptop running. I saw one TV monitor set up at another booth but never saw it actually running. I have never looked at the portable units so I have no idea how long one one would run on batteries. But I agree it would be a BIG asset.

Steve, I really would like to teach classes but I think I am up against the same thing. Not sure how much interest there would be in classes.

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Teaching classes would be a lot of fun, but not sure about the liability issues. If people were just using hand tools, lashing and sewing it would be one thing, but if using power tools it becomes something entirely else. Your homeowners cover friends and family using stuff at your house, but as soon as you start inviting the public and/or charging money it becomes a commercial situation. Has anyone properly looked into just what insurance would be needed and how much it costs?

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Jeff, you might get a bigger bang for your buck in you go more direct to our specific group. I did a quick Google search for a canoe/kayak club directory and got this: http://www.canoekaya...paddling/clubs/. Although I haven't looked into it yet, I know Knoxville as well as Chattanooga, (and probable Nashville & Atlanta) have a strong club with scheduled outings and get together's all summer long. That would be the perfect audience. Guaranteed interest!!! I just depends on how much time and money you want to invest in this type of marketing, and how big to you want the business to get.

Oh yea, for classes, do you have a community college close by? Here in Knoxville, Pellissippi State offers just about any type of craft/hobby class you can imagine. Perfect facility, equipment, and insurance in one easy to swallow pill. Compare that with an ROI on a metal prefab building large enough on your property and the cost of insurance.

http://www.discoveret.org/chota/

http://kayaking.meetup.com/cities/us/tn/nashville/

http://www.tvccpaddles.com/index.php

http://www.birminghamcanoeclub.org/

http://www.atlantakayak.com/

http://www.georgiacanoe.org/

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Jeff, you had one really great thing going for you in Chattanooga, your display! It stood out and I think the display would have caught the attention of anyone interested in canoes or kayaks. The folks with the dragon boat paddling group didn't even have a picture of the dragon boat and of course the rowing group had the scull sitting on the ground.

Pat and I talked about the possible need for a 1/2 or 1/4 scale model showing the phases of construction to introduce folks to SOF boats. Just a thought.

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Just had another thought. While we were working at a wildlife refuge in California, the Sierra Club had a group working with under priviledged kids. Man SOF kayaks and canoes would be a natural for youth groups to build.

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Pat and I talked about the possible need for a 1/2 or 1/4 scale model showing the phases of construction to introduce folks to SOF boats. Just a thought.

Glad to hear it stood out. I did make a quick walk around about half the park but I really didn't think about how it looked compared to the others till you said this.

Funny you would mention the model I wanted to bring a bare frame I tossed together for a display 2 years ago but I really didn't know where to put it. I thought I would have to leave one of the boats at home. We had more space than I expected and could have brought it. But on the way home we talked about a scale model of a frame that could fit on the table or hang from the awning.

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Jeff,

Your comment: "Number one is most people know NOTHING about skin boats. Something I should have thought of. I wasn't dealing with a educated crowd, most had never even heard of skin boats so I had to do a lot of educating and answered the same questions over and over and over." sounds familiar. I opened a kayak shop in Northwest Florida in '87 and had a similar experience. The first two years were all about education, then the business started to grow.

I suspect that today the key is a strong Internet presence, which you have, and paddling your boats where people can see them. Maybe you can get some coverage through sites such as www.paddling.net and other user-oriented sites. You have a great product; persist!

Dan

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I had Stonefly, Shad and Cast Away on display. I thought that gave me a good showing of the diversity of my offerings. I would have liked to taken a bare frame but I wasn't sure how to display it so that it wasn't in the way. Didn't really have room to display it but will work on that. To my total surprise Stonefly, far more than any other boat, was the center of attention. Cast Away caught a few fishermen's eye's. 2-3 people I talked to were kayaker's and talked about Shad. I realize that I was dealing with a non-kayaking crowd. I can see that even though I don't care to paddle a canoe, I have a Tangerine build in my future if I am going to do more shows.

Your frames are light enough that I bet you could rest one on TOP of the front edge of your awning... :P

Or if space was tough I bet it could stand vertically lashed to one of the awning poles?

The canoe interest doesn't surprise me at all. I admit I have no idea on the relative market penetration, but I think I see far more canoes out there than Kayaks. As well, a family can buy ONE canoe and it can serve one, two, or even two adults + two kids. Can't do that with a Kayak.

I would also bet that at a "general public" event you would get more interest in people buying a complete boat than in kits??

...art

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The small portable DVD players like you can get for under $100 are pretty efficient on batteries. I'm betting you could bring along a deep cycle marine battery and the car charger for the portable player and go all day long with no issue.

I also think a bare frame would be a good idea :) The speedo however......let's pass on that one!

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The small portable DVD players like you can get for under $100 are pretty efficient on batteries. I'm betting you could bring along a deep cycle marine battery and the car charger for the portable player and go all day long with no issue.

I use one for rainy days while cruising on my Renegade. I bet that would work really well. You could fuse the battery wiring to a 12v car type/marine outlet and just plug it in.

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