Pacific Airgun Expo 2017 venue and date planning

[airgunstocks]

Hello fellow airgunners!

Time to start planning for the 2017 Pacific Airgun Expo! I've been searching and searching for an ideal venue for our show. Please check your favorite events calenders and see if there are any conflicts with these dates, and please weigh in with your opinion of venue. I've attached a map with the three locations I've identified marked on it.

March 25/26 is available at the Dixon Fairgrounds (but will likely not be available by the time they decide to allow us). They seem like they could be hard to work with. The board of directors will vote on whether to allow any kind of gun show at all at their June meeting, which is probably too late for us to wait for the 2017 show. However, the location would be ideal as it is closer to the greater Bay Area than the other two options while still quite convenient from Sacramento. The lady I spoke with seemed to think someone else had called inquiring about an airgun show (though it could have been me, I had called a week ago, but she seemed quite adamant that it was not me) so if you know of anyone putting on another show let me know; we should join forces. We're too small a community to split our efforts. I'm quite sure Dixon (if we get permission to even hold a gun show there) would not allow shooting of any kind, but I'm not sure at this point whether I can accept the risk anyway, so it's not necessarily a deal breaker.

So for 2017 we're probably left with these two primary options:

March 11/12 is available at the Placer County Fairgrounds in Roseville, where the first PAE was held. They are very nice and accommodating. The fairgrounds is located in the middle of a largely residential area, with few nearby amenities (there is a pizza place nearby but that's about it). I'm just thinking of the vendor party which was really fun last year at the brewery in Placerville! The building doesn't lend itself well to any level of shooting indoors (at the last event they had low power shooting on the stage, but that doesn't seem to be an option now), and certainly they have no outdoor area for shooting. Again though, I'm not sure that's a deal breaker as we have to take a critical look at the risks of having any level of shooting.

March 4/5 and 25/26 are available at the El Dorado fairgrounds in Placerville, where we were last year. There are a lot of nice things about the venue. Of the three options, it has the largest hall, which allows us room for growth. A goal is to find a permanent home that we can have the show at every year. The brewery across the street and other cheap eats within walking distance, as well as the country/outdoor sports flavor of the entire area is nice. They are willing to allow outdoor shooting (and indoor, with limitations); they don't see it any differently than archery, which they allow. The staff there bend over backwards to be helpful. A downside is it was thought to be too far from Sacramento by some vendors, however it is actually only 15 minutes further than the Roseville location. Certainly Placerville is in an area of people who embrace the shooting sports and don't get all freaked out about a gun show.

Last year's exit poll suggested that most vendors would rather have the event closer to a metropolis for foot traffic than have shooting (though at least one vendor said he made sales because of the shooting), but I can't find any other venues than those listed here. I'm open to other suggestions any of you might have. I looked at Elks lodges and hotel conference rooms, but they were either too small or far too expensive.

That's it for this post! Please weigh in with your opinions or suggestions! We're all in this together to try to grow our sport and support our vendors so they can survive and keep giving us the cool stuff we need. On a personal level we all also like the chance to hang out together and add (or subtract) from our collections. There's no real money to be made putting on the show itself; that's not my motivation. My entire motivation is to support our favorite sport, so it's super important that you all participate with your opinions and ideas so we can put on a show at a venue that works with all things considered.

Michael McKeown
707 337 9410
http://www.pacificairgunexpo.com
http://www.airgunstocks.com

[Motorhead]

Placerville ....
   
Now if you get ADVERTISING ALL OVER Northern California well in advance of this show, the drive to PV is as doable as any other location.

May i suggest contacting OTHER GUN SHOW organizers and perhaps take heed in listening to how they get the word out on there shows and even perhaps PIGGYBACK a time and location of there shows somewhere in Northern California ?

Cal expo has a HUGE one for instance ....


Scott

[Gear_Junkie]

I'll attend either location mentioned.  The one bonus about Roseville is Lucille's - BARBECUE THAT IS NOT TO BE MISSED! 

Also, if it saves you quite a bit of money, you may want to condier consolidating down to 1 day.  I was there on Sunday last year, and I think there were at most 20 people in the hall.  I was there on the early end, though.  I heard that Saturday was the day that was hopping, so you could consider only doing Saturday if it's easier (and cheaper) for you.

[airgunstocks]

Re. Sunday or not, I think Sunday morning was fun.  I got my best deals Sunday morning.  And there was a lot of beer drinking the night before that would be a shame to miss out on.  The vendors were about done by noon on Sunday, especially those that have to drive back down to Southern Cal, so I'm thinking we advertise a Sunday open period ending at noon say.  Just open enough for a few hours for those last sales and allow a leisurely pack up clean up period.

Scott, re. advertising, I'll reach out to you offline, 'cause I know you have lots of good ideas I need to get reminded about. 

[airgunstocks]

seems like  an acceptable choice to those that responded, so I'm moving forward with that.