What if they threw a tradeshow and nobody came?

The continuing saga of what was the Fly Fishing Retailer show continues.

This morning Nielson sent out a press release inviting all the fly fishing brands to their Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake. If you head to the Fly Fishing Retailer website right now it is an open invitation to Salt Lake in August, the page banner is at the top of this post.

Thirty minutes or so later AFFTA put out a press release stating their reasons for not formally partnering up with Outdoor Retailer and promising further updates on their show plans for 2010....don't hold your breath.

You can read the news and both press releases at MidCurrent.

AFFTA board rejects Outdoor Retailer trade show Option

The Fly Fishing Retailer Show has seen a significant decline in attendance and show square footage over the last four years. One proposal from the show management group Nielson Media was to combine the fly show with the Outdoor Retailer trade show, the world’s largest outdoor sports industry gathering in the world. Somehow the American Fly Fishing Trade Association did not recognize the value of having their trade show combined with a show that draws 21,000 attendees and 1000 brands in the business of producing, selling and marketing the outdoor lifestyle.

To quote an industry insider, "I can't wait to hear their reasons and the alternative they propose to their current stillborn 'trade' show in Denver and wherever else they propose to take it. Maybe they can hook up with the Texarkana basket weaving and macramé expo."

Here's the scoop courtesy of SNEWS.

The American Fly Fishing Trade Association voted to turn down an offer from Nielsen Business Media to merge the FlyFishing Retailer trade show into the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market show, inside sources familiar with the vote told SNEWS®.

AFFTA President Gary Berlin confirmed that a vote took place on Oct. 13, but he would not reveal the outcome of the vote when contacted by us. "The board did make a decision on Tuesday, and the information will be released at the end of the month when all documents are finalized."

Berlin told SNEWS that AFFTA was looking for a new way forward with the FlyFishing Retailer show because it has suffered lower participation from exhibitors and attendees. "The show has declined in exhibit space and visitors for the past four years due to the economy and consolidation of brands," he said.

So now what are the alternatives?

Continue with the status quo.... the trade show equivalent of dead man walking.

Combine the show with ICAST or fly fishing meets duck and chuck in Vegas mid July 2010.... good luck with the early date.

Find a new venue or partner that might somehow drive greater attendance..... not likely considering the patient is barely breathing already.

We'll see how AFFTA explains not wanting to draft off the incredible depth of business that is conducted at Outdoor Retailer.

OIA Endorses Inclusion of Fly Fishing Retailer

The Outdoor Industry Association® (OIA) Board of Directors announced their endorsement of including the Nielsen Business Media owned Fly Fishing Retailer trade show, subject to American Fly Fishing Trade Association (AFFTA) acceptance, into the summer market to create a broader water culture.  LINK  (Via: OIA)

Any move to Salt Lake for FFR still needs to be approved by AFFTA and there are now rumors that a competing show is in the works for Orlando.

Fly Fishing Retailer Fish Schtick Podcast Video Shorts

They let me out of the Patagonia booth long enough to get the low down on Loop's X-grip handle from Reid Zoller.

Morgan Promnitz walks Teeg through what makes the Hobie Pro-Angler revolutionary, and why it won “Best In Show” at this year’s ICAST.

Remember when we said we were not going to report on any April Vokey sightings from Fly Fishing Retailer?

We lied.

Fly Fish or Die

Vaughn Cochran sports one of his new hand painted Black Fly tees at Fly Fishing Retailer. The black portions of the shirt are screened and then Vaughn hand paints the embellishments.

This would be the perfect shirt for the upcoming ESPN series Pirates of the Flats.

While we were catching up on the latest and greatest Vaughn pulled out the iPhone and showed us his latest painting.