BREAKING NEWS… AFFTA announces trade show, hire

The American Fly Fishing Trade Association just announced it has hired Randi Swisher as vice president and director of marketing.  Swisher most recently served as corporate account manager for the International Sportsmen’s Exposition. Among Swisher’s core responsibilities will be the production of a new AFFTA trade show.

This trade show, the International Fly Tackle Dealer (IFTD) will take place in Denver, some time in the third quarter of 2010.  AFFTA will soon release more details on this event.  Of most pressing/significant concern, retailers will be asked to vote on the specific dates of the show.  Angling Trade has been informed of four possible options: July 29-31; August 15-17; September 9-11; and September 30-October 2.  We encourage all interested parties to take part in this vote, and chime in on the evolving discussion around trade shows, and how best to achieve the goal of growing the sport of fly fishing.

In that regard, you can expect a more detailed position statement from Angling Trade to appear at anglingtrade.com on Monday December 21 at 12 p.m. ET.  Included will be comments on the recent resignation from the AFFTA board of directors by Diane Bristol of Simms Fishing Products, as well the invitations from Outdoor Retailer, the American Sportfishing Association (ICAST), and Chuck Furimsky and the F.I.T.S. trade show, for fly retailers and manufacturers to join those events.

For the time being, here is a link to the latest press release from AFFTA.  More information will follow later today.  Despite the busy holiday season, I encourage you to stay tuned to–and involved with–the important decisions that will shape the future of the fly fishing industry in 2010 and beyond.

Best regards,

Kirk Deeter
Editor, Angling Trade