Featured photo: Easton’s Gary Cornum takes Ken Byers of Byers Media through the paces of Easton’s coveted FMJ and Axis lines.
Held on May 14-15 at the magnificent Easton Foundations Archery Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, the 10th annual Bowhunting Roundtable proved to be a smashing success for media and manufacturers alike.
“We love putting on this event each year,” said Media Direct’s Kim Cahalan. “We really appreciate all of our manufacturers that attend. They really help us make this event great and give wonderful presentations to the media. Of course, the media is our outlet, our pipeline to get the word out about our manufacturers’ products. We couldn’t do this event without our loyal media presence.”
Manufacturers and media met at the 12-million-dollar Easton Foundations Archery Center at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 14, for introductions, dinner and some rousing games of Archery Tag, which may have gotten a little competitive. It was a night of good food, great conversation and a bunch of adults diving behind protective bags in an effort to dodge soft-tipped arrows. What an absolute joy it is to work in this industry.
Roundtable Round 2
Day two started with a bagel breakfast and then moved right into manufacturer presentations. Teams of media got to spend a full 30 minutes with each manufacturer. Manufacturers in attendance at the 2018 Roundtable included: TruGlo, Apex Gear, Wildlife Research Center, Prois, Veil Camo, Easton Archery, Delta McKenzie, Beman, NAP, GSM Outdoors, Cordova Coolers, Bear & Son Cutlery, TenPoint Crossbows and Hoyt Archery.
One of the beautiful things about this event is the time each media group gets with each manufacturer. Time to talk about the best new bowhunting gear and industry trends — to really dive deep into the technologies that make each particular product purposeful.
After a full day of meeting with manufacturers, learning about and even being able to test products, Roundtable goers were treated to a tour of the massive facility as well as a game of Crossbow Poker. Each media attendee fired bolts from a distance of 30 yards, via a pair of TenPoint’s 2018 crossbow incarnations, at a poster board containing a number of cards. Each shooter triggered five bolts, and as long as the bolts hit the cards, those cards were pulled and stuck in an envelope. Later, the best five-card hands were assembled and the winner was awarded a prize.
After Crossbow Poker came Manufacturer Trivia, which tested the brain power and attentiveness abilities of all media personnel. This game turned into a barrel of laughs, in which Easton’s Director of Marketing, Gary Cornum, kept sides hurting with his quick-witted comments.
Overall, the event, as is always the case, proved to be educational for both manufacturers and media — and, of course, was full of adventure.
