CEO Blog: #ATA2020 Post Show

We were cautiously optimistic about our inaugural ATA Happy Hour event on Thursday evening. Frankly, we didn’t know what to expect from this first-of-its-kind endeavor. You voted with your feet by showing up and packing the house. The crowd saw some incredible one-arrow shoot-offs, and generally had a great time. Our post-Show survey asked what you’d like to see if we repeat this event. The top answers were product giveaways, entertainment, live shooting competitions, and a state-of-the-industry address.

You’ve said repeatedly that the No. 1 thing you want your ATA to focus on is creating business opportunities for you. One important metric of that request is writing orders at the Show. This year, 86% of exhibitors and retailers who wrote orders said they wrote the same or more than last year. We hope that’s a sign of a strong year ahead.

The response rate for this survey was incredibly high. Because of that, we’re very confident in what you told us, and how you want the Show to move forward. As always, change is difficult, and so we know it’s impossible to please everyone as we plan #ATA2021.

It would be easier to maintain the Show’s status quo each year. But that’s not an option, because we want to serve our members. Our commitment remains simple: Create an event our members want to attend. Every change we make will be based on your feedback. If something doesn’t work, we’ll listen and adjust. We’ll also keep communicating as best we can so the changes don’t surprise you. All we ask is that you read our emails and social-media posts so you’re up to speed.

As always, thanks for your membership, for supporting this industry we all love, and for creating new archers and bowhunters through your business.