Next week, your priority points become real. The selection window opens, the floor plan goes live, and exhibitors start staking their ground for the next ATA Show. If your plan is to find the same general neighborhood you’ve always been in and call it done — this column is for you. 

Because the show you’re selecting for isn’t the one you’ve always known—it’s something new. And if last year taught us anything, it’s that a booth chosen out of habit can be a liability in a format built on change. 

“The show floor you’re selecting for now has two completely different crowds walking it. That changes everything.” 

Let’s Be Honest About What Last Year Was.

The first hybrid format was a learning experience for everyone. Two days of the Trade Show — buyers, retailers, order-writing, the business you know. Then the doors swung open for two days of the Archery & Bowhunting Supershow, and suddenly your booth was a consumer brand experience whether you’d planned it that way or not. 

Some exhibitors thrived. Their spaces felt alive on all four days, focused enough for dealer conversations early in the week and energetic enough to draw consumers in on the weekend. Others found themselves with retail-meeting setups that felt stiff and uninviting when enthusiasts came through, or consumer-forward demo areas that made serious buyer discussions difficult. 

Which one were you? Be honest with yourself, because your answer should drive every decision you make in the selection process this year. 

Your Booth Has One Location. Your Audiences Have Two Very Different Needs. 

This is the central tension of the hybrid format, and there’s no clever workaround. You’re in the same spot on Thursday that you’re in on Saturday. A space built purely around quiet retailer meetings may fall flat when consumers arrive looking for something to engage with.  

The exhibitors who figured this out last year didn’t necessarily have bigger budgets or better locations. They had a clearer sense of what they wanted to accomplish, and they built their booth, and their strategy, around it. 

So, before you pull up the floor plan and start circling spaces, answer this question: Is your priority the dealer relationship or the consumer relationship? You don’t have to choose one and abandon the other. But you need to know which one is primary, because that shapes everything else. 

“The exhibitors who struggled were often those who selected space based on habit. The format changed. Old instincts didn’t.” 

Location is More Complicated Than it Used to Be.

Traffic patterns are different now. The spots that generate high foot traffic during the Supershow aren’t always the spots where you want to be conducting focused business meetings two days earlier. Entrances, demo zones, and booths near the range draw consumers. Deeper floor locations often give retailers the quieter environment they’re looking for. 

Neither is inherently better. But you need to walk into selection week knowing which trade-off fits your business, and you need to have thought through it before the window opens—not during it.