Great Waters Expo - 2012

[iaflyfisher]

The Great Waters Expo will be held again in 2012! Mark your calendars...

March 23-25, 2012

Friday, March 23, 2012: 2:30-7:00 pm
Saturday, March 24, 2012: 9:00 am-6:00 pm
Sunday, March 25, 2012: 9:00 am-4:00 pm

National Sports Center, Schwan Center, Blaine, MN

The Great Waters Expo has always been a celebration of fly fishing, its environs and the people who share in its majesty. The sport and its practitioners were Tom Helgeson?s passion, his love and his family.
Whatever you want to know about the sport of fly fishing, we?ve got it covered ? the species we fish for, the flies we tie and use, tactics and techniques, fly fishing destinations ? and the stewardship we practice to keep our streams, rivers and lakes pristine.

Keep checking back here for updates about the show.
http://greatwatersflyfishingexpo.com/Home.html

[LadyFisher]

I'm just delighted to see it will go on! I've tried contacting Tom's family to let them know we are still advertising for them but I don't get any response at all. We had a trade-off with Tom so it wasn't costing anyone any money. Sure wish them the best.

[iaflyfisher]

Greetings, exhibitors, friends:

March 23-25 is coming fast! We have less than two months until Tom Helgeson?s Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

First, we want to thank you for your support and friendship. We will do everything we can to make sure the expo is a success and ? perhaps just as importantly ? a lot of fun.

It has been an exciting year for us and we hope it was a great year for you. We are happy to report that the show has been sold out for weeks, with an exciting and interesting range of exhibitors, from shops, to guides to lodges. (An updated list, with web links, is on our website).

We wanted to share with you a few of the things we have planned and some new things we are doing to promote this year?s expo.

We are close to completing our programming schedule and will add it on the Great Waters website any day. We will continue our tradition of delivering the most interesting, dynamic and educational programming in the Midwest.

We especially want to thank the Federation of Fly Fishers for continuing their excellent fly casting instruction. We are working hard and rapidly to improve the FFF fly casting arrangements for this year?s show. We are hopeful instruction numbers will soar.

The St. Paul Fly Tiers will spend the weekend teaching hundreds of people how to tie flies. The work of the St. Paul Fly Tiers always provides some of the most memorable moments of the show.

We also plan to have an array of drift boats in the entrance and, weather permitting, maybe even one in the retention pond by the entrance. That?s the area where everyone was drawn to last year to test rods and practice casting. It should make for an inviting way to greet our guests.

New this year, we have a deal with Subway restaurants to have Expo coupons in their 400 locations around the state. Along with coupons at numerous fly shops in the area, having them in Subways is more likely to draw people who might be new to fly fishing.

We also have a deal with Clear Channel Communication and will begin airing radio spots as we get closer to the show. This is something we were not able to do last year but will improve our reach around the Twin Cities, Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

You will also start seeing a robust assortment of news stories in newspapers around the region.

In other promotional activities, Baird Helgeson gave a talk about the show at the Hiawatha Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Rochester. He will be at the Twin Cities Trout Unlimited banquet this weekend if you want to say hello.

Perhaps the thing that we are most excited about is the new convention center space at the National Sports Center, which will be completed for next year?s show. Sports Center leaders were so thrilled with the interest and enthusiasm for the Great Waters Expo that they quickly moved ahead with designing and constructing a new convention hall that will dramatically increase show space next year. We will be able to accommodate far more exhibitors and hold casting lessons and demonstrations under one roof. The presentation rooms will be in the current Schwan Center, where the expo his held now. Sports Center staffers are now planning several new outdoors shows to complement the Great Waters expo, turning the sports center into the preeminent outdoor entertainment center in the region.

We are thrilled with the great response from the fly fishing community for this year?s show. It is a strong foundation to build on. We cannot fully express our appreciation and gratitude for your continued support and friendship. This is going to be a great show; we are already planning even bigger things next year to maximize the larger facility. Stay tuned.

The Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo cannot be successful if you don?t succeed.

Now a challenge to you: To ensure strong turnout and the most successful show for everyone, please encourage customers and friends to visit the expo. Feel free to send this letter out to your own mailing lists or post it on your websites or share it on online forums. For the latest and best information, please direct customers and friends to our website: greatwatersflyfishingexpo.com. There, they can check out the latest news about the show and get a coupon for $2 off admission price.

We hope that you had a successful year full of great fishing, adventure and great stories. We look forward to sharing the weekend with you in March, a chance to renew old friendships and build new ones. We will send more updates between now and then.

If you have any questions or concerns about show logistics or would like our new expo posters to display at your businesses or organization, please contact:

Greg Savino
Campus Development Manager
National Sports Center
(763) 717-3233 Office
(763) 442-2275 Cell
gsavino@nscsports.org


If you have questions about the show in general, or have suggestions or ideas, please contact Baird and Carrie Helgeson at greatwatersexpo@gmail.com.

Our very best,
The Helgesons

[Steven McGarthwaite]

Great Water Fly Fishing Expo, is a wonderful place to see the latest offering by fly fishing related products offered by exhibitioners!

Before Tom Helgeson and friends, started the Great Water Fly Fishing Expo, the Midwest was fly-over land for fly fishing exhibitions....

It is great to know that others have stepped up to continue this annual Get Togeather.... When at the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo, I get the a chance to renew old acqaintances with members of FAOL

Hoping soon to see the Midwest Fly Fishing Magazine back in operation.... I am will to write for them, for free, when they start publication again.

~Parnelli

[iaflyfisher]

The Expo website now has the schedule posted. You can see the schedule but not sure what is up with their website,

http://greatwatersflyfishingexpo.com/Home.html

The National Sports Center has the vendor listing and floor layout on their site.

http://www.nscsports.org/tmp_images/...h Plan Web.pdf

It should be a very good show.

[Lew Beccone]

You'll find the seminar schedule at http://www.greatwatersflyfishingexpo.com/Schedule.html

[Lew Beccone]

AND don't miss the admission discount coupon at http://greatwatersflyfishingexpo.com/Coupon.html