Virginia Fly and Wine Festival

Throughout most of my adult professional life I have had the unique pleasure of working trade shows. If you have ever attended a trade show you have seen the many smiling faces standing behind their respective tables, in their booths anxious to offer you a key fob, refrigerator magnet or some other kind of swag to remind you of who they are and what they do. Shows like these can be exciting for the folks that work them, at least at the beginning of the show however most are anxious to pack up and hit the road long before the show is actually over, usually on Sunday night. Most folks working these shows are friendly types however working a show all day on your feet often having conversations with patrons that are only engaged long enough to get that free mini box of Chiclets on the booth table would make anyone tire of the event itself and want to go on with the normal daily lives.

I worked trade shows for a large fortune 500 company for several years and while I always enjoyed meeting new people and the wonderful food and drink that would accompany these events, I always found myself looking forward to the show’s end and going home. The exception to this reaction was my affinity to working fishing shows. I started working fishing shows in my early 20’s and found my interest and excitement level so much greater when it came to working these types of expos. I was fortunate enough to work some of the largest and most active shows on the east coast and while I started out ringing sales and helping people find great buys on tackle, eventually I was offering instructional tutorials and doing seminars. For me this took working trades shows to a whole new level.

And with that said ultimately I found after working several shows in a row I would begin to tire of the process of setting up, tearing down and doing it all over, again and again. Eventually I only worked the shows that I had to and while running charters in south Florida I found myself only working shows for friends and sponsors that were close to home.

After moving from the Keys to Richmond VA to take on the role of Sales Manager of Fishing Operations at Orvis Richmond, I voluntarily became point of contact for Orvis and our involvement with The Virginia Fly Fishing and Wine Festival. Once I heard the name of this event I responded to corporate immediately and told them that not only was I the guy for the job but I would be happy to oversee our involvement at the show and be on location, with all of the wine and fly fishing from beginning to end. “This”, I said “is my kind of show!”

And now, going on four years of coordinating, setting up staffing, payroll and working with others to make an appealing booth and one that Orvis would be proud of, we are going strong as a contributing sponsor of the event. Our participation level has increased greatly as several of us that come from retail stores are doing seminars throughout both days of the event as well as rod demos and current product tutorials.

The Virginia Fly Fishing and Wine Festival is truly a unique show in that it is held outside (vendors and seminars are under tents) next to a stocked trout river where patrons can fish. The obvious combination of wine and fly fishing can appeal to all members of the family and it has become quite kid friendly with a trout casting pool on property for the youngsters. The show has grown over the years to include micro-brews and some great outdoor dining options from local vendors that includes pork barbecue, crab cakes and delicious steak sandwiches.

This show is very different from others that I have worked in the past and one that I really do look forward to doing each year. It only lasts for 2 days so check out the link below and stop by the Orvis booth when you get there and be sure to say hello.