Oshkosh and Walleye Tournaments PLEASE READ
Hey guys, the Mayor of Oshkosh is coming to talk with me tomorrow about tournament fishing. From what I can gather he has found out that Oshkosh could really care less about drawing the major circuits here. He wants to know about the sport in general and the role that Oshkosh does/could play.
I am looking for any ideas especially if there any tournament directors reading this. Not sure if he has any pull as far as the media goes but I am always dissapointed in the local coverage these events get.
Not exactly sure what all will be discussed but am looking for any ideas you might have. Thanks!
Isn't the MWC and Cabela's NTC coming to Osh Kosh this June?
It really doesn;t get much bigger than that. There will be over 300 teams there that week (June 5th).
Yes they come here but other then the fisherman, nobody knows about it. The Mayor did not even know about the FLW last year and that bothers him. He wants to capitalize more on this opportunity and make the anglers feel welcome and appreciated. He had some great ideas, one was to give every participant a wrist band that would be kind of like a city wide discount. He was talking welcome banners, newspaper, local tv and many other ideas. More of the general population needs to know about these events. This will help get better attendence at the weigh-ins and help promote the sport in general. When people leave Oshkosh, he wants people to have a warm fuzzy feeling and tell others how great Oshkosh is :)
Keith, I will pass along Scott's contact info. Hopefully some good comes of it.
Wow, the mayor seems to have a pretty good head on his shoulders, and looks to be looking after the community. Got to like that in today's world!
That is what I thought Gary. It was a pleasure talking to him. He wanted me to call the head of tourism and give her the contact information for the big three circuits. She will then contact them to see how Oshkosh can help. I doubt if I will be kept in the loop after that but I feel like I did my part.
IMO Oshkosh should be on the phone every June begging these circuits to come the following year. The amount of revenue they bring is amazing so they should try as hard as possible to get them here and take care of them while they are here.
Rich, Was the Mayor aware of the BASS Federation Regional that was held out of Oshkosh last summer? Just curious as that event too brought in anglers from all over the upper midwest. BTW ... the smallie bite was Hot that week!!!!!
Nope! It is truly emabarrasing the amount of attention the city gave these events. We are sitting on one of the greatest locations in the nation. So many local businesses would be chomping at the bit to get some of the action but the city did next to nothing to get word out. Can you imagine what the possibilites are?? We have one of the best fisheries in the nation. Now the city just needs to recognize the kind of revenue this can bring in.
Another issue we touched on was the Pioneer Inn. Sure would be great if they did something with that mess.
I don't know where he would have got that opinion - one of the biggest team events in the country is Otter Street. As for drawing in the big circuits, I think it is a matter of the city deciding that they want the recognition and promotion to get involved with a major event.
I would have him get in touch with Scott Matheson - president of AIM if he would like to discuss what it would take to get an AIM event in their city what positives can come out of an event like this.
Bite On
Keith Kavajecz
NPAA #81