DSC Summer Expo July 17-19 and Why You Should Be There!!

“Welcome back to MOJO’s Duck Season Somewhere podcast where today we’re going down to Dallas, Texas. I came all the way back from Argentina to go to Dallas, Texas.”

Ramsey Russell: Welcome back to MOJO’s Duck Season Somewhere podcast where today we’re going down to Dallas, Texas. I came all the way back from Argentina to go to Dallas, Texas. Coming up soon, the first annual Dallas Safari Club Summer Expo, July 17 to 19. 450 exhibits showcasing hunting, fishing and adventures worldwide. Fun for the whole family in the air conditioning, which is a big deal in the deep south, July 17 to 19, you all come see us. I know myself and Char dog probably and my wife will be walking the aisles and enjoying it ourselves. Joining me today are, introduce yourself, gentlemen.

Rob McCanna: Rob McCanna and I have the pleasure of being the CEO of the Dallas Safari Club and Dallas Safari Club Foundation.

Brian Fienhold: And Ramsey, thanks for having us. My name is Brian Fienhold. I’m the Director of Operations and Development for Dallas Safari Club and DSC foundation as well.

Ramsey Russell: Man, I’m excited to have you all. I am myself a huge supporter of Dallas Safari Club, have been a long time exhibitor. I was thinking, gosh, it’s got to have been 15, 16 years I’ve been a part of Dallas Safari Club and thank you all very much for what you do. For people listening that may be unaware of what Dallas Safari Club is, what is the core mission that drives DSC and how has that evolved over the years?

Rob McCanna: Brian, I’ll let you take it. Since I’m the new guy on the block, I’ll let you take that and then I’ll feel free to add in some new perspective to it.

“So, Ramsey, you hear Dallas Safari Club talk about our mission around conservation, education, advocacy and that’s really the core tenets of who we are and what we do. But what does that really mean to a broader group of folks. And that really means, everything we do is to ensure the future of our hunting heritage.”

Brian Fienhold: That sounds great. So, Ramsey, you hear Dallas Safari Club talk about our mission around conservation, education, advocacy and that’s really the core tenets of who we are and what we do. But what does that really mean to a broader group of folks. And that really means, everything we do is to ensure the future of our hunting heritage. It’s to ensure the future of wildlife and wild places. And that’s a pretty admirable cause. I’m certainly proud to be a part of that. But that’s who we are and what we do at its basic sense.

Rob McCanna: And I guess I will add to this is coming on board and seeing that this organization has been around for about 42 years and doing just that. There’s been ups and downs over those 42 years about what the organization is and what it stands for. And I think going forward, as long as we keep that as the main goal and then you add in the things that we’ve got to start looking at, how we engage the next generation of hunters and outdoorsmen and how do we get other organizations of like mindedness to start working together to join that cause together. That ensures that these things that the organization has been doing for 42 years will continue to do it for 42 years more. And that’s the most important thing that we can do on a daily basis is looking at how we continue what’s been in the past and make it better for the future.

Ramsey Russell: Right. Tell me this, I want to back up just a second, Rob and Brian. I want to back up just a second. We know who you are, but who are you as a human being? Who are you as a hunter? What in you all lives got you all into hunting? Who were some of your influences that eventually led you to commit a big part of your lives to an organization like DSC?

Rob McCanna: Well, I’d love to jump into that first. I’ve said this on a lot of podcasts, like I said, I’m into my 6^th month as CEO with Dallas Safari Club, but this journey started a long time ago for me. Born and raised in north western Pennsylvania. And I’ve said this before is growing up as a child in that environment where the nearest interstate was a mile and a half drive in any direction, living in the national forest. And I knew what time of year it was by what animal I was hunting, what fish I was catching or who I was trapping or what might be going on. So how do we get started in it? It was born into me, I’m one of the lucky ones. Because that’s something we don’t have going on as much today. But myself, I was born into this. And I just asked this question at one of our meetings we had with all of our chapters and said, hey, when you joined up to be a chapter member for Dallas Safari Club, be honest with me, how many of you got into it because of conservation? Not many hands went up. But when I said, how many of you got into it because you love hunting and the outdoors, every hand in the room went up. And if you really think about that, for the young kids out there like me, that were born into it at 9, 10 years old, we didn’t know anything about conservation. But with age comes wisdom, and the longer you do it. And I had the fortunate, I guess, run for a career of being in the shooting sports for 35 years and working for major manufacturers like Remington Arms Company, Walter Arms Company, Orca Coolers, things like that. And the more I got involved in the corporate world, the less and less I got involved with conservation and doing things. So when this opportunity came out of nowhere, I wasn’t looking for a job, I wasn’t looking for changing careers and coming over to the non-profit side of the business. But when you get an opportunity to say, hey, why did all this whole world start for me, where did it start? The question you asked, how long ago did it start and why would you do such a thing? It’s about actually leaving an impact and doing something that the latter part of your career can make a difference for the people that are yet to come that get to enjoy the hunting heritage and the outdoors. So I took a lot of time there, but I was trying to wrap a lot of things into your question. So I hope that answers that.

Ramsey Russell: That was a great answer, Rob. I mean, do you think, do you see like I do or I think I see, do you see where the lucky ones that are born into it, hunting and fishing and trapping are becoming fewer and fewer for the present young folks that barefoot little boys, 8, 9 years old, I just don’t see them having the opportunities that we did. I don’t see them being exposed to this thing the same way or it’s just like there’s a million different directions other than hunting, fishing and trapping.

Rob McCanna: Yeah. And I agree with you. And I’ll even go back to the little town that I grew up in was 2500 people with one stoplight. Today, it’s probably 2000 people with a 3 way stop where the stoplight used to be. And that little town, Pennsylvania, were whitetail hunters as you probably understand, that’s what’s born into you. And when I grew up, it was a national holiday, the first day of deer season, first day of buck season. People didn’t go to school. School was closed. It was a Monday launch and schools were closed. And you could see everybody was out hunting in the woods. And that little town of 2500 people with the camps and everything around in the woods all around it, probably grew to 20,000 people, over that weekend of the first day of deer season. And you don’t see that anymore. And it’s disturbing for people like me to understand that there are generation, whether it be through technology or just timing and things like that, that even the kids that are being born in that environment anymore, you’re seeing a shift and they’re not spending as much time in the outdoors because of other activities and other interests that have sort of led them down a different path.

Ramsey Russell: How about you Brian?

Brian Fienhold: Yeah, you could almost, maybe not word for word, but you could almost unplug Rob Story and northwest Pennsylvania and plug in my name and Central Illinois. So I grew up in a little town called Pontiac, Illinois which is a booming metropolis compared to Rob’s town. We had about 10,000 people and I think 1 or 2 stoplights, but about the same size today. But I grew up there with my folks and my sister and I, my father and I, he’s the reason I got into hunting, without a doubt. He taught me to do things the right way, to follow the rules and all the golden rules of hunting that we should all follow, right? Leave places better than you got to them and make sure you follow the rules along the way. And in Illinois, that’s big farm country where I grew up, Central Illinois. And so whitetails were a prominent big game there certainly when I became of hunting age and we did a lot of pheasant hunting as well. And it wasn’t as good as it was when my dad was a kid, but it was still pretty darn good. But it really started earlier than that with me, with dad, squirrel hunting. And I think, as hunters who were blessed to be born into that lifestyle, I think we have an obligation to remind ourselves from time to time that we didn’t start by hunting. Rob and I have both been blessed to hunt around the world and do some incredible hunts both here at home in North America, but then in many continents around the world and that’s exciting and great and we love talking about that amongst peer hunters and whatnot. But in terms of getting new folks in hunting or folks that maybe weren’t, young men, women, kids, young adults, folks anywhere along the way in life that weren’t born into it, we have an obligation to help recruit new folks but also keep in our own mind that, hey, we didn’t probably start out in a town of 2,500 or 10,000 with aspirations to hunt big game in 4, 5, 6 different continents. We started out squirrel hunting, rabbit hunting, bird hunting and things of that nature. And that’s really, I think, what we need to keep in mind too, is let folks know that you can get out and hunt a lot of different ways and the barriers to entry don’t need to be all that insurmountable. And let’s welcome all kinds of hunters who choose to hunt in an ethical, responsible manner. Let’s recruit more of those folks.

“But at what point do you think it is that we evolve and become all of a sudden cognizant that, it can’t be just take, we’ve got to give something back. What happens to us that we just all of a sudden wake up one day and we’re like, man, I got to give something back, I can’t just take.”

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. It’s funny you say that because I know a lot of people, myself included, have hunted far and wide around the world, but every single one of them, almost every single one of them started with a pellet rifle or out there with their granddaddy on a dove field or a small boy rifle shooting 22s or behind a pack of beagle hounds, we all started somewhere. And man, it’s so funny, I’ve been fortunate to hunt with some of these guys that have shot all the sheep of the world or all the bear and all the deer, and we’re sitting around, they’re telling these stories. But when we start talking about hunting rabbits with beagle hounds or shooting squirrels, a spark goes off and it takes them all the way back to the beginning and they can, you know what I’m saying? Boy, you can still feel the fire after all these years, there’s nothing like where you start. So I agree with you entirely. And I like what you brought out, Rob, what you discussed is, nobody listening got into hunting for conservation, none of us did, I didn’t. Truth of the matter is I didn’t go to Mississippi State because of conservation, I went into wildlife conservation because I was a hunter and fisherman. But at what point do you think it is that we evolve and become all of a sudden cognizant that, it can’t be just take, we’ve got to give something back. What happens to us that we just all of a sudden wake up one day and we’re like, man, I got to give something back, I can’t just take.

“I’ve been asked the question many times, what’s my favorite hunt? And I give a generic response that I love hunting everything because everything has a different result to it. But if truth be known, it’s introducing somebody new to the sport and watching the passion being ignited to them and moving that forward, that’s the time that I saw it be a change in my life.”

Rob McCanna: Well, for me, it’s funny because it’s hard to pinpoint that where it actually happens in your mind. But the biggest thing for me was the first time I was able to take somebody out on their first hunting experience, big game hunting experience, and introduce them to what the process is and watch them go through the ups and downs of what hunting can be and the patience that’s required and the things that hunting teaches you, whether it be patience or ethics and things like that that Brian talked about, is doing the right things. But when all of a sudden you realize that taking somebody else out and introducing them to the sport or to hunting in general or the outdoors, and you see the light bulb go off in them and the passion being ignited in them, that’s when I knew that something was different. And it really made a change in me to the point where I enjoy nothing more, believe me. I’ve been asked the question many times, what’s my favorite hunt? And I give a generic response that I love hunting everything because everything has a different result to it. But if truth be known, it’s introducing somebody new to the sport and watching the passion being ignited to them and moving that forward, that’s the time that I saw it be a change in my life.

Ramsey Russell: What led you to Dallas Safari Club?

Rob McCanna: Pure luck. How’s that sound?

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. When you come to a fork in the road, take it, I always say, but yeah.

Rob McCanna: That is right. And for me, I talked about this a little bit, is actually, it works out, it was almost a year ago to the event that we’re going to talk about that we’re having here in Dallas is the Gala for our foundation, for the Dallas Safari Club Foundation last July. I got an invite from an outfitter that had been a friend of mine over the years that I’d hunted with many times. And he said, hey, you’re living in Arkansas, I got a table for this event, would you like to come down and see what we’re about? And I had attended Dallas Safari Club conventions before, but I’d never been to a Gala. So my wife and I drove down from Arkansas into Dallas and we attended the great event. And I met a lot of people and started talking to them and everything. And I guess at that time I was CEO of Walter Firearms and I’d only been there for about 4.5 years and was very happy and loving what was going on there. But I made some connections with people from Dallas Safari Club and Dallas Safari Club foundation that little did I know they were looking for a new CEO. And a few months later, I want to say it was probably in September, I got a call from that same outfitter that invited me down and said, hey, do you know anybody, your connections out there that might be looking to be a new CEO? And they talked about the position and stuff and I said, well, let me reach out to a couple of the younger guys I know that I’ve hired into the industry and see what they’re thinking about. And I hung up the phone and I just said, hey, wait a second, I think maybe I’m the guy that would be a good fit for this position. And I looked at my wife and I said, what do you think about this? She goes, wow, that’s a big change going from 35 years in the corporate world to going over to a non-profit. And I said, yes, but this might be the opportunity for me to be able to give back to an industry that’s been very good to me and get back to that passion that was ignited in me in 8 or 9 years old when I started into this process, that the joy that I feel when I introduce people to the outdoors and being able to go to an organization, do some good and make things a better place long term for the generations to come. So talk about the right place at the right time, that’s sort of what happened.

Ramsey Russell: Meant to be. How about yourself, Brian?

Brian Fienhold: Well, so Ramsey, I’ve been involved with Dallas Safari Club for quite a while. My career to get here took a few different turns than Rob’s did certainly. I’m an accountant by undergrad, but don’t hold that against me, that’s pretty boring stuff. But I spent many years in the energy industry and a lot of those in energy trading and marketing. And one thing led to another. I got involved with an organization I know you’re familiar with called the Mule Deer Foundation. And I served on their board for about 5 years, in the last close to 3 as chair. And then somehow I got talked into becoming their COO. And I was there in that role for about almost 5 years before I got a similar call to what Rob got regarding an opportunity here at Dallas Safari Club. And I’ve been a life member for probably now going on 15 years or more. And I’ve been a volunteer here, which is part of really the core of who Dallas Safari Club is. We’ve got an incredible volunteer army of folks that help with everything we do. But got the call about an opportunity and whatnot. One thing led to another and here I ended up and I’m all been here almost 5 years now, but it’s been great. You do cross paths with all kinds of different folks in our industry and it really makes you appreciate what this is all about. But Rob and I actually are about the same age. We’re both in our really late 20s.

Ramsey Russell: Me too. Yeah.

Rob McCanna: Really late 20s.

Brian Fienhold: Really late 20s, yeah, that’s exactly right. But so we got similar perspectives, I think these opportunities came along for both of us at a good time in our career where we could explore this opportunity that we have and be a part of a group and find a way to give back. And we talk about hunting and why we get into hunting, we love the hunting part of it. Well, I think the longer you’re around hunting and responsible, ethical hunting, science based hunting and wildlife management, I think the more you understand how that ties directly to conservation and how really when you’re saying hunting for me, when you’re saying hunting or conservation, you’re saying the same thing. And the more we can drive that home and the better.

Ramsey Russell: Can you all share a moment when you’ve personally seen Dallas Safari Club’s mission come to life either in the field or through policy?

Brian Fienhold: You want me to take a crack, Rob?

Rob McCanna: Yeah. You can go first with 5 years experience or so.

Brian Fienhold: Right. Well, we’re lucky Ramsey, we see it every day. I talked earlier about conservation education and advocacy and we see things like, the impact that the funds we raise get deployed around the world for anti-poaching efforts, for critical population studies and habitat improvements, for educating the public on what ethical and responsible hunting is and the positive impact that hunting can have not just on wildlife, not just on wild places, but also on people around the world in those roles. And from an advocacy standpoint, we see at the state, federal and international levels on just trying to forge smart science based policy towards wildlife management. And we’re involved in each of those areas in depth every day. And it is fulfilling to see that come to play with the dollars that we get trusted with from our many supporters, sponsors, donors, members.

Rob McCanna: And I would say being, like I said, the new guy on the block here, sometimes it’s not seeing it, but sometimes it’s about as you’re in a new role and you’re looking at things, it’s about reading it. And some of the stats that I have seen as I’ve tried to educate myself on different continents and things like that and you see stats that just totally blow your mind and you know that your organization has been played a key role in some of those stats. And one that jumped out at me the other day was, I was reading through an African hunting key fact and this one blew my mind. So, the thing I saw was the number of species threatened with extinction due to trophy hunting in Africa. Do you know how many animals there are? It’s zero.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah, I’m just going to say none.

Rob McCanna: Yeah, zero. And that from a lot of people’s perspective that aren’t involved with organizations like Dallas Safari Club or any conservation organization, that wouldn’t be the answer that they would give. And you see things like that and it just sets you back and you say, wow. There’s been a lot of hard, heavy lifting going on, but we’re seeing results and things are very good. So that’s the things we got to keep in the back of our mind all the time is when you’re feeling pressure and you’re feeling the things that are going on with the anti-hunting movement or anything like that. We are doing very good, a lot of good out there that is having an impact and we need to tell people about that sometimes.

Ramsey Russell: Are there any recent conservation wins that Dallas Safari Club helped make possible?

Rob McCanna: I guess, Brian, you can put on this, but I just look at the things that go on from, I guess from a Capitol Hill environment. But there’s been a lot of appropriation bills that have tried to ban the importation of a lot of animals. And I know that Dallas Safari Club and other organizations have been very instrumental into pushing back against those situations and trying to do things because when those animals get banned, I mean that just stops all the monetary contribution, the people going over to hunt and being able to drive the monies that help those countries and the anti-poaching efforts and stuff like that. So I think a lot of the wins have come in that environment, Brian. And you can verify that or if you have any more specific things, I’d love to hear too.

“Well, I see that same thing, Rob in the duck hunting world. Argentina, many years ago, 2005 prohibited the export of indigenous wildlife ducks. Other countries have tried the same thing.”

Ramsey Russell: Well, I see that same thing, Rob in the duck hunting world. Argentina, many years ago, 2005 prohibited the export of indigenous wildlife ducks. Australia’s done the same thing. Other countries have tried the same thing. And in doing so it is, if we don’t let hunters go over there and bring a “trophy” back for their game room, then maybe they won’t come and do it, maybe they’ll forget all about this animal. It’s a strategy of the anti-hunters that they use to de-incentivize hunters from bringing those hunting dollars that are then parlayed into conservation, but it’s a strategy. And ivory and lions and whatever else, rhino horn, it’s all the same. And in the big game world of, it’s always struck me that it’s always the animal cracker critters. Those animals that you see at the zoo or that you see in an animal cracker box that they always want to protect, the very iconic species like that. Never the more germane ones, not the attractive ones, it’s always the pretty ones.

Rob McCanna: Right. And I’m glad you bring up that the duck situation, because what I’m saying there is talking about. We got to remember that this isn’t just an African continent thing, this is all around world. This is worldwide. This is every animal that’s in North America and South America, it’s everywhere. And the amount of money that’s raised by hunters that people don’t realize from every sale of the firearm, every sale of ammunition, every hunting license, that’s why we have these animals. And the populations are booming in a lot of situations because of that. And if that wasn’t around, you wouldn’t see the – let’s just talk wetlands even, not even outside of animals, the conservation of wetlands and the money that’s spent on doing that to provide habitat for these animals. So it all comes together. But it’s a lot of moving parts that a lot of people don’t see.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. One of the craziest statistics I ever read, how hunting as conservation is in the country of Kenya, where until the mid-70s, the hunting of elephants was allowed. That’s where you went to go shoot elephants in Africa back in the day. And then they prohibited it, it’s bad, it’s wrong and they banned hunting, elephant hunting there in Kenya, maybe all hunting there in Kenya. But anyway, elephant. And there are now 4% the number of elephants in Kenya that there were when there was a “market” for it for hunting. Because now it’s just a big old animal that tears up trees and tears up cattle habitat and everything else. So the locals got rid of it. It’s no longer a commercial commodity of value to the local community, so it’s just gone.

“That’s it. The value is the key word there, Ramsey. When it no longer has a value, it can be in a perilous way in terms of management, whatnot. It all relates to putting a value on wildlife and managing it appropriately to ensure that it’s there tomorrow.”

Brian Fienhold: That’s it. The value is the key word there, Ramsey. When it no longer has a value, it can be in a perilous way in terms of management, whatnot. And interestingly enough, with elephants. The vast majority of elephants now live in countries that hunt them and that actively manage them. And that’s a fact. And it’s also sad to see what’s happened in countries like Kenya with the example you just gave. It all relates to putting a value on wildlife and managing it appropriately to ensure that it’s there tomorrow. And that’s the real thing.

Ramsey Russell: You all mentioned that DSC is deeply involved in youth education and mentorship. What’s the importance to you all and to Dallas Safari Club of passing down a hunting heritage to the next generation?

Brian Fienhold: Rob’s going to be all over this one. This is near and dear to his as it is mine, but Rob, go for it.

Rob McCanna: Yeah, this is one of my major things. As Brian said, now that we’re in our late 20s, you start to realize some things when you get to be this age. And like I said, just going to events, going to shows, working in an industry that is all about the hunting heritage. When you start looking around and start seeing that, all right, you’re one of the younger guys there and you’re already in your late 20s, you know that, this thing’s going to come to a drastic halt if we don’t start seeing some things change. And like we said earlier, is it the last generation? What caused it? We don’t know. But the one thing we do know is we got to get involved in some start, start making a change for it. And there are some great organizations out there that are starting to get involved that we are also, another passion of mine is bringing like-minded organizations together. We’re doing an event this week on Thursday with another organization called the Outdoors Tomorrow Foundation. And this organization, I didn’t know a lot about it until I came, Dallas Safari Club and that’s a shame because more people need to know about this organization is that they actually go out and they have a curriculum that’ hot in schools. So I went to one of the ritziest areas in Dallas and went into a middle school and watched kids come into a gym for a scheduled period class and put out archery targets and grab bows and shoot arrows in the school. And they shot archery and they learned about archery and the right ways to do it. But even better than that, I got to walk to their classroom and I walked into a classroom in a middle school in the heart of Dallas, Texas, in the city and when I opened up the door, what did I see? I saw taxidermy on the wall. I saw Dallas Safari Club banners. I saw things that I thought I would never see in a public school yet alone, even a private institution, I didn’t think I’d see things like this. And then talking to these kids, they’re offered this opportunity, they might not have been the athletes, they might not have been the people that were looking to work in the trade or anything like that, but they saw an opportunity to see a course that was offered to them about the outdoors. And they had to ask their parents about it, and a lot of their parents didn’t want them to take this course. But then they took the course and their excitement and their passion, I talked about earlier, you see those kids going back and telling their parents about it and then they said, well, my mom really didn’t want me to take this, and now halfway through the class, she’s coming to events with me and wants to go do things in the outdoors. And my parents are now getting involved. So it’s not even getting the young kids involved, but right now, if you look at those, let’s say those 9 to 15 year olds, guess what? Their parents are in their 20s to 30s, it’s getting them re-engaged through their kids. So you’re getting 2 generations back re-engaged with the outdoors that gets you double bang for your buck. And it’s situations like this that we have to as a conservation organization, be very mindful of how we can help them, how we can promote them, how we can get the word out and how we can bring more to light of re-engaging those people. So, like Brian said, I’m all over this one, I love to take anybody out into introducing them into the outdoors, but it’s very special when you can take the younger generation out.

Ramsey Russell: I agree. Besides that, as a daddy, I believe that the best, your best hunting partners are the ones you raise. And for those of you all listening that don’t have kids, go rent some. To me as somebody that had hunted a lot, fished a lot, but I mean, just having kids and raising them back in the blind to see was like seeing it through their young eyes over again was just, it was unbelievable. It ignited something in me that I had forgotten was there. You know what I’m saying, don’t you? I mean, there’s nothing like the first kiss, the first time. But boy, to raise kids and into it again and go step by step with them into this and was something else. And now they’re grown men, they’re 25, 27, my boys are, and they’ve got opinions in conservation. They understand this science based management and they’re committed to it and they found their footing in the same way. And I think that’s why it’s so important to bring kids in. And it’s so daunting to try to recruit. We hunters, of course going to bring our kids hunting and introduce it to them, it’s all their friends that don’t have mamas and daddies take them to the great outdoors, we got to bring back into this hunting and fishing fold or it’s going to be gone. We’re not going to have enough a voting base or a monetary base, which is political capital to keep it going, if we don’t get more kids involved.

Rob McCanna: Right. And the other side of that, and I mentioned this a little bit earlier, I never really thought about it until recently is, we talked about the blessed people like Brian and I that were born into it, but the other people, the other kids that might not have the ability to be born in it and if you can bring it into it. Just look at society today and some of the things that we’re dealing with and like I said, technology. The kids that aren’t spending their time outdoors because they’re looking at a screen or doing things like that. But what other life lessons? And I think of the 2 biggest things that the hunting heritage and being outdoors teaches you, number 1 is ethics. You learn how to do things and what’s right and what’s wrong from an entirely different perspective than you can ever look at any other way. Patience. If you look at the kids, how many kids are, and I hate to say this but I’m Ritalin and things like that that you set them in a blind all day and I grew up in Pennsylvania, like I said, you might be sitting in a tree stand for 6, 7 hours, not making any noise and not moving around a lot, hoping to see a deer, well, that can teach you patience in a hurry, that kids aren’t being taught these virtues and they can help society because those are 2 pretty important things, patience and ethics. And people are learning that. These are people that are going to be leading our country down the road. And without these life lessons that the outdoors and the hunting provides them, it’s pretty scary sometimes.

Brian Fienhold: And I think the older we get, the more we appreciate seeing that spark that you just mentioned, Ramsey, in whether it’s a young person or an adult. I know several adult onset hunters who weren’t raised around hunting didn’t get into it as a youth and at 30, 35, 40 experience their first hunt and they’re hooked.

Ramsey Russell: Great point, Brian, great point.

Brian Fienhold: Yeah, that spark is really fulfilling from a hunter, conservationist standard.

Ramsey Russell: I’ve got a good friend, 35 years old that is an adult onset hunter. She and her husband both, she got into it, she got her husband into it, they’re both going to be walking aisles at DSC Summer Expo in a few weeks, guarantee you. And one thing about the late start hunters is grown people with careers. I mean, they immediately bring those conservation dollars to play. They’re buying the guns, they’ve got the disposable income to buy the guns, buy the equipment, buy the stuff to generate that conservation funding. I bring my 8 year old little boy out there hunting for the first time, he’s hooked, great, it’s going to be 20 years down the road before he can spend meaningfully on hunting equipment and commit to this kind of, this Pittman Robertson Act and all these conservation dollars. So you got to hit it from all fronts. That’s a great point there. Let’s talk about the first annual Summer Expo and the break-break, I can remember like yesterday, but it was nearly 20 years ago when we were getting our feet wet, going to a few shows, mostly a local show right here near Jackson, Mississippi. And I met a gentleman that we got to talking hunting a few times and talking about some of the species and duck hunts and stuff around the world. And I was just, like I say, just a little old concrete floor show in Jackson, Mississippi. And I never forget Mr. Greg was his name, and he said, Ramsey, how come you’re not at Dallas Safari Club? I said what’s that? And he said, man, you need to go now. He had been going, he was there at the first ever event you all ever had, way back in the very beginning and was a member for many years until he passed. And I went, I just never will forget, I mean, it was unbelievable, it changed my life, it changed the direction of my business, it was unbelievable to go to a real hunting convention. And like I say, we’ve exhibited now for nearly 20 years, let’s say, and man, we’ve got good old friends there. Everybody from the volunteers that help you get moved in to customer to board members, I mean, it’s almost like going to a family reunion now, you all. But what inspired the launch and I’m very excited for this. And let me say one more thing about the regular event. These big events take place usually January, February, somewhere in that time frame. That’s very tough for a dyed in the wool duck hunter like myself to break away from, to go to. But that’s when people are booking trips. If somebody’s going to go somewhere, that’s when they’re ready to book. And I can take a few days out of the blind for that and enjoy the time off toward the end of the season. But man, now you all are doing the first annual Summer Expo. What inspired the launch of this Summer Expo?

Brian Fienhold: Ramsey, if you rewind 20 years ago to your first DSC convention, your Dallas Safari Club Convention, I mean, it was big and overwhelming. I could say what most people that I bring to the DSC convention every year say when the walk through the door and look across the ocean of the best exhibitor partners in the world. But I don’t think we can say it on the radio, but they’re impressed to say the least. Just like you were 20 years ago. But look at where it’s grown from 20 years ago to today and all of that. And so that is to me, one of the direct reasons, as DSC continues to grow and expand its footprint in a lot of ways, membership, chapter growth, a growing convention. I was like, when I was an attendee, I would always tell my friends, it’s the super bowl of hunting and conservation shows and you got to be there. And I think you would agree with that. But that growth and I think opportunity to really continue to expand the presence and the impact of DSC and DSC foundation was certainly one of the bigger reasons in the addition of the summer Expo and foundation Gala. And I’m glad you all can make it in a few weeks here and attend and I think you’ll knock your socks off just like the first convention did. But so that certainly had a big hand in it. It was a natural progression of the organization. It had been something that had been talked about for a while. And I think it’s a great opportunity for this organization to really involve more people and maintain a presence in front of core supporters and also new supporters and partners going forward. At the same time, we were also handed a challenge which also has a great opportunity as well, that our convention center at Kay Bailey was going to be demolished and rebuilt. And when we received that word, we had to shift gears. And for the next few years we’ll be outside the state of Texas and then back to Texas shortly thereafter and back to Dallas as soon as the new shiny Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center is rebuilt. But that certainly was a part of the equation as well. But I think more than anything, it was an opportunity and a time for Dallas Safari Club to continue growing, continuing to establish their presence as a leader in wildlife conservation and ensuring the future of our hunting heritage. And I think it’s just a natural progression from that. Rob, you may have some other thoughts on that.

Rob McCanna: I think you hit most everything that was out there, Brian, but the big thing that I say about it is with the growth and coming from the background that I came from in the shooting sports industry, you said it right up front that January, February time frame is tough for a lot of people because it’s in the throes of hunting and stuff like that. And I looked at the big manufacturers and the big thing, the big trade show and in the shooting sports is a shot show and it’s always in January. And I’ve heard nothing but my whole career about people saying, man, why are we always doing this show in January? Why don’t we do it in July or August, pre-hunting season in the United States where we can really get people’s juices flowing and things like that. So I got to say, I walked into a great situation as the new CEO because this plan was already in place to do this this year and to take the Gala that has been successful for 5 years and add a show floor to it. So like I said, better lucky than good that I get to roll into that. Because the excitement that I am seeing from people that at first were skeptical saying, Dallas in July, it’s going to be hot. But then they started thinking, yeah, but it’s pre-hunting season and there’s nothing else really going on at that time. And we’re able to go see a preview of a lot of things. We got major vendors that are going to launch new products at this event that says something crazy right there. We have new partners, we have partners that had went away from us that major partners that didn’t come to our venue in Atlanta, that have jumped back into Dallas and said, wow, you’re doing this at a great time and we want to get involved in this. So the excitement level like we talked about earlier in this discussion is it just continues to grow. And where I think today, what did we say, Brian? We’re 29 days out, we’re just about a month out from this event. The excitement level is going to continue to grow from now until that event and then after that event, I can’t imagine what it’s going to do after the inaugural event because our Gala has grown every year for 5 years. And all I can tell you right now is last year was a record Gala and we’ve already a month out, got more registrations for our Gala event at this expo than we had in our record year last year.

Brian Fienhold: A few more, Rob. I mean, we’re actually, what, about 25% higher more registered right now, several weeks out yet than what last year, which was a record.

Ramsey Russell: Wow.

Rob McCanna: Right.

Ramsey Russell: Well, I’m excited for, to the point it’s hotter than blazers in Dallas, what better place to be than the air conditioning? That’s what attracts me to those shows, that time of year, what the hell, I’m either going to be in the air conditioner at my house or I’m going to be in air conditioner at hunting show, because I’m not going to be out unless I got to go cut the grass, I’m not going to be out doing much else that time of year. Who is this expo designed for? Is it seasoned hunters, families, newcomers?

Rob McCanna: I think you just said it all.

Brian Fienhold: Yes.

Rob McCanna: It’s designed for everybody. And that’s what’s so special about Dallas Safari Club and the show floors and the events that go on there. It truly is for everybody. And the other part of that is you don’t have to be a member of Dallas Safari Club to come to the event. We have day tickets that the general public can buy and come in and see what’s going on. And the greatest compliment you can give to any show, like I said, I’ve been doing this involves the trade shows for 35 plus years. And when you walk into a Dallas Safari Club show, Brian said it, I think he called it the Super Bowl of Shows, it really is. There’s excitement on every aisle you walk down for everybody. And I was asked a question in other podcasts about people that are looking to get involved with, whether it be going on a trip to Africa or to get involved with a hunt in Colorado or Alaska or anything like that. What is the best thing you can recommend to them? And I said, boy, it sounds funny coming from me because I am the CEO and it sounds shameless, but come to a Dallas Safari Club event because you’re going to see everybody there, all the exhibitors, all the people at that show are all like-minded and they all have one thing in common. And the members that are walking around, they all want to help you. They don’t want you to feel pressured, they don’t want you to feel out of place. There’s no tough questions. It’s all about helping and introducing people to the lifestyle.

Ramsey Russell: Lots of Southern hospitality on the floor, always is.

Brian Fienhold: That is absolutely right. And as Rob mentioned, it’s an extremely welcoming crowd of members and attendees and exhibitors. But it’s always been part of the fabric of Dallas Safari Club is that welcoming style, that hospitality and the family friendly nature of the show. You’ll also see hunters that have hunted the world many times and folks that maybe are just dipping their toe in the water and they have aspirations to maybe hunt in Africa or Australia or somewhere in Europe or South America, somewhere around the Asia, somewhere around the world. But they’re not there yet. But they have aspirations to do that, they’re hunting their whitetail and their turkey back home like I did in Illinois. And they’re just embarking on what will be a fascinating journey through hunting and conservation that they’re about to embark on and they can learn about it in a very friendly manner and in a very, it’s a safe zone, right? People can come and ask questions and learn and figure out what their bucket list is, if you will. And what do they want to do next? Or what do they want to do down the road when they’re a little further into their career?

Ramsey Russell: Walk us through what someone might experience at the DSC Expo. Standout speakers, exhibitors, activities that you all are especially excited for.

Brian Fienhold: Well, we’ve got a great slate and it really builds off of momentum from our last convention, Ramsey. But we’ve got the president of, and the executive director of the NRA, Doug Hamlin. I probably butchered his title there, Rob. We got Doug. Doug will be speaking at our Saturday night Gala. Kelly Poole, who’s a very accomplished young lady in hunting will be speaking as the keynote address for the ladies luncheon. And then Mike Robinson will be speaking on Friday night. Mike’s an internationally acclaimed chef and a big outdoor hunting enthusiast and a great guy originally from the UK and now has a place here in the hill country of Texas. And so we’re really excited about those keynote speakers for many of the events. And we’ve got some great seminars lined up talking about maybe field to fork kind of concepts as well as just, we’ve got a gentleman that’s coming to talk about how he became a hunter when he was 30 and hadn’t been exposed to it before and now he’s crazy about it. So he’s a good friend of mine. And so we’re really excited about some entertaining seminars and whatnot. But between the keynote speakers, seminars and then the world class exhibitors, it’s something to not miss for sure.

Ramsey Russell: All these years I’ve gone to Dallas Safari Club convention, it was just absolutely impossible to work my schedule to be an exhibitor at this summer expo. But the reason I’m coming is because as an exhibitor, I’m too busy stuck in the booth. The only thing I get to see is to walk in and to walk out to the booth. And I’m very excited to finally, after all these years, walk down the aisles as an attendee. And it’s not just hunts all over the world. Boy, there are hunts on every corner of the world for every critter. Whether you want to go shoot bobwhite quail and mourning doves in your backyard somewhere close to Texas, or you want to go shoot big whitetail bucks and exotics, or you want to go shoot a rhino. I mean those hunts will be on the floor to talk about and to experience. But some of the stuff that captivates my interest when I’m walking up and down those aisles looking around like, man, I like some of the clothing. Clothing, you’re not going to find it at the local Cabela store. It’s just some of the boots, some of the technical gear, all the major brands that we’re familiar with, but a lot of them we aren’t, you know what I’m saying? The firearms in and of itself. I think that I could start at the front door and make my way around that convention just looking at firearms. Whether they’re collectible firearms or the latest, greatest custom made firearms, it’s a ton of them. For my wife, there is jewelry there, there’s always those displays you see, where they’ve got couches and ottomans and antler chandeliers and spiral horn lamps and boy, there people selling fur coats, you know what I’m saying? Those nice fur coats. And I had a friend one time, his wife come up and showed me, he come to my booth, his wife showed me the coat, he didn’t show me the coat, he said, yeah, she got a coat. And but it’s just a lot of Texas hunts, if everything from big whitetails to free range or high fence to exotics, we’re all over the place there. And I mean personally, there are some of those exotic species down in Texas that are on my bucket list. And I get to go stand at the booth and talk to them now as an attendee and I never have time to do that.

Brian Fienhold: Like a kid in a candy shop, Ramsey.

Ramsey Russell: I’m going to be like a kid in a candy shop, I guarantee you I am. And some of the most memorable things I’ve never really got to stop in and look at are like the collection of trucks, field trucks and accessories that I can tell you that they don’t make that stuff here in Jackson, Mississippi. Rick’s Pro Truck don’t make it. I’m going to have to go down there and look at some of those bumpers and those setups and those high racks and some of the gear they’ve got. The deer stands, I mean, they don’t sell that at the nearby farmers co-op, they got the real deal down there at this show. And it is really truly something for everybody. And off the showroom floor because it is in Dallas, Texas, there’s a world of great place to go eat lunch and dinner and breakfast. Dallas, Texas has got a lot of good places to eat. That’s what attracted my wife most, when I said, hey, you want to go to Dallas for the weekend? She’s like, yeah. So we’ll be there for sure.

Brian Fienhold: And of course the Gaylord, Texan where we’ll be as the host. The host hotel and resort convention center all under one roof. So all in one air conditioned environment, as you mentioned, Ramsey.

Ramsey Russell: Yes, sir. And you mentioned this, so before I ask you about the Gala, the women’s luncheon is always a huge hit. I mean, and as an exhibitor, I don’t know, I couldn’t tell you it’s going to be on certain such a day at such and such a time. But it’s clear and visible when it’s going on. Because a lot of guys walking around without their wives all of a sudden, all the women are having fun doing their own auctions and drinking whatever those fancy champagne drinks are, being waited on hand and foot by tall, dark, attractive men and having a good old time. That’s a huge event there at these event, it’s a huge event at these conventions and expos, isn’t it? Just this women’s luncheon.

Rob McCanna: And yeah, it’s really surprised me because, let’s face it, the demographic of the women that are involved in our shows that might – I think originally a lot of people think, well, they’re there with their husbands because their husband’s hunt. But I think the thing we got to realize is most of the ladies, that lady luncheon, they’re there because they’re hunters and they enjoy the outdoors. And it gives them a little section of the show that they can go into and say, hey, this is all about us and we don’t got to worry about all the other stuff. And we can look at products, we can look at opportunities. We have auctions at that event for major hunts and abilities to buy raffle items and stuff that are not traditional things that you would think you would put in front of a bunch of ladies. I know we talked about the NRA and how we’re doing things with them this year. There’s a shooting school being auctioned off for 2 people at the world’s greatest facility to learn how to shoot for 2 women to go have a shooting school for 6 days and learn everything about shooting everything from handguns from rifles to archery. And an event like that that you can get involved in and get at this event. Now there’s the fun side of it too, where they get to blow off a little of the steam. And like you said, they’ll have mimosas, they’ll have Bloody Marys and they’ll have this, and it’s going to be at a great location. It’s one of the only things that’s actually, we would say is an offsite event at this event, it’s a place called the Glass Cactus that overlooks the lake. And what a beautiful place. It’s a 2 story venue that the women are going to have all separated to themselves and have this event. And believe me, if people are listening to this and you want to go to one of the premier events at this expo and Gala, all you women out there, please look on and look for this event and go buy your tickets because it will be special, it will be fun and you’ll be telling people about it for the next year.

Brian Fienhold: Ramsey, our staff and volunteers that help put on the ladies’ luncheon, they pull out all the stops. It is a wonderful event. Rob mentioned it’s at a place called the Glass Cactus which is on property at the Gaylord. And we’ll have shuttles, plenty of shuttles running the ladies back and forth from the main compound there at the Gaylord to the Glass Cactus, it’s literally less than a mile and probably you could walk it, they’ll have shuttles going. The ladies continue to raise the bar every year and they put on one heck of a, it’s a great time. It’s one heck of a party celebrating women in the outdoors. Great speakers and some great items for the ladies there to shop everything from incredible hunts and shooting experiences as Rob mentioned. There’s always of course some really neat jewelry pieces. And let’s be honest, many of the ladies in that room at that luncheon have hunted more internationally than the 3 of us on this call, right? So, I think that’s another neat aspect of the families and the individuals and the hunters that attend a DSC convention or a DSC Summer Expo in this case each year.

Ramsey Russell: Will there be silent auctions as well as live auctions?

Brian Fienhold: There will be. And Ramsey, with the advent of online auctions, which Dallas Safari Club has been active with from pretty much from the very start, our live and silent for the most part, with very few exceptions, are all available online. So if folks are not able to be at every event or attend the event at all, we hope they can. But if they’re not able to, they can still participate and see experiences that have been brought to support DSC mission by the best exhibitor partners that anyone could ever ask for.

Rob McCanna: And I think the other great thing about this is it’s at all the events that are going on at the Expo and Gala. I think a lot of people have lost that that we will have live and silent auctions at our Thursday night event. We’ll also have it at the Ladies Luncheon. We will have at the Gala and we’ll have it our life member breakfast. So there’s more than ample opportunity to get on silent auctions and live auctions at all the events we’re having this year. And I must say as my role coming in, I was worried with expanding this show into an expo outside of the Gala. And we have more than enough items, incredible items for each one of these events that the people supporting us and the exhibitors that have supplied these great items, I think it just keeps getting better and better at every event there is great items at every event that people are going to be shocked when they see it.

Ramsey Russell: What exactly is the Gala? What is that?

Rob McCanna: So the Gala is, I think Brian, you can correct me on this but this was an event that was formed by the Dallas Safari Club foundation to sort of be like their annual convention. They had a one-night event to bring people in and to do use as a fundraiser to support all the grants and the funding they give out throughout the year. But it of this event, it’s kind of like the headliner because that’s where all this started from was over the last 5 years of having this event and having the foundation sort of be the keynote versus where DSC is the headliner at the conventions. This is their key event but we are adding to it this year the ability to have the expo and the show floor to give people something to do during the daytime also.

Brian Fienhold: Yeah. The 3 day show Ramsey will culminate with the DSC Foundation Gala on Saturday night. It’s the largest single fundraising event for the DSC Foundation. It’s the 5^th, one of them we’ve had them for. This will be the 5^th one annually and each year without fail the bar has been raised in terms of attendance, in terms of dollars raised and in terms of impact towards the DSC foundation mission. And so it’s been exciting to see that grow, I’ve been fortunate to be at each one of them from the very first one where I was a guest and then the last 3 in this next one where I’ll be where, where Rob will be working me like a dog. But it’s been really incredible to see it grow in terms of just the awareness and the energy in the room. Last year’s Gala was out of this world in terms of the excitement and the passion in the room and the support for the DSC foundation mission. It was an incredible evening and everything is absolutely shaping up. We’re literally 25 ahead of last year’s registrations right now and we still have several weeks to go where people can register. We’re 25% ahead of number of people attending this event. It’s going to continue to get better. And frankly the live auction and silent auction for that evening are next level, you won’t find I think for one evening a better option than what we’ll have that night and I really can’t wait for it.

Rob McCanna: And one other thing if I can add here is timing is everything when we do these podcasts. So, we’ll give you a little scoop here if I don’t get in too much trouble. But there’s going to be something very special that we are going to announce at the Gala and it’s something new to the Dallas Safari Club Foundation and it’s going to be very exciting and it’s going to be I guess life changing for a lot of people going forward. And that’s sort of a little drip I’ll give you on that is that is that’s the night we’re going to talk about it, I wish I could talk about it a little more but it’s something that you’re going to hear a lot more about the night of the Gala it’s going to be announced and we’re going to hear a lot about it going forward. But we are so excited to have the platform to announce this new special I guess that we’re heading into for the future that is just going to be very exciting. Very exciting.

Ramsey Russell: Good. What should first time attendees like myself absolutely not miss at the Summer Expo?

Rob McCanna: Oh man, Brian, that’s a loaded question. There is so many things that you should not miss. The show floor is going to be the first thing I would say. The show floor is, we’ve talked about this a few times, if you’ve never been to a Dallas Safari club show floor, you’ve missed out on what is something truly special in the outdoors industry because there’s something for everybody and there’s excitement on every corner. So I would say do not miss that show floor. Make sure whether it’s one day, I don’t think one day is enough to see it all, even though we’re a smaller event, you need more days to see everything because you’re going to get sucked in and you’re going to talk to people about things that you didn’t think you were going to talk about. So, that’s a big thing. The events at night, they’re just all special and the opportunity to meet people and hear the speakers and see the entertainment. But just really, I don’t know what to tell you. I think I would word it a little different, is there anything I shouldn’t say? And I’m going to say no because the most important things out there is everything.

Brian Fienhold: I would say the biggest fear I would have is the fear of missing out. And so I think it’s going to be a lot of fun, I know it’ll be a lot of fun. Anybody who’s been like yourself to a convention each January, February of each year that we host, you know the atmosphere, the hospitality, the welcoming nature of that entire crowd and all of the events that go on with it both on the floor and the special banquets and auctions that occur each evening. And then life member breakfast, lady luncheons, things of that nature. This is an inaugural event, so it’ll be all of our first times attending this, and that’s pretty exciting too. And there’s only one first time for this show, and it’s on July 17^th through the 19^th. And I would say come and soak it all in as much as you all can and enjoy each aspect of it from the floor to the special events, we’ve got some great entertainment. Yeah, one thing we did, Ramsey, that we thought was important, this shows in the summer. It’s on while school’s out, families are taking vacations, this is an incredible resort. We have intentionally left Friday evening open by design from the very early stages of planning this event, way before Rob even got here, because we wanted to leave an evening open for a couple of things for families to go out to nice dinners, take their kids out, enjoy some of the resort amenities, but also for many of our exhibitors who like to have client dinners or client parties and give them the opportunity to do that without missing something else. And so folks can participate in the Thursday night kickoff banquet and auction, and we’re going to have a nice band at that. It’ll be a great evening. Enjoy the Ladies Luncheon for the ladies on Friday. And then Friday night is wide open. Do your own thing, host your own reception, go out to dinner with friends or your family, get up early Saturday, enjoy the life member auction, and then close it out with a bang at the end with the foundation gala. And then interspersed with all of that are, 450, give or take of the best exhibit, pardon me, of the best exhibits that you could ask for. Hunting, fishing gear, firearm manufacturers, you name it, and come and enjoy the show and be a part of it. And there’s really something, legitimately something there for everyone. Every budget, every level of involvement that somebody has, if they’re just stepping into this whole hunting thing or if they’ve been around it for decades.

Ramsey Russell: And bring you walking shoes, that’s the one piece of advice. I mean, believe I’m going to have on my walking shoes.

Brian Fienhold: Yeah, you’re a pro.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah.

Rob McCanna: Always need those comfortable shoes because it can get to you.

Ramsey Russell: It’s a big show. It’s way bigger than – I’ve known people to drive over and think they’re going to see the floor and just like an hour and a half like their local show, no ain’t going to happen. And when you stop and talk to the people, it’s going to really take some time.

Brian Fienhold: Yeah. And our summer show will certainly have a great feel towards that. I mean you’re going to have a lot of great folks to come and see and a lot of places to get your steps in for the day.

Rob McCanna: And the other great thing we didn’t talk about here and the things you must see when I say the show floor, as we’ve talked about the great speakers and the entertainment and stuff like that, but there’s also the element of surprise that is really good with the Dallas Safari Club shows is that show floor, you can be over there walking around the show floor, you don’t know who you’re going to run into.

Ramsey Russell: No, it could be anybody.

Rob McCanna: From outdoor personalities that you would just dream to meet as a hunter that just might be walking down the show floor doing something political. People that you might want to talk to, just everything. The element of surprise that is so exciting about that show floor too is the unexpected is something that’s always great. Especially if you’re taking your family there and you’re walking around and you might meet somebody that was a bucket list person that you’ve always wanted to meet, it’s just you come around the corner and there they stand and they’re doing the same thing you’re doing.

Ramsey Russell: Good point.

Brian Fienhold: You might even see that crazy duck guy out of Mississippi.

Ramsey Russell: You might. And I said in the front of the show I’m going to have old Char dog with me, everybody knows her, but truth matter is she is going to be getting in shape and she going to be in fitness class down at the trainer. And I’m actually going to have probably a brand new puppy that needs to be socialized and petted a bunch and be around that kind of stuff. But anyway, I’m going to be there. And for those of you all listening, you can go to big game.org. www biggame.org that’s the DSC website. Click the link for this expo and we extend to you a 25% discount off your tickets. Just type in the Promo Code DUCK25, and I hope to see all you all there. I’m going to swap gears real quick. But I know that DSC is hosting the annual convention in Atlanta next year. What can you tell us about the convention?

Rob McCanna: Convention in Atlanta next year is going to be the continuation of the excitement that we’re building for the Expo and Foundation Gala. I think, there’s no secret out there that our convention in 2025, our first year in Atlanta, we had some challenges and it was weather related, it was planning related, it was marketing related, there was a whole lot of things that are all behind us. And we’ve hit the reset button to show how things should be done, and that’s sort of what this event, the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th in the Gaylord Texan here is, we’re starting to showcase of what we are and how we’re moving forward. And the people that come to this event are going to see the changes we’ve made, the additions we’ve made, the excitement we’ve put into it. And that’s only going to continue to get bigger and better up until February next year at our convention in Atlanta. So that’s really the start of it. But there’s a lot more, I guess you say, how do you say TBD is, you’re going to see so much coming out of this and riding the wave of the excitement and the things that we’re able to do here at the Gaylord Texan and taking into Atlanta next year. But we made changes to the convention for next year. We really listened coming out of that convention to our exhibitors of the concerns they had and the things we could do to make it more friendly for the exhibitors. And then that was step number one. How do you get your exhibitors happy with what they’ve experienced? And we made some changes to move halls. There was a lot of concern about moving and a lot of walking that was involved that they weren’t used to from our prior event. So now if you were there, the host hotel, the Hilton Signia, basically you walk through a set of doors and you’re going to be walk right onto the show floor.

Ramsey Russell: That’s right.

Rob McCanna: That’s a big change. We heard concerns of – there’s a lot of shows that happen for a lot of people that got to come from other places and it’s hard to come from overseas and come to a show early in the year and then wait 5 or 6 weeks to go to the next show and they don’t want to travel back and forth. So we changed our dates, we’re not going to be the second week of the of January, we’re actually in early February. So that moved us within 10 days of the next big conservation show that people want to be at. So we did that. We made concessions for exhibitors to come to the show and they were worried about costs. So we’re going to feed them breakfast and lunch every day that there’s a show floor. We’re also going to give them the ability to go and have an opportunity at the bar for a couple of nights to have drinks that are on us. So a lot of concessions from that standpoint. But the biggest change we’re making is how we’re communicating with the public and how we’re going to fill that show floor. The exhibitors weren’t the problem if you were there in Atlanta, we had 1900 booths, probably the most amazing show floor I’ve ever seen in my life. We just didn’t have people there because of the weather and because of the move and our market.

Ramsey Russell: I was there. And let me tell you, by weather, you know what he’s talking about a foot of snow in Atlanta, which shuts the deep south down. Now we’ll say this, that was my first time, I was an exhibitor, that was my first time to spend any time whatsoever in Atlanta, Georgia and I was flabbergasted, I was shocked, it was a nice town that was. I mean, it’s kind of a place that Anita and I’ll probably go back and spend a weekend or so just to go. Because Atlanta was beautiful. The restaurants were good, the people were friendly, I couldn’t believe how nice it was. I enjoyed the heck out of that.

Rob McCanna: The hospitality from, and the governor was one of our speakers at one of our events. And this is what I want to pass on to everybody is, you talk about a state or a city that really gets behind an organization. Because the worst thing you can do is take an organization somewhere where the political environment or whatever around it is not like minded. That snowstorm paralyzed the city, it paralyzed an airport. I can say this, the governor, the city, everybody, we were the only event that was open in that city. That’s how important Dallas Safari Club was to the city of Atlanta and the state of Georgia. During that snowstorm, the city was shut down, everything was shut down, the airport was shut down, they kept our event open because that’s how important they felt about the relationship with Dallas Safari Club is going forward. That says a lot to say anything you want to say about Atlanta. They’re behind the hunting heritage and they’re behind our organization, and that says a lot.

Ramsey Russell: The weather was so bad. I can remember driving to the show one morning and there was a young man, and by young, I mean 12 to 15 years old, I’m guessing in the middle of a 4 lane road which was very little traffic at the time, strapping on snow skis, going to go down one of them hills on snow skis. First question, I had, I wonder where he got those snow skis at in Atlanta, Georgia. Once in a lifetime event that he’s going to try to snow ski down a busy road. And that’s just how much weather it was. But what’s the difference between the Expo and the Convention? What’s the difference between these two events?

Brian Fienhold: Ramsey, I think that’s a good question. I think you’ll have a lot of the similar vibe, if you will, a lot of the similar feel. You’ll have the leading exhibitor partners, outfitters, gear, gun manufacturers, artists, whatnot, you’ll have a strong presence at both shows. I think, as Rob mentioned, our summer expo is going to establish the momentum and really lead us into a great show in Atlanta, February 6^th through the 8^th. I think you’re going to just see a continuation of that with incredible speakers, great seminars, some wonderful banquets and auctions throughout the run of each of the shows. And I think one’s just a natural complement to the other. I think it’ll boast that same DSC hospitality and welcoming atmosphere that you’ve grown accustomed to and coming to the show for 20 years and that anyone who’s come to the show in the past and for those who haven’t, come on, that’s how we all got involved. And it is a crowd that welcomes you, that will answer your questions, that will make sure you get to where you need to be and have a good time doing it. And so I think they’re just a natural compliment and I think one will have a similar vibe to the other.

Ramsey Russell: I agree. Why should people go to both?

Rob McCanna: You can never get too much of a good thing, I would say.

Ramsey Russell: That’s right.

Brian Fienhold: I think that’s exactly it.

Rob McCanna: And I think that why you should come to both is you’re going to see different things at both. Even though, as Brian said, they’re similar, you’re going to see different things. We’re continuously looking for new vendors and new exhibitors that push the envelope and bring new things and new opportunities to our show and innovative products and product launches and everything like that. And not only that, and I can’t really get into it, but as we’ve said for the Expo this year, we’re trying to change some things and add some excitement with some new events and different ways of doing things. We’re going to continue to do that when we get to convention and adding new nightly events that are going on, and at the same time of some of our banquets and things like that, we may have other people that are having events that are really helping and conducive to a better show for everybody. So we’re going to try to get away from and breaking the mold of saying that convention is going to look like this every year and these are the events we have and this is how it rolls out, we’re going to add excitement to it in different events and change it and start to do different things from our auctions and our partners and everything just to make every show a little bit different, a little bit more special. So as Brian said earlier, you don’t want to miss out on something and we’re going to continue to make those changes and excitement. So just because you came to one show doesn’t mean you better not be at the other one because you’re definitely going to see something neat and you will miss something if you don’t come to both.

Ramsey Russell: What are you both looking forward to at DSC convention?

Rob McCanna: Myself, no snow.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah, no doubt.

Rob McCanna: I’ve already made the statement if we have snow at the Gaylord in July in Texas, I’m out. That’s it.

Ramsey Russell: We probably got bigger problems than the snow itself if it snows in Dallas, Texas in July.

Rob McCanna: But let me answer that because I sort of made a joke about no snow. But what am I excited to see about Convention Atlanta is? I’m excited to see a show floor that looks like what our exhibitors are used to in the past.

Ramsey Russell: Right.

Rob McCanna: I want to see the people that didn’t get to experience Atlanta last year actually make it into town or drive into town and come to the event and see how special that show floor was and the environment and the facilities that we have put together there. Because it’s easy to make judgments about something you’ve never seen.

Ramsey Russell: That’s right. Speaking of which, what is the feedback from members that have gone to convention since forever?

Rob McCanna: I guess a little bit of both. And I said, people that made it that have gone to conventions forever. There was one thing that came out of convention last year, it was the most beautiful show floor they’d ever seen. The other thing that came out of it was, hey, we’ve got some challenges because we didn’t get people here to fill that show floor. So now I will say, our banquets last year at convention, all 3 nights of the banquets were spectacular events and they were filled to the level, and Brian, you can verify this for me, they were just as big as they had been any year that they’d been here in Texas. So the banquets were amazing, the show floor was amazing. We just didn’t have the people, the consumers on the show floor because of the weather and some of the other challenges we went through. So that’s going to change this year and it’s a part of what we’re doing. As we said, we’re starting at the Gala and we’re creating momentum and we’re going to carry over a lot of those people that are going to come to the Gala and see what we’re about for the first time or people that have been coming for many years and they’re going to understand that, boy, I don’t want to miss out on what’s going on in Atlanta.

Ramsey Russell: I know it’s a long ways to go. Go ahead, Brian.

Brian Fienhold: I was going to say, Ramsey, something that I’ve seen and seeing it a bit more each day is as we were talking with different exhibitor partners, different attendees, members, you really learn what DSC means to these folks and their level of commitment to the organization and what DSC has meant to them personally and as a business over the years. And they understand that a new venue, regardless of any other factors, whether marketing challenges, etc, but just the first year in a new venue always has its challenges that go with that. But what we’ve learned is that, folks are committed, many folks, most folks are committed to the long haul with DSC, they’re really excited about the summer show. You asked what we look forward to or what I look forward to most and it’s the same answer that I would have given you after about my first expo or first convention. I haven’t been coming quite 20 years, but I bet it’s close. And after the first year, what I look forward to as much as anything is coming back and meeting some old friends and then making some new ones. And you do that at a show like ours. But folks that are DSC supported or DSC supporters for life and they are increasingly excited about this summer show and then what’s next. And what’s next is a few years in Atlanta and then back to Texas and then back to Dallas and that’s something that’s really easy to get excited about for a lot of folks. And I think each year, each summer expo, each convention will build on the next. And when we bring the show back to Dallas in 4 or 5 years, whatever it ends up being, whenever the new shiny penny is ready, I think it’s going to be one hell of a party here and I think it’ll just be a natural progression between now and then.

Ramsey Russell: Right. Talk about the broader impact and the future of Dallas Safari Club, conservation challenges are constantly evolving, what’s DSC doing right now that most hunters or conservationists might not even know about?

Brian Fienhold: Well, one thing I would say is, what DSC is under Rob’s leadership is getting better and better at is communicating what DSC is doing on all 3, the conservation, education and advocacy elements. Being able to share the DSC story on where we’re involved and what we’re doing and really just communicating, informing folks of where your DSC dollars are going. What’s your support leading to in terms of ensuring that hunting heritage goes on and ensuring that good policy gets enacted at the state, federal and international levels. And that’s a lot of what’s going on right now, whether it’s in Washington DC or at CITES conventions or everything in between. And so that’s a lot of what goes on that DSC I know is going to get better at telling everyone about.

Rob McCanna: And if I can add to that, I guess the biggest thing since I’ve come on board from a direction of what are we doing that people are starting to hear about that they haven’t heard about the most is, what we’re here for is to make sure the longevity of the hunting heritage stays here. And we are in a battle with organizations that don’t want us to succeed. So the one thing I’ve been talking about there is a ton of organizations in the shooting sports and conservation and everything that we all tend to work in our own silos and it shouldn’t be a competition, we all are like minded. And the biggest thing I’m trying to do right now is promote that whole status of work together because we’re stronger working together to come together to fight our enemies and to promote the things we need to promote without dealing with getting in our own ways sometimes and saying, hey, this organization is good, this is bad, we’re all in this together, it’s all about conservation. And then even reaching over to our partnership that we’re starting with the NRA and having the new CEO of the NRA come speak with at one of our events. Our 2A supporters out there have been huge forever, but when you talk about hunting and how 2A fits into it, not all hunting takes a firearm, but a big portion of it does. So why would we not be working together with organizations like this? We have to start thinking that way because we are all stronger together. And we’ve got a ton of great organizations out there on the conservation world, the 2A world and everything that we can put together. Because when one of us wins, we all win. And that’s the way we got to start looking at it.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. It really does take a tribe. I mean, that’s what you’re talking about, you all’s relationship, your partnership with NRA, it’s got to be multifaceted. We need a lot of different angles to tackle the future of hunting. It can’t be just one organization, it’s going to require a lot of them. For someone just discovering Dallas Safari Club, what’s the first step to get involved?

Brian Fienhold: I would do what I know I did, I would do what you likely did, Ramsey. Go to www.biggame.org and join as a member. Start getting our member magazine. Find ways to get involved, explore an opportunity, maybe volunteer, become part of the DSC 100 Volunteer army that you have witnessed firsthand as an exhibitor, help move in, move out, bring you a cup of coffee, whatever it might be. But show some of that hospitality to our exhibitors and our attendees. So I can tell you that it’s a welcoming crowd as we’ve talked about a couple times today, and it’s a crowd that you’ll immediately become, I think, very comfortable with. So join and seek ways to get involved. Find out what you want to, how you want to carve your DSC story out or how much you want to be involved, how many do you want to volunteer, attend events etc. We’ve got a growing chapter system, a growing chapter network.

Ramsey Russell: There’s a lot of ways to get involved too. By all means, go the Expo. Go to the expo, go to the convention. But I can remember there were monthly meetings, there was almost like a dinner club vibe with young professionals or everybody. There’s a lot of different ways, volunteer and become involved, I mean it was just a million different ways to become involved. And birds of a feather flock together. And you meet like-minded people by participation. It’s not just going to the show. It’s like this, you can join the church and go to the sermon every Sunday evening. But where you really get the most out of church is becoming involved and being in the Sunday schools and going to the men’s dinners and stuff like that. And that’s what is so amazing as a platform that I see in Dallas Safari Club.

Rob McCanna: And I didn’t get to answer that, but what I was going to say is come to an event. And I think you two both covered it. There are so many events. And when I say event, it doesn’t have to be our expo, it doesn’t have to be our convention, Brian briefly brought it up. We have 26 chapters now across the United States. There’s places people can find out, they have events and they have meetings and finding your way in that way is great. The events we have around town here, like we said, we have an event coming up on Thursday with Outdoor Tomorrow Foundation. We do have other events that go on that are out there that are outside of our conventions and our big events. So you said it perfectly is like-minded people, get involved, find out more about us and you’ll be hooked because it’s a good group of people, they’re only here to help.

Ramsey Russell: Yeah. If we’re sitting here 5 years from now, what do you hope that we are celebrating about Dallas Safari Club?

Rob McCanna: I hope we’re celebrating the fact that we are giving out more grants and more money to do the right thing for the conservation world than we ever have at 5 to 10 fold. I hope that our membership, we’re celebrating our membership being twice the size or 3 times the size that it is today. And I hope that we’re engaging the next generation of people that want to be sportsmen and involved with the hunting heritage for the rest of their lives. If we can check those 3 boxes, boy, wouldn’t that just be a fun party for the 3 of us to be sitting here talking about?

Ramsey Russell: That’d be wonderful. Where can people go to learn more about Dallas Safari Club, get involved and support the mission?

Brian Fienhold: You can go to a couple places, I would say, Ramsey. Well, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, we’re getting more and more active there, which is great. Visit biggame.org as we’ve mentioned a few times, and you can learn about everything about DSC and the Summer Expo and the upcoming convention. Our foundation, DSC foundation is just @dscf.org so visit either one of those sites, again @biggame.org, you can get all the info you need regarding the Summer Expo and I would encourage folks to go do that. Don’t miss out because it’s going to be a good time, and if you got questions and you’re not sure from what you find online, give the office a call, we’ve got a great team of very friendly folks here that will answer any question you might have.

Ramsey Russell: Heck yeah. And I like to thank both of you all for coming on today. I’ve really enjoyed this conversation and I appreciate you all time from your busy schedule. I know you got a show bearing down on you and I know you all are terribly busy right now, so thank you all very much for coming on today.

Rob McCanna: I want to thank you back the same way for giving us the opportunity to talk about these topics and how important it is for the future for all of us. So I can’t wait to see you at the show, even on your exhibit, I can’t wait to shake your hand and thank you in person. But really thank you for the time today.

Brian Fienhold: I would echo that, Ramsey. It’s a pleasure to be able to spend some time with you here on the call. I appreciate what you do not just for DSC and DSC foundation, but for our hunting, heritage and conservation. You get it, you’re one of us, and it’s been my pleasure to really spend some time with you. Thanks for everything you do.

Ramsey Russell: Well, thank you all. And folks, thank you all for listening to episode of MOJO’s Duck Season Somewhere podcast about Dallas Safari Club. I got about 3 events on my mind right now. We’re talking today about Dallas Safari Club Summer Expo, First Annual, July 17^th to 19^th. Send me a text or an inbox, let’s connect, I’ll be there. Whether we’ve shared a blind together or just talked on social media, reach out to me, I’ll be on the floor because it’s going to take me more than a day to get around see all this stuff I finally get to go see. Use the link. Click the link below about this this expo and use promo code DUCK25 to get 25% off tickets to get there. Look forward to seeing you and look forward to catching up. See you next time.

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