This is directly from the Archery Trade Association'WHA Commissioner Addresses
ATA Summit
Six months ago David Farbman and his World Hunting Association ran headlong into a public-relations meat-grinder when he announced plans for a “catch-and-release” hunting tournament in which contestants would dart deer inside a fenced game farm.
Many people in the hunting industry thoroughly trashed Farbman, but rather than dwell on his high-profile mistake, this lifelong hunter stood up, sought out leaders in the hunting community, told them he wanted to learn from the experience, and asked how he could help them promote and defend hunting through his Internet-based efforts on his Web site,
www.worldhunt.com. “That’s why we invited David to speak during our 4th Annual ATA Archery and Bowhunting Summit meeting in Detroit earlier this month,” said Jay McAninch, the ATA’s CEO and president. “Even though we didn’t agree with David’s first idea, we’ve since learned that he’s a very bright guy who has incredible expertise in the Internet. He and his people operate on a different level and talk a language that’s spoken by teens and college-age kids. They share our desire to introduce that younger crowd to all kinds of hunting, including bowhunting.”
The World Hunting Association’s Web site is far more than just an online library and reference source, Farbman told the Summit’s 90 attendees. Rather, he described it as an “online social community or network” where 24 hours a day hunters can swap stories, videos and articles, play online games, write critiques of videos and TV shows, and make their pitch to participate in the WHA’s online show.
“This isn’t standard Internet and it isn’t conventional TV,” Farbman said. “The Internet never sleeps, and it tracks what’s happening every second of the day. We had 300,000 unique visitors in October alone and we hope to be over 1 million each month by early in 2007.”
Farbman said he wants to do everything possible to attract young people to hunting. “We’re losing the younger generation because many of them never developed an interest in the outdoors,” he said. “We want to show them that hunting has a coolness factor. If it’s not cool, you won’t sell anything to college-age kids. You have to put things in front of them that appeal to them, and there has never been a better time than now to recruit that age group. There’s more kids in college today than ever before. If you can speak their language and show them what’s cool about hunting, you’ll get them.”
McAninch said Farbman’s message struck a chord with the Summit’s attendees, which included ATA manufacturers and retailers, state and federal wildlife-agency staff, and leaders from conservation organizations like the National Wild Turkey Federation, Safari Club International, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Pope and Young Club, the North American Bowhunting Coalition and the International Bowhunting Organization.
“I guess the take-home lesson is that even though everyone disliked David Farbman’s original idea, the man himself is incredibly talented and can help us in many ways,” McAninch said. “He has a gift for taking things and turning them around with innovations that knock people’s socks off. We found a lot of common ground, and we’re looking forward to working with him further.”
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Topic: WHA addresses the ATA (Read 1789 times)
