Shows, Shows and More Shows

Jan 27 2012

January through March means one thing to us here at Eastmans’…. show season. This is the time of year where we travel to all the various industry trade shows as well as make stops at all the International Sportsmen’s Expositions (ISE). It can be a bit crazy at times, but it truly is one of the most important times of the year for us. We get to go out and meet with companies and talk business for the company, as well as make new friendships, which is so vital in your success in this industry. When I sit down and think about it, it never ceases to amaze me how small this industry is. People think that the “outdoor industry” is this giant, glamorous place that only the lucky few get to be a part of…I can assure you, it’s no such thing.

The outdoor industry is very small. Actually, it’s not even a blip on the radar when it comes to major industries like food, clothing and movies. That’s why it’s so important to put out a good product, maintain a good reputation, align yourselves with the right brands/companies and keep your customers happy. After just getting back from both the ATA and SHOT show, I can’t say enough about how happy I am with where we are as a company and the partnerships we’ve developed.

Now, as I sit here and wait for my last load of laundry to dry before I repack my suitcase, I think about what next week is going to bring. We are off to Las Vegas for the SCI show as well as the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation’s Elk Camp, which ISE has now become a part of. It should be a good time, and hopefully more good meetings and feedback come our way as we hit the road again. So if you’re in the Las Vegas area next week and will be attending either show, feel free to stop by the booth and talk some hunting. Until next time my friends. ~Ike

Fall Is Here..Who’s Ready?

Aug 17 2011

I figured that before fall gets crazy, I’d get back on the ‘ol blog and check in with you guys. It’s horribly cliché to say this, but where does the time go? It seems like just last week that I was blogging about show season and as I sit down to type this, I realized a whole summer had past and I’m heading into the first hunt of the fall – it seems like time continues to speed up and not slow down.

Just a few weeks ago, we had Jeff Wayne, from the Outdoor Channel, come out and visit us for a fly-fishing tip down in the Wind River area. The fishing wasn’t as hot as planned due to the constant flow changes, but needless to say, we caught some fish, had heavy laughter, and strengthened an already great working relationship. Jeff is a great guy and I’m continually amazed at the wealth of knowledge he has when it comes to TV.

So here we are, just a few days away from a caribou hunt in Quebec and it almost seems surreal. Here I was in the last blog talking about shows where we talk about hunting, and now I’m blogging talking about actually going hunting. I know that I should be more excited than I am, but I have about 100 fires to put out before I can even start to think about this hunt. I started to arrange my gear last night, but my phone rang, worked called and that was about as far as my hunt planning has gotten. Once I lose cell service and have nothing but Tundra on my feet, I’m positive I’ll switch into “huntin’ mode.”

Well, that about does it for now. I’ll try and get back on here when we get back from Canada…hopefully with a few racks in tow. Until then, take care and good luck this fall.

Ike

Has your identity been poached?

May 05 2011

These days with cell phones taking the place of laptops and laptops taking the place of tower computers – not to mention tablets and MP3 players – it’s safe to say technology is moving much faster than anyone thought it would. You can be driving down the highway at 75 miles per hour talking to your hunting buddy on the phone, getting driving directions to the closest fuel station on your GPS, listening to your MP3 player and checking your draw results for Wyoming sheep, moose and mountain goat all at the same time. I would say this is the definition of multitasking. In fact, it’s down right dangerous, because you are not paying attention to the thing that threatens your life. Driving!! So please concentrate on driving and do everything you can to do that safely.

Technology is a great thing; it allows us to do more things at the same time, get updated information at light speed and communicate with people all over the world at the same speed. There is a hitch in technology, though, when companies, people or agencies don’t keep up with the changes.

I was talking to my sister the other day, who works for our local school district. She mentioned that she has been busy inputting a stack of reports at least 24 inches tall from teachers. Being the entrepreneur that I am and the admiral for efficiencies, I asked, “What program do the teachers give it to you in and why can’t they just input it once and it uploads to the other required places?” Her non-verbal response was a deep sigh and a roll of the eyes. Her verbally response was, “A different program.” Then she went on to complain how inefficient the district is, because they have to do so many reports in so many systems, and all of it is for track-ability to the State and Federal government, but it’s the same information over and over again in each database. The entire time I was thinking that with all of this technology, why can’t they make this more efficient? It seems like in these times you either move with technology or you get left behind.

Later that day, I got on the Wyoming Game & Fish website to try and apply for my resident antelope, elk, and deer tags. I kept getting a message – “ERROR – Browser not supported (Requires Internet Explorer 6.x or Netscape 7.x)”.

So I asked the guys in my office who would know what this means and they get this blank look on their faces and say, “I’m not sure we have a computer in the office that old!) OLD, what does that mean? Apparently Netscape is not even supported any longer (for those tech-deficient people like me) that means it isn’t really in use anymore. They have changed it to something else. Microsoft Explorer is upgrading all of their customers to Explorer 10.x. So I ask them, “You are telling me that I have to go down in the basement and get a computer that has not been in service for two years, hook it up and then apply for my licenses on it?”

What did I do last year? Apparently we had one computer in our shipping and receiving that still had the old Explorer on it. It has since been upgraded for security reasons -which, by the way, according to what I am hearing, there are some serous security issues with Explorer 6 – 8.

So as I am using this old system, which is like going back to blue-screen technology, it dawns on me that I have to put my personal information, credit card number and mailing address into this archaic system. So I ask the question, “What would it take for some smart hacker, somewhere, to break into this system and steal the personal identity of hundreds of thousands of hunters?” I also asked the question, “Why would a department that is 100% self-funded by the sale of hunting tags and fishing licenses make applying and purchasing those licenses so hard to complete? Does this scare or make sense to anyone else?

I wonder what is going to happen to my identity? Well at least they are making it harder to apply, which could mean my draw odds will be better, because not everyone has a computer in their basement that OLD.

As always, thanks for your support and I hope you find yourself with a great tag in hand this summer and a true trophy this fall.

Show Season Wrap Up

Apr 01 2011

Been a while, so I thought I’d check back in with everyone. Two long-time subscribers approached me at the booth in Salt Lake City this past weekend and informed me that we needed to blog more. So, here I am!

Spring is finally reaching Powell. For a while there, I didn’t think it was ever going to warm up and I wondered if we would ever see the sun again. However, I can’t say it was all that bad because it did give me plenty of opportunities to take the sled out for some backcountry riding. I even managed to take a couple day trip over to West Yellowstone to meet up with some buddies for a long weekend. Man, the snow they’ve got in West makes what we have seem like nothing.

As far as business goes, things are busy as usual. Now that show season is over, the meetings, conference calls, faxes, emails and phone calls will once again become apart of my everyday life. I will say that this show season was one of the best in the last few years. We ended the 2011 show season at the Salt Lake ISE and what a show it was! We couldn’t believe the turnout on Friday and Saturday and it was great to catch up with so many members, as well as talk to new subscribers as well. Shows are always a great time to get out there and talk with everyone, and of course, the Deer Tour is always a great talking point.

Thanks to all of you who came out to the shows this year. I hope to see you all on the trail this fall.

I’ll do my best to get back on here more regularly and keep you all in the loop.

Good luck in the draws,
Ike

The Start of a New Year

Jan 17 2011

Well, since I had a few minutes of spare time, I figured I’d sit down and update you all on things around the office. Show season is definitely in full swing and the team is constantly on the move. Guy is busing traveling to the shows and giving his lecture, while the advertising team and I meet with sponsors, both new and old, at the trade shows. We just got back from the ATA show and what an experience that was. Year after year, I’m amazed with just how much product is available within the archery industry. Nate, Brandon and I had a great time meeting with old friends and making plenty of new ones. I think Nate is still recovering from all the new goodies he got to play with. I’m really excited to see some of the relationships that we built with new sponsors unfold into a long-lasting relationship.

Today, we’re off to the SHOT Show in Las Vegas – enough said. I’m sure the world’s largest outdoor industry trade show will hold up to it’s reputation again this year. From there, Guy and I are off to Sacramento, CA to join the guys at the Eastmans’ booth at the ISE show. Guy will giving his lecture again, so make sure if you can, stop by and check it out.

Until next time my friends…

Ike

The New Sportsman’ Warehouse.com

Dec 20 2010

As you all know, Sportsman’s Warehouse is one of our Primary Sponsors here at Eastmans’. We are firm believers that you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with, and that’s why we continue to work closely with Sportsman’s Warehouse.

With that, we just wanted to let everyone know that the good folks over at SW have tapped into the online market – the new www.sportsmanswarehouse.com is now up and running! Now you can shop from the convenience of your home or anywhere you have access to the internet. You can get all the great deals you normally found at the store, but cut out the travel and have them shipped right to your home.

The web shift is taking over the way business is done and we here at Eastmans’, as well as Sportsman’s Warehouse, have already put ourselves on the leading edge. For months now, we’ve been chipping away at dropping a new eastmans.com and are excited to say that go time is almost here. We will be working hard over the next two weeks to ensure that the new eastmans.com will be the top Western hunting website in the world. So make sure you check out the new site and all it has to offer in early January…I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

Eberlestock Commercial for TV

May 19 2010

Click on this link:                 Eberlestock_Commercial

This was a great challenge but I think Nate and Tyler did a great job. Let me know what you think.

Live Events

Feb 15 2010

Live Event Season: Hotel rooms, fast food, convenience store snacks and almost 100,000 miles each year of the worst roads possible.

We here at Eastmans’ have some of the best western highway drivers. We have, knock on wood, traveled almost 40,000 miles so far this year and almost two million miles in the past ten years during the winter and have yet to total anything. I hope I didn’t just jinx our season!

Roger and Aaron (Mills) traveled to Sacramento, California on some of the worst roads we have ever seen. They had to chain the trailer and truck up three times to get over Donner Pass between Sacramento and Reno.

I personally returned to the airport in Billings, Montana to find my truck practically snowed in. Billings is where we fly in and out; it is a mere 95-mile drive for us on those roads.

The season so far has been a good one. It is always great to get out and talk with everyone at the shows. I love hearing how your hunting adventures turned out this past fall. I have heard some real crazy stories and had the chance to see and hear some stories and photos of great trophies being taken. Thanks to all of you who have stopped by the booth and renewed, subscribed and/or picked up one of our books or DVDs.

We still have about 15 more stops to attend this season, so I hope to see you at one. Check out our schedule on the Live Events page and maybe we will be coming to an area near you.

Please drive safe!

Ike Eastman

“Behind the Scenes”

Meetteese Run

Sep 14 2009

Well, I have officially ran my first trail run this past weekend. One of my buddies, Dave, and I decided to take the challenge at the Absoroka, Meettese Mountain Run. They have set it up with three choices, a 5k, a 10k or the long one is a 15k. The 15k is the one that we chose to do, what where we thinking? The first 5k was not to bad. The second 5K just about killed me. It was up a trail that climbed about 2,500 feet in about 2 miles. Then we ran along a ridge until we poped out into the bottom of a bowl, that looked like it could be great deer and sheep habitat. Then the last mile was straight down the face of a mountain. It was defiantly one of the steps faces I have ever came off of, on purpose. I defiantly didn’t train properly. Next year I will not save as much for the end, now that I know what the trail is like. I had a great time and Dave was a huge help. We had some great fun.

Eastmans’ Visit Savage Arms

Aug 25 2009

We had an exciting and rare opportunity to visit Savage Arms in Massachusetts recently. Guy, myself and our Account Executive Matt Suuck found ourselves on an early flight to Hartford, Connecticut. Let me tell you, there is no easy way to get there from here. After three flights and literally all day flying, we arrived in Westfield Massachusetts, home of Savage Arms. After a restful night, we headed down to the plant to see how Savage manufactures their rifles. After going through all the security and being greeted by Bill Dermody, the Marketing Manager, we were informed that we would actually be able to build our own guns. I was a bit nervous knowing that I would be hunting with this rifle this fall. This is not something my wife wants a novice (myself) doing for me!  I was very happy that the professionals were there to ensure that we were checking the head space properly and making certain all of the assembly and manufacturing was performed properly. As you can see by the photos, we had a ton of fun and learned a vast amount about their process and products. It was amazing to me the amount of personal touch that goes into each piece. The employees love their jobs, love the company, love Mr. Coburn (the owner), and most importantly love their customers. Almost every employee we worked with took an extra step that was not mandatory for that job. They have built their own tools to make their jobs faster, safer, or make the product better. They take extra steps to make sure the rifle is safe, accurate, and perfect in every way. It was a true blessing to spend the day with the fine folks at Savage. We here at Eastmans’ are better informed to ensure more accurate answers to your questions because of it. Check the following photos and captions out. It was a great time!

An honest and heartfelt thanks to everyone at the plant that helped us. You were all very patient and understanding. We thank you for your accuracy, diligence, and willingness to go that extra mile so that our rifles are the most accurate on the market.  I can’t wait to get my rifle out there and field test it in just a few short weeks.

Good luck this fall!

Ike Eastman

“Behind the Scenes”