By Joel Hodgdon, Central Midwestern States Coordinator
From June 12-15, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) Central Midwestern States Coordinator Joel Hodgdon and Policy and Communications Manager Sara Leonard attended the annual Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) Business Conference in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Established in 2005, POMA is a group of outdoor media and industry communicators, as well as corporate partners “who believe in, defend, support and promote the heritage of hunting, fishing, shooting, and traditional outdoor sports through writing, photography, and other means.”
“POMA is a great convergence of outdoor media with conservation groups and corporations creating innovative products for the outdoor industry,” said Kevin Orthman, executive director. “We all leave the annual business conference with new skills to improve our craft, new friends in the industry and a renewed commitment to tell the story of the outdoors.”
Sessions at this year’s conference covered a wide range of topics such as airguns, updates on sportsmen’s economic impacts and conservation funding, brand-building, video editing, and social media. During the conference’s POMA Camps and Shooting Day, attendees also had an opportunity to try out new outdoor products.
CSF joined several other conservation and industry partners including Brownells, Buck Knives, Ducks Unlimited, the National Rifle Association, the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, among others, in sponsoring the conference.
CSF’s Joel Hodgdon and Sara Leonard try out a magazine loader during POMA’s Range Day.
Photo courtesy of HPG Media.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
