One thing I’ve found consistently throughout my many years as a professional fisherman is relationships are critical. That’s what makes ICAST such an important event. It’s the largest show in our industry, and it’s the one show you definitely need to attend for the business side.
ICAST is not a consumer show, so it’s considered a business show. For professional anglers, this offers a great opportunity for connection with industry executives, buyers and media.
In my earlier years, I was always looking for opportunities to meet and secure new sponsors, but after doing this for several years, I’m locked in with a great group of companies that support me. With these relationships in place, ICAST is about working for those sponsors.
That’s a great way to show your appreciation for the brands that stand behind you. Each sponsor needs pro anglers to help them greet buyers and media people and promote their products.
You might spend a few minutes discussing a new line of baits and then knock out a few product videos with one of the media people. There’s a plethora of things you might be asked to do during ICAST, but it all goes back to showing your appreciation for the companies that have your back.
I enjoy all this interaction, but it’s definitely a whirlwind. The Bassmaster Classic Week is very busy, with all the sponsor events, fan interaction and media coverage, but ICAST is even more tiring because it’s almost all business. It seems like you never stop.
For me, at least, the desire to make sure I’m giving all my sponsors enough of my effort keeps me busy just about the entire time I’m at this show. I’ll go into ICAST with a list on my phone and alarms set for every appointment.
Typically, three or four companies will email prior to ICAST to get me on their schedule for booth work. It takes a lot of organization, but I understand they’re dealing with many other pros and they need to try and spread out the appearances throughout each day. They don’t want a bunch of pros stacked up at one time, so I try to accommodate those requests as well as I can.
Some companies like Livingston will help with my travel expenses, so that makes the financial part easier for me. I try to give those companies a little more time, and I usually end up making multiple booth appearances for them.
I realize some of the younger anglers who are building their careers may have to handle all the expenses of traveling to ICAST, but I’d tell them that even if no one invites you to attend the show, it’s still well worth the effort and expense. It’s a worthwhile sacrifice that will pay off, because of the personal connections you’ll make.
My son Laker is working hard to build his career, and he’s been working ICAST since he was 18 or 19. The one thing I stress to him is that it’s all about relationships in this industry.
That’s the one thing I value a lot with the companies I work with is having those personal relationships. I want to know the people I work with. I don’t want them to just be a name; I want to know who they are. I want to know their family.
I want to know everything about them, and I want them to know about me and that I care about them. I think the only way you can have a good, thriving business relationship is to have a good personal relationship. When you care about people, you go the extra mile to do a good job as there’s some skin in the game because of the friendship there.
ICAST helps solidify that.
