Dallas Safari Club Convention Summary

[Green Chile]

I spoke to one gent who is quite involved in SCI and he mentioned that there was no intent for the TTHA show to compete with the DSC convention. I won't challenge that, but regardless of intent, I think that may very well be what has been set into motion.

It’s hard to know but when you take the same dates of DSC and same location and book it for 5 years…

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

It’s hard to know but when you take the same dates of DSC and same location and book it for 5 years…

Aye

 

[pilar]

It’s hard to know but when you take the same dates of DSC and same location and book it for 5 years…

DSC messed up and SCI capitalized on a strategic mistake
“”Defeat in detail, or divide and conquer, is a military tactic of bringing a large portion of one's own force to bear on small enemy units in sequence, rather than engaging the bulk of the enemy force all at once. This exposes one's own units to many small risks but allows for the eventual destruction of an entire enemy force,
1. “

• Attacking one unit faster than other defending units can move to counter-attack.
• Attacking faster than the defending intelligence, communications, command or control systems can respond (exploiting the OODA loop).
• Disabling or disrupting systems required for one defending unit to support another (as by attacking communications, command, or control systems.

When DSC made a deal to move to Atlanta imho SCI was wise to secure a 5 year contract with KBH & buy TTHA , might be strong enough to cover eastern to midwestern USA then return to their traditional position with a grand exposition in Nevada ?
I don’t know the inter conflict in DSC to warrant a move to Atlanta

But did watch the Houston livestock & Rodeo throw the vendors and vendor committee
Under the bus by creating a sift show system ( a way to weed out exhibit animals by sending them to satellite cities for elimination) thus reducing the amount of people and families who came and attended and where the food , concession, supply vendors, agricultural equipment made their bread and butter! The we are too big to fail attitude can lead to a lot of grief when rebuilding becomes a necessity

I may have to eat some crow if I am wrong, but DSC is getting a little taste right now

 

[Dhutson]

I am still not sure the real reason DSC moved in the first part. I know that the standard answer is that the convention center is going to be under construction. Yes, in three years. At least that is the word on the street. So, in Dallas, Irving, Ft. Worth, and a few lesser surrounding areas there is no space available to host this event? Just wondering. There has to be another reason.

The old cowboy said, "Son, don't piss on my boot and try to convince me it's raining.

 

[Russ16]

I am still not sure the real reason DSC moved in the first part. I know that the standard answer is that the convention center is going to be under construction. Yes, in three years. At least that is the word on the street. So, in Dallas, Irving, Ft. Worth, and a few lesser surrounding areas there is no space available to host this event? Just wondering. There has to be another reason.

The old cowboy said, "Son, don't piss on my boot and try to convince me it's raining.

The convention center is under construction now. They broke ground on the project last summer. I don’t know when they will get to the phase of construction that will impact events like DSC. My guess is by leaving DSC has lost its place in line to groups that are still doing events there (like TTHA) whenever the full project is done.

It is supposedly going to be a greatly improved venue once the renovation is done. It’s something close to $4 billion for the whole project.

 

[Philip Glass]

Another difference between DSC and SCI that likely made an impact is that to attend SCI you must be a member so most preregister for the event. Versus DSC where you can preregister but $25 gets you in the door. If it were SCI Convention with the weather they could compare registrations to boots on the ground. So now when looking back how will they know if it was just the weather or many were not coming anyway due to the venue?

 

[Green Chile]

The upper floor where the firearm exhibitors go is under construction. I was told by one of the big exhibitors that there is a substantial amount of revenue from that part of the show that would have been lost if DSC had stayed. Some of those booths are paying around 50k I was told. I don't know much about booth rates but this exhibitor would know that as he has one of the largest displays at the show.

There are so many things happening around this topic that it's hard to get a real sense of what happened. However, DSC has never formally asked for feedback on this move and they have never admitted they were wrong about that. They still are not asking for feedback and when it's given they get pretty grumpy about it. Their meeting with PHASA is a classic example.

They are also subtly pushing for a different demographic and like a lot of those initiatives today, they fail. They don't usually say Dallas Safari Club anymore...it's DSC. They want something different but they lost track of their roots and identity. They also are not good with change management or communication and the results are obvious. I'm a member and want them to succeed but you will find that their biggest concerns right now are coming from members and exhibitors...AKA their customers and investors.

 

[mdwest]

The upper floor where firearms are normally visited was not under construction this year. I parked on that hall during load in. It’s in perfect shape at the moment. DSC could absolutely have been held in Dallas this year.

SCI advised exhibitors that were at TTHA this year that the floor plan would change next year because the halls that were being used would be getting renovated next year, but SCI had already secured other halls for next year (KBH has A,B,C,D,E, and F halls)…

 

[Green Chile]

Ahh...not yet. When it is that could be a factor but I also thought they could use other halls for that and just have people walk a small distance. Nothing wrong with that.

 

[WAB]

Another difference between DSC and SCI that likely made an impact is that to attend SCI you must be a member so most preregister for the event. Versus DSC where you can preregister but $25 gets you in the door. If it were SCI Convention with the weather they could compare registrations to boots on the ground. So now when looking back how will they know if it was just the weather or many were not coming anyway due to the venue?

It’s one of the things I prefer about DSC, but your point is valid.

 

[WAB]

The upper floor where firearms are normally visited was not under construction this year. I parked on that hall during load in. It’s in perfect shape at the moment. DSC could absolutely have been held in Dallas this year.

SCI advised exhibitors that were at TTHA this year that the floor plan would change next year because the halls that were being used would be getting renovated next year, but SCI had already secured other halls for next year (KBH has A,B,C,D,E, and F halls)…

It appears that there is more going on than DSC is telling us. It’s truly sad to see a great advocate for conservation and hunting headed in a questionable direction.

 

[mdwest]

That’s what’s most frustrating for me…

There were obviously several options for DSC…

They chose a path without talking to the major stakeholders first (exhibitors, volunteers, life members)…

And after those major stakeholders started asking pointed questions they’ve done a terrible job at communicating responses… which makes the leadership look extremely poor… and at times untrustworthy…

No one wants give a lot of money to an organization they don’t trust..

I seriously hope DSC finds a way to right the ship and get back on course quickly…

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

Africa Hunting dot com forums have 104,809 registered members of which 1,175 are presently online. I don’t know how many are DSC members or how many would join DSC if it were heading on a path forward. Chances are it is many.

Granted, that some of our registered members may have passed onto their happy hunting grounds and others are no longer active. Let’s say that there are over 50,000 members who from time to time read these posts.

Of those members the majority if not most are accomplished in their field of endeavors, i.e. their professions. More than a few have in fact managed large organizations, many have or had half a billion dollars of revenue with profit and loss responsibility. I also know of a very active member who coaches CEO of Fortune 500 companies, at least one General Officer, yours truly a management and technology consultant, and the list goes on.

Does everyone see where I am going with the above? As our @Green Chile, @mdwest, @Red Leg and others stated, DSC made their decision in a vacuum. It reminds me of the Lieutenants who will not take advice from their NCOs. Those Lt’s will have a very short military career! Hopefully the present DSC managers will soon be seeking other employment. Leaders inspire others to following willingly. Managers manager their resources. DCS has neither leaders or effective managers.

Who remembers Deming’s Total Quality Management (TQM)? It focused on engaging with staff to gain their “buy in” toward the organization moving forward. Focus groups were the order to the day. Gosh, I didn’t need Deming and his TQM to tell me “gather your intelligence locally”. My Drill Instructor Sgt. Mills preached that to me at Parris Island during July of 1977! A couple years later I well knew that if a leader wants to know what is going on they need to ask a Corporal! Of course I was a Corporal then. The senior officers and NCOs might tailor their answer to not piss of the commander, but the Corporal will give him the skinny with both barrels! Nothing is different in a company or organization such as DSC.

If DSC isn’t wise enough to initiate focus groups or whatever they are called today, I know a very old and respected consultancy that for a fee would happily engage with them and provide a sound path forward. That would however be a foolish waste of money considering the level of experience and expertise of their membership and those who might happily join help DSC finding its way. But to do that, DSC management MUST admit that it has failed.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

The upper floor where firearms are normally visited was not under construction this year. I parked on that hall during load in. It’s in perfect shape at the moment. DSC could absolutely have been held in Dallas this year.

SCI advised exhibitors that were at TTHA this year that the floor plan would change next year because the halls that were being used would be getting renovated next year, but SCI had already secured other halls for next year (KBH has A,B,C,D,E, and F halls)…

Ahh...not yet. When it is that could be a factor but I also thought they could use other halls for that and just have people walk a small distance. Nothing wrong with that.

The word I got was SCI/TTHA have a 5 year commitment with KBH. And it seems at least next year they will have hall E where we were this year. I was even told they had hall E for the next 5 years, however that doesn't make sense to me if there are plans to renovate that hall too.

Whatever the case, if SCI/TTHA has another 5 years booked at KBH, then clearly there has to be a hall or multiple halls available during this time. So it seems in my mind the question is what is the worst case scenario in hall availability and when is that scenario?

If it's 2 or less in January, well that's a problem for DSC if they wanted to keep the usual dates. If it's no less than 3, the only problem at that point would be if they're adjacent and if the total floor space meets the need.

For this year, it seemed that hall D was under renovation and was not available. As mentioned hall F was still open. So for this year, DSC would've needed halls A, B and/or C to cover the floor space normally provided by D.

That would be a bit of a pain for DSC, exhibitors and attendees, but at least the show would still be in Dallas. Had they gone this direction and explained why, I think everyone gets on board and is flexible enough to endure a couple or few years of the less than ideal scenario.

 

[Green Chile]

That's a great point Philip...there had to be some alternate scenarios that while disruptive would have been far less change than what was chosen. I would highly respect the approach that says to the membership, volunteers and exhibitors, are you willing to put up with this for a few years with a little chaos and dust..or do you want more change to go in another direction? That's real change management when you ask for buy-in. It takes courage and it's what great leaders sign up for.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

That's a great point Philip...there had to be some alternate scenarios that while disruptive would have been far less change than what was chosen. I would highly respect the approach that says to the membership, volunteers and exhibitors, are you willing to put up with this for a few years with a little chaos and dust..or do you want more change to go in another direction? That's real change management when you ask for buy-in. It takes courage and it's what great leaders sign up for.

Change was coming to KBH and quite frankly it was due. KBH has a perfect location and with the adjacent marshalling yard and the design as it stands, it is so much easier for move-in/out than any of the other convention centers I've been to. But the building is a little old and it shows a bit. So renovation I think was called for. DSC had no control over this. But it did have a choice in how to handle it.

 

[mdwest]

Completely concur.. KBH was designed extremely well and its location is excellent, but it’s about a decade overdue for an overhaul… it will be one of, if not the best/nicest facilities of its kind once the renovations are over…

Whoever owns the January dates and show come 2030, whether it’s DSC or TTHA will be in a stellar position for the next 20+ years…

That’s a long term strategic consideration I don’t think DSC was paying much attention to based on their decision.. that TTHA/SCI clearly understood when they made their move..

 

[WAB]

I think it’s telling that DSC does not come on to this forum and address this directly. There is no way that they are unaware of this discussion.

 

[mdwest]

Agree…

In their defense though, there are past presidents of DSC that frequent another board known to be a little more rowdy than this one that also focuses on international hunting…

I’ve never known any of the board or officers of DSC to post here… at least not under their actual names (maybe there are some using usernames that don’t identify who they actually are)…

They certainly know what AH is though… I have had AH discussions with a couple of different members of the leadership team at DSC over the years…

And I’d agree that someone must be aware of this thread, as well as others that have popped up over the past year discussing the move and the reasoning…

It is telling that a fairly substantial number of established international hunters, DSC members, and exhibitors have expressed concerns here… and no one from DSC has thought it prudent to address them here…

 

[Troubleshooter]

DSC messed up and SCI capitalized on a strategic mistake
“”Defeat in detail, or divide and conquer, is a military tactic of bringing a large portion of one's own force to bear on small enemy units in sequence, rather than engaging the bulk of the enemy force all at once. This exposes one's own units to many small risks but allows for the eventual destruction of an entire enemy force,
1. “

Thanks for the tactics lesson. That may all be true if DSC is SCI's enemy .... but I was under the impression that the mission of both organizations is to promote ethical, sustainable hunting and wildlife conservation. Perhaps there is still some animosity dating back to the split, but that was long before I had any interest in either organization so will leave that discussion to others who are more knowledgeable. But if indeed SCI viewed this as an opportunity to "defeat" DSC, it speaks volumes to me about their own trustworthiness.

My DSC membership is due for renewal soon, and I would be very interested in seeing whether the leadership admits mistakes and addresses this head-on or whether we are told that the show was a huge success and it all gets swept under the rug. I am tempted to just make a restricted donation to the DSC Foundation in lieu of membership renewal, and send the Membership Director a note explaining why.