The NASGW 2025 Expo is in the books… thanks again to all of you for making it to Grapevine, Texas this year. I hope you had a great visit and were able to get things set for the wrap-up to 2025 and the kickoff to 2026.
We are really looking forward to Phoenix in 2026. It’s been quite a few years since the association held an annual meeting in Phoenix, or anywhere out west for that matter. As you can imagine, planning is already underway. We are excited about the switch in format for next year to a Monday night dinner event, followed by the show floor open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday until noon. It’ll give you all a chance to get home for the weekend.
I also want to thank all of you who booked booths for next year’s event during our booth pick calls last week. Nicole and Meg tell me we’ve already sold over 80% of the show floor in Phoenix. Working with you as members is truly a joy and a privilege. Thank you!
We’re also making some big plans for a change in the backend structure at NASGW. For the most part, I doubt members will notice any changes, other than our phone number and address switching. We’ll have a Sioux Falls, SD address instead of one based in Iowa.
For years, we’ve worked almost exclusively as a remotely staffed organization and that will continue. We’ll be adjusting some of the ways we do invoicing and paying of bills, requiring most of our payments to be made electronically, but otherwise, it’s business as usual for all of you and a bit of pandemonium for us over the next couple months. So, if you are having trouble reaching us, please, keep trying, or reach out to me directly and I’ll get you to someone who can help.
Change is never easy. And I don’t like change just for the sake of change, though I’ve never really been afraid of it either. I’ve somewhat subscribed to the age-old mantra that if you aren’t changing, you’re dying. Change helps you to purify your mission, your purpose, your direction. It challenges your thinking and makes you analyze what’s important and what you might need to put you on a new path to success. Helps you clear out some clutter as well. It keeps you moving. Hopefully forward!
2026 dues invoices are headed your way in the coming days as well, so please be on the lookout for those. Your continued generous support allows the NASGW the opportunity to put together projects like SCOPE, VAULT and develop the Expo in ways that best help you do business in the distribution channel. We don’t take any of it for granted. We’ve got a couple other things in the works for next year as well, a bit more change. But it’s all good, and I think you’re going to like it.
It’s such an amazing time of the year we’re about to enter, with the holidays upon us. I tend to get all nostalgic and generally try to take time to renew or revive old relationships, pay closer attention to the people I love and value, and try to prune a few things out of my life I just no longer need. Except firearms, you can’t ever have too many of those! I won’t be pruning the gun safes.
Seriously though, as I continue to deal with knee issues and revision surgeries, I haven’t been able to do any hunting this fall, but it’s given me a lot more time to think and reflect on what’s important in life. Faith, family, friends, and feeling at home in an industry that means as much to me as just about anything I’ve ever done.
If we haven’t touched base in a while, I’m hoping we can fix that in the coming weeks and months. I’ll be on the lookout for you at Shot Show if I don’t catch up to you before then. In the meantime, I want to wish you all a blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!
Until next time,
Kenyon Gleason
NASGW President