We get approached by lodges on a regular basis that want to come to Toronto to do a seminar for anglers who may be interested in booking a trip to their destination. We have arranged this sort of thing in the past but have always wondered if we could take attendance at these seminars from a few dozen people to a much larger number – and we have an idea that just might work…

One of the best ways to get people to attend a seminar is to have a free draw for a prize of some sort and have the value of the prize far outweigh the cost of the ticket we would have to charge attendees to cover the cost of putting on the event (I am told that the business school term for this is ‘value’). This is the point where it gets fun because here is where it becomes a numbers game. The only reason we could get a lodge to donate a prize with a high value (such as a free trip) would be if the number of attendees was so great that it made financial sense for the lodge – but the ticket has to be as inexpensive as possible so anyone who might be interested in attending can afford to come. What it comes down to is making the evening affordable so we can fill the room but also covering the costs so we don’t lose money by actually accomplishing our goal, namely filling the room (my head is starting to hurt).

I’m going to make a few calls and send a few emails to see if we can put this together and would like to suggest that if you are reading this you should mark the evening of Wednesday March 30 on your calendar…

We’ll get back to you asap.

There is a new interview posted on our website this morning from Andy Ward who lives in London, UK. I read an online article about Andy a short while ago that mentioned he was a fly fisherman which in and of itself is not unique. However, the rest of the article piqued my curiosity and, well, long story short, I sent him an email and asked if he would be interested in participating in our Fly Fishing Interview. To my delight Andy agreed and I encourage you to read about him.

One of the privileges of being in fly fishing is to have the opportunity to meet people who all share the common passion of fly fishing. Most of the people we meet are down to earth types who, like us, go about their daily chores and sneak in a day on the water when they can. What struck me about Andy when I read about him isn’t that he is a fly fisher but rather what he does when he is not fly fishing. I am not suggesting that Andy is special per se (due respect Andy!) but rather that he, like all friends of our store, are unique and each has a story to tell – and this is why we ask people to participate in the Fly Fishing Interviews. What Andy does not mention in his interview is that after graduating from university he decided to go for a walk… from London to Istanbul – and now helps organize polar expeditions. If you have a moment I encourage you to find out more about Andy by checking out his website (make a point of looking through his pictures!).

You know, it really doesn’t matter what you do or where you work, in my mind it always comes down to the people you meet… Thankfully being in fly fishing retail we are fortunate to meet very good people on a regular basis!

www.andyward.me/about/

WILSON’S is continuing to make some pretty cool changes that we hope you like! Our regular customers know that we already have Ontario’s best selection of fly tying materials but it is about to get better! While we are working on our new ecommerce site we have also been planning some in-store changes to our inventory and our floor plan. If you have been in the store in the last few weeks you could not have help but noticed the new displays near the front door. These were brought in to accommodate our increasing inventory of fly tying materials that started to arrive a few days ago. Very shortly we will also be laying out the store differently and adding new lights to better display these materials. In addition, we are now hosting “open vise” fly tying sessions in the store every Saturday afternoon from 1pm until 5pm and Tuesday evenings after 6pm. Watch for pictures of our new inventory in the New Year!