Most people have a tendency to listen when the guys on the weather channel say "Travel Not Advised". Not us! As I had mentioned in an earlier post we left on Friday to go to Denver to attend the 2007 WESA Trade Expo. Needless to say the weather sure didn't help our efforts to get in and out easily. Amazingly enough it really wasn't that bad driving from Des Moines, Iowa. Perhaps the worst part was the new Jeep we rented from Enterprise somehow lacked washer fluid...we tried everything to get it to work to no avail. No worries... I know Enterprise will make it right with us...they always have.

So....as for the real reason we risked our lives driving in the worst storm of the year...the worlds largest trade expo for our Industry held at the Denver Markets. Holy cow it was huge and the weather obviously didn't keep very many from attending.

It was exciting to have someone with us that had limited exposure to our Industry prior to attending. Adam Steen with TCM - Transitional Capital Management has been converted and can absolutely testify to the amazing growth our industry is experiencing. It is official...he even bought new boots and a cowboy hat. So that part was a blast.

It is hard to describe the overwhelming atmosphere of the event. It is three full buildings filled with manufacturers and distributors of English and Western related products. The main building is four stories with hundreds of office like booths where you have the opportunity to meet and book your order with the manufacturer(s). Publications, Associations, Distributors, Manufacturers both domestic and international attended and present to the various retail outlets to sell their goods. It takes a minimum of two days at a fast pace to come close to walking past all of the booths.

We were able to spend a good amount of time meeting with Marc Andrus from Saddle Barn, Inc, Len Clement and Phil Smith from Phoenix Performance Products, Jerry Beagley from Beagley Braiding Company and established several new relationships with strong new suppliers. Some exciting stuff to say the least.

During February Nathan and I are planning to make a long road trip starting with going to Roswell, NM visiting Saddle Barns facility, then off to B-BAR-B Wholesale in Blackfoot, ID...a short jump up to Canada to tour Phoenix Performance and then hope to get scheduled back in with the NLBRA-National Little Britches Rodeo Association to discuss our involvement for 2007 and beyond.

It sure is fun to have a growing business with an exploding industry to support it!