A You Tuber/Blogger at IWA 2024 Post Impressions
Recently I visited IWA 2024 for the first time. IWA is basically an abbreviation from German for what is supposed to be a largest weapons exhibition and all connected to hunting and personal security on the planet.
Or as IWA states:
"IWA OutdoorClassics is the worlds leading exhibition for the hunting and target sports industry".
Mmm, ok let's leave it at that because I saw a whole lot more weaponry than just for hunting purposes and target practice LOL.
Mixed reactions.
Most small companies were all to glad to speak with me and tell me about their products and in some cases strike up some collaborations with me.
However, what was interesting for me, was that many large manufacturers were not particularly interested in any liaison with the likes of me. Actually to be fair it wasn't just the likes of me but just a "YouTuber" as most did not even ask anything about my channel. Let alone what my channel was called. As soon as I said "Influencer" or YouTuber, or social media, it was goodbye time for me. (and yes I wasn't asking for anything).
This of course was not the case for those large companies of whom I've had long standing associations and great collaborations with over the years. Those companies, I was welcomed with open arms etc. and this made me feel quite welcome there at such a ginormous exhibition.
Nor was it case for companies looking to publicise their products. These smaller companies (well they weren't really that small I guess)
Most of the negativity was from quite old and established companies I found.
For example: I was told by one particular company that since I had seen a video already about their products in Czech that there was clearly no need for any English based videos or need for any other collaborations with influencers.
Ok I couldn't argue with that and although the "translator" function on Youtube is far better than it used to be for us "only English speaking " peasants, it's still not the same thing as watching a video in your own native tongue.
Although for these products, I'd wager not many, if any English speaking folks have even heard of them. Anyway no big deal. There was so much choice at this years IWA.
I was there to catch up with others, get a feel for the current industry and social media role these days, and see how I can improve my channel. Anything else would be a bonus.
So were there any bonuses you ask?
Yes indeed and I hope to show some of these exciting new products as time goes by; in fact you may have already seen some of them on my channel or FV or Instagram posts just recently.
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