Outdoor Skills Program to Premiere in Roanoke

OWAA members can participate in a new event at the 2007 conference in Roanoke, Va. The “OWAA Outdoor Skills Award Program” will incorporate supporting member programs and products with active members at Breakout Day and the Shooting Program on Monday, June 18.

“The concept is simple,” said Local Co-chair and Roanoke Times Outdoors Editor Mark Taylor. “In the past, many of our supporting members have created individual contests on Breakout and Shooting day at their individual booths. This year we’re just tying those contests into an overall concept.”

Phil Bloom, 2007 conference program chair, says he’d like to see this contest grow into an annual OWAA award program. “I think an annual outdoor skills award for our members based on friendly competition of this sort is long overdue,” he said.

Shooting Program contests could include accuracy, speed, safety or a combination, and Breakout Day contests will vary widely depending on group goals and imagination.

Not all supporting members may elect to participate this year, noted Supporting Member Representative Scott Stouder, but the plan is to make it an annual event. “Our idea is to spice this up with fun but simple contests at each booth, individually tailored to the specific product or message,” he said.

Each active member will be issued a card with names of participating supporting members and a simple 1-10 scoring system for each contest. Few guidelines will exist. On Breakout and Shooting Day, the cards will be filled out by supporting members based on their own evaluations. The winners will be announced toward the end of the conference.

“We’re not going to dictate anything. It’ll be left up to each Supporting Member to devise individual contests. It can be hands-on with products, a written test or a verbal test about products or messages,” Stouder said, adding that the Breakout site has a stream running through it. “We’re [Trout Unlimited] teaming up with a fly-rod manufacturer and giving casting lessons. Our contest will revolve around having fun with fly-casting.”