I got in trouble the other day. Sort of anyway.

Air traffic controllers apparently don’t take kindly to random airplanes going to random areas of the airport without instructions to do so. In my defense, I believed I had been instructed to do so. The controller made it very clear I was in no way, shape, or form, instructed to do anything of the sort.

Because of high fuel prices lately, I haven’t been flying much this summer. So to get some time in my plane, I made a quick trip last week over to Kansas City to meet with our Expo planning team. As I was landing at the downtown Kansas City airport, I shared with the tower where I was headed, so when he “cleared” me to parking, I got off the runway and headed to the parking area.

What he actually did though was ask me “where” I was parking. And he immediately ordered me to stop because I had rolled into an area I should not have been. I thought he heard me. He didn’t. He thought I heard him. I didn’t.

It was clearly a miscommunication, as I misheard his question as a directive. I apologized (a few times for good measure), proceeded to contact ground control, and got the appropriate directions to parking.

When I got to parking and shut off the engine, I shared with the ramp marshal that I was a bit delayed because of some miscommunication. He chuckled and said, “Yeah, I heard!” We had a good laugh and I went about my day. No harm, no foul.

Sometimes it’s like that. We think we know something to be true and learn it’s simply not. Communication is a two-way street. The message must be shared clearly, and the receiver needs to hear it clearly. Unless both parties make sure they’ve fulfilled their role of sending and receiving the message, it can take a bit of extra effort to make sure everyone leaves the conversation on the same page.

So let me make this absolutely clear… we are thrilled about you joining us for the upcoming 2022 NASGW Expo and Annual Meeting coming up in Kansas City the last week of October. Some of you may have been with us there in 2016. We had a great event then and we’re expecting bigger and better things this time around.

Things are going so well, our main hotel is now sold out, but we are working on finding some other nearby rooms, so please be sure to reach out to our team if we can be of help in directing you to other alternatives. Our show floor is likewise sold out and we’re doing as much fancy footwork as possible to help as many folks get in as possible. We are working to finalize our booth locations, show floor maps and our annual Expo App.

If you haven’t submitted your products for the annual Caliber Awards, you need to work exceptionally fast… like today. Our submissions deadline is here and we’ll begin the judging in the coming weeks. If you’re interested in sponsorships or advertising, we’d love to visit with you as we still have some opportunities available on that front.

If you haven’t made appointments with distributor buyers or the manufacturers you really need to see, get on the phone and try to make that happen. Soon. The NASGW Expo week is supremely busy and calendars fill up fast. It promises to be yet another great week and we’re looking forward to seeing you there.

Kansas City has a lot to offer for night life and some great restaurant selections as well. If you’ve been here before, welcome back. If you haven’t, well, you’re in for a good time. It’s a great city and we look forward to hosting you.

I hope I spoke clearly; we are excited to see you in October, and excited to gather once again to celebrate the great shooting sports industry with all of our friends and colleagues. I’ll ask the folks at air traffic control (aka, NASGW’s team awesome), to make sure we’re as clear with all our messaging and plans as we can possibly be. I hope you have your flights already booked.

Until next time,