by Mike Carey, March 20, 2007

“Nice to meet you, have you heard of our web site?” I must have asked this question about a thousand times over four days at Spokane’s Big Horn Sportsman’s Show. It was our first show event to the greater Spokane area and I had looked forward to meeting our eastside readers and making our site known to more anglers on “the dry side” of the state.


I stayed with our Software Engineer, Aaron Borg and his family for the five days I was there. Aaron has an office set up that desk-anglers would drool for. Multiple monitor set ups, Windows Vista Ultra, multiple computers. Very nice. I felt welcomed and at home.


We set up the booth and waited to see what Spokane’s interest would be. I should mention our next door neighbors – Gary Little, Bladesmith and wife Ginni, out of Oregon. I must admit to a certain level of nervousness with guys handling sharp objects ten feet away from me all day, but it was fine. The Littles were a nice, friendly couple and we enjoyed their company.

Aaron and Mike


We had a pretty good crowd at the show, less so than has been my experience at Seattle-area shows, but still not bad. More importantly, we had LOTS of interest. Aaron and I heard quite a bit of “I love your site; I use it all the time!” After ten years of running WL.com I still am gratified when I hear people tell me this. But we also heard a lot of “no, very heard of you, what’s it about?” And when we would show them the site on our show computer the eyes would light up like they’d found a hidden treasure (which they had). So in short Aaron and I met a lot of nice people, handed out over eight hundred fliers, and hopefully we will see the fruits of our labors in more east side fishing reports. We’re already making plans to go back next year.


I’d like to thank John Kruse who stopped by for an afternoon and gave me a well needed break to walk around and rest my throat. Also, thanks to WL.com reader Gary R for showing Aaron and I Amber Lake and fishing with us. Even if we did get skunked and blown off the lake, it was an enjoyable morning. I can’t wait to try it again next year.



John and Mike - break time!


Update on our next version of WashingtonLakes.com: we are making good progress. Aaron and I had the chance to spend a lot of time reviewing what is left to complete and what can wait until after “go live”. We are setting the goal of having the new site up and running by Opening Day, the end of April. If you were at the Show you saw a sneak preview of the site. There are many new features and increased functionality. The goal of the new site, among other things, will be to connect the readers of WL.com better. We have a great community forming but it is obvious to Aaron and I that we can do a better job setting the site up so anglers can communicate with each other in a more direct manner. We are confident that once you see all the new enhancements you’ll come to rely even more on WL.com as your primary fishing information source.


Finally, I am pleased to announce the approval of my membership application with the Northwest Outdoor Writers’ Association. I’m excited to be able to have more communication and recognition with the writers of our region. I look forward to developing closer ties and bringing their expertise to the readers of WL.com. I’d like to thank my sponsor, Doug Wilson, for his support and guidance in this process. Doug also contributed some excellent photographs for our booth at the show. You can visit his outdoor photography web site at:

www.dougwilsonphoto.com.

Be sure to check out his site!

Till next time, go fishing, enjoy, and send us a report! Mike