Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA) annual conference in Lincoln, NE. I first became aware of POMA about a year ago which was around the time of their 2017 conference. Since Lincoln is an 11-12 hour drive for me, it would have been much easier to have made the hour and 45 minute drive to shreveport last year, but other commitments and issues prevented me from attending or joining POMA2017 conference. Instead, I began to watch POMA from a distance.
What I saw was some really engaging images and writing coming from other industry members who were involved with POMA. I saw them interacting with clients similar to some I’ve had and others I was eager to pursue. I also saw the diversity among the members. While the common denominator among the members is the outdoors. Some are more heavily involved in hunting vs fishing. Hiking, shooting sports, and General conservation efforts are also heavily represented.
As the 2018 conference came near, I knew I wanted to attend this year. I had hopes of meeting some other industry peers and since I’ve seen this group interact over the year, I knew forming some relationships was a real probability here. Plus, I’m almost entirely self taught on many of the skills that i’ve gained as a photographer and videographer. So a chance to learn from others in the industry was really important. In the weeks leading up to the conference, I honestly didn’t have the money to attend. I’ve had some other expenses and things come up over the last few months that I just had to take an honest look at weather I should attend or not. So I prayed about it and left it in God’s hands.
Within a few days is when I got a call from Kevin Orthman, POMA’s executive Director. After a brief conversation, he said he liked some of my work and wanted to know if I was still interested in coming. Of course I was, but just couldn’t really make it work. Thats when Kevin offered me a sponsorship. Someone was planning to attend and due to some family issues was not going to make it so there was a spot available. I don’t know if I really contained my excitement on the phone but I jumped at the chance. I truly felt that God had answered my prayers on this issue. We don’t always see immediate answered prayers but this time I did and it was so awesome to have been blessed with this opportunity. Kevin, thank you for the invite.
The conference itself did not disappoint. While I was expecting a little larger attendance I think the number of people there was actually perfect. I felt like I was able to begin to form relationships with several who attended and not just swap cards and move on. The seminars were well attended and the speakers were very knowledgeable on their given area of expertise. I can’t thank the corporate partners and sponsors that helped put the event on enough. I learned some new things and I highly appreciated the opportunity to meet other people in the industry.
So what did I learn. Well one thing that I’ve felt for a while and i’ve seen some signs of is that our industry is struggling. Hunters and Outdoorsmen are declining in numbers. This notion was repeated multiple times over the week with statistics to back it up. God’s country has different meanings to different people. To some, its the rocky mountains. For others, its the Mississippi delta river bottoms. No matter your interpretation, our culture is changing and without new hunters and outdoorsmen, coming in and taking the reins, our outdoor heritage and the conservation of “God’s Country” may not fair very well in the future. I guess, the main take away is that POMA is a great organization in a great industry. It’s doing a lot to help bring a positive light into this industry and It’s one that i’ll be joining for sure. I hope that others in this niche of the outdoor industry will consider joining POMA as well.
