Saint Louis

We are getting ready for the Pyro U shoot in St. Louis next weekend. Friday the 26th we will be demoing about 30 items, and Saturday the 27th our resident pyros Jeff and Ryan will be putting on an amazing show. I have seen bits and pieces of their plan, and it will blow people away.

If you are in the area, you should definitely come out. There will be 11 demos on Friday night, and several Class C and Class B shows on Saturday, so it is well worth the drive. Hope to see you there!

NFA Expo

Sunday morning, the 76 crew returned to Columbia, MO. This year's Expo was amazing! Billings is a great city, small and easy to get around, with some great restaurants. The demos were at a great location, and the trade show location was terrific as well. The turn-out was fantastic, and everyone seemed to be getting a lot of business taken care of.

The expo was my first chance to catch a show by Aaron Mayfield in person. One of the best in the business, A.M. Pyrotechnics (http://www.ampyro.com) has a reputation for going above and beyond. Saturday night's show was no exception! It was a great way to end an astounding week of fireworks.

If you are a member of the NFA, thank the board members for putting together such a great conference. If you are not a member, you should be. You can join for as little as $30 and help support the fireworks industry. Click here to join the NFA. Next year's expo will be in WI, which should have an even better turn out than this year. I'm looking forward to it.

PGI

It has been a busy week for me, taking care of my normal day-to-day work while covering the phones while everyone else is at PGI. Wish I was there! HMNPG has put up some video from PGI at Pyro Universe, and it looks fantastic! 16" shells, a fourteen foot diameter girandola (sp?), looks like a great time. From what I have heard, the shows have been amazing as well.

Our guys have been meeting a lot of pyros up there in Gillette. They have sold a bunch of subscriptions to '76 Pyro Magazine and some of the back issues too. I can't wait to hear all of the stories when they get in next week. It really makes me look forward to visiting the NFA Convention all the more!

Conferences

This Sunday will be the beginning of the 2008 fireworks conference season. Our owner and sales staff will be making the trip to PGI in Gillette, WY this weekend. For those of you not familiar with PGI, it is a convention focused on the end consumer of fireworks, the people who truly enjoy lighting (or e-firing) the fuse. There will classes, competitions, vending, and open shoots all week. Our graphic designer and photographer Michael Richards will be there snapping THOUSANDS of pictures, and we will also have a couple guys there writing articles for '76 Pyro.

The next convention will be the NFA in Billings, MT. The NFA Expo is focused mainly on the business end of fireworks, with product demos for three nights and a great trade convention. However, there are unfortunately no fireworks for sale at the event. It is a great event though, in that it allows wholesalers a chance to meet with most of their suppliers, as well as give prospective suppliers a chance to show their products and meet with buyers. It is also when we will start seeing all the 2009 products, receiving 2009 catalogs, and hearing all the news and events effecting fireworks for 2009.

I believe the last event will be the APA in Orlando, FL. I have volunteered to go down and play lots of golf meet with suppliers, but I don't think our company will be making the trip this year.