Wednesday, November 10, 2010

North Brokers Peace With The South

The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism is excited to announce that The Natural State will host a national outdoor media conference. Arkansas: The State of Fishing, takes place November 15 -23, 2010 in the Arkansas Ozarks and the Arkansas Ouachitas.

Over 20 nationally published writers and photographers will visit Arkansas in phases—possibly two to four at a time, with each group staying two or three days. In this way, each trip is personalized. Special arrangements for interviews with members of the local media can be made.

The event stretches from the Arkansas Ozarks to the Ouachitas with fishing adventures happening on Norfork Lake, Bull Shoals Lake, the White River and Lake Ouachita. Along with great fishing opportunities, Arkansas has provided interesting side activities for the visiting writers. These include factory tours of Ranger Boats and the Outdoor Sportsman’s Gallery, trips to the Mammoth Spring National Fish Hatchery and the James A. Gaston Visitor Center, and special educational tours by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission including habitat building and electro-fishing for research purposes.

Arkansas: The State of Fishing is part media event and part corporate photo shoot for Frabill, Northland Fishing Tackle, and Marcum Underwater Cameras. It brings top fishing pro-staff, national writers, and the award winning photographer and videographer, Bill Lindner, son of the famed Ron Lindner and nephew of Al Lindner to Arkansas lakes and rivers. Photography will be used for promotional videos, press releases, freelance articles, retail displays, catalogs, and will be widely distributed throughout all sport fishing media channels.

“We are very excited about this as it is the first time these major fishing manufacturing companies have selected Arkansas for the backdrop of their promotional photo shoots and marketing campaigns,” said Dena Woerner, Communications Manager for Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism.

Noel Vick, President of Traditions Media and co-organizer of the event, provides insight as to why Arkansas was selected by fishing manufactures from the north. “November is the time of year we’re between open water season and ice fishing. So from a media standpoint, we’re in limbo, unable to gather photography or shoot video. Having a southern partner like Arkansas affords us the opportunity to keep producing material in what we Midwesterners would otherwise call the “off season”. Once my clients – Northland Fishing Tackle, Frabill, and MarCum Underwater Cameras – got an appreciation for the diversity of fish species available in Arkansas, it was the proverbial no-brainer selecting the Natural State to host our national outdoor writers’ event and photo shoot. Nowhere else could we access such a wide range of fish species from striped bass to walleyes to crappies to largemouth bass and more in a single location.”

Media members attending the event write for legendary publications such as In-Fisherman, Bassmaster, FLW Outdoors, North American Fisherman, Outdoors Canada, Outdoor Life, Game & Fish Publications (representing 20 unique state titles), Crappie World, Field and Stream, and numerous fishing designated websites including Wired2fish and Go Fishing.

“Putting on an event of this magnitude requires not only dedicated manpower, but also the facilities capable of hosting it. Think about it: we have Gaston’s on the White River; Blue Lady Resort and the Quarry Marina on Norfork and Mountain Harbor Resort on Lake Ouachita; plus support from the U.S Army Corps of Engineers and Arkansas Game & Fish. Toss in Ranger Boats, and a band of fishing product manufacturers from the north feel mighty welcome in the south,” said Vick. “Immediately upon meeting Parks and Tourism Communications Manager Dena Woerner at the 2010 Outdoor Writers Association of America Conference in Rochester, Minnesota, I knew the state of Arkansas was serious about hosting our writers’ event and photo shoot. She rolled out the red carpet and has been hands-on strategizing and planning since day one. Without question, this is the most ambitious event of its kind we’ve participated in, and Woerner and the state of Arkansas deserve a lot of the credit for making it happen.”

Arkansas: The State of Fishing is a collaborative effort between the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism (with special help from the Ozark Folk Center and Bull Shoals-White River State Parks), Traditions Media, Frabill, Northland Fishing Tackle, MarCum Underwater Cameras, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and all area chambers of commerce and lake associations. Additional partners include area fishing guides, Twin Lake and White River area businesses, Ranger Boats, Sysco Foods, Post Familie Winery, Wiederkehr Winery, Raimondo Winery, DeVito’s Restaurant and Bear Creek Springs Trout Farm. Blue Lady Resort in Gamaliel, Gaston’s White River Resort in Lakeview and Mountain Harbor Resort in Mount Ida will host the team of writers and prostaff.

For more information on this event contact Dena Woerner at dena.woerner@arkansas.gov or 501-682-7606.

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