| July 25, 2008 | |||
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The 37th annual New Orleans Boat Show ended January 14th with over 33,000 attendees passing through the gates of the Morial Convention Center. New Orleans is the home of Mardi Gras, the French Quarter and the Ernest N Morial Convention Center. ![]() © 2007 Art Netzer
![]() © 2007 Art Netzer
This 5 day show displayed little boats, big boats, all sorts of marine accessories, fishing tackle, clothing, jewelry and for the 8th straight year the Photo Information Booth. The PIB entertained a number of return visitors to the booth. A couple of manufacturers commented that they come to the boat show just to visit the PIB. This season there is an incressing number of new digital camera buyers who stop by to ask questions about the use of their cameras. Generally as we show them, others look on then seek additional advise. ![]() © 2007 Art Netzer
![]() © 2007 Art Netzer
The PIB again participated in the show's Parade of Prizes. This is a show sponsored event where exhibitors donate prizes for drawings of show attendees who register upon entering. Here Barbara Sclafani, NO Show Manager and Thom Dammrich, National Marine Manfactures Association President accept prizes donated by the PIB. ![]() © 2007 Art Netzer
![]() © 2007 Art Netzer
A large schedule of seminars were presented by exhibitors and guest speakers. These included seminars on fishing, boating, scuba diving and 1 seminar on digital and travel photography. This included a general discussions about what digital equipment would work well for taking pictures while boating, fishing and travel photography around water. These were well received with many interesting questions and discussions. People welcomed sponsors literature and the ability to see products and ask questions without sales pressure. At the PIB it was again obvious that the majority of questions, interest and demonstrations were about digital equipment especially concerning whether or not they could use their old lenses on the new digital bodies. All the cameras had a good workout especially the DSLRs. There was also much interest in the small waterproof cameras, larger screens, and the stabilizing capabilities. This was a boat show and people came to see boats, however there many other t hings of interest to see and learn about. The show was visited by Miss Louisiana and there were actual fishing contests where fish were caught and displayed daily. ![]() © 2007 Art Netzer
![]() © 2007 Art Netzer
Barbara Sclafani, NO Show Manager took a few minutes to pose with the entire show staff who were commended for doing such a fine job with this show in spite of all the problems caused by Katrina. As one person said "Katrina has taken it’s toll on many but those who were able to help themselves did and those who never helped themselves before are still waiting for help." Another interesting exhibit was "Crunch" the Alligator Snapping Turtle. Crunch is one of the largest Snapping Turtles alive. He is 165 pounds and estimated to be between 150 and 175 years old. For 19 years curator Rusty Reed has cared for him and takes him to shows all over the country telling his story. ![]() © 2007 Art Netzer
![]() © 2007 Art Netzer
All sorts of people attend boat shows. This years show was well attended except for Saturday night when the Saints were in the playoffs at the newly remodeled Superdome. Then only the serious boaters non-football fans stayed at the boat show.
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