Somebody had to be first and I’m glad it was us”, said Bill O’Loughlin, President of O’Loughlin Trade Shows.

The company was the first to hold large-scale consumer-based trade shows in the Northwest and one of the few to hold this size event, drawing thousands, anywhere in North America. They held two, the Central Oregon Sportsmen’s Show in Redmond, Oregon and the Pacific Northwest Sportsmen’s Show in Portland, Oregon.

“We spent 10 months working on these shows and trying to figure out how to best execute them. It wasn’t easy, the optics weren’t good but in the end we held safe and successful events.”

O’Loughlin continued, “The amount of business done at these two shows was staggering. Several companies reported record sales; the best they’ve ever had. Even though attendance was off our previous year’s mark, the volume of hunting gear, rods, apparel, boats, guide and outfitter trips, rifle scopes, fishing tackle, coolers and ATV’s that was sold at the show was incredible. And there will be lots more sold following the show. We warned exhibitors to expect quite a bit of pent-up demand, but no one could have predicted how good it was going to be.”

Safety was the chief concern from the beginning and the O’Loughlin team drove that point home, sometimes on a weekly basis with local government officials, letting them know how their shows differed from other events like concerts or sporting events.

“The key in keeping everyone safe was three-fold. Mandatory mask wear…no exceptions. Obsessive sanitation. And, keeping everyone distanced from one another. Our timed ticketing strategy worked well in managing how many people were coming into the show and eliminated the crowding that often occurs at show openings and on weekends. We effectively spread the crowd out over the days of the show.”

Compliance was excellent for both events. “We had a few exceptions that resulted in us having to ask a couple exhibitors to leave the Portland show and a couple of attendees as well…but that was it. In all cases, those asked to leave didn’t want to wear face protection which was a condition of entry into the event. We were upfront with everyone from the very beginning that mask wear was going to be a requirement.”

The O’Loughlin’s caught a key break in Oregon that didn’t occur in Washington State. “We were fortunate in Oregon”, O’Loughlin said. “The State reclassified ‘trade shows’ as retail. That was a game-changer. We were allowed to operate at the same level as any of the big box stores. In the end we didn’t, we ran our shows at a significantly lower threshold than what was allowed. We knew that if we ran at the higher percentage of capacity we would have crowding problems so we chose not to. In 20/20 hindsight we were right to make that choice.”

“Washington State wouldn’t budge off their guidelines and classification for the shows (Indoor Entertainment) and only allowed a maximum of 200 people at any one time. We couldn’t hold a viable show with that little attendance so we had to cancel our Washington shows.”

“We’re grateful to the State of Oregon, Deschutes County and the local government entity, METRO, that oversees the operation of the Portland Expo Center, for letting us move forward with our shows. What these shows proved is they can be done safely and productively. They certainly were not the magnitude of events we want or are used to producing but for now, it’s what we have. But don’t kid yourself, no matter what size event it is, they take a lot of work to pull off under these conditions.”

“None of these shows would have happened had we not pressed as hard as we did for as long as we did and had the backing of the facilities. Our team worked for months on the safety protocols. We researched what other industries were doing and stayed on top of the medical and scientific information on a daily basis. Our plans evolved constantly as we gained new insights and ideas and thankfully all that work paid off. Our bottom line goal was not only to hold these shows but to do it right and do it safely. That means they needed to be productive and COVID-free. We have every reason to believe that we met both objectives.”

O’Loughlin Trade Shows is an 80 year old, 4th generation trade and consumer show production company based in Beaverton, Oregon. The company currently produces 8 shows in Oregon and Washington State.