What Makes An Outdoors Expert In Your Mind?

Before I get going on this blog post I want to make a confession.   I DO NOT consider myself an expert in the outdoors.   In fact, the older I get the more I realize just how much I still have to learn about most topics.   Oh, sure, I have plenty of experience in certain aspects pertaining to outdoorsy activities, but none of them relegate me to the status of considering myself an expert.

Yet, these days I seem to be in the minority.   Look around and everyone—or so it seems—is claiming to be an expert about something relating to hunting and fishing.   As I page through most sporting publications I see “so-called” experts giving seminars, serving as pro-staffers, etc. as if this is supposed to mean something to me.

SLD_1601Honestly, Mr or Mrs. Advertiser…if your experts are names I am not familiar with in the outdoors world does promoting them as being at the top-of-their-game really have any significance to the average sportsman?

Okay, let me stop here by saying this post is not about bashing industry experts.   Quite the contrary, my question to you is what qualities or level of achievement constitutes “expertise” in your mind?   Is it the fact they have a wall full of trophy fish or game in their den?   Or is it a certain intellectual aptitude they have for discussing a particular topic?   I don’t have the right answer, and quite frankly there probably is not single correct response.

I think back several years ago to a stunt the Today Show pulled for a segment.   In a nutshell, they set up an autograph session with a no-name actor signing their autograph at a booth.   Unsuspecting people lined up without any regard for who the person was signing and taking pictures with the would-be autograph hounds.   You see, it didn’t matter if the person giving the autograph was legit, what mattered is everyone automatically elevated them to someone of importance.   The person was instantly—and I might say, undeservingly—famous.

Sometimes I wonder if this same mentality doesn’t occur in the outdoors world.   When someone holds themselves out to the world as important and worthy of respect, sportsmen often flock to them like lemmings on an outright run heading directly toward the cliff.

To some extent I think outdoors television is also largely to blame.   Obscure people garner enough sponsorship and funding to all of a sudden become “somebody.”   Doesn’t always matter if they have a lick of ability in front of the lens or a personality to entertain or enlighten, what matters is they get exposure and get groomed to become “somebody important.”

In closing, I want to ask each of you this important question.   Who gets your respect in the outdoors?   Is it the person who has deep pockets and can afford to buy notoriety?   Is it the person who has overcome great odds and achieved something most sportsmen could never dream of accomplishing?   Or do you simply follow the crowds and give undeserving folks a status they shouldn’t otherwise attain if their bio was scrutinized much more closely?

I know for one thing I’ve started taking a closer look at those folks within our industry who ask to be recognized and/or treated special as someone important.   In many cases I’m not seeing they are much different than me…and like I started out in this blog saying, I AM NOT AN EXPERT!

©2013 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

Win A Chance To Meet Uncle Si And Willie From Duck Dynasty

Okay, I will admit it.   I’m a BIG Duck Dynasty fan.   Didn’t think it would happen.   Even avoided watching the show for the first couple seasons, but finally I gave in.   And like most things that are naturally addictive, I find myself amused unlike any other show I can compare it to.   If the show is on TV and I’m in the mood to waste some boob tube time…the show has me hooked.

So, when I was contacted by some PR professional trying to promote a contest with a chance to win $1,000 and an opportunity to meet Uncle Si and Willie, I flew headfirst like the moth into a roaring campfire.   Indeed, I don’t usually promote contests on this blog site, but this one just seems kind of fun.   So, here goes….

I’m not going to say much more about the contest other than CLICK HERE to enter.   The deadline is July 31st  so time is running out.   To read more about the rules click HERE.   Oh, there are other prizes to win too, such as ducks calls, hats, etc. so what have you got to lose other than a minute or so of your time.

Check it out!   Have a great weekend and good luck!

©2013 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.

Embrace Bloggers and Social Media To Get Message Out

I just have to laugh!   Some notions take a long time to die.   I could easily make this post my annual rant against the Minnesota DNR and their communication peeps who seemingly don’t have a 21st Century clue when it comes to communicating their message, but if I did the blog posting would largely look like it did last year.  (SEE HERE)

So, I’ll spare you all those details once again.   Point is I’ve been an outdoors writer here in Minnesota since 1987 and now because most of my communication efforts are online some entities, like the MN DNR, apparently fail to see the value.

Once again, the MN DNR is conducting their annual 2–day #RoundTable and I was not included.  Last year I sent a note in advance to DNR Communication Director Chris Niskanen (@ChrisNiskanen1) asking to be included, but alas, the note was never received.   Certainly after the blog post I wrote last year I figured I’d be on the radar for the 2013 #RoundTable session…but no such luck once again.

Here I am willing to invest my time and money to report happenings of my state’s fish and game department, but the take away is such information dissemination is not apparently that important.   What a shame.   Whether it is the MN DNR or even some manufacturer of a new outdoor product, you would think they would be doing their due diligence to include both bloggers and people from all other facets of social media.

Recently I attended a blogging conference and discovered how one of the most aggressive segments harnessing the power of blogging, Twitter and similar online communication tools targets the so-called “mommy blogger.”   That’s right, companies who promote diapers, sell mac and cheese products, encourage the use of real butter for cooking, and so on are light years ahead of others when it comes to tapping into these emerging forms of new media.

IMG_6969

Back at the farm, I cooked up some brats to serve my hungry hunters during the fall 2012 firearms deer season.

One particular company I’ve been impressed with on Twitter is Johnsonville (@JvilleGrilling)   Not only do they tweet often and with content that adds value (not just self-promo), but they also do one of the best jobs of engaging their followers of any company I have seen.   I posted a picture back during deer hunting season that they found of me grilling their brats…and days later they were using it, with my permission of course, all over their online marketing efforts.

I can relate many similar examples of how companies or groups are in-step with those of us who blog and tweet.   I once ripped a company in these blog pages several years ago about their product in how it was poorly designed.  They got upset with me and fired back…but in the end they changed their product design because they new I had some valid points that needed to be addressed.

I will be so bold as to predict that within five years most traditional forms of how people obtain their news will largely lose significance.   I’m talking newspaper, magazines, and to some lesser extent even nightly TV news coverage.   We are living in a transition period where people demand their news immediately, in a succinct fashion, and when it’s convenient for them to view it.   Blogging, social media and videos on demand delivers the message.

Yes, indeed, I find it somewhat odd how a company peddling baby diapers is far better at engaging their audience through the blogger network than my state’s game and fish department continues to be.   <Okay, this is where I would ordinarily insert a joke about shit, but I’ve chosen not to do that at this time. Ha!>

©2013 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.