NCFF Northern Ohio Fly Fishing Expo 2016 October 28, 2015 Dear

NCFF Northern Ohio Fly Fishing Expo 2016
October 28, 2015 Dear Past and Future Vendors and Friends, Hello! Halloween is nearly here, the steelhead will be running soon, and the NCFF Northern Ohio Fly Fishing Expo is just around the corner on January 30th, 2016. Last year’s venue was fantastic and we will be back at the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center again this year. Due to the continuing influx of Republicans into Cleveland in preparation for the Republican National Convention in July, hotel rooms are more scarce than normal and will be for the foreseeable future, even in January. Consequently, hotel room prices have also increased due to the scarcity. To make sure that rooms will be available for those traveling from a distance, we have reserved a block of rooms at two local hotels, Comfort Inn Independence and Red Roof Inn Cleveland Independence. They are a stones throw from each other and are both good choices. Both are blocked for one night, January 29th. If you require more nights, please contact the hotel. While the block rates are guaranteed, you might be able to get a better price if you call soon and book a room not in the block. If you can’t get a better deal than the prices below, go ahead and mention the block rate for the Expo. The Comfort Inn is located at 6191 Quarry Lane, Independence, Ohio 44131. Their phone number is (216) 328-­‐7777. The guaranteed room rate is $99.99 plus tax. If you would like to take advantage of this offer, please call the Comfort Inn to reserve your room, no later than January 16, after which the rate expires. All of the rooms reserved at the Comfort Inn are non-­‐smoking with two double beds. They also provide a free continental breakfast, and free Internet, HBO, etc. You can get the block rate if you mention my name and the Northern Ohio Fly Fishing Expo. For more information, please see: http://www.comfortinn.com/hotel-­‐independence-­‐ohio-­‐OH095?sid=xfmTkg.niDgUgoUi.51. The Red Roof Inn is at 6020 Quarry Lane, Independence, Ohio 44131. Their number is 216-­‐
447-­‐0030. They also have free WIFI in their rooms, but they do not have a free breakfast. However, there is a Denny’s about 600 feet from the hotel and a Bob Evan’s about 400 feet away. The Red Roof Inn is technically a motel, with outdoor entrance to the rooms. It is priced at $93.49 plus tax for single occupancy, $97.74 plus tax for two. This will get you a nice room with 2 double beds. Use the code B028EXPO16 when making a reservation. Please call before December 29th to guarantee the block rate. For more information, please see: https://www.redroof.com/property/Independence/OH/44131/Hotels-­‐close-­‐to-­‐South-­‐
Cleveland-­‐Ohio-­‐I-­‐77-­‐I-­‐480/RRI028/. If you get shut out, there are several other hotels in the area of varying costs and quality. Both hotels are only 5 miles from the Expo venue, and less than a mile from many great restaurants, including Delmonico’s Steakhouse, the Winking Lizard Tavern, and Melt Bar and Grilled with gourmet grilled cheese and over 100 craft beers and microbrews. We will select a nearby restaurant for our Friday evening get-­‐together before the show on Saturday. Unfortunately, the restaurant that we went to last year seems to have closed. We will find a new location soon. The Northern Ohio Fly Fishing Expo will be held at the Cuyahoga Valley Career Center (http://www.cvccworks.edu) on January 30, 2016. The CVCC is south of Cleveland in Brecksville, Ohio, convenient to I-­‐77 between I-­‐480 and the Ohio Turnpike. The main exhibit room is large and airy, and will provide good space for vendors and tiers. We will have two seminar rooms for simultaneous talks and have scheduled some really interesting speakers to demonstrate killer flies and present novel fishing techniques, locations, and gear. We believe that the venue will draw more attendees from the west side of Cleveland and from Akron and Canton to the south. We will continue to encourage the folks from the Erie area and east to come to the Expo with advertising directed at them. We are keeping our prices for vendor space to a minimum. Please see the contract and pricing guideline at http://www.ncff.net/expo2015.html. We are again offering discounts for early sign up, as we have in the past. You may take a 15% discount if your contract and full payment are mailed and post-­‐marked by November 16, 2015; a 10% discount will be given if post-­‐marked by December 1, 2015. This is a little earlier than last year, so keep these dates in mind. Expo 2016 and participating vendors will be prominently advertised on our NCFF Expo website. Vendors who sign up and pay for their space will have their names, a short description of their services, and contact information including a web link added to the site for promotional purposes. The site will remain open, with vendor names, until October 2016 when we will begin promoting Expo 2017. Please visit the site at http://www.ncff.net. You will note it contains a Sponsors tab, where vendors and sponsors from Expo 2015 are listed. We will list our 2016 vendors as soon as we receive payment for vendor registration. We believe this will be a valuable form of free advertising for you. We also plan to have a tab dedicated to our Expo with directions, maps, and video of our tyers and vendors from the show. Additional Expo information will be posted to this site over time. We will continue our successful seminar series covering a wide range of fishing topics, and will provide them throughout the day. We believe this will attract, and keep, more visitors at the show throughout the day. Finally, we are again looking at all forums and media for advertising, to ensure a large turnout. Last year we advertised on http://www.cleveland.com and had a shout out by Bill Wills on his morning radio show on WTAM 1100 AM. We were also featured on the radio show “Buckeye Sportsman with Dan Armitage.” We also count on our vendors to help advertise their participation through their business websites and email distribution lists. Please let us know that you want to be part of the North Coast’s premier fly fishing show by signing up now, and take advantage of all the benefits that early sign up offers. Please complete the vendor contract form from the website, and mail it with your payment. Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions at [email protected]. Sincerely, Mark Hickman Director, 2016 NCFF Northern Ohio Fly Fishing Expo