Convention Time Is Here!
By Sven K. Lindquist, SCI President
The highlight of the year for SCI is now upon us! The Convention will be held in Nashville, Feb. 22-25. We talk a lot about the annual Convention being SCI’s biggest fundraising event of the year — where we raise a big portion of the funds needed to carry out our mission programs.
Although it is true that the Convention is our biggest money maker, it actually is very much more than simply that. It also is about meeting friends, outfitters and folks from all of the companies in the hunting world.
Hunting is a culture unto itself, and the SCI Convention is a cultural imperative for hunters from around the world. It is where we arrange for hunts for the coming year and purchase all of the equipment that will be needed on those hunts.
Since hunting is what brings all of us together in the first place, it is not imagining things to suggest that hunting also defines us in the process. We are hunters, and we are proud of it. Show your pride by being part of the greatest get-together of hunters the world has ever seen.
The Convention is so crucial to SCI’s operations that it has become a year-round effort in that, as soon as one Convention is over, work begins in earnest on the next one. We have been working all year to make this Convention the best ever, and I am confident it will be.
Members who have not yet decided to attend this year’s Convention are still encouraged to make last-minute plans and be there. Since the Convention is in Nashville, it literally is within driving distance of millions of hunters — something we’ve never had before.
Although I encourage all members to attend all four days of the Convention to be able to enjoy the total experience, I also welcome members who may be able to attend only one or two days.
Like anything that is good and fun, the SCI Convention is habit-forming. Once you attend, you’ll want to come back year after year. And that’s a good thing. The more engaged you are with SCI, the more you will benefit from everything this organization has to offer.
Meanwhile, the staff has been working nonstop, addressing big things and small details alike. That’s what it takes to put on the best Convention in the hunting world.
All of SCI’s volunteer leaders will be at the Convention, and we look forward to saying “Hi” personally to as many members as we can. We want every member to feel good at the Convention and to derive as much from the Convention as possible.
Ultimately, we are all together in the fight to save hunting, so let’s get together at the Convention and see what we can do to keep hunting a part of the human experience. And there is nothing wrong with us all having a great time doing it.
See you in Nashville.