July 14, 2014
Contact:
Chris Hunt, National Communications Director (208) 406-9106
Joel R. Johnson, Chief Marketing Officer (646) 573-6410
Kirk Deeter, Editor, TROUT Magazine (303) 808-1285
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Trout Unlimited President and CEO to speak to ICAST/IFTD attendees today
Chris Wood will discuss how partnering with TU is good for conservation, and good for business
ORLANDOPartnering with Trout Unlimited and helping the conservation organization improve fishing throughout the United States is good for fishing and good for the fishing industrys bottom line, said TUs President and CEO Chris Wood.
Wood will speak to attendees at ICAST/IFTD at 11 a.m. ET today at the Orlando Convention Center, room 209A. His talk, titled, Conservation and Your Bottom Line: Its More than just Philanthropy, its Good for Business, is open to all show attendees.
Not only is TU a leader when it comes to on-the-ground work to make fishing better in America, were one of the largest customers in the fishing world, Wood said. Every year, we spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on gear and equipment that we use for membership recruitment, and our 158,000 members spend many millions more every year. We leave a heavy footprint on this industry, and were hoping the industry will help us with our mission to protect and restore trout and salmon waters across the country. The results speak for themselvesbetter fishing means more opportunity for anglers. More opportunity translates into more revenue for the industry.
There are other benefits of partnering with TU, as well. For instance, Wood said, TUs marketing capability is better than its ever beenthe organization has invested heavily in its marketing and communications department over the last two years. It recently brought on new Chief Marketing Officer Joel R. Johnson and increased the size of the organizations signature magazine, TROUT. The magazine is edited by well-known fishing writer Kirk Deeter, and reaches 500,000 readers every quarter. Deeter is also the director of industry strategy for TU.
Additionally, TU is producing daily content on its website, which is overseen by National Communications Director Chris Hunt. The organizations social media network is growing more and more robust every dayTUs Facebook page has more than 58,000 fans, and the organization has almost 18,000 Twitter followers.
TU has important existing relationships with the fly fishing industry. For example, it partners with The Orvis Co. on the1,000 Miles CampaignOrvis and its customers contribute more than $100,000 every year to a fund used by TU to remove or replace faulty culverts all across America. The goal is open up 1,000 miles of trout and salmon habitat over the next seven years by removing barriers to fish migration. TU also partners with companies like Costa on the organizations Five Rivers college membership program, and Simms on TUs work to reduce the non-native lake trout population in Yellowstone Lake. In addition to helping TU reach its goals, these companies are promoted through TUs various channels throughout the year, both through promotion of the organizations work and through TUs new Corporate Partnership Program and its Endorsed Business Program.
Industry members can join TU as corporate partners by contacting Johnson or as endorsed businesses by contacting TU Endorsed Business Director Walt Gasson. Both will be at the ICAST/IFTD show this week.
Both Corporate and Endorsed Business partners are listed in every issue of TROUT, and partners receive many other benefits every year, including reduced advertising rates in TROUT, free TU memberships for staff and customers and opportunities to attend trips and events with TU staff and volunteers.
We are doubling down on our commitment to the fishing industry, Wood said. We want folks in the industry to double down on conservation and help us make fishing better for everyone. We think its more than just helping us meet our goalswe believe that investing in TU is good business.
Trout Unlimited is the nations oldest and largest coldwater fisheries conservation organization dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North Americas trout and salmon and their watersheds. Follow TU on Facebook and Twitter, and visit us online at tu.org. Follow TU at ICAST/IFTD at this years show on Twitter by following #TUICAST and #TUIFTD, as well as by checking in regularly at the TU blog.