Good day folks! Michael Sims here, President and CoFounder of Hook + Gaff. Most of you are familiar by now with our partnership with Ducks Unlimited. Last fall, we launched a series of Custom Edition DU Logo Field Watches coming in three different dial colors: tan, camo, and a unique mallard feather design. Well, I'm excited to say that these have been so well received that we recently just launched a new pintail feather design, shipping in just a few days. It is available now for pre-order on the website, and this watch is GORGEOUS! Please go check it out! We hope to make these unique DU editions collectors' items for members as well as any of our fans who love our watches. Once these are gone, we will move on to a new design, so make sure to snag one if you like it!
Now, I'd love to say a few words about the fine folks at DU as well as our experience at the DU Convention in Memphis, also known as DUX. This was only the second year of the expo, held at the convention center downtown, which is perfect for all Mississippi flyway duck hunters. Memphis also happens to be the headquarters for DU. Over the years we've done many expos, mostly in the Southeast, and we had expectations of the turnout and response we thought we'd receive, but we vastly underestimated the duck hunting crowd. People flew in from all over the country to attend DUX, and we were absolutely blown away by the response. Everyone was extremely nice and respectful and very responsive to our brand and our story. We really loved getting to share our story with the regional directors for DU as well as all of the patrons that came to shop. Texas--you showed up BIG! We have some neat things on the horizon for the state of TX and we hope to get some more brand awareness in your neck of the woods very soon.
In addition, we were able to network with a few brands and ambassadors. Speaking of Texas, I have to give a huge shoutout to Jeff Stanfield and his family who made the trip up. Jeff has The Big Honker Podcast and has been a tremendous supporter of our brand for the last year or so. Please give his podcast a listen! Christian Zeron was also kind enough to stop by. It's not often you have a watch enthusiast with a vintage watch dealership who is also being courted by DU to help promote wetlands conservation for waterfowl habitat. He flew in to do a podcast with the folks at DU but was able to stop by the booth and check out the watches, giving us a shoutout on social media. Very cool! Much appreciated.
We saw fellow South Carolinian Joey D'Amico up there representing Tekton Gamecalls, and he also has an outfitter in Saskatchewan for you die hards. Our friends with Brackish Bowties were moving and shaking, especially with their newest women's jewelry collection. Yeti has some great things going on, along with Duck Camp--we discussed the flagship store location going up in Austin. Turtlebox dropped by with a custom DU logo speaker (so cool! Thank you guys!). Lastly, for you bourbon guys, there's a group out of Memphis that launched Duck Club Bourbon and it's just making its way to our neck of the woods. Check it out. Baker and the guys over there couldn't have been nicer, and I think they are selling a fantastic product (and they have a tequila as well--Alma del Jaguar).
Overall DUX was a HUGE success and we can't wait to go back! Hope to see many of you there next year!
Michael Sims
CoFounder/President