Businesses that don't support our hobby
So today's project is to sort through more crap in the garage.
I already found homes for some extra tools thanks to "freecycle", and have created a pile of stuff to bring to the "swap shop" at the dump on my next trip.
Before I felt compelled to drop what I was doing and come write this, I was sorting through a box of old paper stuff. It is from roughly 1994. Lots of old catalogs to throw right in the trash, newspaper clippings of reenactments, old stock car racing magazines, some pictures of me before my hair went grey etc.
Towards the bottom of the box was a stash of stuff relating to the semi-annual black powder shoots we used to run. Score records, a few targets, expense reports etc. There were also two envelopes from Gander Mountain and Cabela's. I had written to them (and others) to ask about prize donations because we were starting to get a good turnout at the shoots and better prizes were in order than frozen turkeys and boxes of vegetables. Some vendors provided nice prizes: Smoke & Fire News gave a subscription, Jas. Townsend gave a really nice knife, Arrowhead Forge gave some stuff, Blue Northern gave a gift certificate, Hunter's Rendezvous provided targets, I'm sure there are more but it was 11 years ago and memory fades.
The letters from Cabela's and Gander Mountain came as kind of a shock to me at the time, and even more so now. They were both willing to donate a $25 gift certificate to our shoot in exchange for a complete membership roster and mailing address for every member of our gun club. What jerks.
Donate a gift or don't donate a gift. Send a rejection letter if you feel compelled to do so. (unfortunately, I know I have lost a few prize requests on my desk, don't take it personally, I always try to donate prizes) What these two companies wanted to do was pretty insulting. They basically wanted to buy our personal info from the Sportsman's Club for a $25 gift certificate. At the time, our gun club membership was in the 750 range. I wanted to host a good shoot, but I was not willing to prostitute our member's privacy to do it.
I don't remember the last time I saw a Gander Mountain catalog, but I get Cabela's catalogs all the time. I had forgotten about this incident, and looking back on it, I am glad that I don't think I actually ever bought anything from Cabela's.
I already found homes for some extra tools thanks to "freecycle", and have created a pile of stuff to bring to the "swap shop" at the dump on my next trip.
Before I felt compelled to drop what I was doing and come write this, I was sorting through a box of old paper stuff. It is from roughly 1994. Lots of old catalogs to throw right in the trash, newspaper clippings of reenactments, old stock car racing magazines, some pictures of me before my hair went grey etc.
Towards the bottom of the box was a stash of stuff relating to the semi-annual black powder shoots we used to run. Score records, a few targets, expense reports etc. There were also two envelopes from Gander Mountain and Cabela's. I had written to them (and others) to ask about prize donations because we were starting to get a good turnout at the shoots and better prizes were in order than frozen turkeys and boxes of vegetables. Some vendors provided nice prizes: Smoke & Fire News gave a subscription, Jas. Townsend gave a really nice knife, Arrowhead Forge gave some stuff, Blue Northern gave a gift certificate, Hunter's Rendezvous provided targets, I'm sure there are more but it was 11 years ago and memory fades.
The letters from Cabela's and Gander Mountain came as kind of a shock to me at the time, and even more so now. They were both willing to donate a $25 gift certificate to our shoot in exchange for a complete membership roster and mailing address for every member of our gun club. What jerks.
Donate a gift or don't donate a gift. Send a rejection letter if you feel compelled to do so. (unfortunately, I know I have lost a few prize requests on my desk, don't take it personally, I always try to donate prizes) What these two companies wanted to do was pretty insulting. They basically wanted to buy our personal info from the Sportsman's Club for a $25 gift certificate. At the time, our gun club membership was in the 750 range. I wanted to host a good shoot, but I was not willing to prostitute our member's privacy to do it.
I don't remember the last time I saw a Gander Mountain catalog, but I get Cabela's catalogs all the time. I had forgotten about this incident, and looking back on it, I am glad that I don't think I actually ever bought anything from Cabela's.
posted by MVTCoPete | 8:02 PM
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