June 10, 2025 • 43 mins
The passionate defense of conservation through hunting takes center stage as we welcome Rob McCanna, CEO of Dallas Safari Club (DSC). Rob's journey from small-town Pennsylvania outdoorsman to conservation leader reveals how a childhood connection to nature evolved into a mission to protect wildlife worldwide.
Dallas Safari Club might sound like a local hunting club, but don't let the name fool you. This powerhouse conservation organization operates globally with 27 chapters across America and international expansion on the horizon. Through their foundation, DSC awards millions in grants supporting wildlife research, habitat management, anti-poaching initiatives, and human-wildlife conflict mitigation worldwide.
The conversation tackles misconceptions head-on, particularly around African hunting. Rob shares a stunning statistic: not a single species faces extinction due to trophy hunting in Africa. Instead, the economic value created through regulated hunting provides crucial funding for habitat preservation and gives local communities alternatives to poaching or converting wilderness to agriculture.
Education emerges as a cornerstone of DSC's mission. Their partnership with the Outdoor Tomorrow Foundation brings conservation curriculum into middle and high schools nationwide, rekindling connections to nature that modern life often severs. As Rob notes, "When you take people out and expose them to hunting, shooting, fishing, you immediately see the impact it has on them."
Looking ahead, Rob invites listeners to the upcoming DSC Expo and Gala in July at the Gaylord Texan Resort—where a special announcement will unveil the organization's next conservation initiative. With membership options starting at just $250 for three years (currently including a custom knife worth $300), supporting wildlife conservation has never been more accessible.
Visit biggame.org to discover how hunters worldwide are uniting to ensure wild places and species thrive for generations to come. As Rob puts it, DSC brings together "like-minded people with one thing in mind, and that's how to help."
Check us out on Facebook and instagram Hunts On Outfitting, and also our YouTube page Hunts On Outfitting Podcast. Tell your hunting buddies about the podcast if you like it, Thanks!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
this is hunts on outfitting podcast.
I'm your host and rookie guide,ken marr.
I love everything hunting theoutdoors and all things
associated with it, from storiesto howos.
You'll find it here.
Welcome to the podcast.
Hey, thanks for listening tothis podcast episode.
(00:35):
It means a lot when you do.
We've got a great one for you.
Today we are talking about anawesome organization that is
first for hunters that manyhunters might not even know
about.
The Dallas Safari Club is aworld leader in supporting
conservation and, not to mention, has one of the greatest
outdoor shows on earth.
We get into all that and somuch more here today.
You know it's great to learnabout places like this that care
(00:58):
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These people really do careabout your pet, being pet owners
(01:21):
themselves.
Also speaking about awesomeorganizations for you Canadian
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(01:44):
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We're excited to have you guyslistening on this podcast
episode today.
If you want to reach out to us,you can on Facebook Hunts on
Outfitting or by emailhuntsonoutfitting at gmailcom
All right.
Hunts on outfitting at gmailcomAll right.
(02:05):
Yeah.
So, rob, I mean, you recentlybecame the CEO of the Dallas
Safari Club, whichcongratulations.
Some people might not know whatwe're talking about.
I find that a lot of huntersknow about it, but I find even
more maybe don't, and it's agreat organization.
But before we get into, we knowwhat you guys do and what it's
(02:26):
all about.
Would you mind kind of tellingus let's meet you, I guess?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Who's Rob?
Oh boy, that's a loadedquestion.
Just a summary.
Yeah, I guess a summary is andI've done a few podcasts and
been trying to tell people aboutwho I am since I've been here.
I actually started January 2ndin the role of CEO of Dallas
Fire Club and Dallas Fire ClubFoundation and where I spent 35
(02:55):
years before that was in theshooting sports industry.
So I worked for a lot of bigbrands Remington Arms Company,
walter Arms, places like thatfor a lot of years, wholesale
side of the business andeverything, sort of soup to nuts
in the shooting sports for 35years and that, that, that sort
of grounds you.
But how did I get into theshooting sports?
(03:16):
I think we can really back it upto, uh, being born and raised
in northwestern pennsylvania ina little 2,500 one-stop light
town where you knew what time ofyear it was, by what animal you
were hunting or which fish youwere catching or anything like
that.
So it was sort of instilled intoyour blood the outdoors and I
(03:41):
think that started.
I got into fishing probably at8, 9 years old and hunting at 12
years old when you could do it,and back in those days you
really understood, you enjoyedwhat you're doing, but you
didn't know why.
And that leads you into, hey,going to the shooting sports
industry after you get out ofcollege, or even while in
(04:01):
college, working at a localfirearms store because of your
passion that you have for theoutdoors and the things you do.
So what you find is, as youmove up the totem pole in your
job and your job descriptionover the years, you have less
and less time for doing why yougot involved with it in the
(04:23):
first place.
So you start to realize as youget older that, yes, you love
hunting, you love the outdoors,you love everything about it,
but it all comes back toconservation and introducing new
people to that way of life andbeing able to guarantee the
future of that lifestyle goingforward for generations to come,
if that makes any sense.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Absolutely it does.
Yeah, so you know that's yourstart into it.
How?
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I mean, how did you become about getting the role of
being the CEO of such a great,you know organization foundation
?
So it actually came out of theblue and I was working in Fort
Smith, arkansas, for Walter ArmsCompany and had only been in
that position as CEO there forabout five years and everything
was good, very happy, and Ihappened to attend the Dallas
Safari Club Foundation gala inDallas a year ago and I met a
(05:26):
lot of people and just startedtalking to them and I saw there
was a lot of crossover from theshooting sports industry to the
people were there from theoutdoor, personality people and
everything like that, and wejust started talking a little
bit and I met a lot of the keyplayers from the organization
and I didn't know at the timethat they were looking for a new
CEO and we didn't even talkabout it.
(05:47):
And an opportunity came up laterthat year that was in July, and
in October a phone call came upjust asking me if I knew
anybody that would be interestedin the position with my
contacts and I talked to Scottthere and thought about it a
little bit and I said I'd get ahold of some people and get back
to them.
And then, as I hung up thephone, I said, well, hey, maybe
(06:09):
that should be me, maybe Ishould talk to him about it.
And we had a great conversation.
And that led to anotherconversation, another
conversation and by mid-NovemberI had accepted the position as
the new CEO here.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Oh wow, so almost by happenstance.
That's great, I mean.
I think, though, too, you saidthat you came from the shooting
sports industry, but I mean thesimilarities between that and
what's going on at the DallasSafari Club, or any organization
like that would be.
You know, whether it's shootingor fishing or hunting, we're
all trying to protect andconserve what we're able to do
(06:45):
at the moment and hopefully cancontinue to do forever.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Right and it also offers up because there is a
little distinction between thetwo One, I mean the corporate
world, and then the nonprofitworld.
And what's funny is theconservation side.
Is, you know, standing up?
I mean, let me read you the.
Not read you, but tell you.
The mission of Dallas SafariClub is basically to ensure the
(07:11):
conservation of wildlife throughpublic engagement, education
and advocacy for well-regulatedhunting and sustainable use.
So when you hear that thatsounds like a lot of things, but
you hear the whole idea ofhunting and doing it through
education and advocacy, and yourealize that, hey, most hunters,
(07:32):
why aren't they tied togetherwith people to support Second
Amendment rights?
There really has been no cross.
The shooting sports is allabout Second Amendment rights.
So, tying groups together.
We've worked with the NRA sinceI've come on board and talking
to things like that and gettingother organizations, all the
manufacturers on the firearmsand ammunition side and things
(07:55):
like that, to understand that,hey, conservation is tied to
your industry, industry and weneed to work together so that we
all can have a united voice todo the things we need to do to
make sure that we ensure theheritage for many, many years to
come right?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
yeah, I mean, it's not just about doing this for
hunting, necessarily.
It's doing it just to havethese animals and the protected
land that you know, that, thatthat they live on, for everyone
to be able to enjoy and use,just like you were saying.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yep, it's exactly that.
It's the outdoors in general andmaking sure that we're all
there to promote it, because alot of people don't like our way
of life or that way of life andthose people and organizations
tend to have a unified voice ofhow they come against us a lot
of times and we haven't reallyfigured out how to be that
unified voice, to push back andto start getting our agenda
(08:49):
known.
Also and the other side of thatis telling people the great
things that we do and that wasthe one thing that even I didn't
know about Dallas Safari Clubbefore I came on board is that
Dallas Fire Club never reallytooted their own horn out there
and told people what they'redoing and why they do it.
(09:10):
And when you really dig into it,what I saw when I get here and
I've been in the position forabout five months now but
between Dallas Fire Club andDallas Fire Club Foundation, we
award millions of dollars inconservation grants and we're
putting that money out therethat supports wildlife research,
habitat management,anti-coaching, all those type of
(09:37):
things that go to, I mean,reduce human-wildlife conflict
mitigate programs and stuff likethat.
Human wildlife conflictmitigate programs and stuff like
that All these funds that we'reputting out there is really to
support the way of life andsupport the sustainable use of
that lifestyle going forward andI didn't know that coming into
this position of how much workwas being done that way.
(10:00):
But those monies and thosedollars, they really make a
difference out there.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Oh yeah, I mean, and it's great to have a unified
front because I find, as hunters, a lot of us, you know, we wake
up every morning thinking likewhere should I hang my tree
stand?
What bucks do I have on camera?
Where do I want to go on myhunt this year?
I mean, there's people thatwake up every day and think how
can we stop hunting?
How can we stop hunting?
And we need to realize that Ithink sometimes and hopefully
(10:28):
join some organizations and helpgive a voice against that.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Right, and that was going back to the conversation
of who is Rob.
What really made my decision soeasy when the opportunity came
up to come to work for thisgreat organization was I've been
blessed to be in the shootingsports industry for 35 years and
had many contacts and met manypeople and had a great career.
But the aspect of that passion,of why I got into the shooting
(10:55):
sports how could I reignite thatpassion and use the back half
of my career to do some good andgive back to help promote that,
that going forward and makingsure that not just my generation
but the next generation, thegeneration after that all has
the ability to enjoy thesuccesses and and things that
(11:19):
I've experienced in my life?
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Right, yeah, exactly.
So let's back up a tiny bit andjust can you get us the start,
the sum up, of the Dallas SafariClub?
It's located in Dallas, texas,and you know, if you could just
how it came about for thosepeople wondering.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Well, Dallas Safari Club it's actually.
The funny thing is it's beenaround for a long time.
I think it's 42 years orsomething like that.
My math might be off, but Ibelieve it started in 1982.
And it started as a group ofpeople right here in Dallas and
that's where the name came from,which has evolved so much,
which I think is you hear DallasSafari Club and you think,
(11:59):
first of all, you hear safari,you think, oh, it's only about
Africa.
Well, it's not about thatanymore.
You hear club and we're muchbigger than a club.
So addressing that is from whatit started, as 42 years ago, the
organization has grown into oneof the number one conservation
organizations in the world andwe reach out all over the world.
(12:20):
We have 27 chapters across theUnited States, seven chapters
across the United States.
We're looking at doing chaptersin maybe Canada, Europe, South
Africa and that whole safaripart of it.
It does lead to saying a lotabout the stuff safari in Africa
and most countries, but we alsodo a ton of work in the United
(12:42):
States and in Canada and Mexicoand all those other places.
It's a worldwide organization.
It's not a club, it's a bigorganization that really is out
there to promote, I guess, touse another tagline to promote
science-based wildlifemanagement and conservation
programs at a worldwide level,Right, at a worldwide level.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Right, and then I like that word that you used.
It's not used enough.
Maybe the science-based, notemotion-based, like the antis
use and stuff but it'sscience-based on regulated
hunting.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah, that is such a key to all of this, because
hunters, conservationists,everybody that's what we talk
about, this unified voice.
A lot of times, the emotionscan lead people that are
like-minded to disagree witheach other and not get in line.
But if you always stick to thescience and look at why you're
doing things and why things haveworked and why things don't
work, and you look at thescience, it becomes very clear
(13:43):
how people can work together andsupport the same thing and take
that emotion out of it, justlike you said.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Right, yeah, yeah.
So I mean you guys have a lotgoing on all over.
I want to kind of get into that, especially about your film,
the Journey to Understandingthat.
You guys your short film withis it Catherine Semker?
Yeah, in the Zambezi Valley.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, we have a lot of projects out there like that
and actually I'd like to talkabout that one.
Maybe we can do that more at alater date because I want to put
you into more some currentthings that we're really talking
about right now, and thebiggest thing we have on our
plate right now is July 17ththrough 19th.
We are having an inauguralevent right here in Dallas at
(14:35):
the Gaylord Texan.
That was kind of sprung out ofa couple different areas.
We've had a foundation gala forabout five years and it's been
so successful that this yearwe're adding an expo to it and
it's turned into a sold-outevent from an exhibit standpoint
, where we're going to have athree-day show, where there's
going to be a show foreverybody's invited and see some
(15:01):
of the best hunting outdoors,all kinds of different products
that's available in the industry, and have a three-day show.
So we're real excited aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah well, I've heard that there's everything there
to buy, from T-shirts tohelicopters.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yeah, that would sum it up, which sounds pretty funny
when you say it that way, butyes, it's really.
It's a show floor that when youwalk around, there's something
new to look at and somethingexciting around every corner.
You may go from talking to ahunting outfitter that's selling
a trip to New Zealand and walkaway from his booth and turn the
(15:43):
corner and see a jewelry storethat has some of the most
beautiful jewelry you've everseen in your life, and then walk
away from the jewelry store andsee some beautiful artwork and
paintings or bronze and then,like you said, then you turn the
corner and there's a helicopter.
Then you turn the other cornerand there might be a yacht
(16:05):
sitting there.
So it's truly a show, for thathas something for everybody.
But the one thing about it isit's excitement, no matter where
you look, and that's what.
That's what turns it into areally fun, different event that
allows people to bring thewhole family to and enjoy
themselves in a nice resort inin dallas.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
When it's in the end of july, it can be pretty hot
yeah, yeah, exactly, and uh, youknow it's just like you said,
it's exciting for all members ofthe family and uh, it's going,
you know it's for a great causeand just supporting what you
guys do and just getting thename out there as well.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right, and the bottom line of it it's not what we
talked about earlier.
The other side of that is it isa fundraiser and we use it.
We have backpacks and we haveevents where we have auctions
and we have raffles and allthose types of things, but it's
also an event to raise money todo all those things we talked
about.
We need to be able to do thosethose things we talked about.
(17:06):
We need to be able to do thosethings so we can have that grant
money to pass it on to supportthings and move things into the
future.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Right, and then I mean one of your great grants.
You know you guys do grants tosupport anti-poaching.
If you want to talk about thatbecause people think you know
they see it's a hunting club,Well, that's probably presume,
but they don't.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
They wouldn't think that you guys would be
supporting anti-poaching, maybe,and things like that, just
trying to help, uh, preserve theanimals yep, and and when you
say anti-poaching this this isanother thing that really hit me
hard is from an outsidestandpoint, or even people that
have been hunting for theirwhole lives you hear
anti-poaching and you just think, oh well, you know, somebody's
(17:46):
just out there taking one animalillegally, or something like
that.
I mean this is big business.
And it gets to the point wherecertain animals that are
protected I mean people areshooting animals and it becomes
very dangerous.
People lose their lives.
These poachers are serious.
These poachers are serious andwe have to use a lot of that
(18:11):
funding to support things fromlaw enforcement to military
involvement, sometimes even toto take care of some of these
things in in foreign countriesand even in the US, you have to
watch a lot of things are donethat can really impact the
species and can really impactthings that will go forward with
the hunting regulations thatare passed due to people that
(18:34):
are breaking law.
So it's a very important partof what we do and it's something
we're always focused on andlooking at from every direction.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah, well, like you said about the anti-poaching
yeah, people maybe there's amisconception thinking, yeah,
like you said, they're onlytaking an animal or two or
something.
I mean these are, most of themare well-organized, often backed
by, you know, militant rebelgroups to get more money for you
know, say in the ivory trade,etc.
I mean they are really wipingout some species and, like you
(19:03):
said, you need militaries to goin and deal with them.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Right, right.
So it's a very big problem andsomething that probably doesn't
get on most people's radar.
So I appreciate you calling itout, because that is something
we spend a ton of time on.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeah, I mean to people.
I was having a conversationwith the hunter the other day
and I just thought everyone kindof realized this, but maybe not
.
He was against.
He's like oh, I don't thinkthere needs to be trophy hunting
, you know, in africa.
Like he's against africanhunting because the media has
kind of put it out as a badthing and and I, you know, I
know the film talks about that abit, but just in general people
don't realize how important itis.
(19:43):
I, you need to put a monetaryvalue on an animal People aren't
going to pay most people won'tanyway $60,000, say, to take a
picture of an elephant, but theywill pay that to hunt it, and
that in turn protects, you know,the land there, not to mention
the meat going back to thelocals and the jobs created.
That keeps those locals fromgetting into helping poachers,
(20:06):
you know, just to put food ontheir table.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Yeah, and I mean when you really think about it.
I mean you did a great summarythere.
I can tell you've watched themovie and stuff.
But when you look at Dallas FireClub members or even members of
other organizations that go tothese places, they routinely
travel to some of the mostremote, most dangerous places in
the world to hunt and theopportunity to hunt in those
(20:30):
localities and stuff itfrequently provides the only
income available to the localpopulations in those areas and
maybe the only thing keepinglocals from eliminating native
wildlife habitat is the factthat people are coming and
spending money and it's keepingthem afloat and doing the things
it needs to do in those areas.
(20:51):
And you talked about also themeat donation.
And that's the one thing is, ifyou do go over to South Africa
or Namibia or Tanzania orwherever you go, you can go hunt
animals there and you can bringback the hides that you can't
bring back any of the meat.
And the great thing about withour organization that all those
animals that are shot, that meatgoes to the local communities
(21:13):
and feeds the people and it's asustainable source of protein
that people might not have, or Ishouldn't say might not have.
They would not have if thosehunters were not there doing it.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, exactly, and too, I mean these animals.
Say, when you're on an elephanthunt or giraffe, normally these
animals aren't just selected atrandom.
I mean the pH there has certainones chosen that need to be
eliminated from the herd for,you know, various reasons.
There's a lot of thought putinto it and I looked up the
numbers just out of curiosity,because some people you know
(21:46):
they think that the elephantsare dying off.
Uh, in the zimbizhi valley Ilooked, I think the population
was like well over 200 000animals yeah, and it it stands
that way and that's what.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
That's what hunting has done and that's what
conservation does.
When you're managing wildlifethrough hunting, you can get
these results.
Where you have growth, peoplelaugh about it, but the more
that the hunters are involved,there usually gets to be more
animals than there are less, andyou want to hear from here.
I'll give you a really goodstat here, as you hear people
(22:22):
that are against trophy huntingor just any hunting in general
in Africa.
Let me ask you a question Doyou know how many numbers of
species that are threatened withextinction due to trophy
hunting in Africa are right now?
How many numbers of species arethreatened with extinction due
to people hunting them?
Speaker 1 (22:42):
I'm guessing about zero.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yep, the number is zero.
And that's the amazing part is,and that's what conservation
and sustainable use can do forpopulations of animals.
If there was not that going onin a lot of these countries,
there would be a lot of animalswho would already be wiped from
the continent and we'd never seethem again.
(23:05):
So it's a great success storyalso.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yeah, well, I mean not to just completely talk
about Africa, but it's a uniqueplace.
You know, I'm sure you'refamiliar with the whole Cecil
the Lion story with the dentistfrom there that shot it legally
and all that.
And you know there's a biguproar and everything.
And then I remember readingabout it later and there was no
more lion hunting there, becauseyou know there's a big uproar
(23:28):
and everything.
And then I remember readingabout it later and there was no
more line hunting there becauseyou know the outfitters and
stuff, everyone was threatenedand the animal rights groups and
stuff going after them, and Iguess that area was logged
because it had no monetary valueto keep it left, you know, as
wilderness.
It was logged and it was turnedinto farmland and there'll be
no more animals there anymore.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Right.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
They, uh, they did a lot more damage than they think.
They killed a lot more animalsin the end, the animal rights
group, uh, than they could everknow.
By just like lack of ignorance,I guess you could say on the
subject, yeah.
Yeah, so uh so, Rob, what otherprojects?
Uh, so Rob, what other projects, uh, you know, do you guys have
going on?
I know you guys got them allover the world.
(24:10):
I mean, what's some bigprojects you guys have going on
in, uh, in North America rightnow?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Well, well, one thing I do want to get back to.
Back to our our gala night onJuly 19th.
We are going to be announcingsomething very big and special
that our foundation, the DallasFire Club Foundation, is
(24:35):
bringing on board, and it'sgoing to be a great announcement
.
It's going to do things to helppromote conservation and do the
things we need to do and thepeople that support it.
So I do want to put a littlebuzz out there.
Between now and then, we'll bedoing a lot of little teaser ads
on social media and the talkslike I'm having with you now
(24:58):
about this program that's goingto be coming out for our great
big launch on that night.
So we're real excited aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yeah, it sounds very exciting and I'm sure people are
very curious as to what's whatit's going to be and you know,
and the tickets to get into andeverything are very, very
reasonable.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Yeah, and there's opportunities.
We were having a lot of socialmedia influencers getting out
there right now and I don't wantto give too much away to the
people that haven't boughttickets yet, but there's going
to be some discount codes andpeople being able to get on the
floor for, like I said, ticketscompared to other events and
something in this caliber.
It'll be very, very familyfriendly pricing and everything
(25:39):
like that.
So we're excited about theticket sales that are going on
and all of our advertising isbreaking right now.
Ticket sales that are going onand all of our advertising is
breaking right now.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Yeah.
So it's July 17th and 19th thissummer in Texas.
Those of you wonderingdefinitely, yeah, it'd be worth
the trip out.
I definitely plan on going.
I won't be able to do this year, but next year I'd like to fly
down here from Canada and checkit out.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yeah well, the good news is you don't even get to
wait until next summer, becausethis is our event in the summer,
and then in February of 2026,we will be back to our next
convention.
So February 2026, we're back inAtlanta with our full-blown
convention, which is as big asthis gala and expo is.
(26:24):
Our convention tends to be.
The show floor tends to beabout twice to almost three
times the size, and when you seehow big everything's going to
be at the expo, that's reallygoing to blow people's minds to
realize the expo's big, but whenwe get to our convention that's
really the giant size of it.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Yeah, so just something else to really look
forward to and plan out on thecalendars.
Yeah, maybe I'll be able tomake that one.
It'd be a good time of year togo somewhere that's a bit warmer
, yeah, so, rob, you guys alsodo a lot.
I mean, obviously the youth arevery important because that's
the next generation that'shopefully going to carry on what
(27:02):
you guys are accomplishing andhope to accomplish.
You guys do a lot of stuff withthe youth.
Would you care to talk a bitabout that, just with safety
courses and just getting someinvolvement?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Well, so here's a new one for us actually and it's
funny, it keeps coming back toour july event to be to the
guest.
So, uh, we're actually having atexas uh hunter's education
class scheduled, uh, during ouruh expo and gala that people of
any age and a lot of times itleans towards youth, but it can
be of any age can come in andthere's a six-hour course to get
(27:43):
their hunter's educationcertification for the state of
Texas.
So that's a big thing we'redoing.
We're offering that at a realreasonable price, providing
lunch and doing everything.
So it's an opportunity foreverybody that wants to get
involved to get their hunter'seducation credentials and do
that.
We also have some things comingup.
There's a great organizationthat we have started getting
(28:05):
back together with that we Idon't know why, but over a bunch
of years they sort of separated, but it's called the Outdoor
Tomorrow Foundation and we'reholding an event with them.
I'll probably get the datewrong here.
I want to say June 19th.
We're getting together, justhaving a bunch of their members
and our members that have beenassociated in the past getting
(28:27):
them back together.
But the Outdoors TomorrowFoundation is an amazing
organization that actually hasprograms that they are teaching
actual classes in middle schoolsand high schools across the
United States, so those types ofpeople that they're actually
having classrooms, that you walkinto a classroom in a school
(28:48):
and see taxidermy and see DallasSafari Club banners and things
like that.
So people, the kids are actuallylearning about the outdoors
lifestyle while they're inschool and it's an accredited
class to their high school andeverything like that and that's
just an amazing, amazing programbecause we've sort of gotten
(29:11):
away from the people that livein cities don't understand the
upbringing that I had like Itold you in that small little
town in Pennsylvania is this isa way they can be exposed and
actually talking to the kids.
A couple times in one of theclassrooms I actually was able
to visit.
It was funny because the kidstold me they were interested in
(29:33):
the class.
Their parents didn't reallywant to take it because they
didn't understand it and thenafter the kids have signed up
for the class and love it somuch, now their parents are
getting involved with it.
So it's bringing not only thatyounger generation but the
medium generation in between abunch of the older people that
are out there.
It's really invigorating peopleto come back and see what the
(29:54):
outdoors is about and whyconservation makes sense and why
you should be involved.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Yeah, that's.
You know.
It's really great to hear, likeyou said, I find that as life
keeps going on, we're gettingsuch a much larger detachment
from our roots.
I mean, before it used to be,most people hunted or knew
someone that hunted and is justa very normal thing that you
know it's part of everyday lifereally and I find that, yeah,
it's, there's a huge detachmentfrom that now.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
And I blame technology for it, I blame time
for it.
It's just, it's a lot ofdifferent things and it's also,
unfortunately, where you grow upand where you're exposed to it,
where you have the ability tobe exposed to it.
So yes to your question aboutthe youth.
(30:46):
It is so important that westart letting people experience
the outdoors again and what thatmeans, and have them find the
joy in it that I was so lucky tobe able to find when I was 9 or
10 years old, when I startedinto it.
Because when you, when you takepeople out and expose them to
hunting, shooting, fishing,whatever it may be, you
immediately see the impact ithas on them and once that
passion is ignited in them, itcan start bringing those next
(31:09):
generations around again yeah,yeah, exactly so it's.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
It's really great that you guys are you know a
part of that as well.
Um, and then I see too, youguys you know, help fund
research and stuff into thingssaid science-based stuff that
sometimes animals need a seasonopened up back up on them, such
as, like the grizzly bears inBritish Columbia, where that had
shut down, and I think nowthey're starting to realize like
(31:33):
we should probably open thatagain down, and I think now
they're starting to realize like, uh, we should probably open
that again.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Yeah, I mean that comes down to, like you said,
the wildlife research andhabitat management and actually
population surveys.
When you see things that werefalling off and conservation
efforts have been put in placeor maybe species have been
reintroduced, you've got tomonitor them and that's where a
lot of the things that we getinvolved with with those
(31:59):
population surveys and these arethe grants that we give out
what these tend to fund, is theresearch into those type things
to monitor how those species aredoing and what the population
growth is and when it's time tosay, hey, I know we haven't
hunted these in a long time, butthe population is getting so
big that if we don't start we'regoing to have a bigger problem.
(32:20):
And also how those speciesinteract with other species.
If you get too many bears, youmight have not as many mule deer
, because there's some bear outthere that are taking a lot of
the young mule deer out of thesystem as a food source.
So it all ties together as afood source.
So it all ties together andthat's what makes it so great to
have the ability to get thegrants out and to monitor and to
(32:40):
do these different things tounderstand when it's time to
promote more hunting or lesshunting or whatever that may be.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, you know.
So, Rob, you're surrounded bythis every day.
This is your job.
More of a passion.
It sounds like to me, you know,do you get a chance to go
hunting yourself still?
Speaker 2 (33:01):
well, see, that was part of it.
So now that's, that's themillion dollar.
Question is I've, I've been, Ihave been very lucky to have
hunted all over the world andbut as time went on, that was
the part I was seeing in theprevious job I had is that I
really didn't have as much timeas I wanted to go out.
And really for me, at this stageof my life I still enjoy the
(33:23):
hunting so much.
But what I enjoy even more isintroducing new people to going
out and hunting.
So the time I have now I reallyfocus on trying to take and
introduce somebody who's neverhunted before, whether it be for
a squirrel, a turkey, a deer, akudu, whatever it may be,
(33:43):
whatever their passion may be,or what they're involved with is
being able to take somebody outand having them exposed to it
for the first time and having meintroduce them to it.
That's what I get a lot of joyout of, it and that that does a
lot of things that we've talkedabout, because that ignites the
passion in them, it keeps mypassion ignited and it also
brings them into uh, maybewanting to bring somebody else
(34:07):
in at their level at a latertime yeah, no, exactly, and I
try to bring as many peoplehunting as I can myself, and
even if they don't stick with it, at least they're educated to
it.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
So that way they're not necessarily they don't have
to do it, but they're notagainst it, and if ever it comes
up in conversation they can belike well, actually, you know it
is good and this is how it'sreally like and stuff.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
It makes it easier to debunk a lot of the myths out
there.
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Exactly right a lot of the myths out there.
What's going on exactly right?
Yeah, so I mean you've been allover the world hunting stuff.
Uh, I gotta ask where do youhave a top three favorite place,
favorite animal to hunt?
Speaker 2 (34:47):
and this is the question.
It's funny, this is thequestion I always get in this
position is the ceo dallas partyclub and what is?
What is your top animal?
Speaker 1 (34:56):
And.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
I always answer it the same way.
I really don't have a topanimal.
I have experiences and there'san emotional experience and then
there's animals and there's thetype of hunting and there's so
many different variables.
But I love hunting every animalequally the same.
(35:17):
If I'm going out hunting, likeI mentioned, whether it be a
squirrel or whether it be anelephant and I have never hunted
an elephant that is the top ofthe totem pole where I hope to
get to, but the love is thereand the passion is there for
every animal that I'm hunting.
From an emotional standpoint, Igrew up in Pennsylvania and it
(35:39):
was a heritage and it washunting with my father, my
brother, my, my, my relatives.
And if I could go and hunt oneone last time in my life it
would be if my dad can come backand join us again and hunt with
my family and spend time inPennsylvania hunting a white
tail.
That would be, that's where Icut my eyepiece and that would
be the emotional top of thechain for me.
(36:03):
Living in Dallas, I'm glad thatI'm finally a Texan after a lot
of years of living inPennsylvania, North Carolina,
Arkansas, now into Texas,because I found some great
hunting in Texas, down by theBig Bend region where you can
hunt free-range mule deer,desert mule deer and, believe it
(36:25):
or not, free-range elk.
That is just amazing.
And the experiences you canhunt in Texas and the wildlife
you have there.
I've been blessed.
I love hunting red deer inSpain, had an amazing
opportunity to do that, and eventraditional driven hunt in
Germany, just outside of Berlin,shooting fallow deer and roe
(36:49):
deer and boar.
So, like I said, I can go onand talk about the experiences
forever.
I don't ever like to rank thembecause I've enjoyed them
equally.
Uh, and it's just gettingsomething different out of each
of the experiences is what it'sall about nice, I like that.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
No, that was a.
That was a great answer.
I mean, it's not the animal,it's the experience and I I can
definitely appreciate that right, and all the experiences are
different and and it's who youshare them with too.
That's the other big part of ityeah, yeah, I mean I like that
part with hunting, especiallymyself here, a lot of the small
game hunting, because big gamessometimes people get a little
(37:30):
more uh, I don't want to saystandoffish, but it's more solo.
Uh, I like you know, I like thesocial aspect of the hunt and
just sharing it with whoeverwants to tag along.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
And from a business side of it.
I've always said this too.
This is another side that youprobably didn't look at.
I can learn more about aperson's character and ethics
and everything by spending afour-day hunt with them than I
could after 20 years of doingbusiness with them, because you
you really understand what makesa person tick and how they act
and everything, and you reallyget to know a person if you
(38:05):
spend time with them in thefield yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
I hadn't, you know, given that much thought, but
you're, you're absolutely right.
That makes complete sense,really.
I want to talk to you a bit,rob, about memberships.
Obviously, we're talking aboutthis great organization, all
that you guys do what it standsfor, what it helps protect and
grow.
How do people get signed up forit?
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Well, it's real easy.
Our website is very easy.
It's biggameorg, so it can'tget much more simple than that.
A bunch of small words thateverybody can spell.
So it makes it easy and it'seasy to remember.
It's the biggameorg, but we havememberships at all different
levels, from one year, threeyears, five years, lifetime,
(38:53):
spouse memberships, all kinds ofdifferent memberships and we're
really going to start promotingthose big time.
And again I hate to keep sayingthis I'm going to go back to
our event that's coming up anddo a push for our gala and expo
here in July.
Our three-year votingmembership has always run $250.
(39:17):
And it still will be that pricefor a three-year voting
membership at that event.
But if you sign up for thatmembership at that event over
our gala and expo date, we'regoing to have a limited edition
Flint Flame knife with a customDallas Safari Club logo engraved
(39:38):
into it that has a retail valueof three hundred dollars.
So you can do the math uh, youbuy a membership and you get the
membership for three years andeverything that comes with that.
Plus they're going to hand youa three hundred dollar knife
right over the table when yousign up for it.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
Wow, can't beat it.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
We're excited about that one.
I think it's a greatopportunity to get people to
understand what we're about andget into a good membership and
take part of voting andeverything we do, and get a
great keepsake and a highquality keepsake at the same
time.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
I mean, yeah, you can't lose with that.
I mean even the membershipitself, even if you aren't
getting that it's, you know, theknife.
It's a very reasonable, veryreasonable for what, what it's
going towards, you know right,just helping protect what we all
, you know, what we all do.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
And, believe me, I would love to have a bunch.
I'd love to run out of knivesat our event.
So, anybody, you can sendpeople our way.
Feel free to tell everybodyabout it.
But outside of that, like Isaid, go to biggameorg and look
at memberships and there's anytype of membership that you can
possibly imagine to get in onand customize it to what works
(40:51):
for your individual needs.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Right, yeah, exactly, rob, I know you're a really
busy guy and really appreciateyou taking the time out of your
day and your schedule to be onthe podcast here.
I hope that the peoplelistening to this it kind of
opens up to them what you guysare and and a lot of people I
think might not know that andall that you do.
Um, is there any?
(41:14):
And I hope everyone checks outthe you Guys' Expo in July.
Is there anything else youwanted to add?
Speaker 2 (41:21):
No, I think we've covered it.
I really appreciate you givingme the time today to talk.
I appreciate your questions.
You asked some great questionson some things that I think I
take for granted sometimes, thatpeople should know, but
sometimes there's a lot ofthings about organizations that
people don't know.
The last thing I will say is, ifyou want to know more about us,
come to one of our events.
(41:42):
The best thing I can tell youis you will meet a bunch of
like-minded people that are onlythere with one thing in mind,
and that's how to help.
So there's no bad questions.
They want to guide, they wantto direct and they want to show
the passion that they have forthe outdoors.
And if you have it too, theywant to bring it out.
And that's what makes DallasSafari Club so special as an
(42:06):
organization.
There's no egos, there's noanything.
It's all about helping peoplethat are like-minded and
welcoming them into the group tomake friendships that will last
forever, and that's why I'dlove for everybody on here go to
biggameorg, check us out.
Come to one of our events.
If it can't be the event inJuly, it's the Gaylord Texan
(42:27):
Resort.
Look at us for other eventsthat we have coming up and you
can find all those events listedon biggameorg also.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
All right, perfect, rob, you summed it up great.
Again, thanks so much and bestof luck, and I can't wait to see
some pictures and I know somepeople will be taking videos of
your guys' event.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Yeah, they definitely will, and they'll be posting
some live during the event sothat even gains a little bit
more excitement.
So we're happy about that too.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
I can't wait to hear your further announcements when
uh when the Cal comes up, whenthe expo comes up.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
All right.
Well, thank you so much for theopportunity to talk and, like I
said, I love.
I love the questions you askedand I hope that.
I hope that answers somequestions for you, but, more
importantly, I hope it answereda bunch of questions for the
people that are going to belistening to this, and I'd love
to see you at the event and ifyou come to the event and you
see me walking around say hey, Ilistened to the podcast, I'd
(43:24):
love to talk to you and shakeyour hand, so look forward to
seeing you there.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
Great Thanks.
this is hunts on outfitting podcast.
I'm your host and rookie guide,ken marr.
I love everything hunting theoutdoors and all things
associated with it, from storiesto howos.
You'll find it here.
Welcome to the podcast.
Hey, thanks for listening tothis podcast episode.
(00:35):
It means a lot when you do.
We've got a great one for you.
Today we are talking about anawesome organization that is
first for hunters that manyhunters might not even know
about.
The Dallas Safari Club is aworld leader in supporting
conservation and, not to mention, has one of the greatest
outdoor shows on earth.
We get into all that and somuch more here today.
You know it's great to learnabout places like this that care
(00:58):
about our future.
Well, inuksuk dog food is nodifferent.
They want to see your pet livelong and healthy, and that
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Nook Shook uses naturally,locally sourced products to keep
your best friend happy andhealthy through all stages of
life and long into the future.
These people really do careabout your pet, being pet owners
(01:21):
themselves.
Also speaking about awesomeorganizations for you Canadian
people listening, there's not alot going on that helps us, you
know, keep our firearms rightsand up to date with what's going
on and you know also, knowingwhere some gun auctions are and
what's for sale, and someawesome information.
Well, the Canadian access tofirearms is just that when you
(01:44):
join, you will get a magazinethat's going to give you all
that information and so muchmore.
We're excited to have you guyslistening on this podcast
episode today.
If you want to reach out to us,you can on Facebook Hunts on
Outfitting or by emailhuntsonoutfitting at gmailcom
All right.
Hunts on outfitting at gmailcomAll right.
(02:05):
Yeah.
So, rob, I mean, you recentlybecame the CEO of the Dallas
Safari Club, whichcongratulations.
Some people might not know whatwe're talking about.
I find that a lot of huntersknow about it, but I find even
more maybe don't, and it's agreat organization.
But before we get into, we knowwhat you guys do and what it's
(02:26):
all about.
Would you mind kind of tellingus let's meet you, I guess?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
Who's Rob?
Oh boy, that's a loadedquestion.
Just a summary.
Yeah, I guess a summary is andI've done a few podcasts and
been trying to tell people aboutwho I am since I've been here.
I actually started January 2ndin the role of CEO of Dallas
Fire Club and Dallas Fire ClubFoundation and where I spent 35
(02:55):
years before that was in theshooting sports industry.
So I worked for a lot of bigbrands Remington Arms Company,
walter Arms, places like thatfor a lot of years, wholesale
side of the business andeverything, sort of soup to nuts
in the shooting sports for 35years and that, that, that sort
of grounds you.
But how did I get into theshooting sports?
(03:16):
I think we can really back it upto, uh, being born and raised
in northwestern pennsylvania ina little 2,500 one-stop light
town where you knew what time ofyear it was, by what animal you
were hunting or which fish youwere catching or anything like
that.
So it was sort of instilled intoyour blood the outdoors and I
(03:41):
think that started.
I got into fishing probably at8, 9 years old and hunting at 12
years old when you could do it,and back in those days you
really understood, you enjoyedwhat you're doing, but you
didn't know why.
And that leads you into, hey,going to the shooting sports
industry after you get out ofcollege, or even while in
(04:01):
college, working at a localfirearms store because of your
passion that you have for theoutdoors and the things you do.
So what you find is, as youmove up the totem pole in your
job and your job descriptionover the years, you have less
and less time for doing why yougot involved with it in the
(04:23):
first place.
So you start to realize as youget older that, yes, you love
hunting, you love the outdoors,you love everything about it,
but it all comes back toconservation and introducing new
people to that way of life andbeing able to guarantee the
future of that lifestyle goingforward for generations to come,
if that makes any sense.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Absolutely it does.
Yeah, so you know that's yourstart into it.
How?
Speaker 2 (05:00):
I mean, how did you become about getting the role of
being the CEO of such a great,you know organization foundation
?
So it actually came out of theblue and I was working in Fort
Smith, arkansas, for Walter ArmsCompany and had only been in
that position as CEO there forabout five years and everything
was good, very happy, and Ihappened to attend the Dallas
Safari Club Foundation gala inDallas a year ago and I met a
(05:26):
lot of people and just startedtalking to them and I saw there
was a lot of crossover from theshooting sports industry to the
people were there from theoutdoor, personality people and
everything like that, and wejust started talking a little
bit and I met a lot of the keyplayers from the organization
and I didn't know at the timethat they were looking for a new
CEO and we didn't even talkabout it.
(05:47):
And an opportunity came up laterthat year that was in July, and
in October a phone call came upjust asking me if I knew
anybody that would be interestedin the position with my
contacts and I talked to Scottthere and thought about it a
little bit and I said I'd get ahold of some people and get back
to them.
And then, as I hung up thephone, I said, well, hey, maybe
(06:09):
that should be me, maybe Ishould talk to him about it.
And we had a great conversation.
And that led to anotherconversation, another
conversation and by mid-NovemberI had accepted the position as
the new CEO here.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Oh wow, so almost by happenstance.
That's great, I mean.
I think, though, too, you saidthat you came from the shooting
sports industry, but I mean thesimilarities between that and
what's going on at the DallasSafari Club, or any organization
like that would be.
You know, whether it's shootingor fishing or hunting, we're
all trying to protect andconserve what we're able to do
(06:45):
at the moment and hopefully cancontinue to do forever.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Right and it also offers up because there is a
little distinction between thetwo One, I mean the corporate
world, and then the nonprofitworld.
And what's funny is theconservation side.
Is, you know, standing up?
I mean, let me read you the.
Not read you, but tell you.
The mission of Dallas SafariClub is basically to ensure the
(07:11):
conservation of wildlife throughpublic engagement, education
and advocacy for well-regulatedhunting and sustainable use.
So when you hear that thatsounds like a lot of things, but
you hear the whole idea ofhunting and doing it through
education and advocacy, and yourealize that, hey, most hunters,
(07:32):
why aren't they tied togetherwith people to support Second
Amendment rights?
There really has been no cross.
The shooting sports is allabout Second Amendment rights.
So, tying groups together.
We've worked with the NRA sinceI've come on board and talking
to things like that and gettingother organizations, all the
manufacturers on the firearmsand ammunition side and things
(07:55):
like that, to understand that,hey, conservation is tied to
your industry, industry and weneed to work together so that we
all can have a united voice todo the things we need to do to
make sure that we ensure theheritage for many, many years to
come right?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
yeah, I mean, it's not just about doing this for
hunting, necessarily.
It's doing it just to havethese animals and the protected
land that you know, that, thatthat they live on, for everyone
to be able to enjoy and use,just like you were saying.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Yep, it's exactly that.
It's the outdoors in general andmaking sure that we're all
there to promote it, because alot of people don't like our way
of life or that way of life andthose people and organizations
tend to have a unified voice ofhow they come against us a lot
of times and we haven't reallyfigured out how to be that
unified voice, to push back andto start getting our agenda
(08:49):
known.
Also and the other side of thatis telling people the great
things that we do and that wasthe one thing that even I didn't
know about Dallas Safari Clubbefore I came on board is that
Dallas Fire Club never reallytooted their own horn out there
and told people what they'redoing and why they do it.
(09:10):
And when you really dig into it,what I saw when I get here and
I've been in the position forabout five months now but
between Dallas Fire Club andDallas Fire Club Foundation, we
award millions of dollars inconservation grants and we're
putting that money out therethat supports wildlife research,
habitat management,anti-coaching, all those type of
(09:37):
things that go to, I mean,reduce human-wildlife conflict
mitigate programs and stuff likethat.
Human wildlife conflictmitigate programs and stuff like
that All these funds that we'reputting out there is really to
support the way of life andsupport the sustainable use of
that lifestyle going forward andI didn't know that coming into
this position of how much workwas being done that way.
(10:00):
But those monies and thosedollars, they really make a
difference out there.
Speaker 1 (10:06):
Oh yeah, I mean, and it's great to have a unified
front because I find, as hunters, a lot of us, you know, we wake
up every morning thinking likewhere should I hang my tree
stand?
What bucks do I have on camera?
Where do I want to go on myhunt this year?
I mean, there's people thatwake up every day and think how
can we stop hunting?
How can we stop hunting?
And we need to realize that Ithink sometimes and hopefully
(10:28):
join some organizations and helpgive a voice against that.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Right, and that was going back to the conversation
of who is Rob.
What really made my decision soeasy when the opportunity came
up to come to work for thisgreat organization was I've been
blessed to be in the shootingsports industry for 35 years and
had many contacts and met manypeople and had a great career.
But the aspect of that passion,of why I got into the shooting
(10:55):
sports how could I reignite thatpassion and use the back half
of my career to do some good andgive back to help promote that,
that going forward and makingsure that not just my generation
but the next generation, thegeneration after that all has
the ability to enjoy thesuccesses and and things that
(11:19):
I've experienced in my life?
Speaker 1 (11:20):
Right, yeah, exactly.
So let's back up a tiny bit andjust can you get us the start,
the sum up, of the Dallas SafariClub?
It's located in Dallas, texas,and you know, if you could just
how it came about for thosepeople wondering.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
Well, Dallas Safari Club it's actually.
The funny thing is it's beenaround for a long time.
I think it's 42 years orsomething like that.
My math might be off, but Ibelieve it started in 1982.
And it started as a group ofpeople right here in Dallas and
that's where the name came from,which has evolved so much,
which I think is you hear DallasSafari Club and you think,
(11:59):
first of all, you hear safari,you think, oh, it's only about
Africa.
Well, it's not about thatanymore.
You hear club and we're muchbigger than a club.
So addressing that is from whatit started, as 42 years ago, the
organization has grown into oneof the number one conservation
organizations in the world andwe reach out all over the world.
(12:20):
We have 27 chapters across theUnited States, seven chapters
across the United States.
We're looking at doing chaptersin maybe Canada, Europe, South
Africa and that whole safaripart of it.
It does lead to saying a lotabout the stuff safari in Africa
and most countries, but we alsodo a ton of work in the United
(12:42):
States and in Canada and Mexicoand all those other places.
It's a worldwide organization.
It's not a club, it's a bigorganization that really is out
there to promote, I guess, touse another tagline to promote
science-based wildlifemanagement and conservation
programs at a worldwide level,Right, at a worldwide level.
Speaker 1 (13:03):
Right, and then I like that word that you used.
It's not used enough.
Maybe the science-based, notemotion-based, like the antis
use and stuff but it'sscience-based on regulated
hunting.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Yeah, that is such a key to all of this, because
hunters, conservationists,everybody that's what we talk
about, this unified voice.
A lot of times, the emotionscan lead people that are
like-minded to disagree witheach other and not get in line.
But if you always stick to thescience and look at why you're
doing things and why things haveworked and why things don't
work, and you look at thescience, it becomes very clear
(13:43):
how people can work together andsupport the same thing and take
that emotion out of it, justlike you said.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Right, yeah, yeah.
So I mean you guys have a lotgoing on all over.
I want to kind of get into that, especially about your film,
the Journey to Understandingthat.
You guys your short film withis it Catherine Semker?
Yeah, in the Zambezi Valley.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, we have a lot of projects out there like that
and actually I'd like to talkabout that one.
Maybe we can do that more at alater date because I want to put
you into more some currentthings that we're really talking
about right now, and thebiggest thing we have on our
plate right now is July 17ththrough 19th.
We are having an inauguralevent right here in Dallas at
(14:35):
the Gaylord Texan.
That was kind of sprung out ofa couple different areas.
We've had a foundation gala forabout five years and it's been
so successful that this yearwe're adding an expo to it and
it's turned into a sold-outevent from an exhibit standpoint
, where we're going to have athree-day show, where there's
going to be a show foreverybody's invited and see some
(15:01):
of the best hunting outdoors,all kinds of different products
that's available in the industry, and have a three-day show.
So we're real excited aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Yeah well, I've heard that there's everything there
to buy, from T-shirts tohelicopters.
Speaker 2 (15:20):
Yeah, that would sum it up, which sounds pretty funny
when you say it that way, butyes, it's really.
It's a show floor that when youwalk around, there's something
new to look at and somethingexciting around every corner.
You may go from talking to ahunting outfitter that's selling
a trip to New Zealand and walkaway from his booth and turn the
(15:43):
corner and see a jewelry storethat has some of the most
beautiful jewelry you've everseen in your life, and then walk
away from the jewelry store andsee some beautiful artwork and
paintings or bronze and then,like you said, then you turn the
corner and there's a helicopter.
Then you turn the other cornerand there might be a yacht
(16:05):
sitting there.
So it's truly a show, for thathas something for everybody.
But the one thing about it isit's excitement, no matter where
you look, and that's what.
That's what turns it into areally fun, different event that
allows people to bring thewhole family to and enjoy
themselves in a nice resort inin dallas.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
When it's in the end of july, it can be pretty hot
yeah, yeah, exactly, and uh, youknow it's just like you said,
it's exciting for all members ofthe family and uh, it's going,
you know it's for a great causeand just supporting what you
guys do and just getting thename out there as well.
Speaker 2 (16:45):
Right, and the bottom line of it it's not what we
talked about earlier.
The other side of that is it isa fundraiser and we use it.
We have backpacks and we haveevents where we have auctions
and we have raffles and allthose types of things, but it's
also an event to raise money todo all those things we talked
about.
We need to be able to do thosethose things we talked about.
(17:06):
We need to be able to do thosethings so we can have that grant
money to pass it on to supportthings and move things into the
future.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
Right, and then I mean one of your great grants.
You know you guys do grants tosupport anti-poaching.
If you want to talk about thatbecause people think you know
they see it's a hunting club,Well, that's probably presume,
but they don't.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
They wouldn't think that you guys would be
supporting anti-poaching, maybe,and things like that, just
trying to help, uh, preserve theanimals yep, and and when you
say anti-poaching this this isanother thing that really hit me
hard is from an outsidestandpoint, or even people that
have been hunting for theirwhole lives you hear
anti-poaching and you just think, oh well, you know, somebody's
(17:46):
just out there taking one animalillegally, or something like
that.
I mean this is big business.
And it gets to the point wherecertain animals that are
protected I mean people areshooting animals and it becomes
very dangerous.
People lose their lives.
These poachers are serious.
These poachers are serious andwe have to use a lot of that
(18:11):
funding to support things fromlaw enforcement to military
involvement, sometimes even toto take care of some of these
things in in foreign countriesand even in the US, you have to
watch a lot of things are donethat can really impact the
species and can really impactthings that will go forward with
the hunting regulations thatare passed due to people that
(18:34):
are breaking law.
So it's a very important partof what we do and it's something
we're always focused on andlooking at from every direction.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Yeah, well, like you said about the anti-poaching
yeah, people maybe there's amisconception thinking, yeah,
like you said, they're onlytaking an animal or two or
something.
I mean these are, most of themare well-organized, often backed
by, you know, militant rebelgroups to get more money for you
know, say in the ivory trade,etc.
I mean they are really wipingout some species and, like you
(19:03):
said, you need militaries to goin and deal with them.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
Right, right.
So it's a very big problem andsomething that probably doesn't
get on most people's radar.
So I appreciate you calling itout, because that is something
we spend a ton of time on.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeah, I mean to people.
I was having a conversationwith the hunter the other day
and I just thought everyone kindof realized this, but maybe not
.
He was against.
He's like oh, I don't thinkthere needs to be trophy hunting
, you know, in africa.
Like he's against africanhunting because the media has
kind of put it out as a badthing and and I, you know, I
know the film talks about that abit, but just in general people
don't realize how important itis.
(19:43):
I, you need to put a monetaryvalue on an animal People aren't
going to pay most people won'tanyway $60,000, say, to take a
picture of an elephant, but theywill pay that to hunt it, and
that in turn protects, you know,the land there, not to mention
the meat going back to thelocals and the jobs created.
That keeps those locals fromgetting into helping poachers,
(20:06):
you know, just to put food ontheir table.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
Yeah, and I mean when you really think about it.
I mean you did a great summarythere.
I can tell you've watched themovie and stuff.
But when you look at Dallas FireClub members or even members of
other organizations that go tothese places, they routinely
travel to some of the mostremote, most dangerous places in
the world to hunt and theopportunity to hunt in those
(20:30):
localities and stuff itfrequently provides the only
income available to the localpopulations in those areas and
maybe the only thing keepinglocals from eliminating native
wildlife habitat is the factthat people are coming and
spending money and it's keepingthem afloat and doing the things
it needs to do in those areas.
(20:51):
And you talked about also themeat donation.
And that's the one thing is, ifyou do go over to South Africa
or Namibia or Tanzania orwherever you go, you can go hunt
animals there and you can bringback the hides that you can't
bring back any of the meat.
And the great thing about withour organization that all those
animals that are shot, that meatgoes to the local communities
(21:13):
and feeds the people and it's asustainable source of protein
that people might not have, or Ishouldn't say might not have.
They would not have if thosehunters were not there doing it.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah, exactly, and too, I mean these animals.
Say, when you're on an elephanthunt or giraffe, normally these
animals aren't just selected atrandom.
I mean the pH there has certainones chosen that need to be
eliminated from the herd for,you know, various reasons.
There's a lot of thought putinto it and I looked up the
numbers just out of curiosity,because some people you know
(21:46):
they think that the elephantsare dying off.
Uh, in the zimbizhi valley Ilooked, I think the population
was like well over 200 000animals yeah, and it it stands
that way and that's what.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
That's what hunting has done and that's what
conservation does.
When you're managing wildlifethrough hunting, you can get
these results.
Where you have growth, peoplelaugh about it, but the more
that the hunters are involved,there usually gets to be more
animals than there are less, andyou want to hear from here.
I'll give you a really goodstat here, as you hear people
(22:22):
that are against trophy huntingor just any hunting in general
in Africa.
Let me ask you a question Doyou know how many numbers of
species that are threatened withextinction due to trophy
hunting in Africa are right now?
How many numbers of species arethreatened with extinction due
to people hunting them?
Speaker 1 (22:42):
I'm guessing about zero.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Yep, the number is zero.
And that's the amazing part is,and that's what conservation
and sustainable use can do forpopulations of animals.
If there was not that going onin a lot of these countries,
there would be a lot of animalswho would already be wiped from
the continent and we'd never seethem again.
(23:05):
So it's a great success storyalso.
Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yeah, well, I mean not to just completely talk
about Africa, but it's a uniqueplace.
You know, I'm sure you'refamiliar with the whole Cecil
the Lion story with the dentistfrom there that shot it legally
and all that.
And you know there's a biguproar and everything.
And then I remember readingabout it later and there was no
more lion hunting there, becauseyou know there's a big uproar
(23:28):
and everything.
And then I remember readingabout it later and there was no
more line hunting there becauseyou know the outfitters and
stuff, everyone was threatenedand the animal rights groups and
stuff going after them, and Iguess that area was logged
because it had no monetary valueto keep it left, you know, as
wilderness.
It was logged and it was turnedinto farmland and there'll be
no more animals there anymore.
Speaker 2 (23:47):
Right.
Speaker 1 (23:48):
They, uh, they did a lot more damage than they think.
They killed a lot more animalsin the end, the animal rights
group, uh, than they could everknow.
By just like lack of ignorance,I guess you could say on the
subject, yeah.
Yeah, so uh so, Rob, what otherprojects?
Uh, so Rob, what other projects, uh, you know, do you guys have
going on?
I know you guys got them allover the world.
(24:10):
I mean, what's some bigprojects you guys have going on
in, uh, in North America rightnow?
Speaker 2 (24:15):
Well, well, one thing I do want to get back to.
Back to our our gala night onJuly 19th.
We are going to be announcingsomething very big and special
that our foundation, the DallasFire Club Foundation, is
(24:35):
bringing on board, and it'sgoing to be a great announcement
.
It's going to do things to helppromote conservation and do the
things we need to do and thepeople that support it.
So I do want to put a littlebuzz out there.
Between now and then, we'll bedoing a lot of little teaser ads
on social media and the talkslike I'm having with you now
(24:58):
about this program that's goingto be coming out for our great
big launch on that night.
So we're real excited aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (25:05):
Yeah, it sounds very exciting and I'm sure people are
very curious as to what's whatit's going to be and you know,
and the tickets to get into andeverything are very, very
reasonable.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
Yeah, and there's opportunities.
We were having a lot of socialmedia influencers getting out
there right now and I don't wantto give too much away to the
people that haven't boughttickets yet, but there's going
to be some discount codes andpeople being able to get on the
floor for, like I said, ticketscompared to other events and
something in this caliber.
It'll be very, very familyfriendly pricing and everything
(25:39):
like that.
So we're excited about theticket sales that are going on
and all of our advertising isbreaking right now.
Ticket sales that are going onand all of our advertising is
breaking right now.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Yeah.
So it's July 17th and 19th thissummer in Texas.
Those of you wonderingdefinitely, yeah, it'd be worth
the trip out.
I definitely plan on going.
I won't be able to do this year, but next year I'd like to fly
down here from Canada and checkit out.
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Yeah well, the good news is you don't even get to
wait until next summer, becausethis is our event in the summer,
and then in February of 2026,we will be back to our next
convention.
So February 2026, we're back inAtlanta with our full-blown
convention, which is as big asthis gala and expo is.
(26:24):
Our convention tends to be.
The show floor tends to beabout twice to almost three
times the size, and when you seehow big everything's going to
be at the expo, that's reallygoing to blow people's minds to
realize the expo's big, but whenwe get to our convention that's
really the giant size of it.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
Yeah, so just something else to really look
forward to and plan out on thecalendars.
Yeah, maybe I'll be able tomake that one.
It'd be a good time of year togo somewhere that's a bit warmer
, yeah, so, rob, you guys alsodo a lot.
I mean, obviously the youth arevery important because that's
the next generation that'shopefully going to carry on what
(27:02):
you guys are accomplishing andhope to accomplish.
You guys do a lot of stuff withthe youth.
Would you care to talk a bitabout that, just with safety
courses and just getting someinvolvement?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
Well, so here's a new one for us actually and it's
funny, it keeps coming back toour july event to be to the
guest.
So, uh, we're actually having atexas uh hunter's education
class scheduled, uh, during ouruh expo and gala that people of
any age and a lot of times itleans towards youth, but it can
be of any age can come in andthere's a six-hour course to get
(27:43):
their hunter's educationcertification for the state of
Texas.
So that's a big thing we'redoing.
We're offering that at a realreasonable price, providing
lunch and doing everything.
So it's an opportunity foreverybody that wants to get
involved to get their hunter'seducation credentials and do
that.
We also have some things comingup.
There's a great organizationthat we have started getting
(28:05):
back together with that we Idon't know why, but over a bunch
of years they sort of separated, but it's called the Outdoor
Tomorrow Foundation and we'reholding an event with them.
I'll probably get the datewrong here.
I want to say June 19th.
We're getting together, justhaving a bunch of their members
and our members that have beenassociated in the past getting
(28:27):
them back together.
But the Outdoors TomorrowFoundation is an amazing
organization that actually hasprograms that they are teaching
actual classes in middle schoolsand high schools across the
United States, so those types ofpeople that they're actually
having classrooms, that you walkinto a classroom in a school
(28:48):
and see taxidermy and see DallasSafari Club banners and things
like that.
So people, the kids are actuallylearning about the outdoors
lifestyle while they're inschool and it's an accredited
class to their high school andeverything like that and that's
just an amazing, amazing programbecause we've sort of gotten
(29:11):
away from the people that livein cities don't understand the
upbringing that I had like Itold you in that small little
town in Pennsylvania is this isa way they can be exposed and
actually talking to the kids.
A couple times in one of theclassrooms I actually was able
to visit.
It was funny because the kidstold me they were interested in
(29:33):
the class.
Their parents didn't reallywant to take it because they
didn't understand it and thenafter the kids have signed up
for the class and love it somuch, now their parents are
getting involved with it.
So it's bringing not only thatyounger generation but the
medium generation in between abunch of the older people that
are out there.
It's really invigorating peopleto come back and see what the
(29:54):
outdoors is about and whyconservation makes sense and why
you should be involved.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Yeah, that's.
You know.
It's really great to hear, likeyou said, I find that as life
keeps going on, we're gettingsuch a much larger detachment
from our roots.
I mean, before it used to be,most people hunted or knew
someone that hunted and is justa very normal thing that you
know it's part of everyday lifereally and I find that, yeah,
it's, there's a huge detachmentfrom that now.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
And I blame technology for it, I blame time
for it.
It's just, it's a lot ofdifferent things and it's also,
unfortunately, where you grow upand where you're exposed to it,
where you have the ability tobe exposed to it.
So yes to your question aboutthe youth.
(30:46):
It is so important that westart letting people experience
the outdoors again and what thatmeans, and have them find the
joy in it that I was so lucky tobe able to find when I was 9 or
10 years old, when I startedinto it.
Because when you, when you takepeople out and expose them to
hunting, shooting, fishing,whatever it may be, you
immediately see the impact ithas on them and once that
passion is ignited in them, itcan start bringing those next
(31:09):
generations around again yeah,yeah, exactly so it's.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
It's really great that you guys are you know a
part of that as well.
Um, and then I see too, youguys you know, help fund
research and stuff into thingssaid science-based stuff that
sometimes animals need a seasonopened up back up on them, such
as, like the grizzly bears inBritish Columbia, where that had
shut down, and I think nowthey're starting to realize like
(31:33):
we should probably open thatagain down, and I think now
they're starting to realize like, uh, we should probably open
that again.
Speaker 2 (31:38):
Yeah, I mean that comes down to, like you said,
the wildlife research andhabitat management and actually
population surveys.
When you see things that werefalling off and conservation
efforts have been put in placeor maybe species have been
reintroduced, you've got tomonitor them and that's where a
lot of the things that we getinvolved with with those
(31:59):
population surveys and these arethe grants that we give out
what these tend to fund, is theresearch into those type things
to monitor how those species aredoing and what the population
growth is and when it's time tosay, hey, I know we haven't
hunted these in a long time, butthe population is getting so
big that if we don't start we'regoing to have a bigger problem.
(32:20):
And also how those speciesinteract with other species.
If you get too many bears, youmight have not as many mule deer
, because there's some bear outthere that are taking a lot of
the young mule deer out of thesystem as a food source.
So it all ties together as afood source.
So it all ties together andthat's what makes it so great to
have the ability to get thegrants out and to monitor and to
(32:40):
do these different things tounderstand when it's time to
promote more hunting or lesshunting or whatever that may be.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
Yeah, yeah, exactly, you know.
So, Rob, you're surrounded bythis every day.
This is your job.
More of a passion.
It sounds like to me, you know,do you get a chance to go
hunting yourself still?
Speaker 2 (33:01):
well, see, that was part of it.
So now that's, that's themillion dollar.
Question is I've, I've been, Ihave been very lucky to have
hunted all over the world andbut as time went on, that was
the part I was seeing in theprevious job I had is that I
really didn't have as much timeas I wanted to go out.
And really for me, at this stageof my life I still enjoy the
(33:23):
hunting so much.
But what I enjoy even more isintroducing new people to going
out and hunting.
So the time I have now I reallyfocus on trying to take and
introduce somebody who's neverhunted before, whether it be for
a squirrel, a turkey, a deer, akudu, whatever it may be,
(33:43):
whatever their passion may be,or what they're involved with is
being able to take somebody outand having them exposed to it
for the first time and having meintroduce them to it.
That's what I get a lot of joyout of, it and that that does a
lot of things that we've talkedabout, because that ignites the
passion in them, it keeps mypassion ignited and it also
brings them into uh, maybewanting to bring somebody else
(34:07):
in at their level at a latertime yeah, no, exactly, and I
try to bring as many peoplehunting as I can myself, and
even if they don't stick with it, at least they're educated to
it.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
So that way they're not necessarily they don't have
to do it, but they're notagainst it, and if ever it comes
up in conversation they can belike well, actually, you know it
is good and this is how it'sreally like and stuff.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
It makes it easier to debunk a lot of the myths out
there.
What's going on?
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Exactly right a lot of the myths out there.
What's going on exactly right?
Yeah, so I mean you've been allover the world hunting stuff.
Uh, I gotta ask where do youhave a top three favorite place,
favorite animal to hunt?
Speaker 2 (34:47):
and this is the question.
It's funny, this is thequestion I always get in this
position is the ceo dallas partyclub and what is?
What is your top animal?
Speaker 1 (34:56):
And.
Speaker 2 (34:56):
I always answer it the same way.
I really don't have a topanimal.
I have experiences and there'san emotional experience and then
there's animals and there's thetype of hunting and there's so
many different variables.
But I love hunting every animalequally the same.
(35:17):
If I'm going out hunting, likeI mentioned, whether it be a
squirrel or whether it be anelephant and I have never hunted
an elephant that is the top ofthe totem pole where I hope to
get to, but the love is thereand the passion is there for
every animal that I'm hunting.
From an emotional standpoint, Igrew up in Pennsylvania and it
(35:39):
was a heritage and it washunting with my father, my
brother, my, my, my relatives.
And if I could go and hunt oneone last time in my life it
would be if my dad can come backand join us again and hunt with
my family and spend time inPennsylvania hunting a white
tail.
That would be, that's where Icut my eyepiece and that would
be the emotional top of thechain for me.
(36:03):
Living in Dallas, I'm glad thatI'm finally a Texan after a lot
of years of living inPennsylvania, North Carolina,
Arkansas, now into Texas,because I found some great
hunting in Texas, down by theBig Bend region where you can
hunt free-range mule deer,desert mule deer and, believe it
(36:25):
or not, free-range elk.
That is just amazing.
And the experiences you canhunt in Texas and the wildlife
you have there.
I've been blessed.
I love hunting red deer inSpain, had an amazing
opportunity to do that, and eventraditional driven hunt in
Germany, just outside of Berlin,shooting fallow deer and roe
(36:49):
deer and boar.
So, like I said, I can go onand talk about the experiences
forever.
I don't ever like to rank thembecause I've enjoyed them
equally.
Uh, and it's just gettingsomething different out of each
of the experiences is what it'sall about nice, I like that.
Speaker 1 (37:09):
No, that was a.
That was a great answer.
I mean, it's not the animal,it's the experience and I I can
definitely appreciate that right, and all the experiences are
different and and it's who youshare them with too.
That's the other big part of ityeah, yeah, I mean I like that
part with hunting, especiallymyself here, a lot of the small
game hunting, because big gamessometimes people get a little
(37:30):
more uh, I don't want to saystandoffish, but it's more solo.
Uh, I like you know, I like thesocial aspect of the hunt and
just sharing it with whoeverwants to tag along.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
And from a business side of it.
I've always said this too.
This is another side that youprobably didn't look at.
I can learn more about aperson's character and ethics
and everything by spending afour-day hunt with them than I
could after 20 years of doingbusiness with them, because you
you really understand what makesa person tick and how they act
and everything, and you reallyget to know a person if you
(38:05):
spend time with them in thefield yeah, I like that.
Speaker 1 (38:08):
I hadn't, you know, given that much thought, but
you're, you're absolutely right.
That makes complete sense,really.
I want to talk to you a bit,rob, about memberships.
Obviously, we're talking aboutthis great organization, all
that you guys do what it standsfor, what it helps protect and
grow.
How do people get signed up forit?
Speaker 2 (38:29):
Well, it's real easy.
Our website is very easy.
It's biggameorg, so it can'tget much more simple than that.
A bunch of small words thateverybody can spell.
So it makes it easy and it'seasy to remember.
It's the biggameorg, but we havememberships at all different
levels, from one year, threeyears, five years, lifetime,
(38:53):
spouse memberships, all kinds ofdifferent memberships and we're
really going to start promotingthose big time.
And again I hate to keep sayingthis I'm going to go back to
our event that's coming up anddo a push for our gala and expo
here in July.
Our three-year votingmembership has always run $250.
(39:17):
And it still will be that pricefor a three-year voting
membership at that event.
But if you sign up for thatmembership at that event over
our gala and expo date, we'regoing to have a limited edition
Flint Flame knife with a customDallas Safari Club logo engraved
(39:38):
into it that has a retail valueof three hundred dollars.
So you can do the math uh, youbuy a membership and you get the
membership for three years andeverything that comes with that.
Plus they're going to hand youa three hundred dollar knife
right over the table when yousign up for it.
Speaker 1 (39:54):
Wow, can't beat it.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
We're excited about that one.
I think it's a greatopportunity to get people to
understand what we're about andget into a good membership and
take part of voting andeverything we do, and get a
great keepsake and a highquality keepsake at the same
time.
Speaker 1 (40:12):
I mean, yeah, you can't lose with that.
I mean even the membershipitself, even if you aren't
getting that it's, you know, theknife.
It's a very reasonable, veryreasonable for what, what it's
going towards, you know right,just helping protect what we all
, you know, what we all do.
Speaker 2 (40:31):
And, believe me, I would love to have a bunch.
I'd love to run out of knivesat our event.
So, anybody, you can sendpeople our way.
Feel free to tell everybodyabout it.
But outside of that, like Isaid, go to biggameorg and look
at memberships and there's anytype of membership that you can
possibly imagine to get in onand customize it to what works
(40:51):
for your individual needs.
Speaker 1 (40:53):
Right, yeah, exactly, rob, I know you're a really
busy guy and really appreciateyou taking the time out of your
day and your schedule to be onthe podcast here.
I hope that the peoplelistening to this it kind of
opens up to them what you guysare and and a lot of people I
think might not know that andall that you do.
Um, is there any?
(41:14):
And I hope everyone checks outthe you Guys' Expo in July.
Is there anything else youwanted to add?
Speaker 2 (41:21):
No, I think we've covered it.
I really appreciate you givingme the time today to talk.
I appreciate your questions.
You asked some great questionson some things that I think I
take for granted sometimes, thatpeople should know, but
sometimes there's a lot ofthings about organizations that
people don't know.
The last thing I will say is, ifyou want to know more about us,
come to one of our events.
(41:42):
The best thing I can tell youis you will meet a bunch of
like-minded people that are onlythere with one thing in mind,
and that's how to help.
So there's no bad questions.
They want to guide, they wantto direct and they want to show
the passion that they have forthe outdoors.
And if you have it too, theywant to bring it out.
And that's what makes DallasSafari Club so special as an
(42:06):
organization.
There's no egos, there's noanything.
It's all about helping peoplethat are like-minded and
welcoming them into the group tomake friendships that will last
forever, and that's why I'dlove for everybody on here go to
biggameorg, check us out.
Come to one of our events.
If it can't be the event inJuly, it's the Gaylord Texan
(42:27):
Resort.
Look at us for other eventsthat we have coming up and you
can find all those events listedon biggameorg also.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
All right, perfect, rob, you summed it up great.
Again, thanks so much and bestof luck, and I can't wait to see
some pictures and I know somepeople will be taking videos of
your guys' event.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Yeah, they definitely will, and they'll be posting
some live during the event sothat even gains a little bit
more excitement.
So we're happy about that too.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
I can't wait to hear your further announcements when
uh when the Cal comes up, whenthe expo comes up.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
All right.
Well, thank you so much for theopportunity to talk and, like I
said, I love.
I love the questions you askedand I hope that.
I hope that answers somequestions for you, but, more
importantly, I hope it answereda bunch of questions for the
people that are going to belistening to this, and I'd love
to see you at the event and ifyou come to the event and you
see me walking around say hey, Ilistened to the podcast, I'd
(43:24):
love to talk to you and shakeyour hand, so look forward to
seeing you there.
Speaker 1 (43:27):
Great Thanks.
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