By Rob Sexton, POMA's Executive Director
POMA’s 2025 Annual Meeting Wraps with Fun in the Very Hot Sun!
POMA’s annual flagship event closed Wednesday evening, June 25th in the comfort of an air-conditioned ballroom where the outdoor media industry’s best were honored for their past work. The event was lighthearted, as attendees were still basking in the activities of the three-day event, while also exhausted from the pace.
Two years ago, POMA Annual Meeting attendees communicated their desire to spend more time outside of a typical hotel meeting ballroom and instead practice their crafts in the outdoors. POMA’s Annual Meeting Committee, chaired, planned and executed by the organization’s 1st Vice President Britney Booth, adopted this wish as their directive and set out to plan an event that would keep people active and on the go. Britney was a white tornado of planning, work and coordination that made POMA 2025 a success.
As a lifelong Buckeye, I felt we could meet this objective on Ohio’s north shore, and I reached out to our partners with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources – Division of Wildlife to gauge their interest in helping to land the meeting on Lake Erie. Ohio’s fish and game agency immediately began making introductions and opening doors, and the end result was the 2025 POMA Annual Meeting Hosted by Destination Toledo. Together with neighboring convention and visitors’ bureau, Shores & Islands Ohio, the state agency and two CVB’s provided the financial backbone of the event, which would be based at Maumee State Lodge.
Separate from the conversations with the state of Ohio, conference planners also began discussing a revamped shooting day. The brand-new Range Experience was sponsored by NSSF-The Firearm Industry Trade Association and then designed and led by the organization’s Justin Morrissey, who also serves as POMA’s 2nd Vice President. With the conference located on Lake Erie, the rich history of Camp Perry made for the perfect location. Justin worked extensively with the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), along with shooting industry partners who provided the hands-on shooting experiences envisioned by the conference planning committee.
What we couldn’t plan for was that the three-day event would coincide with the three hottest days of 2025! With temperatures steadily in the 90’s and the humidity in a similar range, attendees jockeyed for shade when available and fought to stay hydrated.
Departing Camp Perry, POMA 2025 was welcomed into Ohio at the Opening Night Reception sponsored by the Ohio Division of Wildlife at Magee Marsh, where attendees were treated to fried yellow perch, walleye tacos and venison empanadas all cooked at the agency’s Mobile Kitchen, which is designed to promote fish and game cooking opportunities. The agency also provided tours of the marsh itself and its Visitor’s Center with its extensive duck stamp and decoy collection.
On Tuesday morning, POMA made a gametime decision to host the Product Showcase indoors to provide a respite from the heat. Attendees then boarded buses to visit Lake Erie Arms (LEA), the host and sponsor of Content Creation Day. The state-of-the-art facility is “Top Golf meets high end shooting range,” complete with indoor sporting clays, rifle and pistol shooting, AR building rooms, a locker room full of gun safes and two restaurants!
Tuesday evening featured the Annual Auction and Banquet, sponsored by the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW). The fundraising event was coordinated by POMA Board member, Trent Marsh of Riton Optics, and featured both live and silent auctions as well as raffles. In all, the auction raised more than $12,000!
Wednesday morning began before daylight as Field Trip Day kicked off with the first group heading for open water for walleye fishing, sponsored by the American Sportfishing Association and Flambeau. The group would catch 208 pounds of walleye, which many of them took home for a special treat.
Field trip number two also headed for the lake, taking the ferry from Marblehead for an Ohio Department of Natural Resources – Division of Parks and Watercraft tour of historic Kelleys Island with its Glacial Grooves and native American artifacts and history. Field trip three featured a Division of Wildlife tour of the state’s Castalia Fish Hatchery followed by fly fishing instruction and trout stream fishing. Finally, group number four remained at Maumee State Park for a tour by the Division of Parks and Watercraft, which featured kayaking, paddleboarding and a law enforcement canine demonstration.
In all, attendees logged about 500 miles of back and forth from event to event. All transportation to the events during the conference was generously provided by the Ohio Division of Wildlife, mostly in air-conditioned luxury liner buses.
Returning to Maumee Lodge from Field Trip Day, the Annual Meeting’s final program featured educational sessions that included NASGW, Second Amendment Foundation, National Wild Turkey Federation and the US Concealed Carry Association. These sessions were followed by the aforementioned Annual Awards Banquet.
All of that activity and heat undoubtedly left attendees both tired and parched, a perfect catalyst for some networking and relaxation time. Each night of the conference concluded with Networking by the Campfire, right on the shore of Lake Erie, sponsored by Booth Media Group and Sellmark.
Despite this enormous list of activities and trips, POMA ran a lean operation that depended on many of its board members to pitch in throughout the event. We truly appreciate them interspersing service to the organization with their fun and professional development.
Arriving home Thursday afternoon from POMA 2025 left me both exhausted, and pleased and grateful for a great event!