January 22, 2020
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — The 2020 SHOT UniversityTM, the annual educational forum that kicks of every SHOT Show® the Monday before the show opens, was deemed a tremendous success by attendees and NSSF organizers alike. The National Shooting Sports Foundation® (NSSF®), the trade association for the firearms industry, owns and operates the SHOT Show.
This year’s format represented a significant departure from SHOT Universities of years past. Building on the positive response to a series of all-hands afternoon break-out sessions introduced at last year’s University, NSSF reorganized the all-day event to expand that experience.
NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi kicked off the day with a look at what’s in store in 2020 for the crowd of nearly 250 retailers and range owners attending SHOT University, followed by an impactful keynote address on new-shooter recruitment and NSSF’s +ONE MovementSM presented by champion shooter, U.S. Army veteran and author Julie Golob. Attendees then had the opportunity to network with the companies and vendors sponsoring the day’s learning experience before heading to their choice of four learning tracks—Membership Training & Events, Compliance, Customer Experience and Ecommerce & Social Media. Those learning tracks had undergone a makeover, shifting from four and five sessions each taking place throughout the day to two morning-only sessions that presented a more detailed look at their headlining topics. Those topics ranged from “Engaging Range Technologies” and “ATF Inspections and NFA Compliance” to “Retail Showroom Space—Profit Maker or Profit Sinker” and an “Instagram Masterclass.”
After the mid-day networking lunch hour, attendees took part in three interactive, all-hands seminars that examined issues affecting FFL retailers and firearms range operators across the country. Those seminars included: a discussion of how to work effectively with the mainstream press in
