[GiddyGills]

Being badgered for discounts is the number one complaint from local businesses! The local establishments are not there to subsidize anybody’s hobby or business, that is the responsibility of individual sponsors and the participant themselves. The participant is the customer to the event, the event is a customer to the city and like it or not, the participants are the event.

Lake of the Woods is not Spring Valley. Lake of the Woods is the number one area in the nation for walleye fishing and the entire area is set-up and based around fishing. A tournament brings absolutely nothing new or unseen to that area besides the group of people fishing it at one time, I’ll even bet the residents have seen and caught much larger walleye than what the tournament participants will hook into. As a participant you can’t waltz into a city built on fishing, sustained by fishing with the complete tourism and commerce revolved around fishing and expect discounts and pampering because…YOU’RE FISHING! Spring Valley’s commerce is not based on fishing around the clock as is the case with Baudette, which is irreverent because if you cannot comprehend the inherent problem with the overall marketing mismanagement revolved around the philosophy there is no hope anyway.

These communities are investing in your hobby when they do not need to…treat them that way. Going around expecting to be the recipient of a kid glove treatment instead of the ones wearing them highlights the mentality that has stiffened the resentment in the public for tournaments in general. Tournaments could develop into great, viable commodities for communities which would cause municipalities to constantly be afoot chasing the tournaments instead of the other way around. You become a commodity when multiple areas are bidding against each other for your service and that will only happen when substantial returns are made on the investments.

Perception is everything.