PaintballX3 Magazine Special Paintball Extravaganza Edition | Page 168

168

Interview Wit
Founder of t
Extrav
a
X3: The Paintball Extravaganza is
the longest
running business-to-business paintball
trade show.
Can you give
us a brief history of the
event and how
you got the
PBX started?
Rick Chard:
Paintball Extravaganza was first
held in 2005,
with just 18 exhibitors and 36 dealers and
fields attending. The event has been held
in Springfield IL, Atlanta GA, Anahiem CA
and the Washington DC area with 2014
marking its 10th anniversary. As the event
started drawing attendees from around the
World the name was unofficially expanded to Paintball Extravaganza International,
reflecting this growth. The industry’s only
wholesale tradeshow and dealer summit
bow brings in over 200 businesses and over
65 exhibitors, including all of the industry’s
finest and most established manufacturers,
dealers and field owners. Technical and
business training have become an integral

Special PBX Edition

part of the event with over 100 hours of
classes and seminars presented by representatives from both inside and outside the
paintball industry. Past events have seen
a combined attendance of over 400 dealers and fields from throughout the United
States and 24 countries representing Canada, Central & South America, Europe, Asia
and Africa.
The planning of the concept of Paintball
Extravaganza started in 2004 after purchasing a sporting goods business and soon
after deciding to add paintball to the product line. Never having played the sport
led to the search for information on the
industry. After attending one of the larger
sporting goods tradeshows in Chicago and
not finding a single paintball, present the
idea and need was planted. The next year
was spent talking to many manufacturers
and industry leaders and it was determined
there was definitely a need and interest in
a wholesale tradeshow without the normal
interruption present at vendor shows held
in the typical tournament setting. Starting as a two day event and soon expanding
to three days, Paintball Extravaganza was
born offering entrepreneurs a unique and
valuable opportunity to strike up new business relationships, secure new products
and benefit from the many classes, seminars and forums that would come to be