Yep, Booth Babes. You know what they are (not being snide here). New Breed of Warrior, Warrior Expo or of course the upcoming SHOT. Lots of Booth Babes. The best of them are intelligent, pretty and knowledgeable. The worst of them…well, there’s always a career to be had in B grady SyFy movies.
Anyway, if you’re looking for a Booth Babe for your upcoming professional event, there’s an agency specifically for you. Although many of them list their backgrounds variously as ‘professional dancer’, there are many that look to be squared away. There’s no guarantee they’ll know which end of an SBR the bullet comes out of, or the difference between a Medford and a Chinese Barlow knockoff, but hey it beats using those cards they slap together at night on the Strip to recruit your help. (Oh, and if you haven’t seen the Booth Babe costumes at E3 and some of the gaming convention, their kit is substantially different than what you’ll see at SHOT but it’s certainly compelling.)
More at the latest Booth Babe website.
SHOT Show Booth Babes from the 2010 Show
-DR
Tags: Booth Babes
Is this really something that should be encouraged? Contributes to giving the industry a juvenile image.
It is a factor. I’ve seen it both ways and the bigger the show, the more use of “booth babes.”
As a female that actually makes a living in this industry – Booth Babes SUCK! I’m sure they’re all nice people – but when you’ve spent 5+ years building a credible reputation and then some dudes at SHOT think you can’t talk kit because you’re just “hired for the show” (it is less of a compliment and more of an insult) it’s quite disheartening! Just food for thought next time you approach a girl in a booth…
Thank you for posting. We’ve got some great ladies in this industry and it’s a pleasure to work with them. I’ve never broached the subject of “temps” so it’s good to hear your perspective.
I’ve been to a variety of trade shows and they all had booth babes. Even a dental convention I went to with a dentist friend. The gun industry is kind of playing catchup in that department. Sadly, I do agree that the babes create a small amount of bias against the educated girls out there. My exwife was one of those hottie educated spokesmodels. The major part of the bias rests with people in our industry. We haven’t quite evolve enough yet to accept women being as knowledgeable (Or More!) than men. We are getting better though, and I’m happy to see it.
Yes… I am looking for model number BB-608A….she is the one that will best represent my company! CLASSY!
To the credit of ladies in the industry, it is pretty easy to tell the difference between booth babes at SHOT and knowledgable women who have put in their years of experience. I wouldn’t expect one of these babes to help me with any industry info, just like I wouldn’t ask Mr. Seagal what is the latest lightweight material on the market. Both have their purpose at these events for different people. I guess you may classify them in a similar category as the Margarita Machine exhibitors, which just may not be at this year’s show.
I stopped by the Crye booth at this years SHOT. One of the booth babes looked pretty hot, but when she opened her mouth she had the worst English accent I have ever heard. It was the aural equivalent of a used diaper full of burnt hair.
I am undecided on the whole booth babe thing. I know they are there to draw people to their stand, but are people coming to look at what you have got or are they just there to perve on Eliza Doolittle with a voice that could melt depleted uranium? If its done correctly, they are just the icing on the stand. If done wrong, they are THE stand and what you have to show is merely superfluous to the girls on show.
You do realize they were there to sign calendars right?
LOL @ Winston. Nice analogy! For what it’s worth, I like a good Cockney accent…It’s like being in HK and nodding approval even when you don’t understand a word they’re saying(like you have to) *wink*
BTW, the Blackheart girls pictured above were some of the sweetest girls at the show that year.
As someone else mentioned it is really easy to tell who is a booth babe and who works the booths. A number of the booths I visited last year had female reps and all were very knowledgeable and a pleasure to deal with. It is also nice to see more females in a male dominant industry. I consider it a sign of good things to come.
My opinion is that booth babes have no professional place in our industry.
Does it make you weapons shot better? Does it actully attract customer or new leads to your booth? Or does it fill space with dead beats who are taking real customers space & possibly making a real lead walk because the booth is over taken by key board commando holster sniffers?
Why do we do what we do? Its a waste of marketing funds that could have used to further R&D or to pay for a trip to a PM’s office to fill a capability gap. Yes they are nice to look at! But I’d rather spend money on things that matter not things that don’t!
These shows are not cheap by any means, if you want to waste money think about this first- could that money have been better used in other places (even charities like Higher Ground or Wounded Warrior) ? If you answer no, then these jobs probably are not for you.
Not a fan of “booth babes” myself. I can flirt on my own time; I’m here for GEAR.
Put an attractive woman in front of me that knows specs and application and I’m certainly much happier about the interaction, but I’m no more likely to buy the item.
Fuck you guys, I go to SHOT for two reasons: The free shwag and the booth babes.
There’s nothing like showing up to a booth with my box on wheels, taking at least 31 pieces of shwag and then awkwardly bumbling to the model with my social skills of a Dungeon and Dragon +3 Mage of Queerdom.
Last year, the S&B blonde looked at me in the eyes, so I probably have a shot this year for some action. YESSSSS
It is an embarrassing aspect of the industry. I go to to a LOT of shows and will always avoid the Booth babe retailers. Not only unprofessional and demeaning to women warfighters, it’s a cheap trick. Your #@&* is weak if you need a booth babe to sell your gear.
Face it. Sex Sells. Period. Every industry uses it and they make millions on product sales for it. I promise you, if the security company I worked for had half naked chicks wearing our tactical gear, we’d have every corporate security contract in the state of Illinois. You don’t like it? Don’t look at it.
LOL…I’ll go tell CRYE, aimpoint, Blackheart International, Magpul, AAC, Larue and a multitude of other companies that i have see employ booth babes that their $#!+ is weak. Many of these booth babes are used by charitable organizations such as Wounded Warrior, AmericanSnipers.org, and Lone Survivor to entice us to donate. Is that a bad thing? HELL NO! Pretty smiles and autographs are worth my charitable contribution.
@ anonymous: Let go of my Schwag!