When I was informed
late last year that I would be going to IWA 2016, my reaction was akin to that
of a child who had received that long awaited and asked for pony for their
birthday (although for the record I was never that child – horses scare the
living daylights out of me!) I had joked with my friends about how I would be
at IWA 2016 as press with no idea that 12 months later I would be at the Messe,
wearing the coveted yellow press pass representing the UK’s number one Airsoft
magazine and needless to say I had to periodically pinch myself to ensure I was
really there!
Stepping into the
halls was a very odd moment – it wasn’t anything like I had ever imagined. Even
though I had seen pictures of stands from the big Industry shows, I was
genuinely taken aback by the effort, time and money that goes into these shows
every year! The Messe is a huge exhibition centre made up of multiple halls and
is easily accessible by foot or the metro, we took a taxi which was around a 15
minute ride from our hotel in Old Town. Our hotel of choice was the Hotel
klughardt which was a quaint B&B in the top quarter of Old Town, the rooms
were spacious, clean and the service was very efficient.
There were many highlights of the show for me, such as meeting the team behind G&G and even having a blast on the M.E.T target system with the newly released G&G Warhog, drinking champagne with ASG at their reception whilst discussing the new Scorpion Evo 3A1 with the Wolverine HPA system, hanging out with The Airsoft Surgeon at the RedWolf Airsoft looking at £3,000 Swarovski encrusted competition pistols to name a few.
Anyone who has
attended IWA knows that more business is done after show hours over a few beers
in the infamous Finnegan’s than during the show itself which is something I discovered
over the weekend, I knew the social aspect of the show was massive, but I
wasn’t aware of just how big a part it plays and the relationships/bonds you
form with people over a tankard of beer and a horrifically sung Bryan Adams
anthem is phenomenal. The bar is a quaint, dimly lit traditional Irish bar set
in the shadow of the castle walls within the town centre and during IWA week it
gets rammed with the who’s who of the Airsoft industry. I frequented the Irish
bar on all 3 of my evenings in Nuremberg, and each night had a different
outcome, from an extremely sensible 10.30 bedtime the first night, partying in
a German club until 4am on the Friday night and the last night ending in
witnessing a Police Raid outside of Finnegan’s and taking a walk through the
Red Light District – which was definitely an eye opening experience! Only at
IWA!
IWA for me was an
absolutely insane experience that I am so grateful to the Airsoft Action team
for letting me be a part of – from meeting the retailers, brands and
personalities to getting to see some of the newest products to hit the market,
well there’s only one word to describe it – Awesome!
Here’s to IWA 2017!
Hardwick, K. (2016). Airsoft Show Report: IWA 2016. Airsoft Action. 61 (May), p29-30.
...And here's the unofficial IWA images ;)
...And here's the unofficial IWA images ;)
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