I suppose your thinking this article is all about dialing in your marker to exceed acceptable levels with respect to feet per second?…Do I really have to discuss that again?. I suppose it couldn’t be said enough but in this case the reference to “Shooting Hot” has nothing to do with paintball markers at all.
The following is another Catshack Reports interview with Mr. Dale Ford. The Catshack Reports touched base with Dale earlier this year to discuss various aspects of his involvement in paintball and media. Dale has now seen fit to take it to the next level and has introduced his own online publication called “Shooting Hot”. The magazine itself is chalk full of good solid articles written by several well known (and a few lesser known) people in the game including Dawn Allcot and Bambi Bullard to name only a couple.
When was the idea to take this step and create a magazine first conceived…and by whom?
Shooting Hot Magazine is actually something that Publisher Billy Smith has been encouraging me to do for some time. During the course of my tenure as a writer for PB2X, PaintballX3, Splat Magazine, and Paintball Sports, Billy would bust my chops about it, saying that I needed to have my own magazine, done the way I felt it should be done. It took around a year, but in April of this year, the decision was made to move forward, and the results are out there for everyone to see.
Aside from yourself, who are the people that are a direct part of Shooting Hot?
Billy Smith is the Publisher, and handles the business aspects of the magazine. I’m the magazine’s editor, Joe Holleran is the Associate Editor, and Bill Murray is our graphics specialist. We also have Dawn Allcot and Bambi Bullard writing and doing sales. Contributors on the writing side include Executive Chef Bill Bain, Terry Black, TB Wright and Jamie “Tiny Blonde Goddess” Ford, my wife.
Dale you have played a part in the paintball media scene for quite some time now, what is your overall vision with respect to “Shooting Hot”?
I’ve been blessed to have worked with top people like John Amodea, Dawn Allcot and Chris Iaquinta…through them I learned a lot about being a writer/photographer and dealing with the issues that an editor is going to run into. The overall vision for Shooting Hot is best described as a combination of a paintball magazine, with elements of popular men’s magazines and firearms magazines. It’s all reality based, things that matter to players.
What sets ‘Shooting Hot” apart from other publications?
When you read a review, you can tell that the writer actually went out and used the item being reviewed. We beat the crap out of stuff, making sure that when it makes the field in a player’s hand, it’s going to perform like we said it would in our review. As an editor, I give my writers a lot of leeway on how they present their ideas and I don’t put limits on what they can talk about, or how they say it. It’s me, Joe, Billy and Bill’s opinion that political correctness is not something we’re going to do with Shooting Hot.
What was the date of the very first publication online and are you planning on creating a paper edition?
Our first issue was put out October 1st. If the demand and support is there for a paper edition, we’ll do it…but that’s a huge monetary investment that we’re not willing to make yet.
Your marketing plan surrounds something I like to refer to as “The Gene Simmons” marketing approach…when it comes to business, Gene Simmons is certainly one of my idols that I look up to as something of a marketing genius, would you agree with this assessment and perhaps discuss a bit about the Shooting Hot marketing plan?
I’m not familiar with Gene Simmons’ approach. Billy, the publisher is an admirer of WWF/WWE’s Vince McMahon. He’s politically incorrect, doesn’t really care what you think, and Billy describes him as a ‘genius’. Given his success, I’d have to agree with that. The focus of Shooting Hot is to address what players want and need, and we saw a place for us to fill those needs in a way that was informing and entertaining. After all, paintball is entertainment, and I personally believe that we need to be having as much fun doing this as our readers have reading it.
You have assembled a few well known writers to be a part of the magazine content, who are they and give us a short bio on who they are and which publications are responsible for their notoriety prior to submissions for “Shooting Hot”
When I signed on as the editor, I had a short list of writers that I absolutely had to have working with me to make it happen the way I envisioned.
Bambi Bullard is a walking, talking, parade ground bellowing legend. She’s been there, done that, got the T-shirt and matching purse to go with it. Absolutely key personality to have.
Dawn Allcot is my former editor from Paintball Sports, and we’ve always had a very strong working relationship. Once she left Paintball Sports for other opportunities, and they eventually folded, having her was a must. She’s a consummate professional. She’s also one of the most attractive women in the game as well, a fact that a lot of people overlook.
Lawrence “TB” Wright is a vastly underrated writer. Too many people only look at the controversy, and overlook the fact that he’s a top notch writer, with experience of his own in producing magazines and being an editor. TB brings a huge heaping dose of reality to the table, and that’s what we want.
Bill Bain isn’t really well known as a paintball writer, but he’s another key personality. Bill is a working Executive Chef, and couple that with his love of paintball and all that goes with it, and you’ve got something that nobody else has.
The first two published editions have featured some very beautiful women as the magazine covers. What can we expect in future editions?
More beautiful women. In addition to the models used in the first two issues, we’re also going to be talking to and getting real world paintball playing women to pose as well. Rich Struth and Bill Murray handles this side of the magazine, and they’re the best at it, bar none.
Aside from the images….what can we expect in the way of content for Shooting Hot…as well, who has signed on in the way of industry in support of the magazine?
In a word, reality. All too often a product gets reviewed or an event is covered, and you get a ‘puppy dogs and rainbows’ look at it. Just like my readers, I’m traveling to these events and playing as well as covering them. I deal with the delayed flights, searching for a place to stay (Dale was in the Army, Dale doesn’t camp anymore), and finding good food. Part of the event coverage that SHM does is to give you those little insider tips on where to stay, how to get there, and the food choices that absolutely nobody else does. For instance, if you go to First Strike Paintball in Newberry, FL the road to get to the field is in one county, and a mile up the road is the same road number, just a different county, which of course takes you nowhere.
As for industry support, we’re proud to have Low Country Paintball, SoBe Paintball, Hammerhead Barrels, and Addiction Army. With all that hope and change we’ve got flowing right now in the White House, it’s tough getting people to spend money with us. There are people in the industry who absolutely love what we’re doing, but literally don’t have the money to spend. Dawn and Bambi are looking outside the paintball industry for relevant advertisers to come in and show off their goodies to our readers.
So there you have it, as I mentioned to Dale, there is simply no such thing as enough paintball media as it not only provides news and interesting reads to the paintball community, it also promotes paintball to those surfing the net that are researching potentially taking the game up for themselves…welcome “Shooting Hot” to the paintball media circles and be sure to visit http://www.shootinghotmagazine.com/
Next issue will appear online – December 1st 2009
