Paintball Magazine 2018 Paintball Extravaganza Special Edition | Page 18

Further discussions with many
manufacturers revealed a need for a
paintball trade show. After more than
a year of planning and working with
manufacturers he decided to proceed with
the first Paintball Extravaganza with the
industry’s support, including PMI, Smart
Parts, Tippmann and a handful more.
The Paintball Extravaganza was born.
Through the following years the Paintball
Extravaganza quickly grew, filling the void
left by the International Amateur Open’s
Paintball Industry conferences of the late
90s.
After a one-year stint in Chicago in 2005 the
Paintball Extravaganza moved to Atlanta,
Georgia for six years where it grew year
after year. In 2010 there were two Paintball
Extravaganza events, one in Atlanta and a
second one in Anaheim, California. In 2012
the event moved to the Washington DC
018
paintball.media magazine
area, increasing the number of paintball
store and field owners that could drive to
the event, as well as fly into one of three
DC area airports. The current home of
the Paintball Extravaganza is the Hyatt
Regency Hotel, an airport shuttle ride from
Dulles Airport. In its 13 year history more
than 850 stores and fields have attended
Paintball Extravaganza International from 35
countries.
2018 Paintball Extravaganza
International
This year’s event was the 8th Paintball
Extravaganza that I have attended. Having
traveled to Atlanta and Anaheim for
previous Extravaganza events it’s definitely a
bonus for me having the event less than an
hour from my office in the Washington DC
area for the past seven years.