Lowcountry outdoors: 2024 Professional Outdoor Media visit Pinewood, S.C.

Friday, May 10, 2024

2024 Professional Outdoor Media visit Pinewood, S.C.

POMA members at the SCWA waterfowl overlook
after riding in the Honda Pioneer 1000

The annual membership meeting for the Professional Outdoors Media Association (POMA) rotates throughout the U.S. and the 2024 meeting was held in South Carolina. This was POMA's first meeting in S.C. since 2013 but I predict they will return to the Palmetto State sooner rather than later thanks to media-friendly host, South Carolina Waterfowl Association (SCWA). SCWA is transforming their footprint from a hunting operation, to a newly expanded campus for shooting sports and corporate meetings, with the proceeds to benefit youth education operations on site. The setting along the banks of Lake Marion and Lake Moultrie is where meeting co-sponsor Santee Cooper Country operates 12 months out of the year, and plenty of hunting and fishing opportunities abound for both locals and visitors.

Chef Danny Hieronymus after his
Lowcountry Boil cooking demo

The POMA meeting did not fall during a hunt season, but the first order of business was to send writer sea photographers out on the Lake for a Monday morning fishing trip for catfish! The three-day conference ran from Monday, May 6 though May 8 and features a jam-packed schedule of sessions focused on content creation, gear access and even first-aid education. POMA members coming from many states gather together for all meals and lodging which creates a setting where idea exchanges can take place, and future stories can blossom. SCWA founder David Wielicki received an award for POMA one day, and was back to giving personally-guided tours to media members the next day. SCWA marketing director Mark Copley is the contact to learn more about the future at SCWA.