The Truth Behind the Gundie Awards

Ben and Will from Forge Relations, the marketing agency behind the Gundies, join State of the Second hosts John and Kaylee to trace how a fun idea built around The Office's Dundees grew into a black-tie award show in a Las Vegas theater. They walk through the arc: year one was meant to be a simple, fun award show, then COVID forced an evolution into a range day, a drive-tank experience, and an Expo before the event came back to Vegas as the polished ceremony viewers saw last year. Ben describes going from a ten-dollar microphone and a jukebox you'd rent for a child's party on a staircase at Nacho Daddy to a professional sound stage at the Venetian theater that holds 2,000 people, with PSA as the title sponsor. The conversation covers what makes the Gundies work. The goal is something for the community, by the community, bringing a fractured firearms industry together across genres so people can put down their guard and have fun. The group reflects on the four new categories added this year, Podcast of the Year, King of the Hill, Top 2A Writer, and Emerging Brand of the Year, and on the moment Paul Harrell won an award before his passing and the team made a pointed goal to get him his trophy quickly. Ben and Will explain how the event spotlights smaller creators alongside large ones, since voters browsing a category discover names they never knew existed. The back half turns to marketing and censorship. Ben and Will argue platform restrictions on gun content are real but more flexible on the organic side than most brands assume, and that brands lose reach by ignoring the in-app features the algorithms reward. Ben's core advice: stop obsessing over the content first, learn the platform, use its native features, read your analytics, and stay consistent. Both push on engaging the comment section, building a real brand instead of assuming the product speaks for itself, and protecting a marketing budget instead of cutting it when things slow down. They point to Palmetto State Armory as a current example of transparent, engaged content, and close with Gundy Awards voting details. Questions this episode answers How did the Gundies start, and what inspired the concept? Ben and Will of Forge Relations built the Gundies as a fun idea modeled on The Office's Dundees, meant to be a simple award show for the firearms community. The goal was something for the community, by the community, bringing a fractured industry together so people could put down their guard and have fun. How has the Gundies evolved from its first year into the black-tie ceremony at the Venetian theater? After year one, COVID pushed the event into a range day, a drive-tank experience, and an Expo before it returned to Las Vegas as a polished ceremony. It grew from a ten-dollar mic on a staircase at Nacho Daddy to a sound stage at the Venetian theater seating 2,000, with Palmetto State Armory as title sponsor. What four new award categories were added this year, and why? The Gundies added Podcast of the Year, King of the Hill, Top 2A Writer, and Emerging Brand of the Year. The categories help spotlight a wider range of creators and brands across the firearms community. Why did the team make a point of getting Paul Harrell his trophy quickly? Paul Harrell won a Gundie before his passing, and Ben and Will made a pointed goal to get him his trophy quickly. Ben described him as the grandfather of the space and of what they do. How do the Gundies spotlight smaller creators alongside the biggest names in the industry? The show places smaller creators in the same categories as large ones, so voters browsing a category discover names they never knew existed. That structure gives emerging creators visibility next to the industry's biggest names. Is gun content really being shadow banned, or is something else going on? Ben and Will argue platform restrictions on gun content are real but more flexible on the organic side than most brands assume. Many brands lose reach by ignoring the in-app features the algorithms reward rather than by being banned outright. What should firearms brands do differently to get better results on social media? Ben's advice is to stop obsessing over the content first, learn the platform, use its native features, read your analytics, and stay consistent. He and Will also push brands to engage the comment section, build a real brand, and protect the marketing budget instead of cutting it when things slow down. How do you become a sponsor of the Gundies, and when does voting happen? The episode closes with the Gundie Awards voting details and sponsorship information. Palmetto State Armory is the current title sponsor of the show. Chapters 00:00 — Meet Ben and Will, creators of the Gundies 02:02 — Kaylee's 26-minute scramble to get ready 03:35 — From a $10 mic on a staircase to a sound stage 07:21 — Drive Tanks: petting a rhino and an RPG 10:01 — The industry catching up to a real award show 14:40 — Born from The Office's Dundees, built to unite 16:15 — Four new categories: King of the Hill and more 19:37 — Paul Harrell's award and his final video 24:11 — Spotlighting smaller creators alongside big names 26:21 — Live streaming the show and the pressure of going live 35:34 — From the Soapbox: censorship and big tech 41:43 — What the industry can do better in marketing 47:55 — Engaging the comment section and building a brand 54:01 — Why the Gundies legitimizes the community 58:58 — Voting dates, prizes, and final plugs About the guest Ben and Will are from Forge Relations, a firearms-industry marketing agency, and they created the Gundies, a firearms-industry award show. Ben runs the run of show at the live ceremony, and Will has hosted on stage over the years. They say the Gundies has been running around five to six years, starting in a Las Vegas restaurant and growing into a black-tie ceremony at the Venetian theater, with PSA as the current title sponsor. [VERIFY company roles and titles] Key quotes "The goal is to provide something for the community, by the community." — Ben "Learn the actual platform that you're putting the content out." — Ben "It's called social media for a reason." — Ben "I think we're in the adapt or die mode when it comes to content creation right now." — Kaylee "That's the worst time to cut your marketing budget." — Will "He is the grandfather of this space, of what we do." — Ben