The event scene for the outdoor industry is changing rapidly. Consumer shows, regional buying opportunities, and hyper-focused conferences are becoming an increasingly important part of any outdoor brand鈥檚 strategy. In this new world, Outdoor Media Summit (OMS)鈥攐ne of the nation鈥檚 top education conferences for media and marketers in the outdoor space鈥攊s a must-attend event.聽

Here are five reasons your marketing team should head to beautiful Incline Village in North Lake Tahoe at the end of October for OMS.

OMS Predicts the Future for You

One of the show鈥檚 mission statements is to look beyond the horizon and identify what鈥檚 next in digital media and marketing. Each year, a steering committee made up of top outdoor brands and media highlight the hottest trends in the digital space. Then, the OMS team recruits the leading minds in those spaces as speakers.

Whether you鈥檙e a marketer at a brand, editor of a media outlet or creator, staying on top of trends is critical for your success as a professional. This year, some of those trends include vertical-format video, engaging with podcasters, and category SEO for Amazon and Google.

But knowing the trends is just one piece of the puzzle. OMS focuses on teaching attendees how to execute on them. Every one of the show鈥檚 breakout sessions includes a how-to component so that when you walk out, you’ll be armed with tactical execution strategies to do business better.

What OMS attendees say:

“Outdoor Media Summit is the best media event in the outdoor industry. It’s as simple as that.” 鈥擲ean McCoy, editorial director of GearJunkie

OMS Has a Unique Formula for Breakout Sessions

Outdoor Media Summit first built its reputation as a conference through breakout sessions. The show opts for a mini-presentation format (as opposed to the traditional 鈥渟tools and moderator鈥� style) where three speakers present on a topic for roughly ten minutes each. After each speaker wraps up, a Q&A session follows. OMS organizers find that this format leads to the highest engagement and greatest benefit to audiences.

The breakout sessions are guaranteed to be high value, because they鈥檙e based around one central rule: share secrets. Before speakers are allowed to present, they have to sign an agreement that says, 鈥淚 promise to give up my secrets on the topic vs. speaking at a high level, speaking in vagaries, or making a sales pitch.鈥� Without agreeing to those terms, speakers can鈥檛 make it onto the docket.

OMS Brings Fresh Media Faces

Each year, OMS scans the outdoor media landscape to identify the biggest personalities and invites them to speak or attend the show. Many of these folks aren鈥檛 your typical trade show regulars. Some are non-endemic; others are rising stars. Not only does this give an opportunity for brands to interact with fresh faces, it gives brands the chance to cross-pollinate with new media outlets that don鈥檛 show up to other industry events.聽

In 2021, OMS聽 brought in staff editors from Wired, the New York Times, Women鈥檚 Health, Business Insider, and more. This year the show will expand its non-endemic publications list even further. It will welcome trending TikTokers like Nelson Holland, Jeffrey Binney, and Bonjour Becky, YouTubers like Miranda Webster and Noah Kane, and other top Instagrammers, podcasters, and vloggers.

The Programming Is Top Notch

Destination marketing organizations host dozens of conferences every year, so when a team member from one describes OMS as 鈥渙ne of the most organized conferences鈥� they鈥檝e been to (see below), that鈥檚 some seriously high praise.

At OMS, thanks to the extensive planning of organizers, you won鈥檛 have to worry about things like how to get from point A to point B, what to eat, or even how to start a conversation. All you need to do is show up with your favorite note-taking device and you鈥檒l walk out with inspiration for tackling tough marketing challenges. (You may even make a friend or two along the way.)

What OMS attendees say:

“Everything is so organized. I love the way the program flows.鈥� 鈥擜aron Mullin, director of communications and marketing at Visit Bentonville

鈥淥ne of the most organized conferences I’ve been to.鈥� 鈥擟arrie Cousins, director of digital marketing for Roanoke Regional Partnership

ROI, ROI, ROI

The issue of 鈥渞eturn on events鈥� is a growing concern, and for good reason. Brands are becoming more discerning with their spending and even more cautious about their environmental footprint. Outdoor Media Summit adheres to a zero-waste philosophy by offsetting carbon produced by travel and working closely with hotels to eliminate single-use plastic.

The event is also incredibly affordable compared to other shows. At a conventional trade show鈥攆actoring in booth pricing, labor, travel, lodging, and food鈥攂rands can easily spend five figures to attend. At Outdoor Media Summit, a Conference + Hotel Ticket (which includes two nights of lodging at a Four Diamond resort, six meals, three happy hours, and shuttles back and forth from the airport) costs less than $1,200.

OMS is able to offer this rock-bottom pricing thanks to the amazing support of its destination sponsors, including this year鈥檚: the Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau.

What OMS attendees say:

“A lot of bang for the buck for sure.鈥� 鈥擲eyl Park, marketing manager at SylvanSport

鈥淚 went to four press events this year and OMS was, hands down, the best. The seminars were the best, the scavenger hunt was the best. The other events weren鈥檛 catered to people like me. At the end of OMS, we had more interaction than at any other event,鈥� 鈥擱yan Spinks, director of brand development at QuietKat

Meaningful Connections in an Authentic Setting

True connections are hard to make through Zoom meetings, conference calls, or half-hour appointments at busy trade shows. The real deal is cultivated when peers can spend quality time in small group settings (being outdoors in beautiful mountain towns also doesn鈥檛 hurt). That鈥檚 why OMS coordinates fun, small-group activities like scavenger hunts at the event.

When you fill a room with hundreds of the best marketers and media pros in the outdoor industry, magic tends to happen. That鈥檚 the core philosophy behind the OMS model.

What OMS attendees say:

鈥淚t was awesome to be in person with like-minded individuals in my field. I loved learning from experienced marketers and influencers while getting to explore a beautiful area.鈥� 鈥擬eaghan Ruby, marketing manager at Minus33

Convinced you need to attend? Interested in learning more? Schedule a call and see if a hyper-focused media event like Outdoor Media Summit might be right for you. Email yoon@outdoormediasummit.com or kenji@outdoormediasummit.com to connect.

More questions? OMS can probably answer them . Ready to nail it down? .

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At a time when industry events have been canceled or seen their attendance decline due to COVID, Outdoor Media Summit, a niche conference that unites outdoor media with each other and other industry stakeholders, found a way to grow.

The fifth annual Outdoor Media Summit, held this week in Estes Park, Colorado, drew a record crowd of 150, which the show鈥檚 founder says was a testament to its unique platform that combines networking, education, and fun鈥攁ll in a rad outdoor setting.

鈥淭he event grew by about 20 percent in the middle of COVID,鈥� said Yoon Kim, who also runs the outdoor e-commerce agency Outdoor ECOM in his hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure how many events can say that, and I believe it鈥檚 because of the demand for the type of unique content we offer.鈥�

After being canceled last year and delayed in 2021 as Kim and his team of event organizers tried to find the right timing amid surges in the virus but also improving vaccination rates, OMS was deemed a success by the attendees that 国产吃瓜黑料 Business Journal鈥檚 editorial staff spoke with during the two-day conference.

Most said that while OMS may be small as far as outdoor industry events go鈥攊t鈥檚 a fraction of the size of, say, Outdoor Retailer鈥攊t offers big value in the uniqueness of the platform, the accessibility of speakers, and breadth and depth of education.

The event had some of the hallmarks of a traditional conference, including a keynote address from a prominent industry player. Robin Thurston, CEO of 国产吃瓜黑料 Inc. (parent company of OBJ and many other outdoor publications) kicked off the event with his Tuesday morning discussion of the 鈥淔uture of Outdoor Media.鈥�

Other heavy hitters who presented included publishers, bloggers, and marketers from the vast world of outdoor media and the broader outdoor industry. They spoke about relevant topics such as how to increase website visitation, affiliate marketing, and even using TikTok to connect with an audience.

OMS did reflect the sign of the times. Proof of vaccine was required. Plenty of people wore masks throughout the show. And a color-coded lanyard system reminiscent of The Big Gear Show allowed attendees to show others how much contact (such as handshakes and hugs), if any, they were comfortable with.

The show kicked off with a welcome reception at Boa Technology鈥檚 headquarters in Denver on Monday night, followed by two full days of presentations, panels, and networking opportunities.

It concluded with the awards ceremony鈥�翱叠闯鈥�s own Kristin Hostetter was honored as the 鈥淪ustainability Champion鈥� for co-founding the Plastic Impact Alliance and Kenji Haroutunian was honored with the “Lifetime Achievement Award”鈥攁nd a panel discussion on the 鈥渘ew outdoor consumer.鈥� The final panel featured plenty of scintillating debate on how media and brands alike can better engage new entrants to the outdoors such as people of color and families.

One highlight of OMS was the scavenger hunt in which teams of journalists walked around downtown Estes and met with brands like Scarpa, Korkers, Camp Chef, Tenkara USA, and others to compete in games and challenges involving product.

And on the final morning, the Confluence of States鈥攚hich held its annual conference in conjunction with OMS鈥攃onducted a session that asked attendees to brainstorm better ways to expand the outdoor economy for all.聽

Feedback from Outdoor Media Summit Organizers and Attendees

Throughout the event, OBJ gathered feedback from the event鈥檚 organizers, presenters, and attendees about OMS. Here鈥檚 what we heard.

Yoon Kim, the show鈥檚 founder, on how it went: 鈥淗onest answer: I don鈥檛 know yet. At the event every year, everyone always tells me how great it was, but I never know for sure until we get the survey data back. One thing I can say for sure is that Robin Thurston’s聽keynote set the tone for the event. We were able to kick things off with a world-class speaker who knew how to rock the room and get everyone thinking, and from there it felt like smooth sailing.鈥澛�

Scott Kaier, first-time attendee and owner of Formidable Media, whose clients include Mustang Survival, Allied Feather + Down, and Green Theme Technologies: 鈥淭his conference has been a fantastic opportunity to get together in person with the media side of our industry again and listen to our peers talk about a variety of different topics that are important to everything we do. The best thing about this event is the smaller size that facilitates so many personal interactions each day.鈥�

Nicole Feliciano, CEO of Momtrends Media and one of the event鈥檚 presenters: 鈥淚 found the conference full of valuable information. As a content creator who writes about many different topics, it鈥檚 helped me really drill down on the areas of outdoor content that I want to create because I鈥檝e identified gaps in my coverage that I think my readers can really benefit from.鈥�

Mike Lanza, founder of The Big 国产吃瓜黑料 and a two-time attendee who called OMS a first-rate event: 鈥淎s a full-time blogger about backpacking and hiking, I found numerous breakout sessions directly relevant to what I do. Even after almost 30 years in outdoor media, I learned some things. Keynote sessions like how to make media more profitable were interesting and informative. And it was just plain fun to see old friends and meet new people in our community.鈥�

Serena Juchnowski, a first-time attendee and competitive shooter who writes about hunting and fishing for FMG Publications: 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 really know what to expect coming into OMS 2021. Coming from the hook-and-bullet side, my eyes opened to an entirely new side of the industry. Sessions as a whole were informative, but I didn鈥檛 walk away with dozens of new friends and a stack full of business cards like I have at other conferences. I did make some meaningful connections, but not as many as I would have liked. I actually felt out of place and that there wasn鈥檛 much for me besides a few sessions.鈥澛�

Heidi Allen, VP of marketing at Nikwax North America: 鈥淭he deepest value we found in the event was being able to activate meaningfully (and playfully!) to educate the media about our products through the scavenger hunt.鈥�

Bill Kueper, vice president of Wenonah Canoe, who made the trip to OMS for the third time and said it鈥檚 an event he always looks forward to: 鈥淥MS presents an annual opportunity to network with outdoor industry insiders without the usual trade show duties and brings in people who are atypical to other outdoor trade shows. The educational content for someone like myself allows me to better interface with my creative teams.鈥�

Outdoor Media Summit 2022

Next year鈥檚 Outdoor Media Summit is scheduled for October 30 to November 1, 2022 and will take place at the Hyatt regency Lake Tahoe Resort in North Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

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It’s no secret that the pandemic complications of 2020 were ruthlessly unkind鈥攁nd in some cases, nearly disastrous鈥攖o trade shows in the outdoor industry. All through last year, industry pros repeated the phrase “back to normal” like a mantra, looking ahead to summer 2021 when, according to most predictions, we would all be able to gather again without fear of putting ourselves and others at risk.

Well, here were are. Trade show planning for summer 2021 has begun, and things are perhaps not quite as settled as we would like. Questions still abound.聽Which of the big shows will run, and how? What safety measures will be in place? Even this far into the pandemic鈥攚ith a major vaccine rollout and hopefully some form of life-as-normal on the way later this year鈥攁 lot still feels up in the air.

To provide some clarity for those in the industry trying to plan their summer calendars, we spoke with leaders of the season’s key shows to find out if they’re running as scheduled, and if so, what they’ll look like when we people get there. Below are the current plans鈥攕ubject to change, of course鈥攆or聽Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, The Big Gear Show, Grassroots Connect, Outdoor Media Summit, six of聽360 国产吃瓜黑料 Collective’s rep shows, and OutDoor by ISPO.

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market

Is It Happening?

Yes. “With regard to getting back in person, the team is very anxious to do it,” show director Marisa Nicholson said. “This is our expertise. But we want it to be safe for our customers and also ourselves. Emerald [OR’s parent company] has been supportive in making sure we have all the materials we need to stage a show in the middle of the pandemic.”

Show organizers’ excitement has been matched, Nicholson says, by that of professionals across the industry. Nicholson tells 国产吃瓜黑料 Business Journal that “contracts are coming in daily” for the summer show.

When and Where

June 15-17 in Denver, Colorado

How the Show Will Be Different This Year

Perhaps more than any other show, Outdoor Retailer has leaned hard into the advent of digital events. The group has already hosted two full-scale shows online (one is going on right now), and show organizers say they won’t leave the technology behind when things get back to normal.

“We鈥檝e learned a lot,” said Nicholson. “We are talking about a hybrid show for the summer, including elements of digital and in-person.”

Nicholson says OR wants to accommodate participants who can’t attend the event due to company travel bans. She also sees applications for OR’s digital tools to augment the experience of the in-person event. “There will probably be brands that will want to use the digital tools even if they come to the show, so we’re looking at how we can make that happen,” she said. “A challenge in the past has been making the show’s educational events accessible online, but we’re pretty good at that now. We will probably use our new digital capabilities for that purpose.”

Nicholson says that, for attendees, the process of registering and preparing for the show will not be radically different than it has been in the past. “The experience once you鈥檙e there will be different,” she said. “But the work for people beforehand will not change.”

How the Show Will Keep People Safe

“Staging a show in Denver requires us to work with state and city officials on the ground,” Nicholson said. “We鈥檒l create what we think is the safest and best plan to execute a good show, and then make sure it鈥檚 in compliance with state, city, and national guidelines.”

Exactly what protocols will be in place show organizers haven’t settled on yet, insisting that the planning will be an “ongoing, evolving” process.

“We鈥檙e going to take into consideration the regulations and then do what we feel is best,” said Nicholson. “If the CDC doesn鈥檛 mandate masks, but we feel it鈥檚 safer for people to have them, then we鈥檒l have them. We’ll make that call.”

If the Worst Happens, Is There a Contingency Plan?

In the worst-case scenario, Nicholson says, show organizers would host another Outdoor Retailer Online. The current winter show has seen markedly more engagement than the first digital show last summer. That trend, Nicholson says, would be enough to justify another online event, if the situation came to that.

The Big Gear Show

Is It Happening?

Yes. “The Big Gear Show is full steam ahead for next August in Park City,” show director Kenji聽Haroutunian told OBJ this week. “The retailers and the brands are excited to do business in our new open-air show format, as well as to learn from and work with adjacent outdoor recreation categories. They鈥檙e also sharing with us that they鈥檙e excited to test new products, discover new brands, and just see each other as an industry again, face to face.”

When and Where

August 3-5 in Park City, Utah

Important Details About the Show

The Big Gear Show is billing itself as “America’s first open-air trade show.” This will be its inaugural year. An invite-only affair, the event has a guest list of 500 retailer and 250 brands, and will focus exclusively on hardgoods.聽The official themes of the show, according to聽Haroutunian,聽are curation, connection, and education.

Originally scheduled for summer 2020, the event was always supposed to be small鈥攕maller than Outdoor Retailer, at least鈥攂ut the pandemic has given that format new logic.

“Retailers need a place to test new products. You need a place to roll out 2022鈥檚 new product line. But your company probably still has a travel moratorium and not a lot of plans for trade shows next year,” the show website reads. “We get that, in this new normal, no one wants to go to mass gatherings in big city centers, cooped up indoors with 30,000 people you don鈥檛 know.”

Haroutunian said, “Our retailers are telling us that they are ready to get out of their shops the moment it is safe to do so, and that they believe we might be one of the first events they’ll attend.”

Haroutunian also says that show leadership is “planning for hybrid virtual production to help tie in the consumer interest without a live consumer attendance.”

How the Show Will Keep People Safe

“We are extremely mindful of the continued public health crisis but we are cautiously optimistic by the acceleration of vaccinations and our open-air format,” Haroutunian said. “We believe that by mid-summer, we’ll all be settled into our new normal and we鈥檒l be able to stage safely with a finite, manageable crowd, active outdoor dispersion and established pandemic controls and protocols.”

If the Worst Happens, Is There a Contingency Plan?

“With a limited, invitational attendance and an all-outdoors venue, we are extremely confident we can stage safely and successfully in August 2021,” said Haroutunian. “These days, with all events it is prudent to plan parallel situations; but in this case, staging with a smaller size or fully virtual is not a viable option, so we would cancel the event if it could not be done safely or if the regional regulatory permission could not be obtained.”

Grassroots Connect

Is It Happening?

No. Grassroots leadership confirmed today that the show鈥攐riginally scheduled for June 7-10 in Knoxville, Tennessee鈥攊s cancelled.

What Led to the Decision

“We don’t have one isolated reason for cancellation,” Grassroots Outdoor Alliance president Rich Hill told OBJ. “Because our show is a buying event, if we have only 50 percent participation, the show doesn鈥檛 work. Without enough of a crowd, the formula falls apart. We need 100 percent. And we just can鈥檛 depend on that.”

Hill says that the unsteady rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines was “another indicator” that the show wouldn’t be able to stage as planned. “We feel that鈥檚 we鈥檙e not through this,” he says.

Hill noted that, in private conversations with brand leaders, he has heard “a lot of concern” that also factored into Grassroots’ decision to cancel the show.

“I called Patagonia and they told me there’s no way they鈥檙e going [to Connect],” Hill said. “They鈥檙e very concerned about the safety of their employees. VF Corporation is the same way. I heard that both VF and Patagonia have travel bans through the end of June.”

Will There Be a Substitute for the In-Person Show?

Hill says Grassroots is going to “do the smart thing” and focus on the group’s next Connect show in the fall. That event is scheduled to run November 8-11 in Kansas City, Missouri.

Outdoor Media Summit

Is It Happening?

Yes. “We鈥檙e pretty certain about August,” show founder Yoon Kim said, noting that the event, set to run August 23-25, is one of the latest on the industry’s summer calendar. “We had originally planned to run the show in April, and to be honest we probably could have done it in May, but we didn’t want to quality of the show to suffer. We’re hoping that by August social distancing protocols and other restrictions will have eased somewhat.”

Kim says that general admission tickets are sold out, and that show leadership has no plans to release more, but that sponsorship tickets are still available, as well as tickets for the Future Leader Investment Program鈥攁n initiative aimed at accelerating the careers of BIPOC professionals in the outdoor industry.

When and Where

August 23-25 in Estes Park, Colorado

What Safety Measures Will Be in Place

“Health and safety is our number-one concern, which means we will be following the most up-to-date guidelines for the state of Colorado,” Kim said. “Our hotel partner, The Ridgeline, will also be practicing a full list of protocols聽that will ensure that everyone will be able to stay safe and healthy.”

If the Worst Happens, Is There a Contingency Plan?

Kim says that if the most restrictive national and state safety guidelines aren鈥檛 gone by the time the show opens, show organizers will “have to let the quality drop,” but that the show will still go on. The format of certain events would be changed, Kim said: “For things like happy hours or dinners, we would have to find ten restaurants that can hold 20 people instead of one that can hold 200.” As of now, though, the show has no plans to cancel, even if the state of the pandemic has not improved by August.

360 国产吃瓜黑料 Collective (Multiple Shows)

Are They Happening?

Yes, all six of 360 国产吃瓜黑料 Collective’s sales rep shows planned for June, July, and August are scheduled to run.

“We feel confident were going to be able to execute all the shows that are on the calendar for the summer,” said 360 国产吃瓜黑料 Collective regional director Terry Wilson. “June is an important month for sales reps because the first-buy deadline for many companies in the industry falls in the beginning or middle of July. Those first-buy deadlines make up the majority of contracts for 2022 product.”

When and Where

国产吃瓜黑料 360 Collective will host six shows鈥攁ll geared toward sales reps鈥攐ver the course of the summer in New Hampshire, New Jersey, South Carolina, Alabama, Maryland, and Massachusetts.

How the Shows Will Be Different This Year

Wilson said the show formats may be “something of a hybrid, based on how vaccines roll out and what the CDC recommends coming into the month of May,” but didn’t provide further details.

What Safety Measures Will Be in Place

The safety measures used at the shows will depend entirely on state and CDC guidelines, Wilson said. “We may or may not be wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and doing temp checks. We鈥檙e simply going to follow all Covid protocols that are in place when the shows open.”

If the Worst Happens, Is There a Contingency Plan?

360 国产吃瓜黑料 Collective hosted numerous digital shows in 2020. “The worst-case scenario would be to fall back on all-virtual events again,” Wilson said. He noted that that outcome is not outside the realm of possibility for the summer shows, but that for the group’s first fall show in November, it’s highly unlikely. “We feel that we鈥檒l be completely back to normal by the November show,” he said. “We think it will look, taste, and feel like a show in 2019. By that we mean, hopefully masks won鈥檛 be required, social gathering will be allowed, the beer will flow, and there will be no fear of infection.”

OutDoor by ISPO

Is It Happening?

Yes. Leaders of this European show moved the dates back two weeks, but otherwise expect the show to stage as planned.

“We鈥檙e committed to having a physical show,” said ISPO senior associate Dieter Tremp. “If all hell breaks loose, if pessimism comes through, we have answers. We will still have a physical show, but it might be smaller. We will not cancel.”

When and Where

July 5-8 in聽Munich, Germany

What Safety Measures Will Be in Place

“Everybody will be social distancing and wearing masks, no doubt about it,” Tremp said, noting that the show plans to formulate its safety guidelines as recommendations are released by European health authorities.

If the Worst Happens, Is There a Contingency Plan?

“If the physical dimension has to be lessened, we might decide to do a September follow-up in person,” said Tremp. “We have that option. We鈥檙e not planning on it, but that’s the advantage when you own the convention center where the show is happening. You can determine that.”

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Yesterday, a recommendation from the CDC dramatically changed the in-person event landscape for the outdoor industry for at least the next two months. In a statement released on the agency’s website, experts advised cancelling or postponing all gatherings of 50 or more people across the nation for eight weeks, upending the schedules of conferences, trade shows, and meetings. Late Sunday and into Monday morning, event organizers worked to salvage plans and find solutions that comply with the new federal advisement.

Some of the industry’s biggest warm-season shows, like the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, scheduled for June 23-25, are proceeding uninterrupted for now. 国产吃瓜黑料 Business Journal reached out to OR for a statement, but received no immediate response. Jennifer Pringle, vice president of marketing communications and research at Outdoor Industry Association, told OBJ on Monday, “We鈥檙e meeting as a management team today to talk about what we can do to support our members. We鈥檙e staying in close contact with Emerald as to what鈥檚 happening with the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market. And we鈥檙e keeping close connection with the government as well. But right now, we really want to turn our attention supporting our members.鈥� The Grassroots Outdoor Alliance Connect show, scheduled for early June, has not yet been cancelled, but organizers are actively working on a virtual event contingency plan.

Events scheduled for later in the year, from late spring through summer, remain largely unchanged for the time being. Terry Wilson, southeast regional director for 360 国产吃瓜黑料 Collective, reports that all of the group’s spring and summer rep shows, which begin in early June, will proceed as planned.

“For now, we’re staying the course with summer shows as scheduled, subject to review based on when the virus peaks,” Wilson said. “We鈥檙e still hearing that spring samples are arriving on time, and first-buy deadlines for brands are firm at this moment. Most of those fall in the middle of July. We’re holding course and seeing how this thing plays out over the next 30 to 60 days. We鈥檙e exploring the option of shifting some shows a week or two if needed.”

In the near term, however, many events in March and April face a series of difficult choices and an uncertain future. Some have already cancelled. The聽Bicycle Leadership Conference in Monterey, scheduled for聽April 14-16, has been postponed to September 29-October 1.聽Canoecopia in Madison, WI, was pushed to next year.聽Outdoor Media Summit, scheduled for April 21-23 in Estes Park, Colorado, is postponed to an unspecified date. “OMS attendees should expect an email shortly on exactly what the plans are for next steps,鈥� said OMS founder Yoon Kim.

Many events that fall within the eight-week window are actively working to figure out solutions, but haven’t yet reached official decisions.聽The Western Colorado Outdoor & Sportman Expo, slated for May 1-3 in Eagle, Colorado, is proceeding as planned for the time being, but events manager聽Krista DeHerrera reports that leadership is meeting tomorrow to discuss changes and a path forward.聽Adrienne Saia Isaac,聽director of marketing and communications for the National Ski Areas Association, said that her team “is working to respond to the latest CDC recommendation” with respect to the group’s National Convention and Tradeshow scheduled for May 4-7 in Florida. She advises industry members to watch the NSAA’s social media channels, on which the group will release announcements “throughout the day [Monday] for more information.”

These changes arrive at a time when many outdoor brands鈥攊ncluding聽 Columbia, VF Corp., REI, Patagonia, and Stio鈥攈ave closed some or all of their retail locations in an effort to curb the spread of the virus among employees and customers. Even before the CDC’s recommendation, some events like 国产吃瓜黑料ELEVATE, the Sea Otter Classic, Shoptalk, and the聽North American Handmade Bicycle Show聽had already made plans to cancel or push back their schedules.

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Believe it or not, a zero-waste trade show is within our reach, especially if the industry rallies around the idea in the same way they did to ditch single-use plastic at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market last month in Denver, Colorado.

Not only were single-use water bottles few and far between, but vendors for the first time had an alternative to single-use samples cups thanks to Vessel Works. Plastic Impact Alliance members Nuun, Lono Life, Cusa Tea, and Patagonia Provisions served food and drinks in two-ounce stainless steel cups, which Vessel Works collected at the end of the night, sterilized, and returned the next day.

“Overall the whole pilot was such a success,” Vessel’s Carly Snider said. “I thought we were going to hear pushback from attendees because with anything new you always hear different things. But the vendors were like, I can’t even tell you how incredible it is to offer a zero-waste solution at events.”

Snider is in talks with other brands, as well as Outdoor Retailer and the Colorado Convention Center, about scaling the program at the next shows.

“We got dozens of comments from buyers and media and people genuinely appreciated our efforts to divert waste from the landfill,” Cusa Tea Founder and CEO Jim Lamancusa said. “On top of that, Vessel made it extremely easy. Clean cups magically showed up each morning and dirty ones were hauled away. We will definitely be doing this again.鈥�

Snider is doing a lifecycle assessment of what she calls five-second sample cups, and both Outdoor Retailer and Patagonia are awaiting results of separate audits of waste at the show to determine the next issue to tackle.

Plastic Numbers from the Trade Show Floor

• 1,315 people signed up for the Plastic Impact Promise and 225 brands are members of the Plastic Impact Alliance.

• More than 300 reusable water bottles were given away at the Snews booth.

• Yeti’s water refill vats served 5,631 people with 1,320 gallons of water鈥攆or a conversion of 14,080 12-ounce bottles.

• Vessel Works diverted 6,000 sample cups by providing four brands with a fleet of stainless steel reusable ones.

• Outdoor Retailer handed out 25,000聽Nalgene bottles to attendees.

• No single-use bottles were sold at concession stands.

• Stanley, a steadfast sponsor of Outdoor Industry Association鈥檚 Day One breakfast, invited its competitors Miir, Klean Kanteen, Yeti, CamelBak, Mizu, and EcoVessel to co-sponsor. Together, they distributed 675 insulated vessels.

• Plastic Impact Alliance members hosted 170 in-booth water refill stations around the show floor.

Objectives for Other Trade Shows

On Day Three of the show, a group of Plastic Impact Alliance members鈥攆rom Outdoor Retailer, Patagonia, Stanley, Costa, Klean Kanteen, Catapult Creative Labs, OBJ, Momentum PR, and Outdoor Industry Association鈥攎et to discuss observations and next steps.

“I can’t think of a more progressive trade show…really progressive,” said Amanda Simons with , a trade show sustainability auditing group working with OR.

Some Other Overarching Wins:

• Outdoor Retailer did away with aisle carpeting.

• The Colorado Convention Center baled and recycled plastic film in the back-of-house sorting area鈥攁vailable for all brands to use.

Some Waste-Stream Challenges to Work On:

• Carpet and flooring in booths, plus the plastic covers

• Plastic film for pallet wrapping

• Polybags

• Takeaway food, which produces single-use waste

• Filling, such as pillows, for shoes, bags, etc.

Even though there was noticeable progress, the trash still piled up at the end of the show. A large pile of product labels and bags from one big brand was left as trash on the floor next to their booth.

Patagonia environmental analyst Dawnielle Tellez said Patagonia has a pack in/pack out mentality at the show. “Our visual design team brings everything from our booth back to our headquarters to ensure it鈥檚 sorted, repurposed, recycled, composted, or disposed of responsibly,” Tellez said. “Our team goes so far as to use reusable, inflatable bladders to fill our backpacks and duffle bags for display during the show.”

Patagonia, member of the Alliance since May, is creating a tool to enable themselves and other apparel brands to evaluate the overall waste footprint throughout the trade show, including a way to identify single-use plastic 鈥渉otspots.”

“We鈥檙e also in the process of developing a roadmap for how Patagonia can ultimately reach zero-waste in our trade show operations,” Tellez said. Evaluating the trade show operations is part of Patagonia’s effort to drastically reduce its waste globally, eliminate virgin petroleum sources, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2025.

国产吃瓜黑料 of OR, the Alliance聽is working with Outdoor Media Summit (about 150 attendees) to create a totally zero-waste, carbon neutral April 2020 event in Estes Park, Colorado. Grassroots Outdoor Alliance is also moving forward with a plan and a new level of mindfulness around their bi-annual Connect shows.

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