Michael Hodgson Co-Publisher / Editor

Recognized nationally for his poignant writing style, humor and knowledge of outdoor equipment, award-winning journalist and author Michael Hodgson is constantly "seeking out the wilder side of a mountain..." in search of a good story or a ridiculously tough place to test gear. Frankly, his friends are amazed that he can still walk. Michael is the copublisher of SNEWS®, a subscription-only newsletter serving the outdoor industry and is a founding partner in GearTrends® - www.GearTrends.com - established in 1999 as an information Web site for new products and trends in the outdoor, snow sport, fitness, paddling and bike markets. One of his other Web sites -- www.adventurenetwork.com - was recognized in 1999 as a USA Today Hot Site, a Featured Expert award winner and a Golden Web award winner. Yet another site, www.totalfitnessnetwork.com, and operated in partnership with his wife, Therese Iknoian, was launched in early-1999.

Michael served as the gear editor for Men's Health magazine from 1997 to 1999 and during that time was also the on-air talent covering gear and trends for Outside's Radio Network's nationally syndicated weekly show. Michael also worked as an editor for Outdoor Retailer magazine from 1990 to 1999 where he was instrumental in launching that magazine's Web site as well as covering the business of running Web sites, etailing and the Internet before the terms even became fashionable. While with Outdoor Retailer, he helped create the Daily Exposure, the daily paper for Outdoor Retailer's two industry trade shows, where he served as editor for five years. Michael has also worked as a part-time editor for Planet Outdoors from June 2000 to November 2000 and a content editor for Fogdog Sports from 1999 to early 2000.

Prior to his life as a journalist / author, Michael worked as the General Manager of Western Mountaineering -- a specialty retail shop and manufacturer of down sleeping bags -- and as an assistant store manager for Adventure 16, a nationally respected specialty outdoor retail chain in Southern California. While at Adventure 16, Michael founded and directed Adventure 16's store-wide Wilderness Outings program where he also served as a guide.

Michael's articles have appeared in Outside, Backpacker, Hooked on the Outdoors (where he continues to pen a regular humor column for each issue), Men's Journal, Adventure West, Field and Stream, Outdoor Life, The Christian Science Monitor and others. He has published 18 books on the outdoors which include the wildly popular No Shit There I Was series, the critically acclaimed Compass & Map Navigator, Facing The Extreme, and, most recently, Camping For Dummies

Contact Michael directly via email at: michael@snewsnet.com

Therese Ikonian Co-Publisher / Editor

Following obtaining her undergraduate degree in journalism, Therese Iknoian spent a decade as a newspaper reporter before launching a free-lance career specializing in sports and fitness writing and instruction and earning her master’s degree in exercise physiology. She has been a nationally ranked race walker, and is an internationally published free-lance health & fitness writer whose work has appeared in Men's Health, Fitness, Backpacker, Shape, Women’s Day, Walking, and Parenting, among others. She was a contributing editor for the now defunct Walking magazine and has written a syndicated fitness/sports newspaper column.

As a hard news reporter, she spent her last six years in newspaper at the San Jose Mercury News, where she won several awards for education coverage and was a member of the 1990 Pulitzer Prize-winning news team that covered the Loma Prieta Earthquake.

Her latest book is "Mind-Body Fitness For Dummies” (IDG Press, November 2000). She also has written "Walking Fast," "Fitness Walking (Human Kinetics, 1998 and 1995, respectively). She was a contributing expert-author to "Precision Heart Rate Monitoring" (Human Kinetics, 1998), and was also a contributor to the 1996 release "Men's Fitness Magazine's Complete Guide to Health and Well-Being (HarperCollins). She designed two walking/running music and instructional audiotapes, "Walk Your Way to Fitness,” and "Maximum Treadmill Workout” (Dynamix, 1998 and 2000).

Aside from magazine and book writing, she is president of her own information and advice web site, Total Fitness Network – www.totalfitnessnetwork.com – a 1999 and 2000 Golden Web Award winner. She is a partner in the sports information web site GearTrends.com – www.GearTrends.com, works with her husband, Michael Hodgson, on his site, AdventureNetwork.com, and has had consulting stints as an associate editor/fitness expert at online sports retailer, Fogdog Sports.com, and as a senior editor at fitness training site, GetFit.com.

But Therese doesn't only write about fitness and sports. She uses her exercise physiology and coaching training to work as a master instructor and program developer who has taught and lectured at corporations, health clubs, and professional conferences around the world. She is the co-developer and manual author of Star Trac's treadmill running/walking program, Trekking, and has developed programs or consulted for the likes of Nike, adidas, Polar, and Power Bar.

And she practices what she preaches. As a race walker, she was ranked 24th in the United States in 1994 and has been a national masters champion. She broke the world record for the indoor 3K event for her age group in 1994, and she still holds the outdoor 3K record for that age group. She now cross-country and road runs -- placing frequently in her age group -- mountain bikes, paddles, and climbs, and has participated in adventure races. She qualified for Boston 2001 when she ran her first marathon in early 2000.

Therese is certified as a Health/Fitness Instructor by the American College of Sports Medicine and gold-certified by the American Council on Exercise. She is also USA Track & Field-certified coach and official who has coached national- and world-class youth and junior athletes.

Contact Therese directly via email at: therese@snewsnet.com

Wendy Geister GearTrends® Network Managing Editor

Wendy Geister has been an outdoor lover and journalist for more than 10 years. Her editorial career started at Outdoor Retailer magazine in 1992 as Associate Editor. Within two years, she was named Managing Editor. As Outdoor Retailer's properties expanded, so did Wendy's responsibilities which included co-founding the Daily Exposure (the daily trade show newspaper), Fly-Fishing Retailer magazine, and Outdoor Retailer's website. Wendy left Outdoor Retailer on Sept. 1, 2002 and joined the GearTrends® Network -- properties include GearTrends.com, GearTrends® magazines, FITBiz by GearTrends®, the Outdoor Industry Association Member Directory, the Law Review, and SNEWS®. Wendy's outdoor passions include hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, camping and adventure travel. In addition to land-based adventures, Wendy has also learned how to fly single-engine planes. Based in SoCal, Wendy is continually at work plotting her next adventure.

Contact Wendy directly via email at: -- wendy@geartrends.com

Gene Treacy GearTrends® Network Sales Director

Gene Treacy has spent his entire career becoming a force in the outdoor industry. He now brings his many years of expertise to SNEWS® and GearTrends® as a partner in the GearTrends® Network. A 1982 graduate from Southern Illinois University, Gene holds a bachelor's degree in Marketing. He spent almost 14 years as an account executive for VNU Incorporated in New York City, the parent company of Outdoor Retailer, specializing in outdoor consumer conventions and expos. Treacy's career at VNU began with Sporting Goods Business where worked on ad sales, until he moved into both ad and trade show sales for both SGB and OR.

Gene oversaw the sales office of VNU in Knoxville, Tennessee, a position he held since 1994. He has incurred such successes as exceeding revenue goals for 12 of 13 years through various sales positions while at VNU and selling and managing account activity for three trade conventions in the camping and fly fishing industries, of which, two are top 100 trade shows in the country. He also expanded overall territory revenue for convention sales by 600 percent over 10 years.

Before settling in with VNU, Gene was an advertising sales representative for the Technical Reporting Corporation in Chicago, Illinois. During his two-year term with the corporation he increased advertising revenue by 20 percent each year.

Gene also spent time with the Pattis Group in Chicago as an ad sales representative and Community Telephone Directories in Kenilworth, Illinois as an account executive.

Gene is an avid supporter of and donor to Big City Mountaineers, where he has served as a trip leader on four wilderness trips. His other hobbies include fishing, boating, wilderness camping, wine collecting, golf, and his favorite, being a husband and father of two wonderful children.

Contact Gene directly via email at: -- gene@geartrends.com

Daisy LeDuc GearTrends® Network Eastern Sales Manager

Daisy was raised in the lively and diverse concrete jungles of the inner-city in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Yo! She is thankful her parents enjoyed the beauty of the outdoors. After college, she worked in the sporting goods industry as an events coordinator, worked as a non-profit executive, marketing manager for a coffee company, and worked with the Outdoor Retailer and Fly-Fishing Retailer trade shows and magazines. She hopped on board the GearTrends® Express from its inception.

Daisy has enjoyed competing in mountain bike races as an expert rider, enjoys multi-disciplined events, trail running, Philly cheese steaks, climbing, Dairy Queen, recreational paddling, chocolate chip cookies, and keeping up with her boys. She looks forward to new experiences and adventures as well as welcoming new companies into the GearTrends Network, the new school of doing business.

Contact Daisy directly via email at: -- daisy@geartrends.com

Marcus Woolf Senior contributing writer

Marcus Woolf served with Outdoor Retailer magazine for seven years, reaching the position of Editor in 2001. In 2002, he returned to his home state of Alabama where he works as a freelance writer for publications such as Hooked on the Outdoors. He especially enjoys hiking, paddling and climbing. "It's good to be back in this part of the country where not many writers are covering the outdoor specialty market," Woolf says. "Plus, I just couldn't find any place in California that served sweet tea and fried okra."

Contact Marcus directly via email at: -- marcus@snewsnet.com

Jim Moss Law Review Editor

Jim Moss is a risk management consultant and attorney whose clients range from manufactures and importers to independent representatives and retailers as well as outfitters and federal concessionaires. He currently represents a variety of outdoor industry organizations and companies. He is licensed to practice law in Colorado and Ohio as well as the Colorado Federal Courts and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Because Jim is easily bored, he's penned a number of books in his spare time: The Lawyer’s Advisor, Outdoor Recreation, Travel, and Hospitality Forms, Outdoor Recreation Insurance and Law, and he's the co-author of Legal Liability and Risk Management in Adventure Tourism. He is also a contributing author of the Boy Scouts Fieldbook, and, because he recently decided sleep is highly overrated, he has a new textbook coming out this fall titled, Outdoor Recreation Risk Management, Insurance and Law. When he's not in the courtroom, the library, or at his computer pounding the keyboard with his head, Jim works as an outdoor guide for whitewater rafting companies in Colorado, Utah, and Arizona. We're just happy he now believes there are 8 days to a week because he's also the Editor of our new division, the Law Review which can be found beginning August 1 at www.snewsnet.com/lawreview.

Contact Jim directly via email at: -- lawreview@snewsnet.com

Clyde Soles Senior Contributing writer

Clyde started in the outdoor industry in 1972 when his Dad and uncle founded the second whitewater raft company in West Virginia. In 1980, he began as a part-time sales clerk for Hudson Bay Outfitters and soon worked up to store manager of their highest-volume store. Moving back to Boulder (where he attended college) in 1984, Clyde worked for Neptune Mountaineering for nearly a decade as a salesperson, promotions manager, and buyer. In 1994, he became the gear editor for Rock & Ice Magazine where Clyde was a full-time product tester for seven years--this culminated with his first book, Rock & Ice Gear. He was also the founder of Trail Runner magazine. Clyde departed the magazine world in 2001 to concentrate on his freelance writing and photography. He is the author of Rock & Ice Gear: Equipment for the Vertical World, Climbing: Training for Peak Performance, Climbing: Expedition Planning, and The Outdoor Knots Book.

Contact Clyde directly via email at: -- clyde@geartrends.com

James Mills Contributing writer

Originally from Los Angeles, Mills holds a bachelor-of-arts degree from the University of California, Berkeley in Anthropology. After a three year stint in retail sales working for the Berkeley location of Seattle Based Recreational Equipment Inc., Mills moved to Madison, Wisconsin in 1992 to open a Midwest regional sales office for The North Face. With customers across a six-state territory, Mills' agency The Outdoor Professional, Inc., was nominated in 2000 by the Outdoor Industry Association as sales rep of the year. Under TOP, Mills represented a variety of different companies including Sierra Designs, Montrail, Ultimate Direction, and St. Moritz. In 2002 Mills closed his agency to pursue a new career as a journalist and an independent radio producer. In addition to writing on assignment for SNEWS® and GearTrends®, Mills spends most of his waking hours (who needs sleep) working for the Wisconsin State Journal writing the daily “Changes” column, the weekly “On The Job”, and covering the recreation business and career lifestyle beat in southwest Wisconsin.

Berne Broudy Contributing writer / Green Scene Columnist

Berne Broudy has been a full-time freelance writer and photographer since 1998, working for, in addition to SNEWS® and GearTrends®, Ski Press Magazine, Canoe and Kayak, AMC Outdoors, Backpacker, Ski, Vermont Life, Vermont Sports Today, and others. She is a contributing editor at Backcountry Magazine, and had been an editor at Vermont Sports Today. A passion for outdoor adventure has been the driving force for Berne since she was a child, and led her to explore working in international development, sustainable forestry, and as a guide developing and leading hiking and biking tours all over the US, South America and Europe. Berne is an avid skier, hiker, cyclist, climber and paddler, and has been known to swim eight miles across Lake Champlain. She also has a strong background in fitness, and has been practicing and teaching yoga for seven years. Berne shoots for many outdoor industry companies including Prana, Mountain Hardwear, Moving Comfort, Cascade Designs, and Isis. Her photography can be seen in their catalogs as well as at www.authenticoutdoors.com.

Marty Grabijas Contributing writer

Marty G started paddling when he was a teenager to catch bigger and dumber fish. Since then paddling, and introducing others to the sport, has become a lifelong passion. He is currently an ACA certified Coastal Kayak Instructor and ACA Instructor Trainer Educator for Whitewater Kayaking. In addition to contributing to SNEWS, Marty writes for a variety of outdoor and fitness publications and is a columnist for Canoe & Kayak.

SNEWS® has eyes and ears all over the world including Germany, Great Britain, France, Italy, Canada, and East Trunkolia (find that one on a map). While we have been accused of having secret cameras and microphones tucked away in offices and hallways of every corporation headquarters worldwide, we can assure you that it is mostly not true -- OK, OK, not true at all. All our news comes from very real humans interested in the pursuit of news that is of interest to the industry. Who are they you ask? We'd tell you, but then we'd have to empty your brain of all knowledge related to SNEWS®, and that wouldn't be a pretty sight. So, let's just be happy knowing someone out there is watching you right now, and they may even be writing about you for SNEWS®.

Bob Woodward Editor Emeritus

Along with writing and photography work for numerous outdoor and sports publications, Bob started SNEWS® (Specialty NEWS) in 1983 with former National Outdoors Outfitters News (NOON) editor Ted Eugenis. After a very successful run, Bob sold SNEWS® to its current owners -- Michael Hodgson and Therese Iknoian -- on January 1, 2002. Bob is an active backpacker, mountain and road cyclist, whitewater and touring kayaker. He and his wife Eileen have four grown children.