Industry Buzz: Camping World, the Interior, Catapult Creative Labs program, and the world's fastest tent setup
Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines:
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- Our friends over at Catapult Creative Labs have partnered with Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), ICELab @ Western, and Moosejaw to introduce the first Catapult Outdoor Recreation Accelerator—a 12-week intensive program focused on product and service-based startups positioned for growth. Only three teams will be accepted into the 2019 program and applications are open now.
- Camping World Holdings is shaking things up with its executive team and heading into 2019 with a focus on RV. CEO Marcus Lemonis said, "Our 2019 focus will be to better serve our customers, associates and shareholders while continuing to expand our RV market share with opportunistic RV acquisitions and completing the rollout of RV dealerships into newly opened retail locations. We will also have an intense focus on dramatically reducing our retail inventory levels and aggressively reducing capital expenditures to maximize and drive free cash flow."
- The Interior Department has proposed a new rule that would allow officials to limit how many requests individuals or groups can submit per month under the Freedom of Information Act. Critics say it would limit transparency.
- At Whitefish Mountain Resort on Wednesday, 140 guests were left stranded on an inoperable lift while the maintenance team investigated the issue. The lift stopped at 12:15 p.m. and the last person was evacuated at 3:37 p.m.
- Think you can set up your tent fast? A Laramie, Wyoming couple recently learned from Guinness World Record judges that they broke the world record for fastest tent setup. And GearJunkie.com editors just challenged to break it.
- Last year, we zeroed in on covering REI's and MEC's "buycott" of brands under Vista Outdoor, which also owns an assault rifle manufacturer. Now, one-for-one shoe company Toms is weighing in on gun reform.
- With two days off between the end of Outdoor Retailer Snow Show and the On-Snow Demo, Copper Mountain is offering discounts on lift tickets for all registered trade show attendees. Tickets for Feb. 2 and 3 are $70, compared to the $178 full-day rate. Anyone interested will be given vouchers when they pick up their badge credentials at the show in Denver.
- And lastly, this REI-sponsored content about diversity on The Atlantic's website has us wondering what other mainstream outlets we'll see REI campaigns pop up?








