Industry Buzz: #Vanlife gatherings, raccoon ascent, graffiti in Colorado National Monument, Mammut, Cotopaxi, plus more

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Kathleen Morton

Keep up by reading Industry Buzz. Here are today's top headlines:

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  • Want to know what's cookin' at the Grassroots Connect Show? Our editor-in-chief, Kristin Hostetter, is reporting live from her own booth. Follow her story on Instagram to get a peek inside, from hugs with familiar faces to happy hour fun.
  • Hey, vanlifers. Today in the Teton Valley, dozens of vans and their owners will meet up for the first vanlife gathering in the area, organized by Vanlife Diaries + The Van Project. The meetup kicks off a whole slew of events scheduled for this summer in Colorado, New Mexico, and North Carolina. Even those without a van are welcome to join the party.
  • A prom proposal that went too far: National Park Service rangers are looking for the person who spray painted on rocks at Colorado National Monument outside of Grand Junction. Unfortunately, graffiti has been a problem in national parks for a long time.
  • The Alex Honnold of raccoons: A female raccoon climbed more than 20 stories of a building in St. Paul, Minnesota, earlier this week and mesmerized onlookers as well as people following the story online. NPR reported that, "the raccoon had reached the roof overnight, grabbed a snack of soft cat food and found herself trapped in one of the cages laid out for her there."
  • Eddie Bauer has named Damien Huang as president. He was most recently Eddie Bauer’s senior VP of merchandising & design. The brand also announced that Mike Africa has been named VP of commerce, having responsibility for both the retail and e-commerce businesses. In related news, Eddie Bauer and Pacific Sunwear of California merged.
  • Mammut has teamed up with OutsidePR, the San Francisco-based public relations and sports marketing agency that will now lead media outreach and execute the brand's North American media relations strategy.
  • Cotopaxi hired Heath Christensen as their new director of wholesale. Prior to his appointment, Christensen spent a decade at Black Diamond as sales operations manager, and later, as director of North American sales, and also as the sport division manager at Petzl.
  • And lastly, we love this interview with Nicole Brown, a Merrell ambassador and founder of Women Who Hike. She talks about community and females uniting on social media.

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