Outdoor Industry Events

When Beverly Lucas and her family returned from the Sea Otter Classic bike show in California this April, she sat her four teenagers down for a mini focus group. "Besides biking, what else do we like to do as a family?" she asked them. At the time, she was in the middle of ...read more

After a six-year hiatus, the On-Snow Demo by Snowsports Industries America (SIA) and WWSRA will return to Winter Park Resort in Colorado for the event next February. So far, 1,000 retailers from 39 states and six countries are confirmed for the largest national and international ...read more

Up until July 2018, the last time I'd been around 16 other women in the woods was as a teenager at Girl Scout camp. So when I was invited to the Project16x women's leadership summit in Telluride, Colorado, needless to say I felt a little self-conscious about being new to the ...read more

Single-use plastic awareness and avoidance was a huge theme at Outdoor Retailer Summer Market last June. And, thanks to brands, attendees, and show management committing to the cause, there was a noticeable reduction of plastic on the show floor, plus lots more water stations ...read more

"I heard yesterday from a newly-sober friend that it was a challenge to find non-alcoholic beverages on the show floor during happy hour," Kassondra Cloos, freelance writer and former SNEWS editor, posted in the Basecamp Facebook Group on June 19. The post centralized an ...read more

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 ...read more

Attending a national trade show three times a year is a lot for some outdoor industry members, especially when you factor in all the regional shows that happen year round, where the brunt of the buying work actually gets done.  There's still ample chatter about whether three big ...read more

The Grassroots Outdoor Alliance worked hard and played hard at this year’s 25th anniversary show in Knoxville, Tennessee. On the first night, during a festive and nostalgic happy hour, dinner, and awards ceremony, members, staff, and special invited guests of the Alliance ...read more

You're standing in line for lunch when suddenly, you remember: You forgot your bamboo set of utensils at home so you're going to have to forgo your plastic-free values for the day. If only you had been prepared.  As so many of us prepare to head to Denver next week for Outdoor ...read more

Jennifer Anderson, online merchandising manager at Gear Coop, made a promise to herself for 2019: that she'd be more mindful of her plastic waste. She started by seeking reusable plastic shampoo and soap bottles and now she's learning to make bread to avoid the plastic bags that ...read more

After an investigation into the annual SHIFT Festival, the Jackson Hole Travel & Tourism Board (TTB) agreed on Monday to continue funding the event that brings together diverse leaders in the outdoor recreation and conservation space. The review comes after former participants ...read more

Forming the Plastic Impact Alliance with our friends at Catapult Creative Labs has made us all the more aware of our plastic use—reusable water bottles and thermoses line our desks and bamboo cutlery and silicone snack bags fill our lunch bags. Even more than before, we think ...read more

“Coming out is a huge life moment and can be one of the scariest things ever. I cried for 30 minutes….As an outdoor leader, your job is not to give advice on someone’s identity—it’s to help them feel comfortable in the space. Treat them the same as you treat everyone else,” said ...read more

Last year, the Super Bowl, one of the largest events in the country with more than 100,000 attendees, sought to keep 90 percent of waste out of landfills and send 10 percent to a waste-to-energy plant. Due to its magnitude, some were skeptical. But they pulled it off. Now, it's ...read more

No matter what size mountain you scale on August 3, it counts for the second annual National Summit Day.  BACKPACKER magazine is encouraging everyone with a pair of shoes and a nearby summit to get outside and hike to the top. Everyone, of all abilities, is invited to join the ...read more

Racial controversy plagued the recent SHIFT conference after some participants came forward with accusations that the event's executive director, Christian Beckwith, lacks the basic justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI) training needed to lead the organization. The ...read more

When baristas offer single-use cups and food vendors offer reusable utensils, most of us have begun to say, "No, thanks, I'll use my own." We do this because we understand that single-use plastic is a burden to our beloved planet.  As we count down to Outdoor Retailer Summer ...read more

Truth: Single-use plastic sucks. We all know it. So let’s do something about it at our biggest convergence as an industry: Outdoor Retailer. Minimizing our impact on the planet is central to so many of our brands, yet we consume untold amounts of single-use plastic at our most ...read more

Last weekend, more than 20,000 paddling enthusiasts attended Canoecopia in Madison, Wisconsin. Hosted by Rutabaga Paddlesports, Canoecopia is called the “World’s Largest Paddlesports Expo. Canoecopia is all about personal connections, between people and people and people and ...read more

1. Snow Show Kickoff Breakfast: A New Era of Collaboration 7:15 to 8:45 a.m. Wednesday (Day 1) in Meeting Room 401: In order to address important issues, position our industries for success, and continue to innovate for the future, industry-wide collaboration is paramount. ...read more

Celebrate a new era of outdoor industry trade journalism with the launch of The Voice, an independent, unfiltered trade journal produced by SNEWS. The premium 100-page magazine is packed with meaty, conversation-starting stories and drops on Jan. 30, during Day 1 of Outdoor ...read more

Klaus Obermeyer, trade and tariffs, and creating emotional connection with omnichannel consumers are only a few of the topics on the agenda for Snowsports Industries America's (SIA) lineup of events before and during the second-ever Outdoor Retailer Snow Show. Over the four days, ...read more

If you're roaming around the show floor on Sunday, stop by these booths for to support outdoor causes and snag some awesome deals while supplies last. Alpine Provisions (49002-UL): 50 percent off with the code "WINTEROR2018" at alpineprovisionsco.com American Alpine Club ...read more

1. Mental Health in the Outdoors 10 to 11 a.m. at The Camp, Booth #32005-UL: Mental health affects one out of four people in the U.S. What does this look like in the outdoor industry? How does playing outside affect our lives and/or create a place of healing. Join this panel ...read more