Outdoor Insight

s /UTDOOR )NSIGHT s *ULY outdoorinsightmag.com F or those confused by the seismic shifts in the trade show landscape in the outdoor category, you're not alone. First, Outdoor Retailer, under pressure from vendors to take a defini- tive stance against Utah's public land politics, searched for a new home for its bi-annual show. Meanwhile, the show's parent company, Emerald Expositions, not only went public since the Winter OR Show, but also acquired the SIA Snow Show for a reported $16.7 mil- lion. A combined winter show (Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show) is expected to take place in Denver in January 2018, but no permanent home or timing for future shows has been announced. Sports-related trade shows are Emerald's second-largest cat- egory under "Gift, Home and General Merchandise," including Interbike, Outdoor Retailer and Surf Expo, gener- ating $71 million in revenue last year. It's no secret that buyers and vendors alike have been experiencing trade show fatigue. According to Kenji Haroutunian, former director of the Outdoor Retailer trade show who now runs his own brand-consulting and outdoor industry events company, "trade shows will continue to thrive as long as they aren't trying to be something they used to be, which was an efficient order-writing platform. "Trade shows will lose to more nimble, small-batch events or con- versely, larger consumer events that become quasi-trade, if they don't adapt," he says of the announcement that Emerald Expositions would acquire the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) Snow Show. So what does trade show adaptation look like in 2017? For one example, look inside the Outdoor Retailer trade show floor, at a concept plan that was one of the first to look outside the aisles of the old model, called Venture Out. "From the time we started conceiving of Venture Out, we knew it was only but a small, initial step in altering the trade show model in the industry. What I see is a lot of interest in trying new things. Outpost, Outbound, Outessa are all focusing on the expe- rience and connections more than the 'pitch and present' model of the past," says Venture Out founder Scott McGuire, president and brand strategist at the Mtn Lab. "The new models high- light community in ways that the big shows strug- gle to articulate… but there have been some remarkable moments that clarify just how strong community is in the big events. You can go back to the expan- sive growth of OR in the '90s and recall people feeling like it had changed, then the Salt Lake City tornado showed just how tight the group remained. The recent show of force around Bears Ears is another. While there may be more strangers than familiar faces at these bigger events, it's still bound by some key common bonds." The controversy surrounding the 1.3-million acre Bears Ears National Monument and the potential roll back of that designation is what prompted Patagonia and other outdoor industry power brokers to say they would not support a show in Utah. But some believe Bears Ears was just one more excuse for vendors to pull out of an increasingly expensive show with less and less order writing, instead focusing on their own dealer events that brands like Yakima and others from the bicycle industry have been doing for years, and to focus on direct-to-consumer mar- keting. And talk of a combined winter show is not new. SIA smartly holds a winter trade show lock down on Denver through 2030, and the acquisition not only eliminated the competition, it opened up a possible salvation for Outdoor Retailer's move out of Utah. And then there's the timing of the shows, long the Achilles heel of OR and other large trade shows, including Emerald's Interbike and UBM's MAGIC and Platform shows. "The industry has long been clear about its need for an efficient trade show calendar that creates an ecosys- tem of national and regional shows staged throughout the buy-sell cycle," Marisa Nicholson, VP and show direc- tor for Outdoor Retailer, said in a release. "The Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show creates a new trade show envi- ronment minimizing retailers' time out of their stores and maximizing B2B opportunities for brands. National shows will now occur at appropriate times to influence orders." Under the new ownership of Emerald Expositions, the January SIA Snow Show will merge with Outdoor Retailer to become the largest outdoor and winter sports industry gathering in North America. But, Nicholson added, "Most of all, the new Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show is about community and having one place where the industry gathers to look forward to what's next." They also have to carefully not over- lap with ISPO, Europe's winter giant, Winter Mega-Show on The Way Amid Shakeup TRADE SHOW SHUFFLE ANALYSIS When it Comes to the Tradeshow Landscape, the Only Constant is Change. By Aaron H. Bible

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