Tomorrow, we are touching down in Salt Lake City to schmooze and talk shop with 40,000 outdoor enthusiasts at the biggest summer trade show on the planet. Outdoor Retailer officially kicked off this Monday, and judging from the posted pictures, reading the blogs and scouting the newsfeeds, this show is utterly massive. The active outdoor business is a 26 billion dollar industry that continues to catapult itself into a wider and increasingly more affluent audience. Independent companies are sprouting up everywhere, giving the Big Guns a run for their money. OR caters to an industry rooted in technology and testing. Any single product always has the potential to be better. The race to that perfection is the catalyst that advances the toys, gear and apparel that keep me alive while I spend every waking moment exploring Northern California and beyond.
As the newest employee at OutsidePR, this is my first trip to OR. I don’t know what to expect. As part of a PR firm that is in the thick of outdoor adventure and recreation, Outdoor Retailer is a central vehicle to the success of our business and livelihood. I’ve never been so eager to talk about technical materials with high-performance sweat absorption, branched chain amino acids, and the anti-odor components of coconut fibers. The opportunity to learn the about the latest technological secrets in trail shoe tread, bike suspensions and paddleboards is beyond thrilling. I’m grinning like a pig in slop. I eat, breathe and live for adventure and couldn’t be more excited to be transplanted, for the next three days, to the core of the industry that echoes that very same sentiment.
-Devon
