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Outdoor Retailer today announced the paddlesports-specific events and features available to paddlesports industry attendees at the 2009 Outdoor Retailer Summer Market Expo and Open Air Demo July 20–24.
“Community is an especially important element of the Outdoor Retailer show to the paddlesports business,” said Kenji Haroutunian, Outdoor Retailer show director. “As important as it is to have opportunities for partnership bridging across categories, it is equally important to rub elbows with your peers and partners at the specialty core of your business. What we’re doing for paddlesports reflects our approach to highlighting the community aspect of the show for all of the market sectors that gather here.”
Michael Duffy, sales and marketing director of Kokata Watersports Wear said, “Outdoor Retailer has always provided a return on investment in tough economic times. The paddlesports-focused programming for the 2009 Summer Market will definitely contribute to the show's value. Strengthening relationship with our dealers is important to us, and we plan to bring our sales, marketing and design teams to the show so they build face-to-face relationships with our customers, media and the industry as a whole.”
Open Air Demo
For the first time at Open Air Demo, the paddlesports industry will be able to demo whitewater boats in their element on the Whitewater Experience on the supercharged Ogden River, just down river from the Pineview Reservoir. On the heels of a successful and valuable first-time event at Open Air Demo 2008, Outdoor Retailer will also host its second annual Wasatch Whitewater Chute-Out, showcasing a variety of paddlesports products in the whitewater conditions they were built for. Retailers participating in the chute-out will paddle down a Class III+ rapid while maneuvering around sponsored kayakers determined to knock them off their route.
Boat Loft
Outdoor Retailer’s new Boat Loft display on the Calvin L. Rampton Salt Palace Convention Center Mezzanine gives show attendees the opportunity to compare boats of various brands while they are displayed side-by-side. This is an affordable extension to paddle boat makers’ floor exhibit and helps make the cost of exhibiting boats more manageable.
Paddlers Zone
On the show floor, the Paddlers Zone, managed by Outdoor Retailer and Paddler Magazine, will be available to all members of the paddlesports industry to gather, rest their feet and watch paddlesports videos on a large screen TV. The area will also offer resources and ideas on display and merchandising, previews of the latest in boat technologies and innovations and space for industry group activities.
Paddlesports Industry Happy Hours
Paddler Magazine will host a Paddlesports Industry Happy Hour in the Paddlers Zone on Tuesday, the first day of the Summer Market Expo, from 5 pm to 6 pm Several blocks of the nearby Pierpont Ave. will be closed off for the Outdoor Retailer Industry Party that will follow from 6 pm to 8 pm.
Outdoor Retailer will host the second Paddlesports Industry Happy Hour of Summer Market on Wednesday, July 22 from 6 pm to 8 pm at the Sandbar Mexican Grill at 122 West Pierpont Ave., Salt Lake City, Utah, 84101. This happy hour is a party featuring an industry awards presentation for innovation and excellence in the paddlesports market. The Industry Happy Hours give industry attendees the opportunity to network and exchange ideas with their colleagues.
Paddlesports 360 Seminar
Before the show opens on Thursday, the paddlesports industry will be able to attend the Paddlesports 360 seminar, 8 am to 9 am During this discussion, Lee Hart, president of Brand Amp., will moderate a panel of six industry leaders as they share their insights on how to navigate business in a murky economy and ways to capitalize on Americans’ resurgent interest to spend their leisure time closer to home. Panelists will include representatives from Leisure Trends Group, Outdoor Industry Foundation, Rutabaga and other industry thought leaders.
The Outdoor Retailer Summer Market is the outdoor recreation industry’s largest event hosting more than 21,000 attendees including CEOs, industry leaders, outdoor and summer sports manufacturers, 6,000+ retailers, athletes and media. To register for OR Summer Market, please click here.
About Outdoor Retailer
Outdoor Retailer (OR), produced by Nielsen Business Media of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., is a full service trade show company that creates, markets and produces high-quality expos and educational conferences. OR is the leading outdoor industry business-to-business event management company, bringing together manufacturers, retailers, industry advocates and media to conduct the business of outdoor recreation. Now celebrating more than 25 years of successful events, Outdoor Retailer gathers approximately 40,000 attendees on a semi-annual basis for its Winter and Summer Market shows.
Preview the future of the outdoor industry at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, which will bring the best of spring/summer product offerings to Salt Lake City, Utah at the Open Air Demo from July 20, 2009 and the trade show from July 21-24, 2009.
Media Contact:
Maura Lansford, SOAR Communications, P: 801.523.3730 / C: 817.929.8123, E: mlansford[.]soarcomm.com.
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csmith[.]soarcomm.com 
