Some of the biggest buzz at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market event had nothing to do with new product introductions. Early in the show, Jim Marsh, publisher of Canoe & Kayak magazine, announced his intent to launch a new paddling trade show (see BOSS_0930).


Marsh explained this motivation. “In 2007, when Outdoor Retailer announced the show would be moving to July there was a lot of outrage among paddlesports vendors. The idea for the show launched then. I’m trained to react to the needs of my clients. As we got closer and closer to the 2009 show there was more interest in doing something later in the year than July.”


Scheduled for September 9-10, 2009 in Minneapolis, MN, the Canoe & Kayak show is expected to provide a one-day, on-water demo followed by a weekend at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Marsh anticipates selling 30,000 square feet of booth space to more than 80 different brands. The announcement set off a flurry of discussions and an impromptu town hall meeting at Outdoor Retailer.


Fundamentally, frustrations between paddlesports industry members and organizers of the Outdoor Retailer show focus on four key points: The dates selected for the show, location of the demo event, cost to exhibit and paddlesports prominence on the show floor.  Paddlesports market execs pulled together a “town hall” meeting on the ORSM show floor.


One significant outcome of the meeting was the formation of an ad hoc working group to examine the issues and negotiate solutions with Nielsen Business Media, owner of the OR show. Sutton Bacon, president and CEO of Nantahala Outdoor Center, was appointed to head the volunteer group. After the working group’s first conference call, Bacon, who is also an OIA Board member, said OIA and Nielsen representatives assured the group they would work on all the issues raised. “Everything is on the table and they are committed to working with us to find solutions,” said Bacon.


Eric Jackson, founder of Jackson Kayaks, has attended Outdoor Retailer for more than 20 years and exhibited Jackson Kayaks for the first time in 2009 hopes the issue can be resolved quickly.


“What I don’t want to see is paddlesports split in half with half going here and the other half to some new event,” quipped Jackson. “That’s super-destructive. I’d rather say I’m with Outdoor Retailer, let’s get together and make it work,” he said.


With the prospect of a rebound in sales next spring, the new paddling discipline of stand up paddling, and resolution of trade show issues between Outdoor Retailer and the paddlesports industry, anticipation for the 2010 paddling season is high.

Zimmerman, who did not attend the town hall discussion, feels the meeting accomplished something. “A lot of people voiced their opinion. We are strong enough as an industry to have our own show. Obviously, my desire would be to keep it at one show,” he said. “Bottom line is who are we serving in this industry? Are we serving Nielsen and Outdoor Retailer, the manufacturers who need more sourcing time to get there stuff from China or are we serving the retailers? The retailers want one show that’s affordable and at the right time. If Outdoor Retailer can find that balance, we have a win-win situation.”



Sue Rechner, credited as being one of the people to organize the town hall meeting said, “Paddlesports needs to unify to have one voice and resources. Our job is to build the industry, grow the participants and get youth involved in paddlesports. In my mind those are the number one and two priorities for the whole industry. In order to do that, you need education and resources so that everyone is investing in getting the message out.”