Outdoor Nation unveiled its new logo and website last week as its youth leaders geared up recruiting for five regional youth summits.
Outdoor Nation was launched by The Outdoor Foundation, the research affiliate of Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) in 2008 to empower a youth-led movement to engage youth in the outdoors. With help from a network of dozens of corporate, government and non-profit partners, Outdoor Nation drew 500 delegates from all 50 states to its inaugural summit in New York City last June. A core of a dozen Outdoor Nation youth ambassadors are now in the midst of recruiting 1,300 delegates to attend regional summits in Atlanta, Denver, Minneapolis, New York and San Francisco in July.
Built on the Ning platform, the new OutdoorNation.org is designed to become an online hub for the movement to expedite the recruiting process and help ambassadors prepare for a National Congress next month in New York. There they will hammer out a document outlining their outdoor rights and responsibilities before breaking out to guide discussions at the regional summits.
The rebranding effort was coordinated by Hanson Dodge Creative, which worked with Outdoor Nation ambassadors and The Outdoor Foundation board to develop 10 logo options, crowdsource feedback and develop a brand and website that can carry the movement through the next three years.
After the incredible launch of Outdoor Nation and groundbreaking youth summit in New York City in 2010, we wanted to build even more momentum, said Stefanie Michaelson, an ambassador and graphic artist with Utah State Parks who has directed much of the movements social media strategy. Hanson Dodge helped us create a better-defined and targeted brand, unique outreach strategies, and a new web platform for Outsiders to connect online in meaningful ways. These tools are just what we need to take the movement to the next level.
