Lifeboat Events has sold its DealerCamp event to a Joe Wrona, a Park City attorney and president of public radio station KPCW's board of trustees, who plans to combine DealerCamp with KPCW's successful Park City Cycling Festival to create a new event planned for July 24-27, 2014.
The news came on the eve of Interbike, North America’s largest bicycle trade show, which kicks off in Las Vegas Wednesday. Lifeboat Events had sought to establish DealerCamp, as a more intimate alternative to Interbike by holding the event at a resort in Park City, UT where vendors could meet with their top dealers to demo their new models on the areas many mountain biking trails and roads.
“Our PressCamp's have really taken off, with two media events already launched for 2014 and several more in development, Lifeboat Events' bandwidth could not stretch enough to do what is needed to shape DealerCamp down the road,” explained Lifeboat Events' president Lance Camisasca. “Immediately after the 2013 event we set out to find a strategic buyer who could take DealerCamp to the next level it deserves. We couldn't be more pleased to find DealerCamp a proper home right in Park City with Joe and KPCW Radio.”
KPCW Radio is a Park City-based, non-profit, 33-year-old NPR affiliate that successfully launched the “Park City Cycling Festival” in 2011 as an emerging fundraiser for the station. In 2013 the festival attracted more than 2,200 consumers and with DealerCamp incorporated into the schedule the event should see growth in the trade, media and public day components. Leading the efforts for the newly formed festival will be KPCW's own Cindy Kaiser Bywater, an event specialist with over 30 years of producing special events, marketing and public relations.
“This is the ideal strategy for a world-class event that focuses on the industry needs of a trade event, ties in a consumer element to showcase brands to the buying public and is hosted by a local non-profit organization that serves the community,” said Bywater. “This will be the ultimate showcase of Park City as a mecca of cycling…very exciting!”
DealerCamp will start with its two traditional trade days, Thursday and Friday, July 24th and 25th and will be followed by two days of public attendance, Saturday and Sunday, July 26th and 27th. Park City's outstanding Deer Valley Resort will once again host the event. Executives at the resort, local advocacy leaders and area retailers are all excited about the possibilities this trade and consumer festival has in 2014 and beyond.
“As an avid cyclist myself, I value the cross promotional opportunities this merger exposes to the industry and consumer audiences alike,” said Wrona. “When I saw the opportunity to offer my financial support to combine two successful events into one world class cycling festival for the Park City area, I simply couldn't pass it up.”
