OIA’s Rendezvous has always been a top quality event with a solid line-up of speakers discussing the most pertinent issues, and this year’s event was certainly no exception. However, the real story in Chattanooga revolved around the quality of the attendees. This year’s event was by far the largest in OIA’s history with 270 senior management showing up from vendors, retailers, and both the trade and consumer media.

There were two very visible shifts in attendance this year. First, there was a large increase in the number of retailers at the event. This was due to, obviously, more retail stores sending employees, as well as more employees showing up from individual retailers. Joe Hyer, owner of Alpine Experience brought his entire buying team this year, saying, “I felt that it was just that important for my team to be exposed to this event.”

In addition, there were representatives from Jersey Paddler, Great Outdoor Provision Co., Rutabaga, River Sports Outfitters, Rock Creek Outfitters, and several others, from across the country. For many of the retailers, this was the first rendezvous they had attended. Comments ranged from, “I can’t believe I have been in the industry for 15 years and didn’t know about this,” to “I would much rather come here to get some business done and send my buyers to the show.”

The second shift in attendance was also quite encouraging for the health of the outdoor industry. The crowd this year was much younger than in the past as many senior executives were accompanied by what looks to be the next generation of leadership in the outdoor industry. This younger group of junior executives were able to work closely with founders, CEO’s, and other leaders to address many pressing issues.

The keynote speaker on day 1 addressed an issue that has been at the forefront of the outdoor industry for a decade, sustainability. Dr. Brian Nattrass has been a sustainability consultant for Nike, Starbucks, NASA, and the U.S. Army. While many in the industry view the armed forces as one of the greatest threats to the environment, Dr. Nattrass has helped the U.S. Army to minimize its impact wherever possible, and has helped senior Pentagon officials realize that environmental degradation is one of the leading “non-traditional threats to national security.”

While many companies are focused on the smaller picture of individual impacts, and efforts to reduce the size of the corporate footprint, Dr. Nattrass looked at the big picture. Baby Boomers are the first generation in the history of the human species to see the amount of world-wide natural resources decline, while demand increases. Exxon has been producing six gallons of oil for every one gallon that is discovered.

Dr. Nattrass also pointed to several other leading indicators on the state of the environment and how they are inextricably linked to national defense. The most disturbing one was the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Scientists recently concluded that roughly 15% of the reef is gone, and at the current rate of destruction, there is nothing that can be done to stop its extinction. The same is happening to other reefs throughout Australasia, and without reefs and the sea life they offer, roughly 2 billion people will be left without a source of food. In addition, the erosion of glaciers further inland will leave billions of people – not only in emerging countries but also in the U.S. and Europe – without reliable sources of fresh water. It’s not difficult to make the leap from declining food & water sources and increasing populations to geopolitical destabilization.

Retailers were also given the opportunity to speak about issues impacting their business directly. Jeff Weidemer from Rutabaga, Joe Hyer from Alpine Experience, and Fred Martin from Mast General Store, spoke at a round table addressing retailers’ expansion, acquisition, start-up, and exit strategies. The trio spoke about the intricacies of buying a new retail store, what they learned from the process of starting a new store from scratch, and ultimately passing the business on to employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

NPR’s political editor and host of Talk of the Nation, Ken Rudin, walked through the upcoming House and Senate elections state-by-state. Rudin said that the key event that turned the tide in America over the past two years was Katrina, and drew a parallel between images of President Bush flying over the devastation on the Gulf Coast to other political career ending images like Dukakis in his tank and Dean’s scream.

Rudin also pointed out that the Senate is key for Democrats this year, with eight seats likely to shift over to the party from Republicans. In the house, the Democrats need 15 seats to take control, and Rudin is predicting they will win 18-19. The house has never shifted control without the Senate following suit in the history of the nation. While this sounds like good news to many in the Outdoor Industry, Rudin also pointed out that it will likely have a serious negative impact on free trade negotiations with the Far East, making it more difficult to get goods sourced in China into the country.

Each year, OIA will be hosting the rendezvous in a new location, and next year the board has chosen the Skamania Lodge in Washington state across the Columbia River from Oregon, close to Portland. The Columbia River Gorge stretches about 90 miles in length across the Cascade Range Volcanoes. It is encompassed by Mt. Adams, towering at 12,276', Mt. St. Helens at 8,364', and Oregon's tallest volcano, Mt. Hood at 11,239'. For 2008, OIA is actively looking for locations in the Northeast, specifically the Boston area.