Paddle Council Meeting at Canoecopia Establishes Fragile Consensus

 

To date, much of the work done by the Paddle Council has been focused on Outdoor Retailer, and returning paddlesports to a prominent position on the floor of The Salt Palace. So far the Paddle Council has negotiated over $200,000 worth of discounts and amenities with Nielsen and Outdoor Retailer. In addition, Johnson Outdoors, Nova Craft, and Legacy Paddlesports are all returning to exhibit at the show along with several other paddle companies. The Paddle Council will also be launching an eastern retailer participation initiative in conjunction with OR Summer Market.

 

However, members of the Paddle Council are quick to point out that OR is not their primary focus.

 

The primary focus of the Paddle Council going forward will be on building participation in paddlesports.  To show its commitment, the Paddle Council announced it will be making a $25,000 investment into The Outdoor Foundations Outdoor Nation program, which will launch this summer with a massive outdoor recreation event in New York Citys Central Park.

 

Other organizations that are supporting Outdoor Nation include The North Face, Johnson & Johnson, Travelocity, and the YMCA. The driving goal behind this program is to increase outdoor participation among the youth by allowing the youth to lead the way.

 

Outdoor Foundation executive director Christine Fanning pointed out that the outdoor industry has seen young people as an opportunity for years, but they have not been heard. This new program makes it easy for companies to sponsor and train young outdoor ambassadors who can then introduce their friends to outdoor sports. So far, over 1,000 youth have volunteered to join the program.   

 

Members of the Paddle Council pointed out that paddlesports is, relatively, not a big industry. Anecdotally, more revenue is generated from golf ball sales than from the entire paddling industry.

 

We are a pretty small industry, said Darren Bush, owner of Rutabaga and Canoecopia and one of the founding members of the Paddle Council. In order to make an impact, we will need to hitch our cart to as many moving trains as we can.

 

The investment into the Outdoor Nation program was seen by many at the gathering as the best use of limited resources.

 

The final discussion of the meeting focused on the Paddle Councils role compared to the Trade Association of Paddle Sports (TAPS). Several TAPS board members were present, but the organization is basically in a ‘wait and see mode while the Paddle Council is chalking up accomplishments. Many in the room felt that it is important for the Paddle Council to form a trade organization of its own and bring in some full-time staff. So far the members of the council have avoided taking this step and have operated on a volunteer basis.

 

At the end of the day, there was definitely conflict in the room, but most of the participants felt that a fragile consensus was formed, at least regarding the important issues like participation and the new trade show benefits.