SOAR Blog

We got an invite to Mayor Becker’s press conference this week announcing the new sustainability ordinances that he wants Salt Lake City to adopt- ordinances would make SLC’s sustainability plan the most comprehensive in the country. It’s too bad our team couldn’t make it to the press conference, which was really more of a press tour of a Salt Lake business and home already implementing the proposed ordinances. Said ordinances address:

photo credit: Jim Urquhart | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is great news for Salt Lake City and is completely in-line with the city’s values- and history. One Salt Lake Tribune article points out that the Mormon pioneers who settled the valley lived sustainably out of necessity and efficiency. Today Salt Lake’s residents pick up their bikes more often, belong to food co-ops and want to see a reduction in traffic. Most expect that the ordinances proposed by Mayor Becker will be passed by the city’s legislature.

A lot of the folks in this town that like it “green” also like to live in the green- and desert- that surrounds. It makes so much sense to make our residential and business lives sync up with our outdoor recreation hobbies. It makes sense why Outdoor Retailer, the place for the outdoor industry to convene, is in Salt Lake.

SOAR is excited to see how these ordinances are implemented over the next few years and what feedback the community has given the mayor in this week of review.

We’re proud of what this town is becoming, and that it is already the type of place 40,000 members of the outdoor recreation industry want to visit on an annual basis.

More on SLC’s green initiatives:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/49891706-76/becker-says-lake-salt.html.csp?page=1

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/49915105-82/becker-residents-salt-changes.html.csp

Credit Matthew McDermott

Outdoor Retailer ended in late January on a high note with both industry attendance and optimism up from winter 2009. In the midst of writing orders and thinking about upcoming selling seasons, though, the industry as initiated dozens of efforts to provide relief for Haiti after its devastating earthquake.

Manufacturers across the Winter Market show floor offered product to an industry Haitian relief effort coordinated by Terramar, Sierra Trading Post & Eric Larsen. The Outdoor Industry Association (OIA) also partnered with Americares to get first aid kits, water purification systems, headlamps, tarps and hydration containers willing donated from manufacturers in the outdoor industry to Haitians in desperate need of essential supplies. (See below for more information on getting your product to Haiti via Sierra Trading Post and Americares).

In an industry that highly values authenticity and social responsibility, it’s no surprise that the outdoor industry mobilized so quickly to aid Haiti. It employs individuals with just as much strength and heart as the products it manufactures- prepared to be put to work at a moments notice. These qualities and others make SOAR super proud to be part of the outdoor industry.

In fact, we see these qualities in the outdoor industry year round. We associate with outdoor industry leaders that support advocacy groups and let their passion for their sport drive their compassion. SOAR has had some fun and rewarding opportunities to work on a pro-bono basis with non-profits like Bikes for Kids Utah and Trips for Kids. We get to see how much work goes into each event and initiative. Every donation, vote of confidence, re-tweet and sponsorship makes a difference.

Let’s all continue to heed OIA’s call for the industry to “dig deep” during this and every time of crisis and need.

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Click here to read about the partnerships forming in the outdoor industry to help Haiti.

To donate this urgently needed product/equipment contact Randy Weiss at Americares at (203) 658-9527 or rweiss@americares.org. All donations will be delivered by air and sea directly to the region by Americares.

Outdoor Retailer exhibitors are invited to donate show products to Haiti via Red Cross if it can arrive at Sierra Trading Post by FEBRUARY 8, 2010. All packages should be sent to Sierra Trading Post Robin Jahnke/Haiti 5121 Campstool Road Cheyenne, Wyoming 8200.

The outdoor industry is abuzz on Twitter, contributing comments, queries and suggestions to all participating manufacturers, buyers, retailers, media and advocacy groups in the 2010 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market through the show’s aggregate feed, ORWinter. Since SOAR launched Outdoor Retailer into the Twittersphere for the 2009 Winter Market, the outdoor industry has channeled much of its conversation through the platforms the show has provided. Attendees and exhibitors getting ready to travel to Salt Lake are using #ORWinter in their Tweets about the show to create dialogues and relationships before they even step foot into the Salt Palace. They can also follow ORShowLive to keep up with OR-specific event announcements that will help them make the most of their time at the show.

The ORWinter conversation will continue throughout the show as attendees Tweet about the new products they’re seeing, the people they’re meeting and the industry events they’re enjoying. Outdoor Retailer sponsor Channel Signal will display these conversations, too, on four 50-inch screens strategically placed around the show.

They’ll toggle between the ORWinter Twitter feed and the top five mentioned exhibiting OR brands. Look for them while you’re there. It will be convincing visual evidence of how social media permeates even the outdoor industry and a reflection of how fast the conversation can shift, especially when there are thousands of people participating.

Next to the monitors will be a directory of 200 exhibitors on Twitter.

If you’re interested in attending the show, January 21-24, please register at outdoorretailer.com. See you there!

I couldn’t help but notice a great article in Friday’s NYTimes.com highlighting Wild Rivers Expeditions, a Bluff Utah river tours company and one of its fabulous tour guides. According the article, freelance writer Kate Siber and a friend signed up for a three day float trip as a way to see the historic region of Monument Valley and linked article above was the result.

Beyond her witty writing evidenced by phrases describing her guide

Nathan Sosa, a Bluff native and self-described hydrologic navigation specialist, stood on the bow of an 18-foot-long baby-blue raft and described the protocols of the river and the boat. He wore a nylon American-flag jacket, button-down shirt and tie, flimsy prom-queen tiara and rubber boots — you know, traditional outdoorsman wear.

and the landscape

Rolling past a host of almost alien-looking geological formations, cliff-top Anasazi dwellings and pristine wildlife habitat, the river is something of a greatest hits album of southern Utah’s attractions.

this article reminded me of one of the areas of outdoor recreation I have not participated in for a few years-rafting.

However, I will be redeeming myself this summer with a raft trip through Flaming Gorge and hopefully, a few product demos at the upcoming Summer OR Show. Yeah for summer!

Okay, this is part two of my morning-long visit to the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2007 show in downtown Salt Lake City.

Again, there were tons of exhibitors so this is by no means conclusive, but it certainly shows the extent of the show and the fact that there were exhibitors there representing all kinds of stuff. Here’s the second half of what I saw while strolling along.

GoPro HERO camera. You’ve probably seen all those homemade stunt and extreme sports videos on the Internet or in your e-mail, well these guys are facilitating these videos. The HERO cam is currently available with wrist attachments and will be available later this year with attachments for your head — or helmet. In this picture, Neil Dana, was kind enough to model the upcoming head and helmet mounts for the HERO camera.

This really is a cool concept and can provide almost an hour of TV quality recording on a 2GB memory card.

Next up is another ‘green’ product. the SOLIO hybrid solar charger is a must-have for anyone who hikes and has a bad sense of direction or is being led by the Cheshire Cat. This gadget uses solar panels to recharge various portable consumer electronics, from iPods to cell phones and maybe more. Their current, classic, model is already on the market but they will soon be launching the H1000 that appears to be more rugged and durable and has a carabiner clip to hook to your belt, backpack, etc.

(Photo Credit: Atomic MPC)
Suzanne informed me that not only is the SOLIO a green way to recharge your devices in the wild, but it is also made of very green materials.

In the world of the incredibly-shrinking gadget, Industrial Revolution’s grilliput was definitely cool. Ever thought that a portable BBQ didn’t have to be the size of your kitchen sink? Well these guys’ grill fits into your pocket, practically.

Another cool gadget from Industrial Revolution was the Spork. Now this is different from the cafeteria creation of a spoon with fork prongs on the end. This spork may in fact be a true spork. And I thought it was a nice touch to put the serrated edge on the fork, who couldn’t use that already?

And last, but not least, some of my fellow statesmen, Adventure Trading Inc., from Washington State were selling Hacky Sacks and other Guatemalan imports. If you thought the Hacky Sack craze was over, you’re dead wrong. General Manager Luke Lawson told me he braces every year for the drop off in popularity and every year it doesn’t come; I guess there’s just something catchy about a little woven bag with beads in it you bounce off your foot.

Their display was, by far the catchiest most creative one I saw while walking around, wall-o-Hacky-Sack!

Well, that’s it for Outdoor Retailer Summer Market 2007. There were definitely some cool products and exhibits for vendors, media and other attendees to peruse. I can’t close without mentioning the schwag we got, I’ll simply list them.

Keep2go (product), Hi-Tec (shoulder bag), Eagle (poster & badge holder), Patagonia (stickers), Crazy Creek (stickers), scarpa (stickers), H2O Guides (cool stickers)

At Poppa P’s invitation I headed downtown to check out the Outdoor Retailer summer market show at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. It’s obvious but this is definitely a place for all things sports, outdoor, athletics, recreation and travel. I got there early and there were still tons of people.

My goal in going to Outdoor Retailer was to check out cool new gear, snap some photos and pick up some schwag! Well I have to say that I accomplished all of my goals and want to run down some of the unique, cool gear I saw. I’m sure there were tons of cool things that I missed because I only spent about two hours at the show, so if I don’t mention your products I am in no way saying your products aren’t cool, I just didn’t get over to check them out. So here’s my list of cool gadgets from this summer’s Outdoor Retailer in Salt Lake City.

Swiss Army’s “World’s Largest Pocket Knife,” according to Guinness Book of World Records.

After drooling over this pocket knife that isn’t really a “pocket” knife — unless you’re Paul Bunyan, the company rep proceeded to show me some of Swiss Army’s newest knife designs including the Ranger series they are promoting; nice looking knife, a bit of a move away from the traditional Swiss Army design, but still a very nice looking knife. (The Swiss Army logo is the release button of the locking blade, how cool is that?)

After looking at the Swiss Army knives, I came across Zing and their ZeeBeez toy. This is cool and although it took a couple tries to get the hang of how it worked, the guys at Zing sent me off with a ZeeBeez. Zing is a toy company with some cool, catchy little toys. Needless to say their toys would keep me occupied for a little while.

Being the owner of several iPods and one who gets a kick out the third-party iPod accessory industry Pelican and h2o Audio both have cool, rugged outdoor-proof iPod cases. Although I have to admit h2o Audio’s is cooler because it’s actually waterproof down to ten feet, and at Outdoor Retailer they announced the first waterproof iPod case for the 2nd generation iPod Shuffle. Ron told me he would hook me up and I think it’ll be cool to go swimming and listen to toons — oh yeah, h2o Audio also sells waterproof earphones (I didn’t get a picture of them).

The iS2 comes with an arm band which Ron didn’t mind modeling for me even with his colleagues razzin’ him.

Pelican’s iPod case. Although it isn’t waterproof, it sure looks rugged and I was told it could withstand upwards of 200+ pounds of pressure, yeah, that’s pretty rugged if you ask me! And just like the iS2 it has a built in water-tight headphone jack. The Pelican is a one-size-fits-all iPod case.

Well I think I’ve put enough stuff into this one post for now. I have more pictures that I’ll put into part two of this post later today or tomorrow.